Waiting for Polyphonic to one day drop a video history of Weird Al and show how his entire career rose in parallel of MTV and often parodied the artists that were on it at the time.
There's a newtuber, Abby E, who just recently dropped a banger of a first video a couple months back with an hour obscura deep dive on Weird Al. A week or so later someone with contacts gifted her a backstage pass to an upcoming show of his (which is super rad). I asked her to ask him if he'd consider taking over the neighborhood from Mister Rogers, based on my conclusion that Weird Al is the only adult male I would feel comfortable leaving children with unsupervised. If he declines, as a back up I suggested we start a petition to get Weird Al as our emissary to the UN. I can't think of a more genuinely wholesome face to represent us as a country. Not that we deserve that, this is just that leading with your best foot kind of thinking.
@Skarmillion Weird Al's Trapped In The Drive-thru is honestly a masterpiece. The animation is a visual masterpiece. You're too mesmerized by the lyrics and storytelling to laugh. It's my favorite song of his.
Love how the guy from MTV said they couldn’t play prince because somebody in a Midwestern town might get scared by him when he’s literally from the Midwest
Well, MTV was a "rock" format...even though their first video was far from rock, as were most of the British new wave artists they were happy to play. They were literally pandering to racist America, which was still the norm, even in the early 1980's.
@@abunchahooey I think Minnesota can be literally considered mid-West. Central Great Lakes still is not L.A. or N.Y. Or if you are commenting on MTV literally pandering to the racists of America you even heard the interviewer admit it. I am old enough to remember when that sort of segregation was the norm, even in the 1980's.
@@alexanders562 I think he may (?) have been simply commenting on the word "literally" not being needed in either of those sentences. Anyway, I am in agreement with your overall sentiment.
I remember sitting on the rug right in front of the TV at my friend's house as we anticipated MTV coming on for the very first time. It really was epic. Thanks for all your work on this.
I was right there with you. Prior to its debut, HBO had something that I believe was called Video Jukebox. It was only 30 mins long, but they usually played two episodes. When MTV debuted, I never went back. I too was watching when it debuted. I was so excited. Even loved the commercials, lol.
You failed to mention "Video Concert Hall" out of Canada that was Way before MTV. I was in northern Washington State. Look it up the fan websites. Bellingham was great! All the programming from Victoria & Vancouver BC. and Seattle. -Cheers
My mom actually won a contest for an all expenses paid trip to NYC and two tickets to the first MTV awards in 84, Martha Quinn said her name live on air! I was only 5, but I still remember it well. There's a popular pic in my family of my mom standing on top of one of the twin towers on her trip. Both her and the towers are gone now, I miss them both.
To be fair, Trevor Horn did spend the rest of the 80s producing hit after hit after hit like some sort of crazy miracle machine. People say he's a control freak, but man... those drum collages were worth it. He also produced "All the things she said" in 2002, then when the world needed him most, he vanished... And honestly, in terms of influence and ubiquity I think Timbaland is a good comparison, maybe not as freaky but definitely out there.
@@CasualSpud No Spotifies end goal was to have fake art on the site the owner could make so he could boot everybody off on a copyright for sounding too simialr to his music you Devotie 😄
I was an 80s kid and our whole family loved MTV, from Jump by Van Halen to Beat It by Michael Jackson to Take On Me by A-Ha. It was a magical time, an MTV was such a massive cultural moment. Thank you for reminding me of some of those fond childhood memories
Idk about giving him that much, considering he abused his power to bed well-underage girls and flirted with fascistic ideas. He was definitely ahead of his time, but also very much so a product of it. The excesses of the rock and roll lifestyle got to his head, and he did some deplorable things; at the same time, he contributed a lot to societal progress through being openly queer and using his privilege to advocate for others. His legacy is a mix of very good and very bad, with little in between.
@@collinbealHis "flirtation" with fascism, as you call it, we can now recognize as a young man gacked out on a coke/heroin cycle and trying to be edgy, using the modern parlance. David spent the rest of his life apologizing for this.
@@CB-ke7eq There is also no proof that he bedded underage girls other than the claims on one "baby groupie" who can't seam to get any of her stories or time lines to add up.
My mom used to work for Toni Basil in the early '80s. She tells me that one day she was at her house while some executives were having a meeting with her of sorts, trying to convince them that MTV was a good idea. My mom chimed in saying "It's the art form of the future!" and after that the executives were much more open to the idea.
Toni Basil's video was garbage and probably the reason she made such a horrendously awful video was in an effort to force MtV, for lack of better content, to seek out more black artists. Apparently Phil Lynott (Thin Lizzy) was not "black" enough for White "progressives"
Love this series! I was a teenager in the early 80's and watched countless hours of MTV. In the late 80's through the 90's I was radio DJ and Music Director. Every episode of Polyphonic is an absolute joy! Thank you for what you do for music and for the memories it holds for so many of us! Thank you!
The first time I saw MTV was when I was 11, in 1981 in a hotel with my family in Orlando, Florida. We were on our way to Miami to visit family and Disney World. It was a culture shock seeing half naked, Heavy Metal musicians in gothic/vampire-like make up jumping and writhing in a strange set piece. My parents were conservative Black immigrants from the French Caribbean and almost fainted at what they believed was pornography! I was mesmerized. I saw the future!!
Talking Heads did "Once In A Lifetime" before Mtv, but when they found out about the racist shadow-ban of black artists, they followed up that hit with a video for "Crosseyed & Painless" (also choreographed by Toni Basil) featuring only black actors and dancers... MTV declined to play it. So Talking Heads didn't make another video until black artists were allowed on air.
So Once in a lifetime was on MTV in 1981 then what video did the Talking Heads play on MTV after they came back on MTV? Cuz I remember their video Burning down the House video, but I don’t remember the song Crossed & Painless video. Not that I was a huge fan. Cuz if I was to guess, burning down the house was maybe around 1984- 1986 and I’m actually thinkin 1985 for some reason they came out with Burning…….. ✌🏼
Seriously, I have RUclips premium, and I don’t worry about it at all, it’s totally worth the price because I watch RUclips on my tv and it’s the absolute most watched thing in my house. My son watches it constantly and so do I. Anything I think of that I’d like to see on some streaming service always has something on that topic, usually even better than I could find anywhere else.
@@HorusHawks I DON'T have RUclips Premium. YET... I Watch RUclips all the time for FREE. A 4 Year old LG + RUclips. App. & If you want can use your phone to control. Also Movie apps Payment not required.
@@Greg-om2hb over ten years watching RUclips videos and I never see adverts, and it doesn't cost me a cent, install an adblocker my friend, it's a way of life, it's the future....
MTV was a huge part of my coming of age years. I was very into metal when the Thriller video came out, but my butt was right in front of the tv for the premiere. It didn't hurt that the song featured Vincent Price, lol. Excellent video, and I can't wait for the next part!
Blame the record labels. The books about MTV tell why. MTV was losing money during most of the 1980s. When the labels cut the promotional budgets around 1985, the quality of music videos dropped. Most videos were now just stylized band performances with random stuff thrown in just like they had been in the 1970s. No one wanted to watch them more than once and ratings fell. MTV's only chance to survive was to create their own low budget programming and that's what saved the network from bankruptcy.
@@scottlarson1548 Yeah but to be fair, Blockbuster wouldn't have gone bust if they started selling Meth instead of renting VHS tapes. When the pivot is to something THAT bad, they should have just let it die.
@AG-iu9lv Can you find any between 1987 and 1989? That's when MTV's ratings hit rock bottom. It took more than an occasional good video to keep people watching for an hour.
Such a nostalgia and flashback, this video! I am born in 1978, so I was just a kid when all of this started popping up. In my country though, we did get those videos on circulation on weekly 2 TV stations we had, but those same songs were on repeat on the only 2-3 Radio stations we had here in Iceland. Thank you for this essay!
Watching and listening to David Bowie calling BS on MTV’s policy on their avoidance of music videos by black artists is far more satisfying than it should be.
Also interesting how the VJ that Bowie's speaking to, chose to use the term "black faces". Prince was a black rock & roll artist, & they were stubbornly refusing to play him, prior to Purple Rain, which flew in the face of their early claims of how they would play a black rock artist.
@brandonpage7087 The VJ says they need to be mindful of "Some town in the midwest that will be scared to death by Prince or a string of other black faces". Wow, and this was just 40 years ago.
Peter Gabriel has never stopped being one of music's most iconic, cutting-edge innovators in both diversity in songwriting as well as visual artistic talent.
I'm an early 2000s baby, but my parents had a VHS tape filled with MTV clips recorded during 1984-1986 that I watched RELIGIOUSLY growing up. It had nearly a hundred early 80s hits that formed the cornerstone for my music taste. I rediscovered the tape earlier this year, and dredged up a VHS player to re-experience the memories. A lot of lost gems in there! "Slipping Away" by Dave Edmunds, "State of the Nation" by Industry, "Shout" by Grand Prix... But it ends with "Rappin' Rodney" by Rodney Dangerfield, which, I'm not gonna lie! It sucks! Horrible end to the tape.
This was an outstanding documentary! I was one of many college students completely obsessed with MTV and I’ve watched a lot of RUclips videos about it but this is the best by far. Not overly verbose but packed with insights and info. It’s really interesting to me in my old age to reassess the culture I grew up in. I’m heading to Amazon to check out your book. 🏆
Jews created the concept for MTV, give credit where it is due. Who funded the best moments of your life? The culture of the desert Gods and culture laid the ground work for your families last 20000 years
i LOVE how i postpone watching every upload because "meh i don't think the topic is that interesting?" only to finally give in EXPECTING to get bored in minutes. only to find myself enthralled at the fascinating stories and details! great video as usual mate
Since i was born in ‘59 the launch of MTV happened when i was 20 and i was a hooked consumer in its infancy. The info here has opened my eyes to the politics and growth behind the show! MTV was a cultural icon and generator in the music industry that went beyond the actual music we heard on radio. What a great time to be alive and experience. Cheers from an Aussie :) !! x
Fun Fact: The group behind the computer generated portions of 'Money for Nothing' would go on to create the first fully 3D animated TV show (ReBoot). The characters from the music video also made a cameo appearance in one episode.
Man, I remember falling in love with the video when I first seen it as a kid. My dad showed it to me when I was 4 and I was so blown away by the animation. The n64 and ps1 were still a shiny new 3D finagled thing in my mind in 2001 but I couldn't grasp animation and 3D getting any better 😂
Oh man, this takes me back. I don’t know if it was the first music video I ever saw but 12 year old me was blown away by Thriller. I couldn’t watch it enough.
Your channel popped up, and I pressed play. I loved MTV back in the day, Thriller was insane and so was Sledgehammer. I miss those days, but such is life. Great video.
Being born in 1980, I grew up on MTV. I continued to watch it through about 1998 but when the reality shows starting appearing as much as music videos, I walked away. MTV2 was a good concept to hang onto the pure music video aspect, but even this went to hell.
In my little Southeastern KY town, we didn't get MTV until the mid-80s. At around the time of the early 80s, HBO had a show (I think it was called Video Jukebox?) that was my place to see the latest music videos and was how I saw Michael Jackson. Later on, I had a music teacher in Middle School that would always show the THRILLER video around Halloween.
I get that younger generations are shocked by this sort of attitude, but keep in mind that 1981 is only 17 years after the passage of the Civil Rights Act, and only 13 years removed from the killing of Dr King. It takes time and generations to really evolve our ways of thinking, especially as groups. I'm just thankful that I got to grow up with an MTV with Prince, MJ, and SO many rappers (I was a big Yo! fan lol), that helped open up the mind of a white kid from the Midwest.
@@MIKE66648 I think at least a few people in heaven would consider coming back to life and risk going to hell in order to fight you for even joking about Prince being from Michigan lol
Our first store-bought home video was The Making of Thriller on Betamax. Before that we just taped stuff off of tv because new titles on video tape cost $100 in 1983-84. But my dad found this copy at our local mom and pop video store for $30 (which was still a LOT of money) and he grumbled about it being pre-viewed for that amount of money, but we were the COOLEST kids on our cul-de-sac, showing off that cardboard slipsleeve case and watching Thriller ANY TIME we felt like it.😆
@@juniorjames7076 Hahaha--you'd have been welcome! We were pretty proud of our collection. We had HBO too and we taped EVERYTHING: all the great comedy specials (George Carlin, Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy, Louie Anderson--even Judy Tenuta!) plus a good 20% of all the titles they showed in any given month. (In addition to the sh*t ton of MTV videos we obsessively curated!!) We drove from NOLA to Utah and Cleveland several times a year, and my brother and i would quote entire films beginning to end, we'd rewatched them so many times 😆 Grease 2, Feds, Moving Violations, Heavenly Kid, Midnight Madness... all the classics! ❤
This is a such a great video and series! Ha and you quoted Arthur at the end. Nobody ever knows what I’m talking about when I say “having fun isn’t hard.. when you’ve got your library card” made my day 👻🤣
I only had access to MTV for a short period of time in the ‘80s, but it introduced me to the Eurythmics, who remain one of my all time favorites to this day. Though the visuals were certainly eye catching, it was the music that really captured my imagination.
One of my favourite stories of a music video is Yes's Leave It. There's a really good video about it somewhere on RUclips, but in short, there's 18 different versions of it. 11 of which aired on MTV individually and as marathons. As a big Yes fan it's one of the holy grails of lost Yes Media.
Wow! What a great video. I'm a first-time viewer of the channel and you not only earned a subscriber you got someone who will happily show your videos to their friends. What great content!
Great video! As a rock fan who was there when MTV started, there was one big reason for resistance to the music videos that my group of friends agreed with. Many serious rock groups did not believe in commenting on or explaining their songs. It was a strongly held opinion that the songs should be interpreted by the listener. Of course we loved the creative videos (I remember waiting for the next announced time for Thriller) but videos did set your ideas about the song’s lyricists intentions/meaning. As the genera got more & more popular, the focus became more pop rock. I sure do miss playing MTV in the background as we studied, clean house or played games. VH1 upped the ante on entertainment when they broadcasted their “Pop Up”videos. So much trivia to talk with friends about. Good times!
You know I completely forgot this was a sentiment I had as well. As a pre-teen I remember feeling there were some books I read that I did NOT want made into films, because I had the stories and characters visuals already in my head! It truly was another era.
@@juniorjames7076 Queen are one group that would never speak on meaning. (Their video “Body Language” was the first video in history to be banned on MTV.) Eddie Van Halen would not expound on meaning of Roth’s songs. REM used to not publish the lyrics and would slur the words when singing. Many of these bands would only make generic - style videos allowing the listener to paint their own picture. As much fun as some videos are to watch, what does it say when the video is released before the actual album/single?
I'm pretty sure the very first music video I remember seeing was Ashes to Ashes. It was on a crappy little black and white TV when my family was living in New Zealand in the early 80s. I would have been about 6, and I was hooked. I already loved music, and finding out there were little movies to go with the songs blew my mind. I seriously remember thinking they were kind of like Sesame Street, which I was still watching. I still love that video, and I love that you referenced it here.
I was 7 years old in 1981 and was HOOKED from the very first moment I watched MTV… every day after school, I’d come home, throw my backpack on the couch, get a snack and jam out watching MTV … I miss those days !!!! This video takes me back 🥹🥹🥹🥰🥰🥰
17 here, loved it ❤️...2 b 17 again and in 1981 !! Memories ❤ good friends, great music, and happiness 😊 every day! Let's get a time machine! Glad we were there for it!! 🫶
What an awesome part 1, for what the future brings, I am so interested to see at what point MTV changes to what it is now. Started off watching MTV in the 90's but after moving out to my own, I had no TV and I didn't watch MTV for a decade after mid 2000's. 👍
I've long felt cheated out of getting to experience this period, due to me being born in 1983. I was a toddler during MTV's early heyday, we didn't have MTV, or even cable tv, at the time, in my home. Seriously, this time period looks like so much fun, & so awesome, that i can't help but be upset that i missed out on it. Though, at least i got to experience the awesomeness of the late '80s, & '90s!
This is why, thankfully, all of the MTV content I see in my feed is focused on the earlier chapters. I remember seeing like the 1985 (?) vmas a couple of years ago. That was 2 years before I was born. Eddie Murphy was the host. One of the coolest things I've ever seen. I can't wait to binge some more tonight that didn't seem to be uploaded at that time.
That was a taste of my childhood. I had two older sisters who watched MTV all the time and we were one of the few families that had cable in our neighborhood in the 80s. Muchtv was finally introduced in the mid 90s where I lived in the US. They had such good interviews with musicians. I remember scrambling to record an interview with Robert Smith of the Cure. A lot of music tv raised me.
I love the idea of weird indie rock MTV when it first started. I was too little to have distinct memories of that, but that seems like the channel’s coolest and most interesting form
Bowie on the right side of history as always, quelle surprise. Library card push is officially on. Brings to mind the early tours by Rush. The headliners would visit the band's hotel room inviting them to hit the hotspots and the 3 were sitting around reading books. Canadians, eh?
Ngl the nostalgia from this video. Was intense and overwhelming a couple times shed a couple tears. It felt like I was grieving a sweet spot in time. Possibly our peak as a society. A better time of life that we lost.
Awesome video, thank you for this poly! MTV, at least this era of the channel, is such an awesome story of innovation and people who really could see the future and where it was going, so cool to see and inspirational.
Before MTV there were half hour syndicated music video shows going back to the late 1970s. They were common because they were very cheap to produce. There was one we watched every week at 11PM before Saturday Night Live. For years that show was our music television. When our cable system finally picked up MTV, it didn't seem like a "revolution" at all.
Solid Gold with their sexy dancers stands out to me, but nothing is to be heard of that now. Big deal one day then unknown the next/ Maybe new high-tech mediums cause human memory loss?!!! I.E. Tiffany does a cover song dancing in a shopping mall & now shopping malls are dying left & right😎😜
@@michaelsilver253I was a 18 in 84. Grew up in Milwaukee area. Then attended UW-Madison. Before MTV most people had only heard Prince on the radio in 79, “I wanna be your lover.” There was no midwestern love of Prince in Milwaukee or Chicago. The reason is that unlike bands, Prince wasn’t out touring. He wasn’t making the rounds and developing that base that turns into record buyers. Labels see that strong base and sign. He wasn’t on that Midwest grind like Cheap Trick, REO, Head East, Michael Stanley Band, etc. Or hitting the college/punk scene like Mats, Husker Du, Suburbs, Wallets, etc. like fellow Minny artists. Prince was signed at 19. And unlike many artists, he was a genius. He put out 5 albums from 78 to 82. That kind of productivity and studio time doesn’t leave much time for the road.
Wow, what a great video! This was basically a mini-doc of my childhood cultural 'north star'. So many memories this brought back, esp of different friend's houses watching MTV after school, and of course, the "Thriller" premier!-- thanks!
Thanks for this. I wasn't allowed to watch MTV growing up and always felt like I was missing out. And whenever I snuck a peek of the channel when my parents weren't home, they were always playing an artist I didn't care for instead of my favorites!
I was there for it all and where i lived, they cut off the only AM black radio station so MTV was all we had for a while and those 80s rock and pop bands had the jam. I still jam to the MTV hits this very day. Great video!!! 👍🏿
I feel like Money for Nothing felt more dated a few years ago than now. At the moment the use of low poly has the same feeling that pixel art does, retro vibes and acid waves. Someone can make a video like that today (no a mainstream act, but artist work this style) . Maybe in a few years dated 2000's CGI will go through the same process. (tho, practical effects and 2D animation are truly timeless)
Thank you for this video. Very informative. I didn’t get my first dose of MTV until I moved to Phoenix in 1983. The small town I grew up in the Mojave Desert didn’t even have cable TV at the time. I immediately fell in love with cable TV especially MTV when it became available to me. For most of us it was our first glimpse into the bands behind our favorite song. Sure, most of bands included a group picture with their albums but that’s all we had. Unless they were someone like the Rolling Stones who were regularly in the news, a studio picture wasn’t much to help us relate a band to its music. I also remember MTVs build up to the debut of Michael Jackson’s Thriller as well as Van Halen’s Jump. Wow. Hard to believe that was 40 years ago. It was a big moment for both. At the same time, I wondered how long a TV station could stay on the air showing nothing but music videos. I mean the catalog is only so big. But they surprised me.
13:40 dude had to think of a black artist that would scare Midwesterners and names the second most well known midwestern black artist behind only Micheal jackson... That's hilarious.
One of my favorite forgotten aspects of early MTV were the videos for non-pop hits, like “I Love LA,” this lavish narrative video starring a singer who has never, ever been known for any sort of visual flair, personally or musically. Or the many movie and TV score cues that became pop hits, like the themes from “Chariots of Fire” and “Miami Vice,” which basically amounted to montages of the composers just… doing their jobs (ie, playing a keyboard as they carefully watched the live footage), or the one for “Axel F” where, like the “I Love LA,” they tried to make a composer look like a pop star. I think it shows an interesting difference between pre-MTV pop music and post-MTV pop music. It seems like, after MTV, being a decent entertainer or a good songwriter wasn’t enough to get popular, EVERYTHING about you had to be catchy, and while it gave a platform to a lot of amazing novel images and unique musicians, it kinda took one away from musicians who thrived better either as live performers or composers.
I bet Mtv didn't appreciate how honest Goodman's answer is. I mean he's still making excuses, but I'm sure they didn't want him flat out saying, "We have racists practices because we want to play in racist markets."
It’s always like that with racists. All you need to do is ask a follow up question- then watch their true intent slip through whatever bullshit they’re saying
No mention of the enormous significance of the British New Romantics phenomenon in 1980/81/82 (apart from a passing comment in reference to Ashes to Ashes, which drew its supporting cast from the New Romantic scene and consciously tapped into its aesthetic) in the development of the Music Video. The most elaborate, stylish, narrative-driven, trend-setting music videos in the first three years of the 1980s were overwhelmingly dominated by “Second British Invasion” acts in some way associated with the New Romantic movement: Adam and the Ants, Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet, Flock of Seagulls Human League, Visage, Ultravox etc, as well as videos for American Acts that were overtly influenced by the British New Romantic aesthetic (eg, Kim Carnes “Bette Davis Eyes” video, directed by “Video Killed the Radio” director Russell Muncahy, who also did all Duran Duran’s videos and those of several other New Romantic-associated British acts in this period).
For some more aesthetically important and impactful early 80s videos (some by black artists) see "Close To The Edit", "Word Up", "You Dropped The Bomb On Me", "Fight For Your Right To Party", "Come Back And Stay", "Fascination", and "Sweet Dreams Are Made of This". There was a lot of interesting stuff made then this video skips. The later years of MTV also started the career of Spike Jonze who would later become a famous movie director. There are probable a lot more lesser known ones too. .
I was a ten year old music fantatic from Canada visiting my family in Spokane WA when my 19 year old cousin literally FORCED me to stay awake to witness a new " music radio station" start at midnight that night. I was obsessed! It was another two years until Canada came up our version (Much Music). But, I spent all of my holidays at my American relatives and was glued to MTV 24 hrs a day! ....I wanted my MTV!
I remember watching (the American) MTV in Amsterdam, in the Netherlands, for the first time around 10 years old. It was still a new phenomenon then, in the early 80s, and it was the best thing I'd ever seen. The early MTV was groundbreaking for the time, it was new and exciting. It was something for the young people, while not much was being made for them then. With friends, as a teen, in the 90s, often we'd hang out and play our own music over the stereo, while MTV was on, like a colorful, moving wallpaper. Whenever there was a song on that we liked someone would say "turn on the sound!" and we'd watch the clip. It introduced us to music, like hip hop, that wasn't always being played on the radio stations here (there was only local radio to listen to, almost nothing international) and it had an impact on what the radio stations put on at some point too, because they had to get with the times. This was a nice trip down memory lane and nostalgia for me, thank you! 🎶🎧
MTV started my lifelong love of music when I was very young in the late 80s and early 90s. 35+ish later, I am a failed musician with nothing to show for himself. Thanks MTV, couldn’t have done it without you, my crippling shame, and lack of talent!
This was my high school years. What I remember about early 80's MTV was the Brit Pop. So much Brit Pop. Not just Duran Duran, but also Eurythmics, Wham!, The Cure, English Beat, Tears for Fears, Depeche Mode, Spandau Ballet Culture Club, Adam Ant, Madness... Over and over and over and over. Peter Gabriel and Talking Heads were by far the most interesting. The Police did the best "I want my MTV!" clips.
Great vid and subject! I'd bet that the musicians that totally understood music videos right away like Bowie, were the ones that saw music as colors or always saw a picture in their head that represented a certain sound. Whenever i hear a good song multiple times, i alway end up with a music video inside my head. I NEVER hear music without having images in my head!
Waiting for Polyphonic to one day drop a video history of Weird Al and show how his entire career rose in parallel of MTV and often parodied the artists that were on it at the time.
This is the kind of content we need right now
There's a newtuber, Abby E, who just recently dropped a banger of a first video a couple months back with an hour obscura deep dive on Weird Al.
A week or so later someone with contacts gifted her a backstage pass to an upcoming show of his (which is super rad).
I asked her to ask him if he'd consider taking over the neighborhood from Mister Rogers, based on my conclusion that Weird Al is the only adult male I would feel comfortable leaving children with unsupervised.
If he declines, as a back up I suggested we start a petition to get Weird Al as our emissary to the UN. I can't think of a more genuinely wholesome face to represent us as a country. Not that we deserve that, this is just that leading with your best foot kind of thinking.
YES!!! This is heavily needed! and to also let people know that he isnt only parodies, but also has a bunch of great original songs too!!!
@Skarmillion Weird Al's Trapped In The Drive-thru is honestly a masterpiece. The animation is a visual masterpiece. You're too mesmerized by the lyrics and storytelling to laugh. It's my favorite song of his.
Pin this comment, please
13:40 I love how Bowie's calling bs with his 'Very interesting '❤
Bowie always workin' his mojo. 😏💜😉
That's such an English way to handle the situation
Props to the interviewer for saying the quiet part out loud.
Right?! That was a hardcore interview with Bowie and Mark knew exactly what he was saying, he torched his azz with the very interesting!
i don't. it's offensive, not interesting. at least he said *something* though.
Love how the guy from MTV said they couldn’t play prince because somebody in a Midwestern town might get scared by him when he’s literally from the Midwest
Well, MTV was a "rock" format...even though their first video was far from rock, as were most of the British new wave artists they were happy to play. They were literally pandering to racist America, which was still the norm, even in the early 1980's.
Literally? 🙄
@@abunchahooey I think Minnesota can be literally considered mid-West. Central Great Lakes still is not L.A. or N.Y. Or if you are commenting on MTV literally pandering to the racists of America you even heard the interviewer admit it. I am old enough to remember when that sort of segregation was the norm, even in the 1980's.
@@alexanders562 I think he may (?) have been simply commenting on the word "literally" not being needed in either of those sentences. Anyway, I am in agreement with your overall sentiment.
Slipknot is from the Midewest...so, not sure it matters where you are from.
I remember sitting on the rug right in front of the TV at my friend's house as we anticipated MTV coming on for the very first time. It really was epic. Thanks for all your work on this.
I'd never felt envy like that before. Once we got cable, I never missed a day for years.
I am your friend 🙂
Ditto. Early MTV was subversive and sublime.
I was right there with you. Prior to its debut, HBO had something that I believe was called Video Jukebox. It was only 30 mins long, but they usually played two episodes. When MTV debuted, I never went back. I too was watching when it debuted. I was so excited. Even loved the commercials, lol.
You failed to mention "Video Concert Hall" out of Canada that was Way before MTV. I was in northern Washington State.
Look it up the fan websites.
Bellingham was great! All the programming from Victoria & Vancouver BC. and Seattle.
-Cheers
My mom actually won a contest for an all expenses paid trip to NYC and two tickets to the first MTV awards in 84, Martha Quinn said her name live on air! I was only 5, but I still remember it well. There's a popular pic in my family of my mom standing on top of one of the twin towers on her trip. Both her and the towers are gone now, I miss them both.
Beautiful story
RIP, dope story though
“A future where record companies have computers in their basements and manufacture artists.”
Dawg 💀
Spotify's end goal
To be fair, Trevor Horn did spend the rest of the 80s producing hit after hit after hit like some sort of crazy miracle machine. People say he's a control freak, but man... those drum collages were worth it.
He also produced "All the things she said" in 2002, then when the world needed him most, he vanished...
And honestly, in terms of influence and ubiquity I think Timbaland is a good comparison, maybe not as freaky but definitely out there.
@@CasualSpud No Spotifies end goal was to have fake art on the site the owner could make so he could boot everybody off on a copyright for sounding too simialr to his music you Devotie 😄
Zappa expressed a similar premonition.
The Buggles predicted Hatsune Miku!
I was an 80s kid and our whole family loved MTV, from Jump by Van Halen to Beat It by Michael Jackson to Take On Me by A-Ha. It was a magical time, an MTV was such a massive cultural moment. Thank you for reminding me of some of those fond childhood memories
Bowie was light years ahead of his time. What a visionary. And such a brave yet humble, good hearted person. 🌈⚡️
Idk about giving him that much, considering he abused his power to bed well-underage girls and flirted with fascistic ideas. He was definitely ahead of his time, but also very much so a product of it. The excesses of the rock and roll lifestyle got to his head, and he did some deplorable things; at the same time, he contributed a lot to societal progress through being openly queer and using his privilege to advocate for others. His legacy is a mix of very good and very bad, with little in between.
@@collinbealHis "flirtation" with fascism, as you call it, we can now recognize as a young man gacked out on a coke/heroin cycle and trying to be edgy, using the modern parlance.
David spent the rest of his life apologizing for this.
@@CB-ke7eq There is also no proof that he bedded underage girls other than the claims on one "baby groupie" who can't seam to get any of her stories or time lines to add up.
@@thegrinch7989 believe victims.
When celebrities flirt with communist ideology (which has killed magnitudes more people than fascism) they get away with it without a problem.
My mom used to work for Toni Basil in the early '80s. She tells me that one day she was at her house while some executives were having a meeting with her of sorts, trying to convince them that MTV was a good idea. My mom chimed in saying "It's the art form of the future!" and after that the executives were much more open to the idea.
Toni Basil's video was garbage and probably the reason she made such a horrendously awful video was in an effort to force MtV, for lack of better content, to seek out more black artists. Apparently Phil Lynott (Thin Lizzy) was not "black" enough for White "progressives"
I sincerely hope that's true! 🤞😀👍
r/thathappened
Well I for one believe my own mother
Love this series! I was a teenager in the early 80's and watched countless hours of MTV. In the late 80's through the 90's I was radio DJ and Music Director. Every episode of Polyphonic is an absolute joy! Thank you for what you do for music and for the memories it holds for so many of us! Thank you!
The first time I saw MTV was when I was 11, in 1981 in a hotel with my family in Orlando, Florida. We were on our way to Miami to visit family and Disney World. It was a culture shock seeing half naked, Heavy Metal musicians in gothic/vampire-like make up jumping and writhing in a strange set piece. My parents were conservative Black immigrants from the French Caribbean and almost fainted at what they believed was pornography! I was mesmerized. I saw the future!!
I don't know where the last 40 minutes went, Can't wait for more
Your style of narration is incredibly sticky to the brain
Talking Heads did "Once In A Lifetime" before Mtv, but when they found out about the racist shadow-ban of black artists, they followed up that hit with a video for "Crosseyed & Painless" (also choreographed by Toni Basil) featuring only black actors and dancers... MTV declined to play it. So Talking Heads didn't make another video until black artists were allowed on air.
Apparently Phil Lynott (Thin Lizzy) was not 'black' enough for white "progressives"
LOL
WOW. I never knew this,good that Talking Heads stood up for black artists. It takes-COURAGE-to do this,I SALUTE them.
So Once in a lifetime was on MTV in 1981 then what video did the Talking Heads play on MTV after they came back on MTV? Cuz I remember their video Burning down the House video, but I don’t remember the song Crossed & Painless video. Not that I was a huge fan. Cuz if I was to guess, burning down the house was maybe around 1984- 1986 and I’m actually thinkin 1985 for some reason they came out with Burning…….. ✌🏼
False. There were black artists on mtv from day one
@@sixstringhans-tone5574 Thriller video broke the color barrier in 1983, that’s the year Burning Down The House was made.
Dear RUclips, don't you EVER insert an adbreak just after the openning riff of Sledgehammer by Peter Gabriel.
If you send Google money every month, they will grant your wish.
Seriously, I have RUclips premium, and I don’t worry about it at all, it’s totally worth the price because I watch RUclips on my tv and it’s the absolute most watched thing in my house. My son watches it constantly and so do I. Anything I think of that I’d like to see on some streaming service always has something on that topic, usually even better than I could find anywhere else.
@@HorusHawks
I DON'T have RUclips Premium. YET...
I Watch RUclips all the time for FREE. A 4 Year old LG + RUclips.
App. & If you want can use your phone to control.
Also Movie apps
Payment not required.
@@HorusHawks
After all these years we finally bit the bullet and went Premium, and are never going back.
@@Greg-om2hb over ten years watching RUclips videos and I never see adverts, and it doesn't cost me a cent,
install an adblocker my friend, it's a way of life, it's the future....
A sincerity, eagerness and real excitement is clear in your voice.
Its one of the reasons your content is popular.
Thank you.
MTV was a huge part of my coming of age years. I was very into metal when the Thriller video came out, but my butt was right in front of the tv for the premiere. It didn't hurt that the song featured Vincent Price, lol.
Excellent video, and I can't wait for the next part!
lol! Same😂😂😂
I was 15 when MTV launched. We couldn't stop watching it.
Young people have trouble imagining that MTV was actually pretty freaking cool back in the early years… it’s just a shame what it ended up becoming :/
Blame the record labels. The books about MTV tell why. MTV was losing money during most of the 1980s. When the labels cut the promotional budgets around 1985, the quality of music videos dropped. Most videos were now just stylized band performances with random stuff thrown in just like they had been in the 1970s. No one wanted to watch them more than once and ratings fell. MTV's only chance to survive was to create their own low budget programming and that's what saved the network from bankruptcy.
@@scottlarson1548 Yeah but to be fair, Blockbuster wouldn't have gone bust if they started selling Meth instead of renting VHS tapes.
When the pivot is to something THAT bad, they should have just let it die.
It was built on shady pretenses
@@scottlarson1548there were innovative, budget-heavy music videos well into the 90s. You're bang on that record labels are evil incarnate, though.
@AG-iu9lv Can you find any between 1987 and 1989? That's when MTV's ratings hit rock bottom. It took more than an occasional good video to keep people watching for an hour.
Such a nostalgia and flashback, this video! I am born in 1978, so I was just a kid when all of this started popping up. In my country though, we did get those videos on circulation on weekly 2 TV stations we had, but those same songs were on repeat on the only 2-3 Radio stations we had here in Iceland. Thank you for this essay!
Watching and listening to David Bowie calling BS on MTV’s policy on their avoidance of music videos by black artists is far more satisfying than it should be.
David Bpwie was right
Also interesting how the VJ that Bowie's speaking to, chose to use the term "black faces". Prince was a black rock & roll artist, & they were stubbornly refusing to play him, prior to Purple Rain, which flew in the face of their early claims of how they would play a black rock artist.
@brandonpage7087 The VJ says they need to be mindful of "Some town in the midwest that will be scared to death by Prince or a string of other black faces". Wow, and this was just 40 years ago.
@@brandonpage7087 rock & roll came out of Black Americans... the Black church specifically
@@AK-km9qn and of course Prince was FROM the midwest....
I was deadass about to search for the channel to watch some old videos and bam here goes a new one. I love my life. I love this channel😂
Peter Gabriel has never stopped being one of music's most iconic, cutting-edge innovators in both diversity in songwriting as well as visual artistic talent.
I'm an early 2000s baby, but my parents had a VHS tape filled with MTV clips recorded during 1984-1986 that I watched RELIGIOUSLY growing up. It had nearly a hundred early 80s hits that formed the cornerstone for my music taste. I rediscovered the tape earlier this year, and dredged up a VHS player to re-experience the memories.
A lot of lost gems in there! "Slipping Away" by Dave Edmunds, "State of the Nation" by Industry, "Shout" by Grand Prix...
But it ends with "Rappin' Rodney" by Rodney Dangerfield, which, I'm not gonna lie! It sucks! Horrible end to the tape.
At 13:07 David’s eyes are saying…”I know you are not trying to sell me a load of rubbish with that excuse?”
Thats my nigga Davy good man
This was an outstanding documentary! I was one of many college students completely obsessed with MTV and I’ve watched a lot of RUclips videos about it but this is the best by far. Not overly verbose but packed with insights and info. It’s really interesting to me in my old age to reassess the culture I grew up in. I’m heading to Amazon to check out your book. 🏆
Jews created the concept for MTV,
give credit where it is due.
Who funded the best moments of your life?
The culture of the desert Gods and culture laid the ground work for your families last 20000 years
i LOVE how i postpone watching every upload because "meh i don't think the topic is that interesting?"
only to finally give in EXPECTING to get bored in minutes.
only to find myself enthralled at the fascinating stories and details!
great video as usual mate
No mention of Weird Al Yankovic?....he was one of the best things about those classic days of MTV.
The interview with Bowie says EVERYTHING!!!
Sitting on the screened in porche doin’ a doob and drinking apple juice summers of ‘82, ‘83 and ‘84. WATCHIN MTV!!!
Since i was born in ‘59 the launch of MTV happened when i was 20 and i was a hooked consumer in its infancy. The info here has opened my eyes to the politics and growth behind the show! MTV was a cultural icon and generator in the music industry that went beyond the actual music we heard on radio. What a great time to be alive and experience. Cheers from an Aussie :) !! x
Math ain’t your friend.
Nice nostalgia experience for me too, being from 1974, to watch this documentary. MTV used to be really cool, back in the day!
@@jamespohl-md2eq and why do you say that?
@@darylcliffordBecause mtv launched in 81.
That would make you 22.
@@jamespohl-md2eq haha - i used quite a few drugs back then lol
Fun Fact: The group behind the computer generated portions of 'Money for Nothing' would go on to create the first fully 3D animated TV show (ReBoot). The characters from the music video also made a cameo appearance in one episode.
Man, I remember falling in love with the video when I first seen it as a kid. My dad showed it to me when I was 4 and I was so blown away by the animation. The n64 and ps1 were still a shiny new 3D finagled thing in my mind in 2001 but I couldn't grasp animation and 3D getting any better 😂
ReBoot! Omg, I feel like 50 years old now 😂. I remember that show scared me so much, but I loved it anyways. Thanks for the info!
Oh man, this takes me back. I don’t know if it was the first music video I ever saw but 12 year old me was blown away by Thriller. I couldn’t watch it enough.
Your channel popped up, and I pressed play. I loved MTV back in the day, Thriller was insane and so was Sledgehammer. I miss those days, but such is life. Great video.
The look on Bowie's face at 13:38 - Love it!
Just bought the hardcover on Amazon. I love your work, the thought, perspective, script, visuals all of it. Thank you 🙏🏼
Being born in 1980, I grew up on MTV. I continued to watch it through about 1998 but when the reality shows starting appearing as much as music videos, I walked away. MTV2 was a good concept to hang onto the pure music video aspect, but even this went to hell.
Yup, same here. The 80s was such a fun decade to be a kid
MTV Europe has subchannels that play music 24/7 to this day. We have MTV Club, Hits, Live, 80s, 90s - all separate channels, no commercial breaks.
Those were the days
@pensivepenguin3000 100
@@georgegeorgiev3946nice!!
So happy this randomly popped up on my feed. Fantastic video. Well researched, well edited, and just all around good. Great job!
In my little Southeastern KY town, we didn't get MTV until the mid-80s. At around the time of the early 80s, HBO had a show (I think it was called Video Jukebox?) that was my place to see the latest music videos and was how I saw Michael Jackson. Later on, I had a music teacher in Middle School that would always show the THRILLER video around Halloween.
"We have to play not only what NY and LA wants, but Poughkeepsie. We have to think about the Midwest, who would be horrified by Prince." Jesus
Wheres Prince from, again?
@silentm999 prince is from the motor city and hail Satan for pk!
@@silentm999that was exactly what I was thinking lol
I get that younger generations are shocked by this sort of attitude, but keep in mind that 1981 is only 17 years after the passage of the Civil Rights Act, and only 13 years removed from the killing of Dr King. It takes time and generations to really evolve our ways of thinking, especially as groups. I'm just thankful that I got to grow up with an MTV with Prince, MJ, and SO many rappers (I was a big Yo! fan lol), that helped open up the mind of a white kid from the Midwest.
@@MIKE66648 I think at least a few people in heaven would consider coming back to life and risk going to hell in order to fight you for even joking about Prince being from Michigan lol
Our first store-bought home video was The Making of Thriller on Betamax. Before that we just taped stuff off of tv because new titles on video tape cost $100 in 1983-84. But my dad found this copy at our local mom and pop video store for $30 (which was still a LOT of money) and he grumbled about it being pre-viewed for that amount of money, but we were the COOLEST kids on our cul-de-sac, showing off that cardboard slipsleeve case and watching Thriller ANY TIME we felt like it.😆
Damn! Kids must have camped out in your living room for the weekend! I know I would have!!!
@@juniorjames7076 Hahaha--you'd have been welcome! We were pretty proud of our collection. We had HBO too and we taped EVERYTHING: all the great comedy specials (George Carlin, Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy, Louie Anderson--even Judy Tenuta!) plus a good 20% of all the titles they showed in any given month. (In addition to the sh*t ton of MTV videos we obsessively curated!!)
We drove from NOLA to Utah and Cleveland several times a year, and my brother and i would quote entire films beginning to end, we'd rewatched them so many times 😆 Grease 2, Feds, Moving Violations, Heavenly Kid, Midnight Madness... all the classics! ❤
This is a such a great video and series! Ha and you quoted Arthur at the end. Nobody ever knows what I’m talking about when I say “having fun isn’t hard.. when you’ve got your library card” made my day 👻🤣
I love this so much. Thank you for making this video. Can't wait for the next episode.
I only had access to MTV for a short period of time in the ‘80s, but it introduced me to the Eurythmics, who remain one of my all time favorites to this day. Though the visuals were certainly eye catching, it was the music that really captured my imagination.
As a public librarian, I APPRECIATE YOUR SHOUT OUT TO PUBLIC LIBRARIES
One of my favourite stories of a music video is Yes's Leave It. There's a really good video about it somewhere on RUclips, but in short, there's 18 different versions of it. 11 of which aired on MTV individually and as marathons.
As a big Yes fan it's one of the holy grails of lost Yes Media.
1 down 1 to go, Mc Arthur Park, gonna drive in the snow. Good bye bad, Hello Heaven.
Great video as usual. Thank you for doing your own voiceovers. So many RUclips channels using robo voices these days.
Your vids keep getting better and better
Wow! What a great video. I'm a first-time viewer of the channel and you not only earned a subscriber you got someone who will happily show your videos to their friends. What great content!
Great video! As a rock fan who was there when MTV started, there was one big reason for resistance to the music videos that my group of friends agreed with. Many serious rock groups did not believe in commenting on or explaining their songs. It was a strongly held opinion that the songs should be interpreted by the listener.
Of course we loved the creative videos (I remember waiting for the next announced time for Thriller) but videos did set your ideas about the song’s lyricists intentions/meaning.
As the genera got more & more popular, the focus became more pop rock.
I sure do miss playing MTV in the background as we studied, clean house or played games.
VH1 upped the ante on entertainment when they broadcasted their “Pop Up”videos. So much trivia to talk with friends about. Good times!
You know I completely forgot this was a sentiment I had as well. As a pre-teen I remember feeling there were some books I read that I did NOT want made into films, because I had the stories and characters visuals already in my head! It truly was another era.
@@juniorjames7076 Queen are one group that would never speak on meaning. (Their video “Body Language” was the first video in history to be banned on MTV.) Eddie Van Halen would not expound on meaning of Roth’s songs. REM used to not publish the lyrics and would slur the words when singing. Many of these bands would only make generic - style videos allowing the listener to paint their own picture. As much fun as some videos are to watch, what does it say when the video is released before the actual album/single?
I'm pretty sure the very first music video I remember seeing was Ashes to Ashes. It was on a crappy little black and white TV when my family was living in New Zealand in the early 80s. I would have been about 6, and I was hooked. I already loved music, and finding out there were little movies to go with the songs blew my mind. I seriously remember thinking they were kind of like Sesame Street, which I was still watching.
I still love that video, and I love that you referenced it here.
I was in high school. It was an exciting time. I loved my MTV.
I was 7 years old in 1981 and was HOOKED from the very first moment I watched MTV… every day after school, I’d come home, throw my backpack on the couch, get a snack and jam out watching MTV … I miss those days !!!! This video takes me back 🥹🥹🥹🥰🥰🥰
17 here, loved it ❤️...2 b 17 again and in 1981 !! Memories ❤ good friends, great music, and happiness 😊 every day! Let's get a time machine! Glad we were there for it!! 🫶
FANTASTIC VIDEO! Loved it. ❤
What an awesome part 1, for what the future brings, I am so interested to see at what point MTV changes to what it is now. Started off watching MTV in the 90's but after moving out to my own, I had no TV and I didn't watch MTV for a decade after mid 2000's. 👍
I've long felt cheated out of getting to experience this period, due to me being born in 1983. I was a toddler during MTV's early heyday, we didn't have MTV, or even cable tv, at the time, in my home. Seriously, this time period looks like so much fun, & so awesome, that i can't help but be upset that i missed out on it. Though, at least i got to experience the awesomeness of the late '80s, & '90s!
You missed out.
Gotta love how musical youth were able to get their video on MTV in those early days
And Eddy Grant.
Pass the dutchy to the left!!!
i love the content man, i made an informative speech on the who for my class after watching your video
MTV gets (rightfully) dunked on for how to it turned out, so its easy to forget how vital it was in the early days
This is why, thankfully, all of the MTV content I see in my feed is focused on the earlier chapters. I remember seeing like the 1985 (?) vmas a couple of years ago. That was 2 years before I was born. Eddie Murphy was the host. One of the coolest things I've ever seen. I can't wait to binge some more tonight that didn't seem to be uploaded at that time.
I haven’t even started and my teenage self remembers having such a crush on Kurt Loder.
Hi polyphonic. I'm absolutely enjoying this series. Please do more series like this!
That was a taste of my childhood. I had two older sisters who watched MTV all the time and we were one of the few families that had cable in our neighborhood in the 80s. Muchtv was finally introduced in the mid 90s where I lived in the US. They had such good interviews with musicians. I remember scrambling to record an interview with Robert Smith of the Cure. A lot of music tv raised me.
One of my kids grabbed your book for me for my birthday. I just started it, but I'm enjoying it. And I can hear your voice in your writing!
I love the idea of weird indie rock MTV when it first started. I was too little to have distinct memories of that, but that seems like the channel’s coolest and most interesting form
120 Minutes at least somewhat kept that legacy going into the '90s.
hit record is a masterful play on words. Great Essay dude. love this channel.
Bowie on the right side of history as always, quelle surprise.
Library card push is officially on. Brings to mind the early tours by Rush. The headliners would visit the band's hotel room inviting them to hit the hotspots and the 3 were sitting around reading books. Canadians, eh?
I wouldn't say as always, considering his Thin White Duke era and sexual abuse of minors.
@@collinbeal Didn't know of the SA. The coke induced Duke character made great music even if it nearly killed part of the man behind it
@@spooley oh definitely. He was a great artist, just not the best person
@@collinbeal yeah, the era of young groupies and too many drugs is not a good look on many bands of the day
Ngl the nostalgia from this video. Was intense and overwhelming a couple times shed a couple tears. It felt like I was grieving a sweet spot in time. Possibly our peak as a society. A better time of life that we lost.
Thanks Noah This is cool as fuck...Thanks for including David Bowie calling out MTV and also for shouting out libraries...And congrats on the book :)
Awesome video, thank you for this poly! MTV, at least this era of the channel, is such an awesome story of innovation and people who really could see the future and where it was going, so cool to see and inspirational.
Before MTV there were half hour syndicated music video shows going back to the late 1970s. They were common because they were very cheap to produce. There was one we watched every week at 11PM before Saturday Night Live. For years that show was our music television. When our cable system finally picked up MTV, it didn't seem like a "revolution" at all.
Solid Gold with their sexy dancers stands out to me, but nothing is to be heard of that now. Big deal one day then unknown the next/ Maybe new high-tech mediums cause human memory loss?!!! I.E. Tiffany does a cover song dancing in a shopping mall & now shopping malls are dying left & right😎😜
Great job on this. I enjoyed watching.
13:33 did he just say the MIDWEST would be scared of prince? Does he know where that man is from?
Are you confused about listening vs viewing?
Yes
He's a Minnesota icon but the rest of the Midwest not so much. Like I don't think Ohio had an especially soft spot for prince
@@michaelsilver253I was a 18 in 84. Grew up in Milwaukee area. Then attended UW-Madison. Before MTV most people had only heard Prince on the radio in 79, “I wanna be your lover.”
There was no midwestern love of Prince in Milwaukee or Chicago.
The reason is that unlike bands, Prince wasn’t out touring. He wasn’t making the rounds and developing that base that turns into record buyers. Labels see that strong base and sign. He wasn’t on that Midwest grind like Cheap Trick, REO, Head East, Michael Stanley Band, etc. Or hitting the college/punk scene like Mats, Husker Du, Suburbs, Wallets, etc. like fellow Minny artists.
Prince was signed at 19. And unlike many artists, he was a genius. He put out 5 albums from 78 to 82.
That kind of productivity and studio time doesn’t leave much time for the road.
Wow, what a great video! This was basically a mini-doc of my childhood cultural 'north star'. So many memories this brought back, esp of different friend's houses watching MTV after school, and of course, the "Thriller" premier!-- thanks!
29:22 I genuinely bursted out laughing, that's a great twist. And The image of the two opposing each other 😂
Videos were crazy good back then. Funny how one lives through history and doesn't realize it until later.
I love this series, thank you.
Thanks for this. I wasn't allowed to watch MTV growing up and always felt like I was missing out. And whenever I snuck a peek of the channel when my parents weren't home, they were always playing an artist I didn't care for instead of my favorites!
This is documentary quality. 👌 Awesome. I miss MTV.
I was there for it all and where i lived, they cut off the only AM black radio station so MTV was all we had for a while and those 80s rock and pop bands had the jam. I still jam to the MTV hits this very day. Great video!!! 👍🏿
I feel like Money for Nothing felt more dated a few years ago than now. At the moment the use of low poly has the same feeling that pixel art does, retro vibes and acid waves. Someone can make a video like that today (no a mainstream act, but artist work this style) . Maybe in a few years dated 2000's CGI will go through the same process. (tho, practical effects and 2D animation are truly timeless)
Thank you for this video. Very informative. I didn’t get my first dose of MTV until I moved to Phoenix in 1983. The small town I grew up in the Mojave Desert didn’t even have cable TV at the time.
I immediately fell in love with cable TV especially MTV when it became available to me. For most of us it was our first glimpse into the bands behind our favorite song. Sure, most of bands included a group picture with their albums but that’s all we had. Unless they were someone like the Rolling Stones who were regularly in the news, a studio picture wasn’t much to help us relate a band to its music.
I also remember MTVs build up to the debut of Michael Jackson’s Thriller as well as Van Halen’s Jump. Wow. Hard to believe that was 40 years ago. It was a big moment for both.
At the same time, I wondered how long a TV station could stay on the air showing nothing but music videos. I mean the catalog is only so big. But they surprised me.
Great work! I thought ABBA deserves more reference for their video work in the 70’s though
You did an AmaZing excellent job on this… and Century of Song… gonna read❤❤❤
13:40 dude had to think of a black artist that would scare Midwesterners and names the second most well known midwestern black artist behind only Micheal jackson... That's hilarious.
One of my favorite forgotten aspects of early MTV were the videos for non-pop hits, like “I Love LA,” this lavish narrative video starring a singer who has never, ever been known for any sort of visual flair, personally or musically. Or the many movie and TV score cues that became pop hits, like the themes from “Chariots of Fire” and “Miami Vice,” which basically amounted to montages of the composers just… doing their jobs (ie, playing a keyboard as they carefully watched the live footage), or the one for “Axel F” where, like the “I Love LA,” they tried to make a composer look like a pop star.
I think it shows an interesting difference between pre-MTV pop music and post-MTV pop music. It seems like, after MTV, being a decent entertainer or a good songwriter wasn’t enough to get popular, EVERYTHING about you had to be catchy, and while it gave a platform to a lot of amazing novel images and unique musicians, it kinda took one away from musicians who thrived better either as live performers or composers.
I bet Mtv didn't appreciate how honest Goodman's answer is. I mean he's still making excuses, but I'm sure they didn't want him flat out saying, "We have racists practices because we want to play in racist markets."
It’s always like that with racists. All you need to do is ask a follow up question- then watch their true intent slip through whatever bullshit they’re saying
Really nice video, please do more like that! It reminded me so much about my childhood in front of MTV
No mention of the enormous significance of the British New Romantics phenomenon in 1980/81/82 (apart from a passing comment in reference to Ashes to Ashes, which drew its supporting cast from the New Romantic scene and consciously tapped into its aesthetic) in the development of the Music Video. The most elaborate, stylish, narrative-driven, trend-setting music videos in the first three years of the 1980s were overwhelmingly dominated by “Second British Invasion” acts in some way associated with the New Romantic movement: Adam and the Ants, Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet, Flock of Seagulls Human League, Visage, Ultravox etc, as well as videos for American Acts that were overtly influenced by the British New Romantic aesthetic (eg, Kim Carnes “Bette Davis Eyes” video, directed by “Video Killed the Radio” director Russell Muncahy, who also did all Duran Duran’s videos and those of several other New Romantic-associated British acts in this period).
Awesome work.
I'm loving these, thank you.
Back when MTV played music. "Empty TV" as Kurt Cobain so prophetically called it. But he knew how to use it to reach the masses. RIP
Looking forward to the next and thanks for the shout out to much music! Love it
For some more aesthetically important and impactful early 80s videos (some by black artists) see "Close To The Edit", "Word Up", "You Dropped The Bomb On Me", "Fight For Your Right To Party", "Come Back And Stay", "Fascination", and "Sweet Dreams Are Made of This". There was a lot of interesting stuff made then this video skips.
The later years of MTV also started the career of Spike Jonze who would later become a famous movie director. There are probable a lot more lesser known ones too.
.
Also: "You Got Lucky" and "Don't Come Around Here No More"
I was a ten year old music fantatic from Canada visiting my family in Spokane WA when my 19 year old cousin literally FORCED me to stay awake to witness a new " music radio station" start at midnight that night. I was obsessed! It was another two years until Canada came up our version (Much Music).
But, I spent all of my holidays at my American relatives and was glued to MTV 24 hrs a day! ....I wanted my MTV!
It seems like you can't throw a stone in the Synthpop world without it hitting J.G. Ballard.
I remember watching (the American) MTV in Amsterdam, in the Netherlands, for the first time around 10 years old. It was still a new phenomenon then, in the early 80s, and it was the best thing I'd ever seen. The early MTV was groundbreaking for the time, it was new and exciting. It was something for the young people, while not much was being made for them then. With friends, as a teen, in the 90s, often we'd hang out and play our own music over the stereo, while MTV was on, like a colorful, moving wallpaper. Whenever there was a song on that we liked someone would say "turn on the sound!" and we'd watch the clip. It introduced us to music, like hip hop, that wasn't always being played on the radio stations here (there was only local radio to listen to, almost nothing international) and it had an impact on what the radio stations put on at some point too, because they had to get with the times.
This was a nice trip down memory lane and nostalgia for me, thank you! 🎶🎧
Thank u for uploading right as I started dinner !
And here I am finishing breakfast!
That was incredibly well done - GOOD JOB! 👏 👏 👏 👏 🎉
MTV started my lifelong love of music when I was very young in the late 80s and early 90s. 35+ish later, I am a failed musician with nothing to show for himself. Thanks MTV, couldn’t have done it without you, my crippling shame, and lack of talent!
Well done mate that was a very well put together video and look pro
This was my high school years. What I remember about early 80's MTV was the Brit Pop. So much Brit Pop. Not just Duran Duran, but also Eurythmics, Wham!, The Cure, English Beat, Tears for Fears, Depeche Mode, Spandau Ballet Culture Club, Adam Ant, Madness... Over and over and over and over. Peter Gabriel and Talking Heads were by far the most interesting. The Police did the best "I want my MTV!" clips.
Great vid and subject! I'd bet that the musicians that totally understood music videos right away like Bowie, were the ones that saw music as colors or always saw a picture in their head that represented a certain sound. Whenever i hear a good song multiple times, i alway end up with a music video inside my head. I NEVER hear music without having images in my head!