Fact: Pop-Up Video Pops Up Online

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We were excited to discover today that one of our favorite shows of pre-Rock of Love-era VH1, Pop-Up Video, had resurfaced online, allowing us to watch the storied series while we're at work. (Editor's note: Well, we would never watch it at work, but other people might find it an enjoyable way to kill time.) Pop-Up Video bubbled with so much in-depth, unnecessary trivia, it made our Almost-Impossible Rock & Roll Quiz seem like a third-grade math test. Now, we can revisit all the stories behind a-ha's "Take On Me" (the single only sold 300 copies when it was first released!) and Janet Jackson's "Runaway" (she never traveled anywhere, it was all blue screen!) -- and enjoy that satisfying pre-TiVo pop sound effect. While we were a little bummed by VH1's failure to post any videos recorded after Bill Clinton was in the White House thus far (we did, however, enjoy the Billy Joel, Culture Club and Toni Braxton clips that are among the forty-seven currently available) and some slow buffering time, we're happy to welcome Pop-Up Video back into our lives.

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Song Stories

“Everyday People”

Sly and the Family Stone | 1968

"Everyday People" managed to trailblaze in two different ways -- it was one of the first pop hits to deal with the subject of racial harmony, and it utilized Larry Graham's "slap" technique on the bass guitar, which would soon be copied by countless other bassists. Graham once said about his pulsating style, "I'd never done that before … that's where the freedom of creativity came in for the band, that we'd be allowed to do that." In 1978, the song's line "Different strokes for different folks" would be borrowed for the title of the hit television show Diff'rent Strokes.

More Song Stories entries »

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