MTV is officially 30 years old. I am nine years older, but was probably 11 or 12 by the time we got it on our cable system. I remember my parents visiting their friends who had it and watching for hours with their kids. We thought it was the coolest thing ever. And at the time, it was.
People sometimes forget how revolutionary MTV really was. Apart from marrying music and movies in a way never done before, MTV created, cultivated and maintained countless scenes and bands throughout its first 15 years or so. It presented a new way to think about music, and a new way for artists to present their message, or at least promote their image.
And it was OURS. Every kid growing up in the 80's through the mid 90's could call MTV their own. Sure, they played a lot of stuff I didn't like, but it also turned me on to forms of music and bands that I would have otherwise ignored, especially in the early days. As a kid I didn't realise that New Wave was an exclusionary movement. I didn't consider it pop, or dance or anything but new music. Throughout all my musical twists and detours a pop sensibility has stayed with me and I blame 1983 on MTV for it.
But it was more than the music and the style, it was the snarkiness of the promos combined with the brashness of the bands and artistry of the directors that gave the channel its personality. It was almost a perfect voice for the youth of the day, even those who claimed to hate it or that it wasn't playing the right type of music still had at least a few programming blocks catered to their taste, and everybody knew what was going on with MTV. We all watched it incessantly, even if we didn't want to , because there was always a feeling that you'd miss something if you didn't.
And then they killed it. Reality shows killed the video star. Or words to that effect. There are still places to see music on television of course, probably more now than ever before. The magic, however, has gone. More's the pity.
But still, 30 years ago today, music changed forever, and that's to be celebrated. It wasn't perfect, and probably did as much harm as good for some, but I miss it. And I want my MTV...back.
So here's a short list of MTV moments that are etched into my mind in no particular order. Feel free to add your own in the comments.
1. Guns N' Roses smash the set on "Headbanger's Ball". Local St. Louis icon Smash was working on MTV at the time, and found himself smack dab in the middle of the chaos. What fun.
2. Seeing Michael Jackson's "Thriller" video world premier. I've never been a fan of the man or his music, but this mini-movie blew every body's mind at the time. Still kinda does.
3. Remote Control. Still my favorite game show.
4. MTV in concert. Saturday nights they ran hour long concerts, well before those shows found their way to home video. I remember the Go-Gos, Sammy Hagar, Huey Lewis And the News, Dexy's Midnight Runners, The Cars, Iron Maiden (with Paul Di'Anno), The Stray Cats, Guns N' Roses, the list goes on.
5. Martha Quinn and Tabitha Soren. Never at the same time though, my pubescence couldn't have handled that.
6. Specialty music shows. Headbanger's Ball (required viewing for me and my circle), Yo! MTV Raps (never been a rap fan, but Dr. Dre and Ed Lover used to slay me), Dial MTV (when us rockers actually got the vote), Club MTV (good for watching beautiful people gyrate) and of course 120 Minutes, the show that made alternative the norm and showed us what Teen Spirit smelled like.
7.Motorhead dressed as carolers singing "Silent Night" for a Christmas promo. Hilarious.*
8. MTV Spring Break. Always good concerts (Cheap Trick, Van Halen, Beastie Boys, Aerosmith) and fun segments.
9. The classic promos. everything from the "I Want My MTV" stuff to Gilbert Gottfried's improved spots, Dennis Leary's rants, the choir spots, the cab driver, the "words just sitting here" spot, all the freaky animations and my favorite one, the beer ad send up. Still love that stuff when it pops up on the net.
10 MTV News. From the funny stuff (Tabitha Soren saying "Metal-Lisha" meaning Metallica), to the unexpected (John Lydon walking off set in a Pistols reunion interview) and the "it-can't-be-true" death announcements (Stevie Ray Vaughn, Cliff Burton, Freddie Mercury, Eric Carr, etc.) Kurt Loder and John Norris (remember him?) actually enriched my life. Sounds weird now, but they did.
These are just a few of the many memories I have, and that's leaving out "The Young Ones"! Thanks MTV for the great times. Call me when you decide to get back to your roots, I'll be waiting.
*By the way, it is a fallacy that hard rock/heavy metal was ignored by MTV. Before the specialized programming listed above, there were only videos in rotation. I clearly remember seeing Motorhead, Judas Priest, Dio and Iron Maiden videos in semi regular rotation during the channel's early days. They had to play whatever they had, and early British metal groups had videos. They weren't played with the same regularity as pop, but they were there. Maybe you had to watch obsessively like I did but "Iron Fist", "Breaking the Law", "Rainbow In The Dark" and "Run To The Hills" were all in my head before I ever had the records, and it wasn't from radio as the pictures were there too.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Monday, August 1, 2011
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)