30 Years of MTV

Wow, I'm old. According to today's paper, MTV first went on the air 30 years ago today, with the first video played being the Buggles' prophetic "Video Killed the Radio Star." For better or worse, the music landscape hasn't been the same since.

Anyone remember when MTV was actually a pretty cool, scrappy, underdog sort of channel, rather than the soul-sucking, empty headed corporate enterprise that it is today?

I was fascinated by MTV when I first started watching it back in '81. I was in sixth grade and was just starting to discover the wide world of popular music, so I sat down to watch one afternoon after school and saw the videos for Judas Priest's "Headin' Out to the Highway" and the Ramones' "Do You Remember Rock N Roll Radio?" -- that was it, I was hooked. Other early favorites were Loverboy (whose "Working for the Weekend" vid got played seemingly dozens of times a day) and Saxon (yes, Virginia, MTV actually played Saxon videos back in the day!)... to name just a few. MTV was also responsible for my schoolboy crush on Pat Benatar (GOD she was hot back then), and I will also admit to having a thing for Martha Quinn back then as well.

I watched the channel religiously for about the next ten years, from the new wave era to the hair metal era and into the grunge years. By the early 90s it quickly became obvious that I'd aged out of their "target demographic" so I moved on to other things. Obviously the station is totally irrelevant to me nowadays but I gotta give 'em props, if I hadn't seen those Priest and Ramones videos on that fateful day I may not have become the headbanger that I am today.

I believe VH-1 Classic is running some classic MTV this weekend in celebration. Notice I said it's VH-1 Classic that's running the special, not MTV itself. They can't possibly interupt their important programming schedule of clueless teen moms and overly tan Jersey beach douche bags.

And at the expense of sounding like an old coot, yes Virginia, there was a time when MTV was cool and relevent to the music biz.

Due to some kinda bueracratic red tape, we didn't get cable in the city for a long time and the only way I could see MTV was to visit my grandparents out in the burbs. I could watch hours of MTV easily. That and Nickeloedeon. 'You Can't Do That on Television' was the ultimate in Canadian pre-teen entertainment before Degrassi Junior High.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

I believe VH-1 Classic is running some classic MTV this weekend in celebration. Notice I said it's VH-1 Classic that's running the special, not MTV itself. They can't possibly interupt their important programming schedule of clueless teen moms and overly tan Jersey beach douche bags.

Well, that makes sense. The "target demographic" that MTV currently caters to wasn't even born yet when the channel first went on the air, so there'd be no point in trotting out old footage for them.

Quote :

Due to some kinda bueracratic red tape, we didn't get cable in the city for a long time and the only way I could see MTV was to visit my grandparents out in the burbs. I could watch hours of MTV easily. That and Nickeloedeon. 'You Can't Do That on Television' was the ultimate in Canadian pre-teen entertainment before Degrassi Junior High.

My family was one of the first on our block to get cable in probably late '79 or early '80 (all the salesman had to do was tell my Dad about the 24 hour sports networks, that was it, he was sold, haha) so my friends used to come to my house to watch MTV. We whiled away many a summer's day sitting slack jawed in front of it waiting for a Motley Crue, Quiet Riot, or Twisted Sister video to come on.

So you know how they have parental blocks on cable boxes? Well, I sh*t you not, instead of blocking channels you would expect parents to block, like say the Playboy channel, my parents blocked MTV. My brother and I were literally glued to the TV 24/7 watching MTV. My parents had finally had enough and blocked us. bastards.

Until I figured out how to unblock the channel of course.

'You Can't Do That on Television' ?
heh, yes, that was pretty huge I guess. Even though almost none of my friends said they watched it when it was on every weekend, pretty sure many did.
I had a huge crush on the girl, think her nickname on it was Moose?

I only seen MTV once back in the mid-1980s, at a friend's house who had a satellite dish, but he said they barely played heavy metal like many claimed.
After I had a People magazine with Nina Blackwood in it, I was pretty ticked off I couldn't watch her.

Ah, yea. Who could forget a girl named "Moose"...


She had a tomboy-ish charm about her.

Joe wrote:

So you know how they have parental blocks on cable boxes? Well, I sh*t you not, instead of blocking channels you would expect parents to block, like say the Playboy channel, my parents blocked MTV. My brother and I were literally glued to the TV 24/7 watching MTV. My parents had finally had enough and blocked us. bastards.

Until I figured out how to unblock the channel of course.

Remember when we had to watch scrambled porno and would hope to catch a glimpse of anything (I think I saw a boob!!). Pfft, kids today and their unlimited access to porn.

^^^ Those were the days!!

I remember having PRISM here in the Philadelphia region and having to get up to turn the dial to switch to the movies.

MTV changed the music landscape when it first started but like FF alluded to, it really has no bearing on my life anymore. They had the metal back in the day but have lost their way.

Oh yea Prism. It's no longer there, but I used to work in their old master control room when I first started my job. When Prism closed shop, we took over their old offices.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

Oh yea Prism. It's no longer there, but I used to work in their old master control room when I first started my job. When Prism closed shop, we took over their old offices.

i remember watching the flyers on PRISM as a kid and some boxing. i saw Star Wars on PRISM after it came out in the movies.

I remember it being a big deal to go and watch WWF exclusive events.

Yeah, I remember slouching around with my friends and watching MTV. Never had it at my house though. My parents didn't subscribe to cable. Only the local antenna is what we had.



So I'd go next door and watch MTV with my neighbor and friends. We get stoned and hope Ozzy or Bon Jovi would come on ... (this was in the late 80s) I was just a pup back in '81 when it first came on. I was more of a 'late' 80s glam metal fan. I remember watching Skid Row, Poison, Warrant, Winger, Alice Cooper, etc. Turned me onto a lot of cool bands! I'd also watch Headbanger's Ball. My friend would record it so we'd get to see it. Come to think of it - that's probably how I got into a lot of music.

i've always thought music videos were kinda dumb. MTV was never a big thing at my house.

One of the worst memories of MTV was how they overplayed the Michael Jackson 'Thriller'.

exact33 wrote:

One of the worst memories of MTV was how they overplayed the Michael Jackson 'Thriller'.

Isn't that the truth. I also hated all the R&B pop crap like Paula Abdul and stuff.

Wow! Time flies... I remember watching MTV back in '84 when Twisted Sister, Ratt and Billy Idol were big.

Quote :

My family was one of the first on our block to get cable in probably late '79 or early '80

Great memory as well for my family, Freddy. We got it in 79 or 80 as well. All my cousins and uncles would come over to watch boxing on HBO. Fantastic memories. I remember seeing Alien on HBO and, being 6 at the time, ending up on the floor of my parent's room that night in terror.

exact33 wrote:

One of the worst memories of MTV was how they overplayed the Michael Jackson 'Thriller'.

I hated the week long tribute to Nirvana. I did my weekend tradition of watching Headbanger's Ball only to have the same Nirvana tribute they played every day before. After HB went off the air, I had no use for MTV anymore because they had nothing but rap, r&b, pop, and alternative.

However, without MTV, I would not have been introduced to a large majority of my favorite music so I can't say anything too bad about them.

Early MTV was the greatest thing musically for the young me. Where else was I going to see Ozzy videos right next to things like Missing Persons, Wall Of Voodoo (might still be my favorite video ever), The Clash, and The Who. They also had great concerts and interviews too. I also loved it when JJ or Nina would ramble on about a band and their history. They really knew their stuff. I think I realized very early on my music tastes were different from anyone else when I was the only one I knew who loved "Basement Tapes".

By the time the mid-eighties rolled around and they went almost strictly in the pop direction I lost interest. But when Headbangers Ball and Yo! MTV Raps came on I was once again a die-hard viewer. I wish VH1 Classic would just air the old programing form the beginning as it originally aired.

We actually had our stereo hooked up so MTV could play through it. God bless my parents for putting up with that.

Cable television from the early 80's will always be MTV, Espn (Rugby, Rodeo, Roller Derby, and college basketball), wrestling on USA/WTBS, and HBO. Actually those may have been the only cable channels offered.

I used to go over to my oldest sister's place to watch MTV because she had cable and I didn't. I vividly remember watching ZZ Top videos and thinking how cool they were. MTV also started me down the metal path with all the cool stuff they used to play. However, because I didn't have cable I watched Friday Night Videos for my music television. Later on we got MTV and I watched the Heavy Metal Half Hour and then Headbangers Ball. I would watch The Ball with a piece of paper and a pencil and make notes of all the cool stuff I liked and then the next day I would head to the mall to buy some cassettes. I also remember in the early 90's when MTV completely lost their way and devolved into crap. Ugh.

One thing to remember is that they were actually terrible for music because they had a virtual monopoly on what became popular and could kill off great bands with no airplay. Thank god those days are long gone.

I always perferred VH1

That is 30 years too many, thank you MTV for the vapid shows such as Jersey Shore, I am Teenage Mom, The Real World etc

Here's producer Bob Rock in his New Wave band The Payolas:




He's the blonde guy with the glasses and guitar.