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Anybody else miss 1980’s MTV?

Rogifan

Rogifan

macrumors Penryn
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Nov 14, 2011
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I remember the first time I saw Guns N’ Roses Welcome To The Jungle on MTV. It was on late at night. I heard it and it blew my mind. I couldn’t wait for MTV to play it again Apparently Appetite for Destruction didn’t take off until David Geffen got MTV to play that video. They first ran it late at night. The switchboards lit up with view requesting them to play it again. And after that Appetite took off like a rocket. I remember during high school I couldn’t wait to get home from school to watch the video countdown. This is back when MTV was all about music and not reality TV. I miss the days of 80’s and early 90’s MTV. So many acts had their careers take off because of getting airplay on MTV. There‘s nothing remarkable about Weezer’s Buddy Holly but it became huge because of their Happy Days inspired video. There’s nothing like MTV now. Social media obviously has more reach but it’s not the same.

Anyone else nostalgic for MTV? What were some of your favorite videos of that era?
 
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Rogifan said:
Anyone else nostalgic for MTV?
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Yeah.

I stopped watching MTV about 20 years ago, but I still remember the music videos that I spent many hours watching and listening to.

Rogifan said:
What were some of your favorite videos of that era?
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I am probably forgetting some of my favorites, but a few that come to mind:

Faith No More, Epic
Nirvana, Smells Like Teen Spirit
Tom Petty and the Heart Breakers, Free Falling
Tom Petty and the Heart Breakers, Last Dance with Mary Jane
Ah Ha, Take On Me
Devo, Whip It
Damn Yankees, High Enough
Aerosmith, Crying
Jane's Addiction, I Got Caught Stealing

Not saying they are all my favorite songs, but I remember watching them a lot.

Not a music video, but watching MTV's Nirvana, Unplugged in New York is a special memory for me. That album was also my first Music Compact Disc that I ever purchased too.
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Oh, how did I forget to list November Rain?
 
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Everyone misses the MTV that existed when they were 17 +/-2 years old. That's a different MTV though for different-aged people.

Unlike other media properties that try to age with their target audience, MTV instead adapts to continuously target and cater to late teenagers. Thus, everyone has a story about how they miss the MTV of when they were that age.

I miss TRL with Carson Daly, late 90s to early 2000s when they actually played the full music video. Later in the 2000s when it became more about celeb interviews and less about music, I lost interest. But that's also when I aged out MTV in general. Maybe 17 year olds at the time liked the direction it was going...
 
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I was 10 in 1980 and 20 by 1990. I loved the whole MTV vibe, but as my dad controlled what came into the house, cable did not come into the house until I paid for it myself in 1993. By that point, MTV was moving away from what it was in the 1980s and I missed out.

Not really a big fan of what it is today. It seems to be more commercials and shows than actually playing music videos. I usually skip the channel when going by.

So, yeah, I miss that. I wish I could have truly experienced it.
 
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oneMadRssn said:
Everyone misses the MTV that existed when they were 17 +/-2 years old.

I miss TRL with Carson Daly, late 90s to early 2000s when they actually played the full music video. Later in the 2000s when it became more about celeb interviews and less about music, I lost interest. But that's also when I aged out MTV in general. Maybe 17 year olds at the time liked the direction it was going...
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I was older (a bit older) than 17 - and so was my brother - when MTV first made an appearance on our screens.

For its first few years (especially when it concentrated on broadcasting music and stunning videos), it really was transformational and something you kept an eye on, sometimes, a very close eye on.

However, I agree completely with you @oneMadRssn: Celeb interviews do (and did) nothing for neither my brother nor I.
 
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I wasn't around for the '80s MTV programming, but I really liked the Adam Bernstein-directed They Might Be Giants music videos. Bernstein also went on to direct some episodes of Breaking Bad.


Then in the mid '90s, MTV produced something else I really liked:

1200px-Daria_Logo.svg.png
 
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AngerDanger said:
I wasn't around for the '80s MTV programming, but I really liked the Adam Bernstein-directed They Might Be Giants music videos. Bernstein also went on to direct some episodes of Breaking Bad.


Then in the mid '90s, MTV produced something else I really liked:

1200px-Daria_Logo.svg.png
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I forgot about Daria. I loved that show!
 
I’m not sure why any musical artist would bother with the expense of making a music video. It won’t get shown. Maybe if you searched you might be able to find it on YouTube. MTV ought to change its name because they aren’t about music anymore.
 
AngerDanger said:
produced something else I really liked:
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Rogifan said:
I forgot about Daria. I loved that show!
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I never was into Daria, but I like Beavis and Butthead and Aeon Flux.

From a little bit earlier, I liked MTV's Remote Control, and I also have the NES game based off of that game show.

I can't remember the name, but that one with Jenny McCarthy was fun too, although, probably because I just liked to watch her.

I think when they started to do the reality shows, Real World and Road Rules, that is when I started losing interest. I didn't like reality shows then, and I still do not like them now.
 
AngerDanger said:
Then in the mid '90s, MTV produced something else I really liked:

1200px-Daria_Logo.svg.png
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My wife and I had a cat we named Daria. Her personality fit. :)
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vertical smile said:
I never was into Daria, but I like Beavis and Butthead and Aeon Flux.
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My mother was a teacher for 40+ years. I heard endless complaints from her about the students in her classes who liked Beavis and Butthead. ;)
 
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rhett7660 said:
Yup... being able to watch video after video was the best. I can't tell you when was the last time I watched any of the "music" channels. Like others have mentioned, they don't show music videos anymore.
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Agreed. Loved it when they actually showed music videos. Can’t remember the last time I watched it.
 
We used to love:
"In Concert"
and Don Kirchners "Rock Concert"

A few years before MTV :)
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Anyone Remember what sent MTV straight down the Crapper?? :mad:
 
vertical smile said:
Nirvana, Smells Like Team Spirit
John Petty and the Heart Breakers, Free Falling
John Petty and the Heart Breakers, Last Dance with Mary Jane
Arrowsmith, Crying
Click to expand...

🤔🤔🤔

That being said, one of the big things I miss is MTV Unplugged. Coming from a generation that grew up on it, i do miss it and agree with a certain Gordon Sumner singing in a Dire Straits song "I want my MTV"
 
I stopped watching MTV when Music TV stopped playing videos

This video though sums up why it died and MTV and to pivot to other content

 
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Funkatronic said:
🤔🤔🤔

That being said, one of the big things I miss is MTV Unplugged. Coming from a generation that grew up on it, i do miss it and agree with a certain Gordon Sumner singing in a Dire Straits song "I want my MTV"
Click to expand...
Oops, I guess I was typing a little too fast without thinking. I will correct it.
 
I think 'Beavis & Butthead' was on MTV on Foxtel here in Australia,.. That's why i noticed it, (...and that's where it ended..)

You guys will have better stories.

* VH1 was good too.
 
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