Good morning, Wednesday. Had myself a lovely workout this morning, and now happily listening to Spotify, the best thing to happen to my musical repertoire since, well MTV?
As all of you know, MTV is 30 bloody years old. I have always told you I am pretty much textbook Gen X, and very proud of it. Sure, there were other eras that have seduced me more than the 80s, but it was fun growing up during that time, and a lot of it was because of MTV. After all, we were the MTV generation, just as today's crowd in braces and training bras and changing voices are the digital one.
How did this inform my life and many more to follow, and more importantly than just you and me, how about culture at large? I won't soon forget the day when I got MTV- for some insane reason; Philadelphia was a late bloomer in bringing cable TV to the masses. It took what felt like forever, but once I got it, I couldn't turn away. For the first time in history, there was a channel for me, speaking to me, playing music for me. And there was Duran Duran. In Sri Lanka. Who even heard of such a place, let alone watch a video shot from there? MTV completely changed pop culture- if pop music was a product in itself, MTV was the delicious, addictive package it came in, yet also the medium for artists to express themselves in new ways. The early videos were super high concept and over the top creative, the later ones more slick and well produced. But regardless if you were the Art of Noise or Madonna, you needed a damn video. It became part of selling music, and it changed the way we see music stars forever- suddenly, you had to have a real "look" for TV- sure earlier pop stars were insanely stylish, but now looks and style were a huge part of selling a record. Duran Duran being the perfect example- those boys were so cute (except for Andy. Blech) and had so much style- it was a band created largely by an art school aesthetic, a new romantic vibe, and of course, MTV. Back then, we did not have Facebook- we connected over MTV, and waited breathlessly for video premieres we could talk about the next day in school. Remember the Thriller premiere? My whole family watched that together, and we had a party to accompany its release. That's how huge MTV was, and how powerful its engine fueled by stars like Michael Jackson came to be.
And MTV, which started at the start of the most gluttonous decade of all time, summed up the mood of the country, and the world, during that time with the simple tagline "I want my MTV". I wanted it, you wanted it, and we all wanted it. But then we wanted so much more, and here we are 30 years later with this debt ceiling debacle and a country that wanted too much, so much so that we can't pay our bills. MTV was smart enough to play on this gluttonous desire that was rearing its overhairsprayed head at that time, and they put a man on the moon. That man was an icon of pop culture, big money, and undeniable influence to sway, influence, and keep ahead of a generation that grew up wanting more. That moon man really was a giant step, for pop culture and a generation raised on a steady diet of videos, big hair, and John Hughes films. It was our channel, and that's that.
Not to mention what the channel did for rap music and metal. If MTV had not been around, little me in suburban Philadelphia and my then future husband in Louisville, Kentucky would not have known about the beginnings of hip hop, thanks to Yo!MTV Raps. The most genius thing about MTV is you could literally go back in time now, watch some vintage clips from the channel, and find out exactly what was happening in culture. I was thinking this am about when the channel fell off for me and there was a time when I didn't want my MTV. Like, at all. It was somewhere between high school and college, but during college the whole Seattle thing came about, and once again I was riveted to MTV to watch this new band Nirvana tear shit up in a way I didn't completely understand, but was completely fascinated by (admittedly grunge was not my fav era of music, but there were some serious gems there- Nirvana being one of them). And I won't soon forget Kurt Loder's genius reporting and hard hitting interviews, or the time Courtney Love got in Madonna's face at one of the awards shows. Amazing.
Think about what MTV did for globalization- suddenly we had MTV all over the world, yet it was a uniquely American costruct at first- and they even nailed the local thing before there was all this talk of hyperlocal- each market had different programming, all somehow tied to the plasma of indigenous tastes and cultural likes. And their ability to curate content the way they did had never been done before, the MTV brand was built first on videos, then unique content. MTV is part of our culture, a barometer for pop culture, and a pulse for youth culture that should be required viewing for any parent confused about what their kids are doing- and I still believe this to be true, though now there are even more places to look for clues. Oh and how about pioneering reality TV with "The Real World"? Genius.
And let's not forget about 120 Minutes, where I found a lot of artists in the alternative space that I might not have otherwise discovered, even though I listened to a ton of college radio. Ooh and how about how they used to show "The Young Ones"? That insane show from the UK about those whacked out British roommates? Vivian. OMG. I remember one episode where Madness played and I thought Suggs was one of the coolest looking dudes of all time. And then I named a stuffed animal after him (aww).
As I sit here and listen to Ben Fold's version of "In Between Days", I can't help but think every single one of us is somehow affected by MTV. I feel very lucky to have grown up during that time, with MTV beside me to cheer me on, fascinate me, and piss me off (there was a real backlash to commercialism and selling out in the beginning, then it became part of the vernacular of success in the business- who cares who shills for what now...but back then. Not cool). I wish somehow, that I could still just want my MTV, whose presence in my life during my youth was hugely important- before I wanted so many other things like success, true love, and hair that doesn't frizz. Back in the day of braces and asymmetrical hair, all I wanted was my MTV. Oh, and John Taylor to be my husband. That too- all because of those videos on MTV...
And speaking of videos, it's very hard to pick my favorites, though my all time faith is most definitely "Freedom 90" by George Michael, complete with supermodels. Though I also loved all of the Huey Lewis videos, (I did, ok?) Hall and Oates did great ones; Robert Palmer killed it with his sexy brand of suave, as did ABC. And you can't have this conversation without shouting out Billy Idol, Cyndi Lauper, The Culture Club, Madonna, MJ, and Janet Jackson, and naturally Duran Duran. There are so many others I am forgetting, but I am sure you can summon your own video file in your brain and come up with more. If you do, let me know. Some may say that MTV diluted culture, forcefed it to us, and commercialized music to the point of no turning back, as well as conveniently packaged youth culture for Madison Avenue to exploit for years to come. Fuck them. It may be true, but it's still an incredibly profound and amazing media machine that changed the world. I for one am glad they were around to accompany my angst filled youth. I think I may have ended up in advertising because of MTV actually- I was so drawn to the packaging of culture, and the ability to disrupt and affect it (remember when we used to do that?).
Happy, happy birthday MTV. Your influence on my life, and the lives of countless others, is tremendous and seismic and globally iconic. Big ups and I feel lucky to have grown up with you. And that's what's up this moon man of a Wednesday in the MIA, and I still want my MTV, and so much more. XO