More Early MTV Nonsense

That first critical year...

According to something I read attributed to Nina Blackwood, in the early days of MTV they only had around 300 clips to choose from total (125 at the time of launch). Even though some videos were already a few years old, they wound up in major rotation because there was just not a lot to choose from and little or no competition for airtime amongst the artists.

1982 seemed to be the year that it began to change and the music industry started seeing MTV as a promotion tool mainly due to the success of J. Geils Band's "Centerfold". The song went to number one after being in heavy rotation on MTV in early 1982. Also notable was the Go-Go's "We Got the Beat". The song was a year old but due to the popularity of the video started climbing the charts and got to number 2 in early 1982... I can visualize the record industry "sharks" starting to gather around the sent of money in preparation of the frenzy that would soon devour my beloved eclectic video music channel.

So it seems that the slide into what quickly became a 24hr ad campaign for easily consumable top 40 pop music started a lot sooner than I remembered or was aware of at the time. I was a smart kid, but I doubt I could have perceived the underlying forces that where redirecting the course of the creek I was floating down as it became a rushing river of commercialism.

Its no wonder that when I talk about early MTV to people that they don't remember bands like The Buggles. By the time most kids had done a month of chores and raised their grades enough to finally convince their parents to get cable, the tide had most likely already turned. People only remember Talking Heads because by that time they where firmly entrenched and I suspect MTV picked a hand full of unique acts from the early days to carry forward in order to not be seen as selling out.

I never really realized how small MTVs audience was in that first year... In hindsight I feel very lucky to have been exposed to it before it became corrupted. Elvis Costello, Kate Bush, Talking Heads, Pretenders... Man I shudder to think what my musical tastes would be like had I been listening to the RADIO during that time. It was like having a (somewhat) cool late night DJ at a college station you could barely pick up playing weird and wonderful stuff you would never have heard otherwise. I am still searching for a list of everything that was played during that first year. I know there are so many gems I have forgotten from that hazy magic time...

A few years later I would be deeply engrossed in playing in avant-garde bands, re-discovering progressive rock and uncovering the punk music from the late 70's that I had missed being somewhat musically isolated in Wichita KS at the time. Its hard to say how much of my musically vocabulary came from that first year of MTV but I would say it had a substantial effect on the direction of the music I make and enjoy.