MTV turns 25 today
Yep, MTV debuted 25 years ago today. It was a pretty magical time. If I recall correctly, cassettes were the music format/medium we used back then, though some of us still had some eight-track tapes lying around. Until that time, I had only seen musical performances on TV shows like The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. With MTV, however, a new era started whereby we not only listened to music, but were also able to see it being performed or acted out in a video. Yes, it was whole new ballgame when MTV hit the market on August 1st, 1981.
While we've both grown older, MTV has reinvented itself much more than I have. The MTV of 2006 is a very different entity from the MTV of 1981. In the early days, we were treated to lots and lots of videos from artists like Journey, Madonna, Prince, Michael Jackson, Blondie, and Lionel Richie. Often the videos themselves were strange. They involved strange dances and even stranger-looking dancers. The artists often had long hair or colored hair or puffed-up mall hair. The videos were occasionally shot in real-life locations -- outside, in a boat, in a normal house. Often, though, they were filmed using strange sets or backgrounds. Many had dark backgrounds and mysterious themes. I recall fire being an important prop in many videos. Yes, it was a strange time back then as artists used the visual element of videos to add another dimension to their music.
Today's MTV is quite different. Does MTV even have videos anymore? I guess it does, but it's probably better known now for its specials and series such as The Real World and Room Raiders. Honestly, I don't know that much about the MTV of 2006. I'm probably more a VH-1 or CMT person these days. As I mentioned, MTV reinvented itself in an attempt to stay young and hip. I'm no longer their prime demographic target. That's okay, though. I can still look back at what MTV was 25 years ago today and appreciate the impact it made on me and millions like me around the world.
So happy birthday, MTV. You're not really my cup of tea anymore, but we were close once and I still have some great memories from those early days. For that I salute you and I wish you well.
3 comments:
If only we had known how much Real World: New York and Beavis and Butt-head would destroy popular culture, we maybe could have done something to prevent it.
I do so miss the days when I had to sneak the channel onto MTV to watch in secret, always in fear of a mighty parental police action.
I remember fondly that Headbangers' Ball and Yo! MTV Raps, the best shows on MTV ever, came on back to back. In those days, you couldn't watch an hour of metal videos and not see something about the Cold War, and Hip-Hop could be defended on an intellectual level. Though both would be moved to make space for the unchained liberalism of 120 Minutes and the alternative revolution in the 90's.
And nay, there is no longer music on MTV, and the replacements: MTV Hits, MTV2 and MTV Jams are more akin to the bubblegum-pop/dirty rap channels than the bastions of rock even they were meant to be.
I don't get the butt whoopin transmission of MTVX anymore, and that makes me sad.
These days, true music lovers are forced to watch VH1 Classic Rock, VH1 Soul & VH1 Country if we want to see good music and videos with any consistently.
That's enough now, I feel so old.
That's enough now, I feel so old.
Try being twice as old as MTV...
We used to have music videos before MTV, they came on late at night on the weekends...kind of like where MTV plays them now.
Everything old is new again. My dad pulled his chartreuse sport coat out of the storage room last week...
During Rush Week back in 1989, my frat had a "Club MTV" Dance Party. Unfortunately, Downtown Julie Brown wasn't able to make it. :o) We also had a low-rent version of "Remote Control" by the pool where the losers would get dumped out of their chairs and into the pool.
Yes, MTV had a pretty big effect on our culture back in the day.
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