Thirty Four Years Ago Today...

[hjmick]

Thirty four years ago today, MTV debuted. MTV used to stand for "Music Television," the idea being they would play music videos, you know, kind of like short movies for the songs. In 1981 the idea was cutting edge, unheard of, pretty cool... They had VJs, video jockeys, the television equivalent of disc jockeys for radio. I was sixteen years old when it debuted. I remember staying up Friday night to witness the start of something new at 12:01 a.m. Saturday morning. "Ladies and gentlemen, rock and roll..."



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBf0yJVMSzI


I remember the very first video...



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hs4Gg7RDnc


Remembering all this this morning, I decided to take a look at what MTV was doing today to honor their groundbreaking foray into television all those years ago...

They've got some sort of reality show on, followed by teen movies like What a Girl Wants...

What the hell happened? MTV is nothing more than the Disney Channel...


Ridiculous and sad...

[jimnyc]

And the video fights on Friday's too!! I remember Def Leppard ruling for weeks on end with one of their songs. I"m too old to remember. :)

[Max R.]

I had arrived in California for my tour at MCAS Tustin in 1981. MTV was a favorite channel due to all the great music videos.

Once the bands (or their contract record companies) found they could make more money selling video tapes, MTV died as a music video business. It was sad.

[NightTrain]

I didn't catch the debut, but I remember MTV was an awesome channel back in the day... when we came into town for supplies I would beeline to the nearest TV to check it out and catch up on the latest rock videos.

Remember how awesome these computer graphics were at the time?

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/lAD6Obi7Cag" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Too bad I can't find the original un-edited version of this video.

[gabosaurus]

The first video played was Video Killed The Radio Star by The Buggles.
The second video was You Better Run by Pat Benatar.

[Voted4Reagan]

Video #2


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvSbQB6-UdY

Video#3


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHKHjtup3Qk

Video #4


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKM2Dp-KfLA

Video #5


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKgzYLBV_cc

Video#6


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYKK6r2HLwE

Video#7


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7Hy7uAb_eU

Video #8


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrGoDFP-LMg

Video #9


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcKFtyy1FPM

Video #10


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuREpab44Kk

[Tyr-Ziu Saxnot]

I stopped considering watching MTV long ago--when they embraced and started promoting that rap crap!
Nothing in music irritates me more than ignorant hearing that shit.
I hated Kid Rock when he did it but later forgave him when he had the good sense to start truly singing.
"Rap Is Crap" --A truism if ever there was one. -Tyr

[Voted4Reagan]

I stopped considering watching MTV long ago--when they embraced and started promoting that rap crap!
Nothing in music irritates me more than ignorant hearing that shit.
I hated Kid Rock when he did it but later forgave him when he had the good sense to start truly singing.
"Rap Is Crap" --A truism if ever there was one. -TyrYuo

cant have CRAP with out RAP

[Max R.]

I stopped considering watching MTV long ago--when they embraced and started promoting that rap crap!
Nothing in music irritates me more than ignorant hearing that shit.
I hated Kid Rock when he did it but later forgave him when he had the good sense to start truly singing.
"Rap Is Crap" --A truism if ever there was one. -Tyr
Some rap is okay, but overall I like 60s-70s Rock.

Side story about Rap: In late 2010 I signed up on Plenty of Fish (pof.com) looking for a good woman. At my age and in my occupation, I didn't have the time nor inclination to do the bar scene or other traditional methods. As an age range, I put 45-60 (I was 54). Several prospects popped up, but most were newly divorced, empty-nesters who wanted to be 20 again with dinner and dancing. Many would say "I love all kinds of music except Rap". I thought it was pretty funny how common the "...except rap" statement was made in their profiles.

First rap song I ever liked. I saw it on the movie "The Fisher King": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BRv9wGf5pk

Another one, Eminem's "Lose Yourself": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmXumtgwtak