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General => General Music Discussion => Topic started by: KevShmev on August 01, 2021, 08:36:19 AM
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40 years ago today:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBf0yJVMSzI
:metal :metal
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A great idea for a channel that unfortunately only few artists ever truly took advantage of in the 80s/90s.
Just about every music video is just high quality nothingness, doesn't tell a story, doesn't make you focus more on the music, doesn't add to the experience, or it's just edited live footage, or dancing, which is fine in and of itself. Not every music video needs to be at the level of Thriller or anything, but MJ was one of the exceptions, and even his later vids were boring visual nothingness.
MTV played a key role in making the music business even more about looks than what they were trying to sell to the kids.
Now look at the overall quality of popular music over the last 4 decades. Shit was bad 20 years ago. Now, the big music videos on Youtube are trash. High quality.
But still trash.
I don't think the 'M' even stands for 'music' anymore.
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A great idea for a channel that unfortunately only few artists ever truly took advantage of in the 80s/90s.
Er, what? The list of artists who took advantage of the video format in the 80's alone is too long to even try to list them all.
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A great idea for a channel that unfortunately only few artists ever truly took advantage of in the 80s/90s.
Er, what? The list of artists who took advantage of the video format in the 80's alone is too long to even try to list them all.
Most of my rant was about post-80s, the 80s was peak MTV, but there were plenty of 80s vids that were pointess imo.
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A great idea for a channel that unfortunately only few artists ever truly took advantage of in the 80s/90s.
Er, what? The list of artists who took advantage of the video format in the 80's alone is too long to even try to list them all.
Most of my rant was about post-80s, the 80s was peak MTV, but there were plenty of 80s vids that were pointess imo.
That's a hot take, man.
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A great idea for a channel that unfortunately only few artists ever truly took advantage of in the 80s/90s.
Er, what? The list of artists who took advantage of the video format in the 80's alone is too long to even try to list them all.
Most of my rant was about post-80s, the 80s was peak MTV, but there were plenty of 80s vids that were pointess imo.
Okay, but that is moving the goal posts. Pointless 80's videos doesn't mean that few artists took advantage of the video medium in the 80's. And even many of those (what you would call) pointless videos still helped the artists sell more records and become more popular.
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A great idea for a channel that unfortunately only few artists ever truly took advantage of in the 80s/90s.
Er, what? The list of artists who took advantage of the video format in the 80's alone is too long to even try to list them all.
Most of my rant was about post-80s, the 80s was peak MTV, but there were plenty of 80s vids that were pointess imo.
Okay, but that is moving the goal posts. Pointless 80's videos doesn't mean that few artists took advantage of the video medium in the 80's. And even many of those (what you would call) pointless videos still helped the artists sell more records and become more popular.
When I said 'took advantage of' I was referring to the vids by MJ, Madonna, Talking Heads, etcc.. artists who made videos that were not just them dancing in front of the camera, or following the artist walking around somewhere in between shots of them lip-singing into the microphone, or sexy girls paraded in front of the camera. That type of video became more of an exception going forward. Obviously everyone in their right mind signed with a major label was putting out music vids in the 80s. It was the in-thing to do at the time.
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When I said 'took advantage of' I was referring to the vids by MJ, Madonna, Talking Heads, etcc.. artists who made videos that were not just them dancing in front of the camera, or following the artist walking around somewhere in between shots of them lip-singing into the microphone, or sexy girls paraded in front of the camera. That type of video became more of an exception going forward. Obviously everyone in their right mind signed with a major label was putting out music vids in the 80s. It was the in-thing to do at the time.
Not every video has to be high art to be impactful or beneficial to the artist. The video for Jump was about as simple as you could get, but benefited Van Halen in a huge way. That is just one example.
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Happy birthday MTV, and thank you for being a big part of my teenage years all through the 90s. I was too young to experience the 80s and the early years of MTV (I too was born in 1981).
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsH6gEWXXUE
saw this last year, and it was good how it began with talking to Michael Nesmith who more or less created MTV (or the idea of it anyway).
for me though, I didn't really see much MTV until it started changing to Reality Shows in the 90's, per my family didn't have Cable in the 80's and early 90's.
So it was Friday Night Videos for me, not MTV.
I was thinking though, it would be cool of METV or AntennaTV would be able to show 120 minutes or some of the other specialty shows MTV did back in the 80's like they do with Johnny Carson and Ed Sullivan. Unlikely, but I would watch it.
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Really enjoyed MTV in the 90’s and when they first started to dabble in reality tv it was fun enough (wasn’t Jackass on MTV as well?). That said, it’s so weird they don’t play music videos anymore, and only play reality TV.. which is pretty much the format the channel now has been following since at least ten years I guess?
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Longer than that now, I think, but with YT, there really isn't a need for MTV to play videos non-stop anymore. Granted, they jumped off the "music 24 hours a day, everyday" bandwagon long before YT was around, but it is what it is. Things change, but nothing can ever change how awesome MTV was those first 10 years or so. Heck, seeing the videos for Pull Me Under, Take the Time and Another Day on MTV helped get me into the band, so there is that as well!
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I'm not sure exactly when it was, but I think they laid cable for cable TV in my neighborhood in 1982. I was a freshman and sophomore in high school in 1982, and I remember the guy coming door to door to get people to sign up. I somehow convinced my mother to sign up, with the only box in the house in my bedroom, where I had a 13" TV (I think it was black & white, but I'm not 100% sure about that). I'm pretty sure that MTV was my prime motivation for wanting it. I went to school one day and got sick, and my mother came and picked me up and told me she cancelled the cable installation. I protested greatly and convinced her to re-schedule it. I had this box about the size of a VCR on my nightstand.
MTV was on almost non-stop in my room when I was home, often with the volume off, and I'd turn it up when something good came on. The Asia in Asia concert (and related contest) was huge (and a huge disappointment). I called in frequently when they did the first Basement Tapes contest. The band I liked (a Seattle area band called Rail) won, but they never had much success. I was never a Michael Jackson fan, but the Thriller video premiere was one of THE events of the decade.
I watched pretty regularly until the mid-'90s. It became harder and harder to find actual music, as opposed to The Real World and Road Rules. By the end of the '90s, I had basically abandoned MTV in favor of VH1 Classic.
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I remember figuring out that we had a cable ready TV in late 1981 so we had MTV 6 months before anyone in the neighborhood had it.
All the kids hung out to watch MTV when my parents weren't home. As soon as my dad came home he put out his hand and said "you lose." I had to get out of his seat and give him the remote controller. Lol
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Wow 40 years. I loved MTV in the late 80s and early 90s. My musical tastes ultimately veered away from what was current and popular, so I eventually stopped tuning in, though I did watch Real World LA and SFO. I lost interest in the stupidity of that show but watched London because I knew a gal on that show. My wife still watches something on it, I have no idea what, because she wanted to make sure we would have that channel when we cut the cord and went streaming.
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There was a 2-hour special on the SiriusXM 80's channel today where the 4 surviving original VJ's replayed the songs from the first 2 hours, interviewed some of those artists and gave their own recollections of the beginning. Pretty entertaining.
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Happy Birthday MTV. The music video channel would be 40 years old today. MTV tragically passed away 20 years ago, and was the leading network in music videos.
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Happy Birthday MTV. The music video channel would be 40 years old today. MTV tragically passed away 20 years ago, and was the leading network in music videos.
:lol
The "leading network in music videos." You mean of the two that existed?
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MTV was AWESOME, the whole concept of music videos, the nonsense, the ridiculousness of the videos. It was amazing. Then they fucked that all to hell and never rebounded. Is MTV still in existence?
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Happy Birthday MTV. The music video channel would be 40 years old today. MTV tragically passed away 20 years ago, and was the leading network in music videos.
:lol
The "leading network in music videos." You mean of the two that existed?
There was VH1 and a couple other ones I believe. MuchMusic, BET, and maybe something else.
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I have so many great memories regarding early MTV. My grandparents had it. They lived in New Bedford, which is one of the major cities in Mass. We lived a couple towns over but out in the boonies, down a dirt road by the water. My grandparents had cable as soon as it became available, and we didn't get it until 84/85ish.
I absolutely remember being in the 8th grade 81/82 and seeing Iron Maiden's Wrathchild video thinking they looked so cool.
I remember being in the car when the radio mentioned MTV would be showing a Rush concert on Saturday night. I asked if I could sleep over to see it. It was the Exit Stage Left show. I would spend many Saturday nights at my grandparents that winter and watched a number of concerts. Journey, Billy Squier... My grandmother would make me steak ums, and she always had pudding pops in the freezer. Life couldn't get better!
I remember the Run To The Hills video. Wow! I couldn't wait for them to play it. It was in pretty heavy rotation. It's why I always call bullshit when Bruce Dickinson rails against MTV. They benefitted as much as any band in the 80's did. Anyway, I digress.
My grandfather died in August of 1982. We basically moved in with my grandmother for like two weeks. My brother and I slept on the dining room floor. My father brought us to the mall so we could each choose something to keep us occupied. I picked The Number Of The Beast cassette.
But I really spent two weeks watching MTV.
Even bands I didn't follow up with, I really dug their songs/videos..The Pretenders, Squeeze, Quarterflash, The Motels, John Cougar.. Good times..
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They used to do those simulcasts of MTV Saturday night Concerts with radio stations. The GUP Rush concert was my favorite.
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They used to do those simulcasts of MTV Saturday night Concerts with radio stations. The GUP Rush concert was my favorite.
Right. I think WHJY in Providence was doing that before they started the Metal Hour. The Metal Hour would prove to be life changing.
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Then The Headbangers Ball. Oh the memories.
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Then The Headbangers Ball. Oh the memories.
I used to record them. It was still running strong in the early 90's.
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Must watch TV with a huge glass of coke filled with ice and a Doritos bag.
Little brother optional.
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Must watch TV with a huge glass of coke filled with ice and a Doritos bag.
Little brother optional.
Don't forget some dip to go along with those Doritos. :hat :hat
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I can't hear about classic MTV without immediately thinking about Riki Rachtman and Matt Pinfield.
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I can't hear about classic MTV without immediately thinking about Riki Rachtman and Matt Pinfield.
They came much later though.
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I can't hear about classic MTV without immediately thinking about Riki Rachtman and Matt Pinfield.
They came much later though.
I’m not old!
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I ate, slept and breathed MTV in the 80's. Every New Years was spent watching the Top 100 countdown for the year. Then Headbangers Ball came about and I watched that.
Now it's a dumpster fire.
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I think it was around 1987 when they started doing those rock blocks where you'd get 3-4 songs in a row from the same artist, which was great cause it meant they'd likely play an older video that they used to play a lot, but not as much at the time. Like, if you were watching MTV in 1988 and you saw a Def Leppard video, 99.999& of the time it would be something from Hysteria, but when it was the rock blocks weekend, they'd slip in one of the Pyromania videos or even Bringin' on the Heartbreak.
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MTV was my introduction to music in 1999. Their Icon specials were cheesy, but they made me a fan of Aerosmith, Metallica and The Cure.
Just about every music video is just high quality nothingness, doesn't tell a story, doesn't make you focus more on the music, doesn't add to the experience...
Actually, the best two videos of all time tick all those boxes:
- https://youtu.be/nc0Mv4Iyxvc
- https://youtu.be/T9M_bqIB6EU
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My family never had MTV growing up and come to think of it I don’t think I’ve ever had it (never had cable as an adult). I do remember watching it sometimes at a friend’s house, and we did have VH1 eventually. Mostly though I missed out on the MTV experience. Not sure I really missed out on anything though!
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If not for MTV, I might not have ever heard (of) Dream Theater.
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If not for MTV, I might not have ever heard (of) Dream Theater.
I believe this would be true for me as well.
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It's easy to make fun of it now (though I watch MTV a LOT, because I find "Ridiculousness" to be hilarious) but it was ICONIC in the day. I could remember playing pool at my friends house and competing to see who could name the songs BEFORE the little "name and album" header came on. I am and was a metal head, but we spent as much time with Human League and Duran Duran as we did with Maiden and whoever else. Vandenburg. Krokus. Early Def Leppard. Priest.
It's amazing that now that all the archive stuff is being released and re-released, how many times the vintage videos are tacked on for good measure. Some are cheesy AF, but some are legendary (I too thought Iron Maiden was the coolest thing on the PLANET from the RttH video).
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Happy 40th, MTV! Celebrating 14 years of music television!
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I can't hear about classic MTV without immediately thinking about Riki Rachtman and Matt Pinfield.
They came much later though.
Yup...I was way too busy crushing on Martha Quinn. And I don't think I'd ever heard of Matt Pinfield until he showed up on a couple of AXS-TV shows.
Actually, the best two videos of all time tick all those boxes:
- https://youtu.be/nc0Mv4Iyxvc
- https://youtu.be/T9M_bqIB6EU
Does "best" mean something different in Italy? :biggrin:
I quickly scrolled through that Pixies video. Never heard the song. It actually reminded me a little of this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nTGTCSGj30
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I can't hear about classic MTV without immediately thinking about Riki Rachtman and Matt Pinfield.
They came much later though.
Yup...I was way too busy crushing on Martha Quinn. And I don't think I'd ever heard of Matt Pinfield until he showed up on a couple of AXS-TV shows.
She was cute, that was for sure. Here's a question that I've never satisfactorily answered: was she in the J. Geil's video? (I forget if it was Centerfold or Freeze Frame)?
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If not for MTV, I might not have ever heard (of) Dream Theater.
I believe this would be true for me as well.
And I likely wouldn't have heard of Iron Maiden (when I did), and may not have become the huge fan that I am, therefore I might have missed seeing DT open for them, so I guess you could say that they were kinda responsible for me discovering DT as well..
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Great idea in it’s time (80s mostly when all legendary vids were made) but should have been put out of it’s misery a long time ago when became a travesty.
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Seems like everything changed with MTV when its parent company said, "now isn't it time you grew up and made real money? You can't make money playing music forever." Parents just don't understand!
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I can't hear about classic MTV without immediately thinking about Riki Rachtman and Matt Pinfield.
They came much later though.
Yup...I was way too busy crushing on Martha Quinn. And I don't think I'd ever heard of Matt Pinfield until he showed up on a couple of AXS-TV shows.
She was cute, that was for sure. Here's a question that I've never satisfactorily answered: was she in the J. Geil's video? (I forget if it was Centerfold or Freeze Frame)?
My first reaction upon reading your question was "huh?" So I googled and found this article, in which she says nope, it's not her: https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-1985-04-21-0290200192-story.html
If not for MTV, I might not have ever heard (of) Dream Theater.
I believe this would be true for me as well.
And I likely wouldn't have heard of Iron Maiden (when I did), and may not have become the huge fan that I am, therefore I might have missed seeing DT open for them, so I guess you could say that they were kinda responsible for me discovering DT as well..
The two bands that I really attribute to MTV for me are Maiden and Triumph. Flight of Icarus was probably my first exposure to Maiden, and then I saw Hills, Number and Trooper. For Triumph, it was World of Fantasy, and I think they had one for Fight the Good Fight. There's also one for Say Goodbye, but I don't have any recollection of seeing it back then.
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I can't hear about classic MTV without immediately thinking about Riki Rachtman and Matt Pinfield.
They came much later though.
Yup...I was way too busy crushing on Martha Quinn. And I don't think I'd ever heard of Matt Pinfield until he showed up on a couple of AXS-TV shows.
She was cute, that was for sure. Here's a question that I've never satisfactorily answered: was she in the J. Geil's video? (I forget if it was Centerfold or Freeze Frame)?
My first reaction upon reading your question was "huh?" So I googled and found this article, in which she says nope, it's not her: https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-1985-04-21-0290200192-story.html
But then she says the other girl was "enormous"; hard to tell if that's a cover up or not. Then again, maybe I'm reading that with "2021" thinking. :)
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But then she says the other girl was "enormous"; hard to tell if that's a cover up or not. Then again, maybe I'm reading that with "2021" thinking. :)
I assume that was a reference either to her breasts or to her height. Regardless, she denied it, and when I googled it, I couldn't find anyone claiming it was her. After 40 years, I think it's pretty much established fact that it's not her.
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I never thought it was her to begin with.
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I never thought it was her to begin with.
Same. This "rumor" was new to me. While Quinn and the girl in the video resemble each other, that was a VERY common hairstyle at the time, so all we've got to go on is cute young brunette with incredibly common hairstyle.
On a related note, am I the only one who always chuckles just a bit when the J. Geils Band is mentioned because of "Magic Dick"?
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I remember watching that really horrible movie Bad Channels just because she was in it. I had such a major crush on her. That movie had an amazing soundtrack even though it was truly awful.
But I suppose it had its own charm in a plan 9 from outer space sort of way
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Only Alan Hunter was in a video. David Bowie's Fame. He was a dancer.
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Over here in the UK MTV meant the excellent MTV's Most Wanted, presented by Ray Cokes, someone who should have gone on to be a huge TV star but disappeared without trace (Wikipedia tells me he moved to Belgium and had a TV career there). MTV Europe's highest watched show, and one of the most fun pieces of television ever. Fondly remembered by all who watched it.
And, of course, the gorgeous Vanessa Warwick. You Americans don't know what you were missing...
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But then she says the other girl was "enormous"; hard to tell if that's a cover up or not. Then again, maybe I'm reading that with "2021" thinking. :)
I assume that was a reference either to her breasts or to her height. Regardless, she denied it, and when I googled it, I couldn't find anyone claiming it was her. After 40 years, I think it's pretty much established fact that it's not her.
Fair point; she DID say she was "only 5' 1"" in the article, so that could be it.
EDIT: I just rewatched it ("Centerfold"). I don't think that's her. it's just the hair.
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Happy 40th, MTV! Celebrating 14 years of music television!
I love that joke. There's been memes of that going around.
Yo MTV Raps, Headbanger's Ball and 120 Minutes were my weekends in the 90's. I was glued to it.
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Let's not forget the epic-ness of Friday Night Video Fights. :metal
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And, of course, the gorgeous Vanessa Warwick. You Americans don't know what you were missing...
Based on a Google image search...not much. :)
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It was great back in the day, but certainly didn't age well.
Happy 40th, MTV! Celebrating 14 years of music television!
That pretty much tells the story. :lol
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I remember watching that really horrible movie Bad Channels just because she was in it. I had such a major crush on her. That movie had an amazing soundtrack even though it was truly awful.
But I suppose it had its own charm in a plan 9 from outer space sort of way
Oy, I don't take kindly to Full Moon Pictures slander. Bad channels is a lot of fun. Not top tier like puppet master or trancers but still a fun watch.
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I remember watching that really horrible movie Bad Channels just because she was in it. I had such a major crush on her. That movie had an amazing soundtrack even though it was truly awful.
But I suppose it had its own charm in a plan 9 from outer space sort of way
Oy, I don't take kindly to Full Moon Pictures slander. Bad channels is a lot of fun. Not top tier like puppet master or trancers but still a fun watch.
I enjoyed the soundtrack more than the movie (totally wish Sykotik Sinfoney would have made an album!!!!) but the movie was fun as well.
I always dream of owning it on DVD, but my wife isn’t into movies like that and so I don’t really have anyone to watch it with. :'(
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Happy 40th, MTV! Celebrating 14 years of music television!
I don't quite get this joke. They didn't stop showing music videos in 1995? More like the mid 2000s.
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Happy 40th, MTV! Celebrating 14 years of music television!
I don't quite get this joke. They didn't stop showing music videos in 1995? More like the mid 2000s.
It's hyperbole, for sure. The amount of music content was on a long decline as they added more and more non-music content. There was a point where it seemed like the only videos they showed were during TRL.
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Happy 40th, MTV! Celebrating 14 years of music television!
I'll go with celebrating 3.5 years of Music Television and largely bailed after that except for trying to catch new Rush videos on release.
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Seems like everything changed with MTV when its parent company said, "now isn't it time you grew up and made real money? You can't make money playing music forever." Parents just don't understand!
It officially changed when Warners sold it to Viacom in 1984 but there were signs it was changing before that when the playlist began to shrink and they started a weekly Top 20 Video Countdown.
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Only Alan Hunter was in a video. David Bowie's Fame. He was a dancer.
Alan was my favorite VJ
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Only Alan Hunter was in a video. David Bowie's Fame. He was a dancer.
Alan was my favorite VJ
I liked Goodman and Quinn. Not a fan of Jackson and Blackwood. Hunter was right in the middle for me.
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Only Alan Hunter was in a video. David Bowie's Fame. He was a dancer.
Alan was my favorite VJ
I liked Goodman and Quinn. Not a fan of Jackson and Blackwood. Hunter was right in the middle for me.
I was indifferent on all of them. I thought Hunter and Goodman were dorks, not in a bad way, but still; I felt no real connection to Quinn - who I felt was put there for eye-candy - and Blackwood - who struck me as a fading radio DJ who was given second life - and Jackson was a bit too earnest for me. None of that is meant in a bad way; the only knock I have is that they all seemed to be trying a bit too hard*. I've mellowed on them all since; if I had to pick a favorite it'd be Martha Quinn or Mark Goodman.
* (and they lost a LOT of credibility with me with the Live Aid show; I know that was a tough gig, a whole day live, but watching back as I periodically do, it was EMBARASSING. If I had a dollar for every time they said the word "collaboration", I could join Bezos on the trip to Mars or wherever he's going next.
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Martha Quinn was always my favorite. She came off like one of your friends who loved music as much as you did and just wanted to talk about it. That kind of relatability is always likeable, to me anyway.
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That's kind of how I felt about Mark Goodman.
I thought Alan Hunter was a bit plain, but I didn't really like or dislike any of the original 5 VJs.
I heard U2's New Year's Day on the radio this morning on my way to work. I love that song, and that video was a staple on early MTV. I always stopped and watched it.
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I heard U2's New Year's Day on the radio this morning on my way to work. I love that song, and that video was a staple on early MTV. I always stopped and watched it.
I wish I had appreciated it more at the time. I love it now, but didn't really like it at the time. It was during my "if it isn't metal (or Rush or Styx), then it sucks" phase.
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I heard U2's New Year's Day on the radio this morning on my way to work. I love that song, and that video was a staple on early MTV. I always stopped and watched it.
I wish I had appreciated it more at the time. I love it now, but didn't really like it at the time. It was during my "if it isn't metal (or Rush or Styx), then it sucks" phase.
Pretty sure Tim is still in that "if it isn't hard rock of metal, then it sucks" phase. ;)
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Not exactly what I was looking for but it is interesting about what it was like back then.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09D8yXEXH_8
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That's really cool.
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That's really cool.
I think this is closer to what I was looking for.
We were so naive.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlQntJI8UPE
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Naivete regarding advertising?
That's the kind of thing that makes me a grumpy old man. Everything is about money. It's awful how obvious it is.
But in 1982, I was 13 and I loved my MTV. Even bands I didn't like, I loved their videos. I have so many wonderful memories from MTV's early days.
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Not exactly what I was looking for but it is interesting about what it was like back then.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09D8yXEXH_8
Les Garland looks like Adam Corolla with bad glasses.
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Naivete regarding advertising?
That's the kind of thing that makes me a grumpy old man. Everything is about money. It's awful how obvious it is.
But in 1982, I was 13 and I loved my MTV. Even bands I didn't like, I loved their videos. I have so many wonderful memories from MTV's early days.
Exactly. We were targeted but the great memories of '81 to about '84 (when the playlist narrowed) remain.
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Nice little story about David Lee Roth by Martha Quinn (who is aging well):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwuUNLpXq1o