MTV when it was AWESOME
January 26, 2008 12:55 AM   Subscribe

Those of us who were born in the 1970's have a number of indelibly permanent shared experiences. Relive a few of them with 3 hours of MTV from 1983.

Single Link, 2 videos, Will make you feel old.
posted by Lord_Pall (56 comments total) 15 users marked this as a favorite
 
Please note that it really is Michael Bolton at 52 minutes in on the first video.
posted by Lord_Pall at 1:01 AM on January 26, 2008


Yeah, I thought I remembered that MTV used to show videos. Yeah, that does make me feel old.

What the hell do kids today think MTV is for anyway?
posted by Naberius at 1:06 AM on January 26, 2008


i>Those of us who were born in the 1970's have a number of indelibly permanent shared experiences.

And those would include MTV from 1983?

You poor, poor dears.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 1:08 AM on January 26, 2008 [2 favorites]


Obviously, no one born before the 1970's shares those experiences.
posted by Goofyy at 1:17 AM on January 26, 2008


Getting cable burnt things into our psyche.

The video for Thriller, Beastmaster, HBO's introduction with the flythrough of the tiny town, MTV's station Identification...

These things were on such heavy repeat during my formative years that I can never forget them.
posted by Lord_Pall at 1:19 AM on January 26, 2008 [5 favorites]


lol, I lived in a small southern town that had a religious hissy-fit against MTV and had it taken off of the cable soon after it started, bastards.
posted by zengargoyle at 1:30 AM on January 26, 2008


"What the hell do kids today think MTV is for anyway?"

I've often wondered that myself, Naberius.

"Come on, Cayden, turn it to MTV! I want to see some idiotic sluts bicker about shit, and maybe see that bad-ass commercial for Meet the Spartans, and...."

.............oh, hell. I can't even form a cohesive parody, because i have no idea what MTV shows anymore. I just know that it's really, really bad.
posted by ELF Radio at 1:35 AM on January 26, 2008 [2 favorites]


I almost FPPed this about one week ago. I reeeeally wanted to find more years. I want my MTV.
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 1:36 AM on January 26, 2008


who's the host?
posted by jeremy b at 1:40 AM on January 26, 2008


I called the HOT ROCK number to get my ZZ-top key chain but nobody answered.
posted by chillmost at 1:44 AM on January 26, 2008 [3 favorites]


Man, this is awesome. Like a time machine.
posted by chillmost at 2:09 AM on January 26, 2008


Initially, MTV was crap. It allowed any untalented poser to sell his or her music, due to the novelty of this "new" showcase. Then the videos got pretty good, as the medium matured. Then MTV largely stopped playing videos, and began producing the river of diarrhea that still pollutes our world.
posted by Chasuk at 2:17 AM on January 26, 2008


1983 is about the last time I saw MTV, so these clips look normal to me. When I checked the online schedule, though, yikes! I don't see any music video there. On a Saturday. Just Tiny Talent Time (Making the Band) and Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous (Cribs).

06:00 AM: All You've Got
08:00 AM: Making The Band 4 (Season 2)
09:00 AM: Life of Ryan (Season 2)
09:30 AM: Life of Ryan (Season 2)
10:00 AM: My Super Sweet 16
10:30 AM: My Super Sweet 16
11:00 AM: Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Gauntlet III
12:00 PM: Making The Band 4 (Season 2)
01:00 PM: Making The Band 4 (Season 2)
02:00 PM: Making The Band 4 (Season 2)
03:00 PM: Making The Band 4 (Season 2)
04:00 PM: Making The Band 4 (Season 2)
05:00 PM: Making The Band 4 (Season 2)
06:00 PM: Making The Band 4 (Season 2)
07:00 PM: Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Gauntlet III
08:00 PM: An Eye for Alba
08:30 PM: MTV Cribs
09:30 PM: MTV Cribs
10:30 PM: MTV Cribs
11:30 PM: MTV Cribs
12:30 AM: Rob and Big (Season 3)
01:00 AM: Rob and Big (Season 3)
01:30 AM: MTV Cribs
02:00 AM: MTV Cribs
02:30 AM: MTV Cribs
03:00 AM: MTV Cribs
03:30 AM: MTV Cribs
04:00 AM: MTV Cribs
04:30 AM: MTV Cribs
05:00 AM: MTV Cribs
05:30 AM: MTV Cribs
posted by pracowity at 2:28 AM on January 26, 2008 [2 favorites]


In Alabama, October 29th is Lionel Ritchie Day! Woooh!
posted by chillmost at 2:45 AM on January 26, 2008


pracowity
It happens every generation.
I remember when MTV made its mark, Milo Bloom sat gripping the chair, sound waves rippling his hair. MTV was spiraling then, like a slow hurricane, gathering strength, creating the vortex.

You'll get your's my friend. Pick a favorite, it will turn to swill as it rotates to the bottom.
posted by Mblue at 2:54 AM on January 26, 2008 [1 favorite]


I was only born in '68 but I can still remember MTV too... The "M" stood for "moo" something, didn't it?
posted by ZachsMind at 3:33 AM on January 26, 2008


More like Empty V amirite? MoAr liek sandy Eggo hunnnnnhhhhhhhhggh?
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 3:46 AM on January 26, 2008 [1 favorite]


liek sandy Eggo
Ah' crunchy lips, crinkle tongue, skinny flakes. Thinks while munches, grinds, spells.
posted by Mblue at 5:02 AM on January 26, 2008


Needs more Martha Quinn!
posted by dabitch at 5:09 AM on January 26, 2008


I was born in the mid 80s, and I watched MTV religiously through 1996 or so. (Yes, they still showed videos then.) I was a weird kid -- I'd be up early every Saturday morning (right about now, in fact) to watch the morning video hour, called Rude Awakening, and during the commercials I might check out some cartoons.

And I'd beg my parents for CDs by just about every artist I saw. As it happened, I ended up with a pretty eclectic collection: Silverchair, TLC, Soul Asylum, Hootie and the Blowfish, Salt-n-Pepa, Stome Temple Pilots, anything. I guess I was too young to have an opinion on what I liked, so I had the TV tell me. (Eventually I decided I liked Dave Matthews Band and ran with that for seven years or so.)

Now I'm a music major in college and I like folk rock and jazz fusion and all kinds of genre-bending crap. I often wonder if I have MTV to thank for it.
posted by danb at 5:09 AM on January 26, 2008


who's the host?

His name is Mark Goodman.
posted by Dave Faris at 5:16 AM on January 26, 2008


1983.
All I need is my bong, 3 double-cheese Domino's with pineapple, a bathrobe and my college roomie Lee.
Every Saturday morning at USC.
I miss you Lee!
I miss you, errant youth!
I miss you, hairline!
I miss you, washboard abs!

2008.
I DON'T miss:
Student loans.
Being terribly lonely and yearning for love.
Feeling powerless, worthless, hopeless.
A Culture drenched in Reaganesque ennui.
The way Lee would bogart the bong.

Call me, Lee!
I love you, man!
posted by Dizzy at 5:21 AM on January 26, 2008 [3 favorites]


Sex Advice from Former MTV VJs on nerve.com. (So it's possibly nsfw.)
posted by Dave Faris at 5:43 AM on January 26, 2008


Eh, fuck the '80s, anyway. I miss the '90s. Well, okay. I guess I miss '90-'92, except for some stuff in late '91 that I can live without. Plus most of '96-'99. Well, okay. About half of '96 and half of '99 kinda blew, but leaving that aside. This decade, whatever the hell it is? Uh...most of '01 was awesome. After that, though, kind of a piece of shit...

Man. Can we just cancel this decade and move on?
posted by kittens for breakfast at 5:46 AM on January 26, 2008


MTV's station Identification

Those of us who grew up in the 60s remember the Air Force/NASA footage late at night signalling "the end of our broadcast day"

MTV would play that clip of the astronaut planting a flag on the moon. I kept going to bed.
posted by hal9k at 5:58 AM on January 26, 2008 [3 favorites]


Wow, nice to remember how much MTV sucked right from the beginning. I remember being shocked the first time that I saw a danceclub advertising an eighties retro night. The eighties sucked so bad that it had never occurred to me that you could be nostalgic for it. I still don't get it.
posted by octothorpe at 6:16 AM on January 26, 2008


Oddly quaint.
posted by ColdChef at 6:51 AM on January 26, 2008


Oh, sure, I miss my washboard abs, too.
Yeah, right.
posted by DenOfSizer at 7:00 AM on January 26, 2008


The time: now.
The place: Horace's upstairs neighbors' apartment.

Mr. Upstairs Neighbor: "What on earth is that terrible racket coming from downstairs?"
Mrs. Upstairs Neighbor: "I think Horace is singing ... Huey Lewis and the News?!"
posted by Horace Rumpole at 7:02 AM on January 26, 2008 [3 favorites]


"Is that Freedom Rock?"

"Yeah, man."

"Well TURN IT UP, MAN!"
posted by ColdChef at 7:05 AM on January 26, 2008 [11 favorites]


I remember we got MTV in my town the first week it launched. No commercials! Tiny video library. But it was something new and as one of the few kids in the neighborhood with cable, I'd have friends come over after school just to watch it.

Around the same time on USA network there was a show called Night Flight on the air late night on the weekends that would also show videos. I remember being blown away seeing the uncensored version of Girls on Film (NSFW) by Duran Duran. It was quite the topic of conversation at the school cafeteria.

Today when I travel I'm always surprised that MTV in other countries still mostly play videos. They play a lot of the non-music programming too, but seem to have it in check. Then again, most countries have their own music channels that tend to be better than the US export.
posted by birdherder at 7:16 AM on January 26, 2008


Why does Sting look like Billy Idol? Is this a parody or were they just doing the same act back then?
posted by ColdChef at 7:33 AM on January 26, 2008 [1 favorite]


An "All Genesis Weekend"? Dear merciful god. Why were such atrocities allowed to happen?
posted by ColdChef at 7:37 AM on January 26, 2008 [1 favorite]


This is fun, but I have three hours of 120 Minutes from 1987 somewhere. Now that's classic...
posted by mykescipark at 8:04 AM on January 26, 2008


Wow. Bow Wow Wow.
posted by ColdChef at 8:07 AM on January 26, 2008


Freedom Rock!
posted by ColdChef at 8:21 AM on January 26, 2008


Bow Wow Wow

Yippie-yo yippie-yay, bow wow, Yippie-yo yippie-yay!

No, wait a minute... P-Funk wasn't on MTV in '83.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 8:22 AM on January 26, 2008


Freedom Rock!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 8:25 AM on January 26, 2008


You know how most toddlers draw pictures of houses, puppies, etc? I drew pictures of the ZZTop keychain, Duran Duran on a boat, and Annie Lennox in a suit with a riding crop. I heart these clips.
posted by infinitewindow at 8:59 AM on January 26, 2008


This decade, whatever the hell it is?

The term "aught" is commonly misused to mean "zero" or "nothing" as in "30-06" being read as "thirty-aught-six". The proper term, of course, is "naught". Therefore I should like to issue the following modest proposal; that since this decade begins with zero, and in honor of Black Sabbath, that this decade be called the "Supernaughts".

Oh yeah, MTV was fun back then, though watching it today pulls up the "guilty pleasure" tag in my mind...
posted by Tube at 9:32 AM on January 26, 2008


Remember when MTV2 had music videos?
posted by Kattullus at 9:57 AM on January 26, 2008


The Real World was the beginning of the end for MTV. I remember wondering why the hell they had that garbage on a music channel. Years later you could only see videos in the off peak hours and now its crappy TV 24x7 as far as I can tell. Bastards.
posted by curlyelk at 11:40 AM on January 26, 2008


Huey Lewis and the News is so underrated these days.
posted by Mick at 12:31 PM on January 26, 2008


MTV, while perhaps the most obvious example, is hardly the only network to have deviated from its original vision. I remember loving the Food Network when it first debuted and featured nothing but wall-to-wall cooking shows and I also remember how disappointing it was when they slowly starting moving away from the straight cooking show format and into more and more specials, travel-themed shows, "The Secret Life of...", their own reality show, etc.

Not sure if this is as well remembered, but when the F/X Network first started broadcasting in 1994/95 it was a great stoner's companion because it featured little more than one bubblegum rerun after another - "Eight is Enough", "Family Affair", "Nanny and the Professor" and "The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams" were my particular favorites. I was grossly disappointed when they changed their format and started showing more modern programming, including their own originals.
posted by The Gooch at 12:35 PM on January 26, 2008


*Bubblegum reruns from the 60s and 70s to be specific
posted by The Gooch at 12:41 PM on January 26, 2008


Relive a few of them with 3 hours of MTV from 1983

No.
posted by BrotherCaine at 12:51 PM on January 26, 2008


Oh MTV. I can't be mad at you.

We had a good time together, but that was so long ago. And we're different nowadays. We were just kids back then and now we're all grown up. I've moved on and so have you. It's a little creepy that you're still into the young crowd, but it's cool I guess. Too each his own right? I mean, we were pretty vapid and annoying back then too, right?

*laughs*

Anyway, I'm glad we can get together like this over some beers and reminisce, it's nice every now and then. Take care of yourself, and stay out of trouble...
posted by wfrgms at 1:01 PM on January 26, 2008 [1 favorite]


Freedom Rock slimeball talking in code.
posted by Devils Slide at 1:11 PM on January 26, 2008


Is Mark Goodman on drugs or something? He hardly seems to be able to keep anything together at all.
posted by JanetLand at 2:33 PM on January 26, 2008


Totally awesome. I love the commercials for the Atari video games.
posted by MrBobaFett at 2:34 PM on January 26, 2008


HBO's introduction with the flythrough of the tiny town

Ah, the HBO Feature Presentation intro! Man, I used to love that intro. When you saw that intro for a movie at 8pm, you knew you were in for a good fucking movie. I even remember seeing the making of the intro when it came out. Man, they were really hurting for original material back then.

Duh nuh NUUUUN!
nuh NUUUUN!,
duh dun nun nuuun...
duh nuh nuuun (duh duh dih! duh duh niiiih!)
duuuh duuuh duuuh (duh-nuh-duh-nun!)


Great stuff. I miss old TV.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 3:45 PM on January 26, 2008 [5 favorites]


Glad I didn't have cable.
posted by Joseph Gurl at 6:20 PM on January 26, 2008


I'm sorry - We can't control the subject of our nostalgia, the times and the places are not of our choosing. I still remember the day in 7th grade our cable company was scheduled to pick up MTV. I remember literally running home from school, and I still remember the first video I ever saw on MTV.
posted by jalexei at 9:15 PM on January 26, 2008 [1 favorite]


Hey guys?

You're not the only one who misses your old washboard abs.

Just sayin'.
posted by miss lynnster at 3:56 PM on January 27, 2008


Anyone else remember the Showtime Shorts? Anyone?

please?
posted by jquinby at 8:11 PM on January 27, 2008


I remember the phrase, jquinby, so I'm sure I saw them, but that's about all I remember.
posted by JanetLand at 5:44 AM on January 30, 2008


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