did you guys ever watch this video show back in the 80's? damn, that was the shit back in the day. i used to go home from school to catch up on all the videos. it was cool because they played such a variety, not just hip hop which was becoming very popular at the time. the show was hosted by VJ Ralph McDaniels and the vid kid!

Ahhh who can forget Video Music Box? And for those who got U68 (did this eventually become The Box?)... I love that time. Between these two shows and Friday Night Videos it was where you could see everything if you weren't lucky enough to have cable.

dancerella said:

I think Video Music Box is still on cable TV today.

JackieBlue said:

I remember U68. In NYC around the same time, there was an even better UHF video show on channel 63. That was the very first time I saw a lot of Prince's pre-Purple Rain videos. I would come home from school and watch that channel non-stop until they signed off at midnight just to see those old Prince clips. I also distinctly remember seeing a really diverse selection of videos like:

The Cure - The Catepillar
Run-DMC - Rock Box
Twisted Sister - We're Not Gonna Take It
Bauhaus - She's In Parties
Time Zone - World Destruction (Afrika Bambaataa and John Lydon)
Apollonia 6 - Sex Shooter

Video Music Box did have a nice variety but I remember the theme song and the intro most.

I loved to catch Twisted Sister, Ratt, Culture Club, Tears for Fears on U68. One of best memories of The Box was when Madonna's Justify My Love first came out. And I was at a friend's and a bunch of us were about to go out but JML had just been added to the playlist supposedly unedited. We were excited because it was supposed to be 'controversial' so we requested JML three times and sat and waited with our coats on until it finally came on about ten minutes later.

JackieBlue said:

I think the channel where you called to request videos for a fee was "Video Jukebox" and later became simply "The Box." I remember "Justify My Love" used to get played every ten minutes when it was first released. 2 Live Crew's "Pop That Coochie" also used to get a ton of requests. Then there was a video by French-Canadian(?) artist Mitsou that had a little nudity so it too got requested a lot. I don't remember the name of the song, but most of the video took place in some sort of bathhouse/steam room or something.

I remember music box in the 80's im a brit and it was before MTV Europe era. They used to have programs like The Great Video Race and Young Free and Single. They used to play a lot of Prince particularly Paisley Park which was always on. You talking about the same channel?

There was also another channel in the early 90s called Lifestyle Satellite Jukebox and they played some terrible music, often x rated videos. Some really bad euro music. I still know every song, that channel wounded me for life.

WildheartXXX said:

I doubt it. Video Music Box was based in New York and showed mostly hip hop videos. Video Jukebox or "The Box" was based in Florida. I think that one went international.

sextonseven said:

Wow! U68! Now, that's taking it back! I think the Vid Kid (Lionel Martin?) was producing music videos, last I heard.

Video Music Box used to show this video for Marvin Gaye's "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" that I liked a lot.

sheeeeeit i remember Video Music Box.... the theme was 5 mins of funk

TheRealFiness said:

that's right! i can't remember who the artists that were featured in the opening credits were but damn i missed those days. i remember seeing vides by.....

mel & kim
sade
sly & robbie
madame x
run dmc
rick astley
samantha fox
beastie boys
ll cool j
lisa lisa & the cult jam

and so on and so forth...