What has the worm got in store for us today, I hear you ask? Well, if I were to sing “I want my MTV” in a high falsetto voice, would that be a clue? Yes, it's Dire Straits, and one of their biggest ever singles, “Money for nothing”, from their last album “Brothers in arms”.
Take the time to look at the video. Although it seems pathetic by today's standards, and your five-year-old could probably do better with an iPad, at the time this was considered cutting edge, and we marvelled at the “amazing” computer animation --- look, their mouths move
in sequence with the singing! Wow! I believe it may also have been one of the first, if not
the first music video to be totally computer animated (even the stage performances, though live-action, are part of the animation, as the two characters are watching them on a cartoon TV), and caused quite a stir on its release.
With backing vocals from Sting (he sings the “I want my MTV” part), the song was quite controversial in featuring a word like “f@ggot”, and yet getting to number one. Wouldn't happen today! It's also really clever in that it's Dire Straits (well, Mark Knopfler) lampooning their own success, taking the role of deliverymen and installers who bitch about the high-flying rock star life as compared to their own, thoughts many people no doubt have had about Dire Straits: some would definitely agree that they earn their “money for nothing”.