MTV (Music Television)

MTV - Music Television
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MTV (Music Television)

I was 12 years old when MTV (Music Television) launched on Saturday, August 1, 1981, at 12:01 a.m. MTV was launched with the words “Ladies and gentlemen, rock and roll,“. The opening video was The Buggles – “Video Killed the Radio Star”. In the 80s every music artist and the band would release their video before the song played on the radio. If you didn’t have a video, you weren’t anyone worth listening to. Some of the videos were lame, others were really cool.

MTV closely modeled the radio station, instead of DJs (Disc Jockeys) they has VJs (Video Jockeys) and played AOR (Album-Oriented Rock) like the most popular radio stations plus they played many bands that local stations weren’t playing. Within two months, record stores were selling music that local radio stations were not playing, such as Men at Work, Bow Wow Wow, and the Human League. MTV has always tried to position itself as what killed radio. Here we are some 40 years later and MTV is dead and well the radio is still hanging on, though it is on life support.

This format also allowed MTV to have live performances and on-the-air interviews with many new wave to soft rock and heavy metal bands and artists.

In 1984, they launched the first MTV Video Music Awards show or VMAs.

In 1986 MTV, started their Spring Break coverage, by standing up a temporary operation at Daytona Beach, Florida, and broadcasting live for eight hours a day.

By 1995, MTV struggled to stay relevant, as most music acts were not making as many videos and the video was slowly dying. As that happened, MTV, moved away from music and more into original shows and movies. In 2010, MTV actually dropped the “Music Television” branding. Today, MTV isn’t relevant to most people, but still has a small college following.

It is 2021, and MTV is nearly dead, The Buggles was a one-hit-wonder, and the radio is on life support while streaming music is all the current rage. But I want to grab my big plastic comb and put it in my back pocket; overspray hairspray on my feathered hair, put on my parachute pants, time warp back 41 years, and listen to the first two hours of that original broadcast.

MTV Opening

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Average Joe

Welcome to the Average Joe Weekly blog. This is basically my place on the web where I can help spread some of the knowledge that I have accumulated over the years. I served 10+ years in the Marine Corps on Active Duty, but that was some 25 years ago.

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By Average Joe

Welcome to the Average Joe Weekly blog. This is basically my place on the web where I can help spread some of the knowledge that I have accumulated over the years. I served 10+ years in the Marine Corps on Active Duty, but that was some 25 years ago.

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