The internet killed MTV *edit* People are PISSED 😂 and have a very weird sense of time. MTV only premiered in '81 and ten years later there was the The Real World. Saying it died "way before that" doesn't even make sense.
Nope. MTV started as a platform for music videos (a brand new art form). They didn't start live performances until the 90s. So, if you remember MTV live in 1985, you weren't there. 😊
Not long ago I was walking through a store, turned a corner and was confronted by a mirror. My reaction was "Who's this old guy?" A young female coworker saw a picture of me from forty years ago and said, "My God, you were good looking." Gee, thanks. I don't know when it happened, one day I was young and the next I was no longer young.
@@goldwinger5434 I know right 😐… when I was 17 ..at a beer🍻 drinking party and after consuming a few dozen or maybe 2 dozen 😜.. I saw myself in a mirror and said s##t! It’s gonna suck when I turn 30… ! 44 years later and remembering that night on occasion , wow that went fast 🤔
I saw Pat Benetar in concert waaaay back then - probably 1982-'83. Cleveland Coliseum. I remember driving to the concert in my '81 Plymouth Reliant K... Wow, what a Pile of Crap car that was... PB Concert was good though!!!
This is no BS. I spent summers on my grandparents farm in Mississippi. One evening in ‘83 I think, they said a preacher was coming over for supper. The preacher shows up and the first thing he asked me was, “Do you watch MTV?” I answered yes and thought I was about to get a lecture on the evil of music. He asked if I knew who Allen Hunter was. I said yes. He said with great pride, “He’s my grandson!”
I went up to visit relatives in Massachusetts. They had MTV we didn’t have it in Virginia yet. I recorded hours of it on VHS tapes and played it for friends and brothers. Who would believe after seeing the Buggles on MTV I would be hanging out with Geoff Downes on n several occasions years later, and he would be calling me by name, and using my idea for a stage set up.
That was SWEET!! For a moment I was 19 again and vibing with MTV!! I remember staying up all night long just to watch MTV!! Those were great times!!! ❤❤❤
Yes we did. And now we complain that our grandkids stare at their phones for the same amount of time. We were exactly the same. Let’s agree to NEVER tell them!
@@OhNoNotAgain42I've often thought the same. Except, mtv and other channels didn't have direct interactions or a need to influence us to think in any particular way. The internet is much more interactive and has a direct influence over the kids. How people respond to each other on the social media sites only adds to their stress levels and anxiety. Our TV shows were not talking back to us or making us feel less than perfect. We also had school friends who we conversed with and friends we met up with after school. We played outside and interacted face to face. Our feelings weren't hurt because someone didn't like the same things we did. We were more resilient and grounded to earth than what the Internet creates. If my kid wants to watch TV for a few hours it's better than being on Instagram or tiktok.
@@Ninjanimegamer Fair points. Although I’m not sure that I agree. Interactions over social media (like this!) are still teaching critical thinking. Watching mindless videos doesn’t teach anything. We bullied and were bullied in person. I tend to agree with you that we, somehow, learned to be both curious and courteous. You and I can disagree but be civil about it. They seem to be missing that. And MTV absolutely influenced us how to think! Girls all dressed like Madonna. Guys all wanted to act like rock stars. “Rush” wrote all about it in their song “Subdivisions”. That video played on MTV. Which, ironically, influenced me to like Rush. In ancient days it was religion. Then newspapers. Radio. MTV. Interweb. It’s all just different technologies doing, basically, the same thing. Luckily, I had Evel Kinevel” to teach me how to behave.
@@williamschultz104 I certainly cannot disagree with you. It had turned that way. But, we know better and have one another. I thank God for this. Its a blessing for us to stay connected as we are.
Same here. My sister and I watched from the very beginning and for hours after school. It was so exciting… At some point it turned into CrapTV and that was the end of that.
If you weren't around back then, you don't understand how big MTV became and the enormous effect it had on music and pop culture. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.
To be fair, in that respect I feel RU-vid is way better. When you're watching a video, it is also suggesting to you about 30 other videos simultaneously on the right hand side of the screen. You absolutely can explore this way.
This was the best time to be alive. So many hours spent watching MTV. So many types of music, so many styles, so many people to idolize. A full decade of utopia before reality slowly took over and killed it all.
It all started going bad when they tried to kill Metal and replace it with grunge. They had to start doing all of the shows to make up viewership. Around the same time, Napster happened and music got more and more crappy because there wasn't enough money in it anymore to support the giant companies, so they cut production costs to the bone. This accelerated the takeover of the shows because downloading a song with dialup was quick but downloading a show could take all day.
A good executive would return to the original platform. I was flipping channels years ago and my line of site landed on MTV, 2 guys kissing. Have blocked the channel ever since.
I've seen almost everybody that I really like, and I really regret not seeing Pat Benatar. I was sceptical her voice could hold up so I declined about 10 years ago. She's one of my favourites of all time and I wouldn't be able to handle seeing her when she wasn't very good. Sad to hear I was wrong, but glad to hear she's doing well.
I remembered. That’s why I wanted The Learning Channel-naively thinking it would be educational shows instead of reality show crap I’m sorry-I only just realized the part about “born after 1995”-I was born long before that
Nobody could have imagined the impact MTV had in our generation. I was one of the lucky ones to have lived through that. GOLDEN AGE. Best decade ever. bar none. period.
What can I say? It was my heyday. When MTV was music videos 24 hrs a day. So f****** Cool. 80s Pat Benitar. Yummy. I should add, as a songwriter born in the late 60's, I have come to appreciate that every generation thinks that their heyday is the best era ever for the music. But those of us who grew up in the 70's and 80s truly were lucky enough to have listened to the best music ever written in our formative years. Golden indeed.
I was in my late twenties but found MTV an answer to a long time dream. If you weren’t there for Thriller or some of the other greats you’ll never understand.
In August 1981 I left the navy submarine force in Connecticut, rode my motorcycle to Pasadena, California to start grad school and started on the path and career that I just retired from at 71 years old in 2024. MTV was a part of that personal 1981 life re-set and I had sort of forgotten how it popped at that moment. For some reason I am hearing the Pretenders in my head at this moment, triggered no doubt by watching this. Thanks for the great “archaeological” video!
You know, someone should find all of the vintage uncut MTV footage that there is and rune it ALL in an endless loop for all to enjoy. Thanks for the upload.
Oh, the memories. The 80's were the greatest for those of us lucky enough to have lived them. LONG LIVE THE 80'S! To quote an old saying,............. REJOICE, OH YOUNG MAN,... IN THY YOUTH! Ecclesiastes.
The first few years were basically the RU-vid of its time, introducing us to many artists that we may not have heard on radio had they not had success first on MTV. They went downhill quickly when they moved away from what their acronym meant.
In 1986 I was 20 years old and in the crowd at Daytona Beach when Martha Quinn and MTV hosted the Mr. Mr./ Starship concert. That was my first official concert and it was magical. I would give everything I own to go back to that time and relive everything and stay there. Life was worth living back then.
@@ThankYouJesusTheChrist Nice of you to say so. Don't worry I haven't given up, but it seems the vast people on this Earth have. I prefer the company of the many of the wonderful people who have since past then the current company of my fellow man.
The first time I seen MTV I was 12 years old in 1982. I told my mother I thought that they were having a special about the moon landing. Then the music started😎
80s BEST DECADE EVER!! I remember the first day of MTV. Thank you thank you thank you for doing this video. It is bringing back many happy memories of being a teen in the 80s ❤❤❤
It truly was the best decade! I was a little kid, but it’s when I started listening to FM radio and developed a true appreciation for pop culture (of that time!)
We didn’t get cable until a few years later, so we had to live vicariously through the poor man’s MTV, which was Friday Night Videos (1983-87) on NBC. Later in college, I remember every lounge in every dorm had their TV’s on all the time to MTV, even if no one was in the room. It just ran all the time, and we all thought, “Of course, what else would it be on?” You could just go in there and chill, do your homework in the corner, talk to a floormate, or just do whatever and leave whenever. Talk about a cultural touchstone, MTV was such a simple concept, but so revolutionary and so accepted at the same time. Plus, it didn’t talk down. It was very straightforward/matter-of-fact. There aren’t too many of those kinds of things. All of that contributed to its success. And the first 5 VJs (Nina Blackwood, Mark Goodman, J.J. Jackson, Martha Quinn, and Alan Hunter) and Kurt Loder doing MTV news-all are legends in a way, at least to a generation of us who remember. Thanks for the upload!
Oh man, Friday Night Videos! We weren't allowed to stay up so we'd record the show every Friday. I didn't have MTV until I moved out in 92! LOL Oh the memories, the first time I saw Hungry Like the Wolf and fell in love with the Fab Five. ::happy sigh sounds::
MTV and their Rock the Vote campaign definitely changed the outcome of the '92 presidential election. GenX registered and voted in droves. It's too bad that people seem to have lost that drive...
@@chiarac3833 I never saw any of that (I didn't have MTV in the early days) but I am going to go way out on a limb and guess that they were hinting that you should vote left leaning. I'm actually against most entities encouraging people to vote because I've never ever heard a single one of them ever tell you that it's important to research every candidate and every party so you can make your own informed decision. They just tell you that the important part is actually voting. I disagree, and I never see that message come out of anyone who you're not pretty damn sure you know which way they would vote anyway.
@@jasondashney I tell people to register and vote all the time. I also stress that they should research and make their own choice and not vote for a candidate because someone tells you to. I'll never tell you who to vote for. I also advise folks to pay attention to the other candidates as you want to know what you're getting if one of them wins. If someone recommends a particular candidate to me, I promise nothing, but I will do my research. Too many these days are sheeple who don't use their head for anything more than wearing a hat. What a shame.
I lived out in the country. We didn't have cable. Dad finally bought a satellite dish, and I was able to watch. I discovered MTV, at a friend's house. Journey came on, and i was hooked. At least it lasted through the 80s, before going into the crapper. VH1 was also a good channel.
Music out of Australia ... what music was that then ... I mean obviously the UK has produced the best music in the world for the last 60 years, but Australia ?
Actually hardly anyone had MTV on their cable systems for the first two years of the network. This was before most systems were capable of carrying dozens of channels. Most cable companies felt it would have been a waste of a channel slot and passed on it.
@@jeanlawley6483 “Crowded House” “INXS” “Men at Work” “Air Supply” how about “Rick Springfield”? “Little River Band” “Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds” how about “Olivia Newton John”?
My father gave MTV to me for Christmas. He woke up at 2am and was wondering why there were six people friends in the living room. It was like color tv. God bless all!
I thought I would never ever see this again. I was in 7th grade, and I couldn't sleep one night, and I was channel surfing and stumbled across this live. I was totally blown away by this. Stayed up all night watching till it was cut off. Told my family and friends about it the next day and no one believed me. I kept trying to find it again every night. But apparently this slipped in on my cable provider, but they eventually blocked it. I believe it may have been "to racy" for where I was living at the time. Fortunately, we moved not long after, and that cable provider had it. I lived for MTV in my teen age years.
Buddy opened it by saying that they hit their music producer on her head with a bottle of champagne. These days that would be a controversial statement, accused of promoting violence against women, ha ha.
@@cjpatriot2923 By "to the stars" you mean the very very low Earth orbit that the heavy Shuttle could just barely reach that wasn't even high enough to launch most satellites. The guy who's talking to the world on a digital computer connected to a world wide digital network misses "innovation". I don't think you know what that word means because innovation has exploded this century. The times right now are *exactly* what people like me dreamed about during the 1980s.
@@scottlarson1548we had to crawl before we could walk. Looking back, yes, what we did then was primitive by today's standards as we reminisce on pocket-sized technology that has more computing power than the stuff that put us on the moon. I grew up in a world without smartphones, compact discs, electric vehicles and flat screen TVs. I know what innovation is because I've lived through it. Sadly, much of the country has lost its spark to innovate. We often look to others to create things or entertain us instead of coming up with new ideas of our own.
@@cjpatriot2923 The Space Shuttle was in nearly every way a step backwards. Even the Soviets figured that out and abandoned their copy of it when they realized it was ridiculously impractical and useless. We couldn't because we had poured every dollar we had into it and had absolutely nothing else to go into orbit with. That's was a perfect example of how that generation destroyed innovation: it was the Space Shuttle or NOTHING. Funny how you list a series of recent innovations yet claim we're no longer innovating! I feel you have absolutely no clue how much innovation is really taking place in our country every single year. I see tremendous innovation in my industry and among my coworkers. Perhaps it's being crushed in your field.
I watched this unfold from day 1. Can't describe how many things I missed out on cause I had to watch MTV 24/7. It wasn't just the videos. The VJ's talking about the music/artist were the coolest people you could ask for. Pure lightning in a bottle that will never be replicated.
Oh my god dude, did you just bring back memories! Where I lived In Detroit MTV didn't exist. But 12 miles away in River Rouge, where my grandfather lived they did. My oldest bro and me clicked to the channel called MTV just as the countdown hit zero...I was in 10th grade my bro was a senior so yeah we old as dirt but you made me feel 16 again. Good job! Great Call!
THANK YOU for reminding me to be happy that I'm part of the forgotten-about Gen-X. Continue to let us bask in our own spotlight unnoticed by the rest of the society. We're just fine, thanks. PS: Mark Goodman is still a stud at 73.
Those were the best days of MTV. I remember a salesman selling satellite dishes before the fees of DISH and DirectTV, MTV was free, and he said children just were captivated with MTV. This brings back memories, and I hate to admit it, but it shows my age, yet back then even with all my inner issues, it was a good time. Thank you for the content, it is very much appreciated. The dream of MTV has been usurped, yet not forgotten.
1. This is the best comment thread on RU-vid. 2. I live in the Caribbean and didn’t get MTV till 1984 if I recall correctly. Talk about good times. Hiding, staying up all night watching videos. Pop culture world wide absolutely exploded.
MTV was great back in the 80’s. MTV 1989 Spring Break Daytona Florida Cheap Trick Vixen and the Fixx played in concert on the beach. Absolutely best time ever
@@DocSportello1970 Pat was a looker for sure, and so were Debbie and Stevie. I'm going with Nancy Wilson, Marie Fredriksson, and Joan Jett. Competition is fierce though with all the beauties from the 80s.
Jersey Mark- OMG! Thank you for posting this! I an an original MTVer, being at the right place at the right time! This is so wonderful to see again! VKTRS! So perfect and one of fave songs! Thank you for posting this wonderful memory and taking down that path again! You are, a radio star!❤❤❤❤
I remember this like it was yesterday. I'm glad someone recorded the event. Truly a historic moment. I hope it doesn't get yanked because of the music.
@@allen-rp3gm More likely off the downlink or an "air check" of the signal going out to customers from the local cable provider. I've come across a number of interesting things that were recorded that way and just forgotten in the tape library. Locals would keep footage like this to cut sales promos.
Brings me right back…music videos were soooooooo important back then. We were asking each other if we saw the latest video of this or that band, and we couldn’t wait for the next video.
The brilliance of the playing Video killed the radio star, so perfect. MTV changed everything, its impact on Gen-X at that time was of great magnitude. As a child during this time, it was just progress, fun and excitement. The people that made this possible created a profound impact on the culture of the USA and the world. They don't get much respect these days but as I look back, I have to give my thanks as this was the brilliance and hard work of the silent Gen and Baby boomers. Thanks to those of you that took us in the right direction!
@@epistte We only had 4 channels when this began, and it was on TV on Friday, late nights. My friends would come over and we'd watch it until the channel went off the air. Hahahahahahaha
Where I live, the cable has a channel, MTV 80’s, that plays 24 hour, non-stop videos from the 80’s. Watching this is like being sent back there in an amazing tine time machine.
As a seventeen-year-old, newly minted young adult at the time, watching this live was an experience only others of my cohort can understand. What a time to be young, what an era to be alive. Life so far has been a trip, and it truly is and has been my honor to be sharing the cab fare with all of you! Well, most of you anyway! So, until the next drop off please remain facing forward and remember, no parking on the dance floor.
I remember sitting in the floor watching MTV starting up, I was 8 years old and turned 9 the next month. Music was a huge deal back then and this made it even bigger. I really think MTV made the looks of the 1980's. You were able to see your favorite artist visually for the first time.
The MTV tune is something every kid that grew up in the 80's can recognize. I recently played it for my son (born February 1994): he had no idea what it was.
I remember that commercial that showed the spaceship launch and said something like "On August 1st, 1981, MTV went on the air for the last time" then they ended the commercial saying something like "MTV, Music Television, broadcasting now until the sun burns out." It was just one more lie, there is no more "Music Television!" Can't help but feel sad!
With RU-vid, we don't really need MTV as it was anymore. Although I did like being surprised by the programming. There were some great back-to-back videos that just blended together so seamlessly.