Today I read the Sunday paper for the first time in weeks. Since I couldn't sleep past 0600, I figure I would do something productive and knock out a few things on my way to getting the blessed paper. You know, wash the truck, fill the truck (82 bloody dollars), purchase a six-pack of doughnuts (oink), etc. ad nauseaum... lest I digress. ANYWAY, for those of us old enough to remember the inaugural MTV broadcast in 1981, it was a big deal. I certainly thought so. I just moved to the East Coast and knew no one. Cable telelvision was a new entity to me. (I once saw it in the late 70s when our family visited friends in San Diego. All I remember was some guy's bare ass running towards the sea and the adults rushing me to the other room with the rest of the kids.) Music videos. Everything I knew about music television was from American Bandstand, Soul Train and Dance Fever (*gasp*). MTV was something totally different. I remember the first video, "Video Killed the Radio Star" as well as others like REO Speedwagon's, "I Don't Want to Know" (I guess that was the name of it), Billy Idol's, "White Wedding", anything Duran Duran, all things forbidden and Madonna, Culture Club, Van Halen, yadda yadda yadda. This went on for years. Unlike most pre-teens, teens, college students and adults who refused to grow up, I wasn't really addicted. It was a nice-to-see once in awhile or if 120 Minutes was on. Of course later, there was the game show Remote Control then Beavis and Butthead that I watched... just to see what the hell the big deal was. I think by then I had my own sensibilities about television and music and gave a rat's ass about either. Then the end began with The Real World. Like a bad accident, I had to see what everyone else was talking about. Since that time, even though no one saw the end beginning, it was inevitable with all the new reality shows taking over the music videos... MTV killed the video star.
31.7.06
MTV Killed the Video Star
Today I read the Sunday paper for the first time in weeks. Since I couldn't sleep past 0600, I figure I would do something productive and knock out a few things on my way to getting the blessed paper. You know, wash the truck, fill the truck (82 bloody dollars), purchase a six-pack of doughnuts (oink), etc. ad nauseaum... lest I digress. ANYWAY, for those of us old enough to remember the inaugural MTV broadcast in 1981, it was a big deal. I certainly thought so. I just moved to the East Coast and knew no one. Cable telelvision was a new entity to me. (I once saw it in the late 70s when our family visited friends in San Diego. All I remember was some guy's bare ass running towards the sea and the adults rushing me to the other room with the rest of the kids.) Music videos. Everything I knew about music television was from American Bandstand, Soul Train and Dance Fever (*gasp*). MTV was something totally different. I remember the first video, "Video Killed the Radio Star" as well as others like REO Speedwagon's, "I Don't Want to Know" (I guess that was the name of it), Billy Idol's, "White Wedding", anything Duran Duran, all things forbidden and Madonna, Culture Club, Van Halen, yadda yadda yadda. This went on for years. Unlike most pre-teens, teens, college students and adults who refused to grow up, I wasn't really addicted. It was a nice-to-see once in awhile or if 120 Minutes was on. Of course later, there was the game show Remote Control then Beavis and Butthead that I watched... just to see what the hell the big deal was. I think by then I had my own sensibilities about television and music and gave a rat's ass about either. Then the end began with The Real World. Like a bad accident, I had to see what everyone else was talking about. Since that time, even though no one saw the end beginning, it was inevitable with all the new reality shows taking over the music videos... MTV killed the video star.
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