Warhol, Blondie and the Amiga

I can stare at this picture a good long time. There’s so much awesomeness captured in these pixels!

When the Amiga was launched by Commodore in 1986, the actual launch event took place in New York, where Commodore had arranged for Andy Warhol and Debbie Harry of Blondie fame to demonstrate the powerful new computer. Warhol created a pop art image of Harry and showcased the Amiga’s graphical powers. Popular as Warhol was, he was obviously awkward with the computer and perhaps not best suited to run the audience through a launch demo. But despite his confused handling of the mouse, Warhol brought a lot of focus on to the Amiga for being an artist’s ideal system. The Amiga, of course, went on to become a favorite with TV studios, musicians and artists all over the world.

Take a look at this amazing footage from the Amiga World Premiere: