The Tubes — Talk To Ya Later

JUL 01 1981 · 12:00

The Tubes — Talk To Ya Later (1981) Director: Russell Mulcahy Era: Early MTV Era (1981) - One of the first music videos to demonstrably drive record sales via MTV rotation; extracted from the long-form VHS/LaserDisc release 'The Tubes Video' as the channel launched. Exceptionally high. This video occupies a unique intersection of music video history, MTV launch mythology, and cultural satire. As one of the channel's earliest rotation staples and a documented driver of regional record sales, it serves as primary evidence for the medium's commercial power. Mulcahy's direction and the corporate-parody concept give it both aesthetic and sociological research value. The Grammy-nominated long-form source work adds further archival significance. Context: Released in 1981 to coincide with the launch of MTV, 'Talk To Ya Later' became a foundational case study in music video marketing. The clip — extracted from Mulcahy's long-form 'The Tubes Video' — aired during MTV's earliest weeks, generating measurable sales spikes in Midwestern cable markets before the channel reached New York or Los Angeles. The video's corporate-satire aesthetic directly embodied the album's conceptual theme: a parody of Reagan-era 'Morning in America' salesmanship, with the band dressed as slick businessmen. The song was itself composed using the 'Completion Backward Principle' — its title came before its music — mirroring the motivational speaker's sales philosophy the album was built around. Director notes: The 'Talk To Ya Later' video is an extracted segment from the long-form production 'The Tubes Video,' a full-album music video released on VHS and LaserDisc covering The Completion Backward Principle (1981). The production was filmed at Shepperton Studios in Shepperton, England. The segment depicts the band at a chaotic mock press conference, with business suits reflecting the album's satirical corporate-salesman concept. 'The Tubes Video' was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Long Form Music Video. The clip entered heavy MTV rotation at or near the channel's August 1, 1981 launch, becoming one of the earliest documented cases of MTV directly driving regional record sales — specifically in Tulsa, Oklahoma and other Midwest cable markets where MTV launched before reaching New York or Los Angeles.