VKRS ushered in the modern era of video dominance of the music industry to what had previously been a radio-only affair. With music-format over-the-air radio stations now teetering on the brink of extinction, the harbinger status of this song is clear.

Not surprisingly, it was selected as the first song to be played on MTV.

Another important song is "Rapture" by Blondie, which was the first #1 pop song to feature rap elements. Run DMC and The Beastie Boys would later leverage that pop music access and the whole rap phenomenon began in earnest, the effects of which are still clearly evident today, some 30 years later.

Looking further back, Elvis' "That's Alright" was a huge song that launched his career and the introduction of the nascent Rock and Roll genre to commercially exploitable mainstream white audiences in the US and in Europe. Previously this genre had largely been the domain of black artists that record labels had a more difficult time promoting. This song paved the way for the British Invasion that would occur less than a decade later and that would continue to reshape the music industry with, among other things, the album format for recordings.