Retro Video of the Week: "Mr. Roboto" by Styx

Forty years ago today, Styx released their eleventh studio album, Kilroy Was Here.  It was a concept album and rock opera about a futuristic fascist regime where music is outlawed.  A man whose last name is Kilroy -- presumably because of the bar Kilroy's at IU -- is an imprisoned former rock star.  He escapes by taking down a robot named Mr. Roboto and hiding in its robot carcass, eventually meeting up with another rocker on the outside.  It's no surprise that this was a huge hit in the '80s.

The album went to #3 on the Billboard album chart -- the last of a run of five consecutive Top 10 albums -- and eventually went platinum in the U.S.  It also spawned two Top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100:  "Mr. Roboto" (#3) and "Don't Let It End" (#6).  "High Time" was also a minor hit, reaching #48.

Of course, I'm going with "Mr. Roboto" for this week's Retro Video of the Week.  in addition to the ridiculous -- yet sadly poignant, given the music censorship issues in the early and mid '80s -- premise of the whole thing, the song gave birth to the often-repeated catchphrase "Dōmo arigatō, Mr. Roboto."  The video is a perfect complement to the song's subject matter.