August 1, 2001

7:27 AM

20 years ago today, the Buggles started it all off. Love it or hate it now, MTV has had a big impact on our culture, and most of us at some time in our lives have watched it. Anyone want to share what they used to like about MTV back when it was cool?
posted by quirked (69 comments total)

Headbanger's Ball, baby.
posted by starvingartist at 7:38 AM on August 1, 2001

and The State - "Two hundred and forty dollars worth of puddin'... aw, yeah."

"Babaganoush? I wanna dip my balls in it!"
posted by starvingartist at 7:39 AM on August 1, 2001

I was a big fan of MTV back in the day, and now I think it sucks -- just like most other people that will post on this thread, I assume.

But here's the thing -- you can't run Beavis&Butthead, Headbanger's Ball, and grunge videos with Kennedy VJ'ing forever. MTV has done a good job of capturing the next generation of kids.
posted by jragon at 7:45 AM on August 1, 2001

Triple-J: J.J. Jackson... and how he used to mispronounce Neil Peart's name (from Rush): It's Pea-ert... or something. Man that used to irk me (hey, I was in middle-school).

And late Sunday nights watching The Young Ones. "Oh wow, Motorhead in our living room."
posted by hotdoughnutsnow at 7:45 AM on August 1, 2001

MTV started as "All music videos all the time".

Now it's hard to find music videos on MTV. What a bunch of crap they schedule.
posted by DBAPaul at 7:48 AM on August 1, 2001

the state and their two hundred forty dollars worth of pudding.

mtv always seems to be cancelling the shows that i actually like.the state, sifl & olly (the all time best show ever in the world ever), and downtown.... bah
posted by lotsofno at 7:48 AM on August 1, 2001

Oh yeah, MT|2 actually plays videos ALL of the time, AND I get it via broadcast television. (for the kids: "broadcast" is via radio frequency waves, picked up using an antenna, sort of like your digital wireless phone)
posted by hotdoughnutsnow at 7:50 AM on August 1, 2001

120 Minutes was once a great place to see videos and live performances of good indie bands. I remember staying up late every Sunday night with my brother just to watch it together.

And Remote Control remains one of the best games shows ever.
posted by emoeby at 7:55 AM on August 1, 2001

I miss the Ed Lover Dance.
posted by Hankins at 7:59 AM on August 1, 2001

jragon-
I don't watch MTV anymore because a) I can't afford cable, and b) I don't like hip-hop/R&B/sugar pop. Headbanger's Ball was the only place I could see videos for the bands that I like, and I think it still would be if it existed. Do MTV or MTV|2 regularly air videos by Tool, Slipknot, Disturbed, Linkin Park, Slaves on Dope, Deadlights, or any other new metal band I could think of that is wildly popular right now? 'Cause if they don't (and I don't know, because I don't have cable anymore), then there is still a need for the Headbanger's Ball.
posted by starvingartist at 7:59 AM on August 1, 2001

Oh, Alternative Nation and 120 Minutes were the best things ever. Except the State- that changed my life. Then there was all that animation- Liquid Television, and of course, Aeon Flux.

I miss being the target market for MTV. It was so much cooler and varied then.
posted by MonkeyMeat at 8:20 AM on August 1, 2001

I wrote a novel about what I miss about MTV, but decided that my lengthy opinion was best suited for another venue. Suffice to say that I miss old school MTV in a big way. A big, big way.
posted by Dreama at 8:20 AM on August 1, 2001

MTV has never been cool.
posted by websavvy at 8:27 AM on August 1, 2001

I miss the Ed Lover Dance.

Oh, goodly Christ. Me and my idiot friends used to scream "Ed Lover Dance!" and then do it during brief celebratory events.

Why does it suck so much to get old?
posted by UncleFes at 8:33 AM on August 1, 2001

Starvingartist, since you don't have cable, you are probably in the dark about MTVX, which plays nothing but all those bands you mention and more. The funniest thing I've seen in recent memory on any of the MTV iterations was on MTVX one late Saturday night, when I stumbled across EXTREME CHRISTIAN HARDCORE/THRASH/METAL YAAAARRRGGHHH!!

Oh, man, I could have watched for hours as those guys moshed and glared and howled and angrily pointed to heaven.

MTV is 20 years old, so unless you're, well, 20 years old, it ain't aimed at you any more. Sigh. Guess I'll go throw on a Jam album and cry.
posted by Skot at 8:34 AM on August 1, 2001

Speaking as one who was born a matter of days after MTV was, I don't think I've ever truly been MTV's target market, always too young or too old. (That said, I just happen to be wearing my Aeon Flux t-shirt right now. The perversity of the universe tends towards a maximum.)
posted by Freakho at 8:36 AM on August 1, 2001

I wonder how many people were watching 20 years ago today, when that first video was shown. I started watching not too long after it launched, but I wasn't there for video #1. That would be interesting to know, since so many people watch the channel (who knows why) every day.

I too miss the Ed Lover dance. And Kevin Seal. He never ceased to crack me up.
posted by misterioso at 8:37 AM on August 1, 2001

I saw the Buggles video when it aired; me and a bunch of friends went to a buddy's house (his parents were pretty well off, so he was one of the first people in our neighborhood to have *cable* TV, ya whippersnappers) and saw the whole thing. It was quite a day :)

Before that, we were forced to watch Friday Night Videos, which was a two hour show on Friday nights (duh) at 11. Ow, man, that Pat Benatar was HOT! :)
posted by UncleFes at 8:43 AM on August 1, 2001

Thanks, Skot. Now I have to give up eating so I can afford cable so I can watch MTVX.
posted by starvingartist at 8:43 AM on August 1, 2001

You kids just let me know if you want to hear more fascinating stories about how things were back in the Olden Days :)
posted by UncleFes at 8:45 AM on August 1, 2001

ha!

kevin seal and kennedy, two shining moments in the history of MTV.

growing up in new jersey during the 80's, i might not of seen the very first video, but i probably did become one of the first to yell 'i want my MTV', just like billy idol, sneer and all..

*sigh*
posted by jcterminal at 8:46 AM on August 1, 2001

I remember watching Friday Night Videos because my parents didn't have cable. I used to love their opening sequence.

MTV has been playing 80s this morning(TV at work!). I've seen Whip It, Burning Down the House, Safety Dance. Most amusing, I must say.
posted by quirked at 8:57 AM on August 1, 2001

MTV, get off the air!
posted by MegoSteve at 8:58 AM on August 1, 2001

More quotes from The State:

"My name is Doug. And your Dad. And never the twain shall meet."

Thanks starviningartist, I though my wife and myself were the only ones that remembered that show.

Does anyone remember IRS's The Cutting Edge? They showed it on Sunday nights and it featured IRS label bands like Wall of Voodoo, R.E.M., B-52's, Go-go's, etc...
posted by internal at 9:02 AM on August 1, 2001

internal, how about this one?

(in my best Italian accent)
"Ah, I gotta spaghetti sauce on-a my nice-a white-a shirt. And-a the Pope is-a comin' over tonight!"

:-)
posted by starvingartist at 9:11 AM on August 1, 2001

One of my favorite trivia questions:

Q: What was the second video played on MTV?

At the Museum of Television and Radio visitors can request and screen tapes from the previous 50+ years of television programming. On a visit a few years back with several lifetimes of material to choose from, I ended up watching an Andy Warhol Coke commercial (I seem to remember Diet) and the first 30 minutes of MTV.

In 1981, Ronald Reagan was merging politics with television. Dynasty and The Smurfs premiered. I went to bed every night worrying about nuclear war. Against the rapidly commodifying world of the early eighties and everything that world has become, the first years of MTV seem quaint and accessible. The graphics were hand-drawn, the performers looked like regular people in tights and mascara. Though corporate from the start, MTV started out with much of the spirit and vitality of a garage band. Nowadays, MTV hurts my brain.

A: The second song ever played on MTV was Pat Benetar's cover of the Rascals'
You Better Run.

Twenty years later, the Buggles seem more prophetic than ever.
posted by joemaller at 9:12 AM on August 1, 2001

Actually, according to this page, the second video played on MTV was Todd Rundgren's "Time Heals."
posted by kindall at 9:16 AM on August 1, 2001

kindall, the tape I watched was an unedited 30 minute block from the beginning of MTV. It has been several years, but I don't tend to forget something important like this. Maybe I'll swing by the museum this week and double-check. (this is going to gnaw at my soul until I know for sure)
posted by joemaller at 9:24 AM on August 1, 2001

I miss The State too.

And Beavis and Butthead.

I *was* the target demographic.

If there was an MTVO channel, where "O" stands for "Old" and they didn't play anything but 1980s videos, I'd finally have a reason to subscribe to cable. It's been nice these past few weeks to be flipping channels at my sweetie's place (where cable TV is in full effect) and suddenly run into "Rock the Casbah" or "Rapture".
posted by Sapphireblue at 9:41 AM on August 1, 2001

Martha Quinn
Nina Blackwood
J.J. Jackson
Mark Goodman
Alan what-sis-name

Wow. After all these years, and even though I haven't had cable TV since 1985 or so, I can still name (almost) all of the original five VJs.

I remember after the Challanger exploded the president (or something) from MTV came on right before the old spaceship promos and explained why they were continuing to air the promos. Then a few days later they said "to heck with it" and got rid of them.
posted by bondcliff at 9:46 AM on August 1, 2001

I can't believe the thread has gotten this far without mention of The Young Ones. Probably because I'm one of The Old Ones. I know it was a British import, but we may have never seen it here without MTV.
posted by gimli at 10:06 AM on August 1, 2001

oops, sorry hotdoughnutsnow! My skimming skills aren't what they used to be.
posted by gimli at 10:08 AM on August 1, 2001

the state and remote control are my 2 favorite memories of mtv. aeon flux and i think i remember a day when they used to play videos and i really loved seeing all the new videos from the latest bands. fuckers! i already pay $42/month for basic cable. the hell if i'm going to pay more for digital cable so i can get mtv2.

what the hell is the name of that show that was like the original jackass. it had the guy who is on spytv now - travis draft. i thought that show was hilarious. their logo was a smiley face w/a sight target on it.
posted by suprfli at 10:14 AM on August 1, 2001

Alan what-sis-name

Alan Hunter! Alan Hunter!

Gah, he was the cute one, you can't forget Alan. He was also the only original VJ to actually appear (as an actor, not as a "Hey, it's a VJ!" cameo) in a music video -- he's in the clip for David Bowie's Fashion.

I hate myself for knowing this.
posted by Dreama at 10:28 AM on August 1, 2001

Cute one?

No, my dear, Martha Quinn was the cute one. Nina Blackwood was the slutty looking one. J.J. Jackson was the black one. Mark Goodman was the cool one, and Alan Hunter was the wuss.
posted by bondcliff at 10:34 AM on August 1, 2001

I want to dip my balls in it.

I had a big crush on Kennedy. I paid 12 bucks (a week's food money at the time) for an imported UK Maxim magazine because it had an alternate (color) "naked on the donkey" photo of her.
posted by dong_resin at 10:37 AM on August 1, 2001

MTV?! Let's instead hear some cheers for HBO Video Jukebox!
posted by gluechunk at 10:39 AM on August 1, 2001

What the hell is the name of that show that was like the original jackass.

Buzzkill was certainly before its time. I miss it so.
posted by Hankins at 10:45 AM on August 1, 2001

Dreama - I commiserate with you about old school MTV. All videos, all the time. I actually appreciated that they DIDN'T have special shows back then because they'd play a variety of kinda of music right next to each other, and I'd get introduced to a lot of different songs/bands I wouldn't have listened for otherwise. And how could one NOT mention Duran Duran when talking about MTV in its early years? *grin*
posted by thunder at 10:45 AM on August 1, 2001

what the hell is the name of that show that was like the original jackass. it had the guy who is on spytv now - travis draft. i thought that show was hilarious. their logo was a smiley face w/a sight target on it.

buzzkill... the show you're thinking of was buzzkill.

and by god, like most everyone else i miss the state too. hell, my best friend and i in high school went as levon and barry for halloween one year.

i'm still really pissed that they wouldn't let us cart around a wagon filled with pudding all day...
posted by dincognito at 10:46 AM on August 1, 2001

Back in the day when Corgan had hair and L.F.O. (the real L.F.O., not the boyband) was pumping out some of the sickest house music around, I was a 120 minutes fanatic. Had to watch it every Sunday night. I also loved Liquid Television. Anybody remember the cartoon where the kid was fighting the cockroach in the giant mech outfits... and then at the end the kid opened the lid of the roach's mech and smashed him with his ring? I'd love to find a copy of that somewhere. Aww...memories...
posted by fluxcreative at 10:49 AM on August 1, 2001

Sorry, fluxcreative, but Billy Corgan is just not included in "The Day" when talking about MTV.

Remember when Bono looked like Robin Williams?
posted by bondcliff at 10:55 AM on August 1, 2001

I started watching MTV a couple days after it came on the air. I was just another 22 year old stoner staring in mute fascination at the screen, thinking how cool it was to watch these people sing and play rather than just hearing it. After a while it began to dawn on everyone that you couldn't have a hit without a cool video (remember A-Ha!?). That no longer seems to be the case.

My strangest MTV memory centers around a sleep-deprived viewing of MTV Europe in the Moscow airport at 5 a.m., but that's another story entirely.
posted by apollo at 10:58 AM on August 1, 2001

Nice to see other people who liked The State! My favorite was the "MMMM! Muppet!" sketch (they were eating muppet meat; shockingly funny), but everything was hilarious.
posted by girlhacker at 11:00 AM on August 1, 2001

what the hell is the name of that show that was like the original jackass.

pretty sure you're talking about buzzkill, superfli.

hbb was excellent. and the maxx was brilliant. and while i didn't really like the show much, i loved the themesong for the ben stiller show: "i'm ben. i'm ben. and it's my show, yo!"
posted by mmanning at 11:01 AM on August 1, 2001

OK... what I really meant was back in "my day"... not technically "the" day.
posted by fluxcreative at 11:03 AM on August 1, 2001

120 Minutes
Beavis & Butthead
The Young Ones



TRL is one of the most insidious, evil things I have ever had the misfortune to witness. MTV used to be a guilty pleasure--my parents thought it was going to be the downfall of society. Looking at it now, perhaps I agree with them. Yikes.
posted by witchstone at 11:05 AM on August 1, 2001

My parents took away Mtv when my Dad saw Devo's "Whip It." Isn't that the cutest?

We got it back later, though.
posted by amanda at 11:12 AM on August 1, 2001

MTV Makes Me Wanna Smoke Crack - Beck

MTV is the worst thing to happen to music since well... ever!!! The real problem isn't that they don't play music you like anymore. The real problem is that before MTV came along, to see music you had to go to a concert. Now you can see music in your living room, and you know what, Mick Jagger just doesn't look that good from the seven hundred level at Veterans Stadium. And frankly, even if you sat close, how can him standing there singing compete with the entertainment value of a million dollar video with explosions and dancers and jump cuts. MTV helped speed the music industry on it's way from a place where musicians could distribute there art to a massive advertising campaign that shoves it's product down your throats. It's not about what you can do or what you have to say, it's what you look like.

And the reason MTV doesn't play your kind of music anymore is that your old enough to think before you go out and buy the latest crap they are peddling.
posted by bob bisquick at 11:12 AM on August 1, 2001

My strangest MTV memory centers around a sleep-deprived viewing of MTV Europe in the Moscow airport at 5 a.m., but that's another story entirely.

Four years ago, I was working on a museum exhibit about Lake Victoria and spent a month in Kenya and Uganda. Our small band of researchers had been spending a lot of time in rural Kenya around the Lake. A few of us were going on to Jinja in Uganda before the others and we dropped them off at a border crossing. On the way back to camp, driving the Land Rover across the dark red dirt roads, bouncing around, encased in our own sweat and grime, we stopped at a roadside stand for a kubwa baridi (big, cold) drink. Up the wall, on a little platform, a TV was playing. It was tuned to MTV International. I was thousands of miles from home, had been days outside of any real civilization, was hot and weary, and I was amazed to see this touch of home so very far away. Even better, the video was Hanson's Mmmm-bop.
posted by warhol at 11:15 AM on August 1, 2001

I hate Dave Kendall.

At frist I thought The State was just a hack Kids In The Hall, but Barry and Levon converted me.
posted by hotdoughnutsnow at 11:16 AM on August 1, 2001

The best things about MTV were Kevin Seal and 120 Minutes.

I remember seeing Sinead O'Connor's "Troy" and being totally blown away. And Kevin had the same sort of offbeat sense of humor as my other sarcastic hero at the time, David Letterman.
posted by warhol at 11:19 AM on August 1, 2001

Like everyone else, I totally miss The State. Like no one else, apparently, I also happen to really, really miss Dead at 21.
posted by webmutant at 11:24 AM on August 1, 2001

To starvingartist and all you other State lovers:

Here is a link were you can buy highlights from The State here.

My biggest problem with MTV, other than the fact that they don't play any music anymore, is when it morphed in to a political organ and started preaching (circa 1992?).
posted by internal at 11:28 AM on August 1, 2001

Favorite 80's things: Nina Blackwood, Twisted Sister and Quiet Riot videos, the Young Ones, Yo MTV Raps, and watching a bit too much Live Aid.

90's: Austin Short Stories (anyone remember this?!), Liquid television, The State, and Beavis and Butthead when it was about making fun of those kids (thank god they took it off the air, by then those kids became the target audience and viewed it as documentary).
posted by mathowie at 11:34 AM on August 1, 2001

Though I am loath to admit it, I often find myself watching MTV these days, mostly for the MTV commercials and intersitials they have. It could just be me, but I think the creative team they have for stuff like that is very talented. That, and their website, definetly smacks of "cool". Though, i can be perfectly happy checking it all out without the sound on at all, and I'm that doesn;t bode well for a music channel.

Sapphinre: Isn't there a MTVO already? I think it's called VH1 ;)
posted by Hackworth at 11:37 AM on August 1, 2001

Actually, I should say that I like the MTV UK site rather than the us mtv site, that one is kinda...eh.
posted by Hackworth at 11:41 AM on August 1, 2001

The summer after seventh grade, all the kids in my neighborhood would hang out at the pool all day long. We would show up at noon and wouldn't leave until it was dark. I am pretty sure that summer was one of the happiest times of my life.

The summer after eighth grade, my neighborhood got cable, and that summer, all the kids in my neighborhood stayed home and watched MTV. Needless to say, it's all been downhill since then.
posted by metascene at 11:51 AM on August 1, 2001

mathowie: I resemble that remark.

Hackworth: VH-1 is MTVO only if the "old" refers to their audience, not the music itself... doh! No, seriously though, I want yesterday's pop music, not today's easy listening.

Hey, for those that have never seen it, here is the sordid tale behind the mtv.com as told by Adam Curry, and more stuff on the lawsuit here.
posted by Sapphireblue at 12:17 PM on August 1, 2001

Genre shows like 120 Minutes were a godsend for those of us who didn't live in the big coastal cities and yet wanted to hear a wider variety of new music. In Mississippi, the only rock stations were either lame "Top 40" pabulum or the kind of tired "Classic Rock" format that I now think of as "All Zeppelin, All Skynyrd, All The Time."
posted by harmful at 1:04 PM on August 1, 2001

Genre shows like 120 Minutes were a godsend for those of us who didn't live in the big coastal cities and yet wanted to hear a wider variety of new music.

Concur completely with this. 120 Minutes was the only resource available for those of us in rural New England in the pre-Nirvana, pre-Internet era of stale Top 40 radio.

Like everyone else, I totally miss The State.

"The State" was good, but what enjoyed even more was "You Wrote It, You Watch It." For those of you unfamiliar with this, it was a show hosted by Jon Stewart and starred the cast of The State. The premise was that viewers would write into the show describing their embarrassing or unusual experiences, which would be turned skits performed by The State cast.
posted by ljromanoff at 1:18 PM on August 1, 2001

Awww...memories. Live Aid. I would so pay serious money for all of Live Aid on DVD.
posted by dnash at 2:10 PM on August 1, 2001

Nobody has mentioned Julie Brown's show. Not the "wubba wubba wubba" Julie Brown, the "Homecoming Queen's Got a Gun" Julie Brown. That there was some comedy.

And I remember sitting at my girfriend's house taping Live Aid while she was at work...
posted by dogwelder at 3:06 PM on August 1, 2001

Anyone else fondly remember The Idiot Box, Alexander Winter's (Bill of Bill & Ted) twisted sketch show?
posted by dong_resin at 4:03 PM on August 1, 2001

I have every hour of MTV's broadcast of Live Aid on video cassette. (Betamax video cassette, but video cassette nonetheless.) Anybody want to take them, my old Betamax VCR and do a rig up with a new generation iMac and burn them to DVD? Heh.

No, my dear, Martha Quinn was the cute one. Nina Blackwood was the slutty looking one. J.J. Jackson was the black one. Mark Goodman was the cool one, and Alan Hunter was the wuss.

And now Martha's the pregnant one, Nina's the old-looking one, J.J.'s still the black one, Mark is the geeky one (web company!) and Alan's the filmmaking auteur. My, how times change.

And how could one NOT mention Duran Duran when talking about MTV in its early years? *grin*

Thunder, you're my new hero. You went there when I was afraid to. (My obsession is relatively well known, I mean hell, look at the name of my website.)

Btw, I can't believe that no one has mentioned The Head. I loved that little alien guy.
posted by Dreama at 4:07 PM on August 1, 2001

MTV is the worst thing to happen to music since well... ever!!! ... to see music ... see music in your living room ...

Bisquick, you were pretty close to the mark in declaring that MTV is the worst thing to happen to music, but you didn't follow your train of thought all the way to the station.

The truth is, the other part of your post reveals the REAL reason that MTV (and music videos in general) is just plain wrong. Music is something that you HEAR. "Seeing music"? Uh-uh and no way. What convinced me was Joe Jackson's "Stepping Out", first seen back around 1983 or 1984. Seeing that video, and trying to reconcile the pictures on the screen with what the music "sounded like" in my mind's eye, made me swear off of music videos forever. Much to the chagrin of my children, it is forbidden in our house, but I'm sure they sneak peeks occasionally. What can I say? I'm a mean dad.
posted by davidmsc at 4:16 PM on August 1, 2001

the very first time i watched MTV, it was at the babysitter's house. they played a culture club video, and I remember the old lady and her friend talking about how slutty looking "that woman" (Boy George) was....at that time, MTV was innovative, it was exotic, it was rebellious...now it's a channel that bleeps any reference to drugs, but will show softcore porn pop crap on a daily basis...you know, since they are only contractually allowed to show one video per day and all
posted by freeride at 11:11 PM on August 1, 2001

Dreama - Blue Silver ... very clever, I never would have figured that. Nice and obscure to everyone but real fans.
posted by quirked at 7:40 AM on August 2, 2001

I love Duran Duran, and understand that the Buggles, Pat B. , et al, were *important* to the development of the (shudder) "music video" --- but let's not forget the true FIRST musical group created solely for video - the Monkees. And they were great - go figure.
posted by davidmsc at 4:52 AM on August 3, 2001