Can't believe nobody has said this yet:

I want my MTV.

AlexdeParis said:

Wow, I didn't realized "Once In A Lifetime" by Talking Heads came out so early. That's one of the best videos ever made. They had mastered the form before it even was a form!

CandaceS said:

friday night videos was on NBC--i watched the show a lot when i was a kid (my folks used to let me stay up as long as i wanted on friday nights). there wasn't cable teevee in my house until i was about 6 or 7 years old, so i don't remember too much about old-school MTV (mostly because i watched nickelodeon damn near everyday). i remember more about old-school BET (video soul! donnie simpson! reruns of soul train and the jackson 5 cartoons!) instead.

i didn't really start watching emptee-vee till around the early- to mid-'90s, during the heydays of beavis and butt-head and the real world. i remember the video shows they had then, like 120 minutes and superrock.

Couldn't watch enough MTV back in the early-mid '80's. I'd have never known about or appreciated the J. Giles Band or John Cougar Mellancamp or the Cars or the mighty Pretenders.

I also remember A-Ha's "Take On Me", the Safety Dance, Toni Basil's "Mickey", EVERY COOL LEATHER OUTFIT WORN BY BILLY IDOL, the MTV Top 20 Video Countdown, Closet Classics (1st time I saw Jimi Hendrix footage), and a chance to win my very own video jukebox. I saw Led Zepplin's "Song Remains The Same" on 1 of those Saturday night movies. Remote Control was a GREAT game show and the last one that I enjoyed until I game shows became "corny" to me.

Also, Martha Quinn is also a Sirius VJ. Actually, I love listening to channel 8 on Sirius whenever an old MTV jock is on. I like their stories about the songs and artists and the old MTV days. Adam Hunter is always giving interesting tidbits about the '80's, but Nina Blackwood comes off wierd from time to time.

On a Prince note, the Under the Cherry Moon afterparty was on of my greatest MTV moments. I REALLY wish that Prince, Warner, or MTV would re-release that, either in the broadcasted portion or in it's entirety.

Finally, I miss the old "rocket launce/moon men" intro that used to come at the top of every hour. That'd be a cool cell phone ring tone.

Obviously, BET wasn't on our cable system when I was growing up

Did anyone ever see the interview of Robert Smith of the Cure they did at his home across the street from Central Park? It was CLASSIC! He gave the cameraman a tour of his apartment. Even though he lived across the street from Central Park, he preferred the windows boarded up, with black curtains and black furniture, piles of rubble in the corner, faulty plumbing...


It was HILARIOUS!!!

AlexdeParis said:

Thanks for psoting that!

DavidEye said:

No problem.

Remember?:

Physical-Olivia Newton John
Jeapordy-Greg Khin Band
Asia-Heat Of Th e Moment
Young Turks-Rod Stewart
Dont Tell Me Ya Love Me-Night Ranger
Thomas Dolby
Evwery Little Thing She Does Is Magic
Family Man-Hall and Oates

DiamondGirl said:

I remember all those videos.I had so much fun with MTV back then!

Because nobody wants it any more.

I rmemeber the tiomes wathcin it when they had the news (a cheap way back then with just a vj and a side caption form a camaera lol)

and theyt announced that Stevie Nicks was recording with Prince....(which wiould later be Stand Back). I was floored and didn't believe it was true.

Then another time they announced Prince si going to be making a movie about his life. I scoffed and said "he is? already? he's only so young though?"

And thos New years Ever parties lol. As a kid we used to switch from Dick Clark to MTV's

I really miss those MTV bumpers though.

heartbeatocean said:

It's funny,Martha Quinn was one of the 1st generation VJs,but I guess they brought her back in the early 90s? I remember seeing her in 1991,introducing videos and RAVING about the 'Diamonds and Pearls' holgraphic album cover.I guess she was temporarily brought back onto the show?

TonyVanDam said:

That's when they figured out they can make more money by charging people for MTV2

DavidEye said:

If I recall, didn't they play "1999" BEFORE Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean"?

HoneymoonXpress said:

I have no idea which video was aired first.It's often said that these guys are the first black artists who were shown.

I had always thought Michael Jackson was the first. According to some Rick James fans, MTV played Prince just to piss Rick off.

some of the first videos by black artists that I recall seeing...

"1999" by Prince
"Billie Jean" by Michael Jackson
"Beat It" by Michael Jackson
"Little Red Corvette" by Prince
"Electric Avenue" by Eddy Grant
"Dead Giveaway" by Shalamar
"She Works Hard For The Money" by Donna Summer

I could be wrong,but I'm pretty sure they also showed a video by Joan Armatrading during this period (1983).

MTV Vee-jays by group:

The original VJ's (1981-1986):
Mark Goodman
Martha Quinn
J.J. Jackson
Alan Hunter
Nina Blackwood

The 2nd generation (1986-1992):
Carolyne Heldman
Adam Curry
"Downtown" Julie Brown
Kevin Seal
Daisy Fuentes
Riki Rachtman
Martha Quinn
China Kantner
Kari Wuhrer
Pauly Shore (Totally Pauly)
"Miss" Julie Brown (Just Say Julie)
Fab 5 Freedy (Yo! MTV Raps)
Dr. Dre (Yo! MTV Raps)
Ed Lover (Yo! MTV Raps)
Kurt Loder (MTV News)
John Norris (MTV News)
Tabitha Soren (MTV News)
Allison Stewart (MTV News)
Chris Connelly (MTV News)

The 3rd generation (1993-1997):
Bill Bellamy
Kennedy
Karen Duffy (a.k.a. Duff)
Idalis DeLeon (a.k.a. Idalis)
Matt Pinfield
John Sencio
Simon Rex
Dave Kendall
Steve Isaacs
Serena Altschul (MTV News)

The 4th Generation (1997-2002):
Carson Daly
Dave Holmes
Jesse Camp
Ananda Lewis
Brian McFayden
Juliette Hohnen
Toby Amies
Gideon Yago (MTV News)
Sway Calloway (a.k.a. Sway) (MTV News)

The Current generation (2002-present):
Damien Fahey
Vanessa Minnillo
Hilarie Burton
Quddus Phillippe
La La Vasquez
Susie Castillo
DJ Clue (Direct Effect)
SuChin Pak (MTV News)
John Norris (MTV News)
Gideon Yago (MTV News)
Sway Calloway (a.k.a. Sway) (MTV News)

728huey said:

I'd say your 2nd generation is too long. Anyway, Duff was at MTV in 1991 as co-host of "Fade to Black." Speaking of which, how do you include Duff and forget about Todd 1?