I WANT MY MTV
I loved MTV. New York City didn’t get it right away. I got cable tv the moment it was picked up by Manhattan Cable. I would video tape 6 hr blocks of programming at SLP standard – not pretty, and zip through to watch the good videos. I would then dub favorites onto another tape. You can imagine the quality!
Through the hiss and snow of that corrupting video tape memories are distorted. So here are some recollections of not so good MTV.
The Bottom Ten of MTV
1. Mark Goodman and Nina Blackwood’s hair. Yikes. OK. It was the 1980s.
2. The very slow recognition of black performers. It’s all rock ‘n roll. Really stupid.
3. The lazy and choppy coverage of Live Aid. It made the First Five VJs into true media stars, but it was a little creepy watching cutaways of them poignantly swaying to the beat.
4. Courtesy of CD super-sellers Dire Straits some lyrics best left unwritten, but smart to get heavy rotation by having Sting sing “I Want My MTV” right at the top of the song:
The little ****** with the earring and the makeup
Yeah buddy, that's his own hair
That little ****** got his own jet airplane
That little ****** he's a millionaire
Ironically, last year GLAAD recognized MTV for including more content than any other tv channel reflecting the lives of gay, bisexual and transgendered people
5. In those pre-Tivo days. TOO MANY COMMERCIALS!
6-10 Al Yankovic
