I know that I keep circling back to MTV and I know how silly it sounds given what it has devolved into today but back in the 1980’s, back in the MTV’s first decade, it was important in an inexplicable way. It was still ground breaking radio for your eyes as well as your ears. It was CNN for the music industry with a 24 hour news cycle reporting on the bands and the music of our age. It was what you watche dwhen you didn’t know what you wanted to watch. It was on in the background piped through the stereo. Back in the 1980’s MTV really meant something.
It was evolving though. We saw them add the British comedy The Young Ones to the line up. We didn’t mind, it wasn’t on all the time and it was an amazing show that had a musical element and appealed to us. I thought it was completely brilliant. They added a latenight weekend Metal show that we rarely missed. They started playing old episodes of The Monkees. I was a fan of the Monkees as a toddler in the 1960’s. I enjoyed seeing those eposides again for the first time. I think the execs at MTV saw the success of The Young Ones and thought is there any other bizarre comedy shows out there that have something to do woth young people and music? How about The Monkees?
We didn’t realize it at the time but Thee Monkees and even The Young Ones were the leading edge of a change in our beloved MTV. It would quietly move away from music videos, concerts and music news and more into a realm of traditional TV with original content. We still had a few good years ahead of us but soon MTV would launch The Real World and reality would never be the same and neither would MTV.
Lionel Richie – Say You, Say Me
Whitney Houston – How Will I Know
Foreigner – I Want to Know What Love Is
Tears For Fears – Everybody Wants to Rule the World
Simple Minds – Alive and Kicking
Simply Red – Holding Back the Years
Starship – Sara
Heart – These Dreams
Genesis – Invisible Touch
Cyndi Lauper – True Colors