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PrintableTimmy84 said: TonyVanDam said: BONUS QUESTION: Did ABBA have any videos on MTV before the band broke up in 1982? I doubt it.  I would be surprised if they didn't. Their 1981 album (and the singles that came with videos in 1982 like "Under Attack" and "The Day Before You Came") had videos. Although it's possible MTV ignored them since after "Dancing Queen", their success in the US was limited. | |
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SoulAlive said: VinnyM27 said: Donna"s "The Wanderer" (the album with the video/single) came out in late 1980. It was the only video released from the set and the song was a top ten hit. If MTV was truly at a loss for videos early on (that was a claim and the reason why Rod Stewart got a ton of play, possibly with concert clips), that would be one that could have popped up in the first day or two, or least in the first week. Also, on top of that, "Donna Summer" (the album that precedded "Thriller" and was used as a template for that album as well as having a single that inspired MJ's "We Are the World") had two video singles (maybe three...did "The Woman In Me" have a video) before "Thriller".
Surprisingly,MTV never showed "The Wanderer" video,despite the fact that it's the most New Wave-sounding song that Donna ever released.Donna didn't make it onto MTV until July 1983,when the "She Works Hard For The Money" video was placed in heavy rotation. The 'Donna Summer' album had videos for all three singles,including "The Woman In Me",but MTV rejected these clips.It's too bad that there was no video for "Protection".That's a pure rock song,written by Bruce Springsteen.It would have been difficult for MTV to claim that it doesn't fit their format. After "She Works Hard...",Donna was shown on MTV regularly."Unconditional Love","There Goes My Baby" and even the (horrible) "Supernatural Love" video made it onto MTV. How about "Dinner With Gershwin" or that odd video for "All Systems Go"? I know that by the late eighties, Donna's last major pop hit, "This Time..." was getting lots of love. Probably her last video to get airplay on MTV. Thanks for the interesting info. | |
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Pass the doochie and the hootchie. All you others say Hell Yea!!  | |
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VinnyM27 said: SoulAlive said: Surprisingly,MTV never showed "The Wanderer" video,despite the fact that it's the most New Wave-sounding song that Donna ever released.Donna didn't make it onto MTV until July 1983,when the "She Works Hard For The Money" video was placed in heavy rotation. The 'Donna Summer' album had videos for all three singles,including "The Woman In Me",but MTV rejected these clips.It's too bad that there was no video for "Protection".That's a pure rock song,written by Bruce Springsteen.It would have been difficult for MTV to claim that it doesn't fit their format. After "She Works Hard...",Donna was shown on MTV regularly."Unconditional Love","There Goes My Baby" and even the (horrible) "Supernatural Love" video made it onto MTV. How about "Dinner With Gershwin" or that odd video for "All Systems Go"? I know that by the late eighties, Donna's last major pop hit, "This Time..." was getting lots of love. Probably her last video to get airplay on MTV. Thanks for the interesting info. No,Donna wasn't shown on MTV in the late 80s.By then,MTV had given up on her.Her career wasn't doing very well.Hell,by the late 80s,even Prince had trouble getting them to play his videos,lol.Especially in 1988.I saw his "Glam Slam" video on MTV about two times,and I never saw "I Wish U Heaven" on MTV. | |
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thedance said: http://prince.org/msg/7/312485
I have no idea why Michael Jackson's Billie Jean always gets the credit as the first Black artist's video on MTV ?
Prince's 1999 video had premiere on MTV in december 1982, according The Vault book. MJ's first music video off Thriller, Billie Jean had premiere on MTV march 1983. Same month, march 1983: Prince's second video Little Red Corvette had premiere on MTV. So in fact Prince was the first major black artist. Not the other way around, Imo. Thriller wasn't paving the way for Purple Rain, cuz Prince was there already with the 1999 album, (those 2 videos). Note: we are talking about airing on MTV, Off The Wall did not get any premiere play in 1979, because of the fact that MTV wasn't launched until august 1981, not that it matters a big deal, both artists are / were great, I just like the facts.... 
Prince was first on MTV.... 
MTV Yearbook 1982 & 1983: these 2 links to MTV: 
Prince - headline pic to 1982. http://www.mtv.com/music/...Id=1535819 
Michael - the headline pic to 1983. http://www.mtv.com/music/...Id=1535996 MTV confirms that 1999 was shown on MTV in 1982, - before Billie Jean, Beat It & Thriller in 1983. Both were phenomenal artists, Thriller was a record breaking album in many ways, but the first major black artist who had a breakthrough on MTV was: Prince. Neither Prince or Michael were the first black artist on MTV "We may deify or demonize them but not ignore them. And we call them genius, because they are the people who change the world." |
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How ironic that Eddy Grant's Electric Avenue, a homage to a street in Brixton, at that time (and probably still) associated almost definitively with London's black community, should have been one of the few songs to make it onto the new channel's shiny white playlists. "Not everything that is faced can be changed; but nothing can be changed until it is faced." - James Baldwin | |
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It has nothing to do with who was first and everything to do with who broke the color barrier. Case in point - Rosa parks was not the first black person to refuse to give up her seat. There were 2 black ladies before her (and were arrested also) but it was Rosa who sparked the civil right's movement. Michael's Billie Jean opened the doors of mtv and all of the black stars (including Prince) rushed in afterwards in multitudes. Mike is rightfully credited because HE made the difference. He paved the way. | |
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mrsnet said: It has nothing to do with who was first and everything to do with who broke the color barrier. Case in point - Rosa parks was not the first black person to refuse to give up her seat. There were 2 black ladies before her (and were arrested also) but it was Rosa who sparked the civil right's movement. Michael's Billie Jean opened the doors of mtv and all of the black stars (including Prince) rushed in afterwards in multitudes. Mike is rightfully credited because HE made the difference. He paved the way.
I can agree with this  Plus,I think Michael was the one who revolutionalized MTV.He made other artists 'step up their game' and spend more money on videos and learn how to dance,lol.Pat Benatar has said that her "Love Is A Battlefield" video was directly inspired by Michael's videos.Lionel Richie's "Running With The Night" video looks like an MJ video too. | |
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SoulAlive said: mrsnet said: It has nothing to do with who was first and everything to do with who broke the color barrier. Case in point - Rosa parks was not the first black person to refuse to give up her seat. There were 2 black ladies before her (and were arrested also) but it was Rosa who sparked the civil right's movement. Michael's Billie Jean opened the doors of mtv and all of the black stars (including Prince) rushed in afterwards in multitudes. Mike is rightfully credited because HE made the difference. He paved the way.
I can agree with this Plus,I think Michael was the one who revolutionalized MTV.He made other artists 'step up their game' and spend more money on videos and learn how to dance,lol.Pat Benatar has said that her "Love Is A Battlefield" video was directly inspired by Michael's videos.Lionel Richie's "Running With The Night" video looks like an MJ video too.Yep. mtv owes everything to Mike. | |
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mrsnet said: It has nothing to do with who was first and everything to do with who broke the color barrier. Case in point - Rosa parks was not the first black person to refuse to give up her seat. There were 2 black ladies before her (and were arrested also) but it was Rosa who sparked the civil right's movement. Michael's Billie Jean opened the doors of mtv and all of the black stars (including Prince) rushed in afterwards in multitudes. Mike is rightfully credited because HE made the difference. He paved the way.
lol....it has EVERYTHING 2 do with who was first it u are dealing with FACTS. | |
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I take issue with talking about the Civil Rights Movement and MTV and what black artist was first in the same vain. Please! | |
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Graycap23 said: mrsnet said: It has nothing to do with who was first and everything to do with who broke the color barrier. Case in point - Rosa parks was not the first black person to refuse to give up her seat. There were 2 black ladies before her (and were arrested also) but it was Rosa who sparked the civil right's movement. Michael's Billie Jean opened the doors of mtv and all of the black stars (including Prince) rushed in afterwards in multitudes. Mike is rightfully credited because HE made the difference. He paved the way.
lol....it has EVERYTHING 2 do with who was first it u are dealing with FACTS. Not if the first didn't make a difference, not even a dent. Which is why the black stars are indebted to Mike, as the rapper rapped, "it was Mike who opened the doors to mtv..." (not an exact quote, cant remember who sang it). But it WAS Mike and that fact will never change. | |
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TD3 said: I take issue with talking about the Civil Rights Movement and MTV and what black artist was first in the same vain. Please!
Puhleeeeease. It was just an analogy and a good one at that. Peace. | |
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mrsnet said: Graycap23 said: lol....it has EVERYTHING 2 do with who was first it u are dealing with FACTS. Not if the first didn't make a difference, not even a dent. Which is why the black stars are indebted to Mike, as the rapper rapped, "it was Mike who opened the doors to mtv..." (not an exact quote, cant remember who sang it). But it WAS Mike and that fact will never change. Interesting point of view. Facts are facts regardless if u want 2 ignore them. | |
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Graycap23 said: mrsnet said: Not if the first didn't make a difference, not even a dent. Which is why the black stars are indebted to Mike, as the rapper rapped, "it was Mike who opened the doors to mtv..." (not an exact quote, cant remember who sang it). But it WAS Mike and that fact will never change. Interesting point of view. Facts are facts regardless if u want 2 ignore them. So why do u think MJ has been given the credit over the years? Why? Certainly not because mtv loved/love him. Peace to you. | |
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Timmy84 said:
Their video for "Body Language" was also dissed by MTV because of "homo-eroticism", which shows they were homophobic also. I think MTV hardly played Queen vids UNTIL Freddie's death and "Wayne's World".  In those days, it was perfectly acceptable for the media to be openly homophobic if it wanted to be. Andy is a four letter word. | |
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scriptgirl said: I think the reason that MTV got behind P was because so many white artists, like Mellencamp, adored him. And according to my older cousin Reena, Mellencamp was a fixture on MTV back then. Reena also told me that 1999 is what broke P in the black community. We had 2 main RnB stations out of Philly-I grew up about an hour away from Philly-WDAS played damn near every cut from that cd religiously, esp Lady Cab Driver. They pimped The Time and Vanity 6 as well. Power 99, I don't think pimped it as hard, according to Reena, but they were all over Irrestible Bitch and his other b sides from what she said. Prince was huge on black radio down here long before "1999". Two or three of the DJs on one of the stations used to call him "The Prince" instead of "Prince". One of them still calls him "The Prince" to this day. Andy is a four letter word. | |
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Harlepolis said:
When rap took over in the 90s, they switched their angle and came with "Yo! MTV Rap" even though they made it clear times & time again that they're a "rock station". That's because white folks listened to that mess. If white folks didn't listen to it, they didn't play it. That was always their format even before shit hop took over. Andy is a four letter word. | |
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mrsnet said: Graycap23 said: Interesting point of view. Facts are facts regardless if u want 2 ignore them. So why do u think MJ has been given the credit over the years? Why? Certainly not because mtv loved/love him. Peace to you.I understand it.....it is just NOT factual. | |
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vainandy said: Prince was huge on black radio down here long before "1999". Two or three of the DJs on one of the stations used to call him "The Prince" instead of "Prince". One of them still calls him "The Prince" to this day. Black radio did embrace Prince way b4 1999. But the 1999 album put him on the rotating playlist for most of the cuts from that album. Including his side acts Vanity 6 & The time. The feminine & masculine sides of him...  will ALWAYS think of  like a "ACT OF GOD"! N another realm. mean of all people who might of been aliens or angels.if found out that wasn't of this earth, would not have been that surprised. R.I.P. |
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KCOOLMUZIQ said: vainandy said: Prince was huge on black radio down here long before "1999". Two or three of the DJs on one of the stations used to call him "The Prince" instead of "Prince". One of them still calls him "The Prince" to this day. Black radio did embrace Prince way b4 1999. But the 1999 album put him on the rotating playlist for most of the cuts from that album. Including his side acts Vanity 6 & The time. The feminine & masculine sides of him... In my area, black radio played the following before the "1999" album in heavy rotation back while they were in style... Prince I Wanna Be Your Lover Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad Sexy Dancer Still Waiting Dirty Mind Uptown Head Dirty Mind Partyup Controversy Controversy Let's Work (12 Inch) Do Me, Baby Private Joy Sexuality (occassionally) While the "Controversy" album was out, then I started hearing "Soft and Wet" every now and then. Several cuts from The Time's first and second album had gotten heavy rotation as well as Vanity 6's "Nasty Girl" before the "1999" 45 was even released so when the album came out, it was just business as usual on the black stations down here. Andy is a four letter word. | |
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When "Soft & Wet" came out in 1978, we (meaning black folks) ATE it up. Pop fans, not so much. Prince was played heavily in R&B radio but for mainly his funk/R&B songs. That's why only "Controversy" and "Do Me Baby" were played on R&B radio (because the other songs on Controversy were not promoted on R&B radio) neither was any of the new wavish/punkish songs from Dirty Mind (save for "Uptown", which had a post-disco flair). Even Prince's second album only had "I Wanna Be Your Lover" promoted heavily on R&B radio but even from the very beginning, Prince had a diverse sound, he had always included rock music and pop in his music. But it wasn't until 1999 that he started to be played on both rock and R&B stations almost openly though he was always a big R&B draw.
Michael's message was clear even before Off the Wall, he wanted to appeal to everyone and he was willing to take risks commercially to make sure he got his way. That's why he hired Quincy Jones, that's why they were able to make decisions, that could've otherwise be detrimental. To be honest, if you look at it now, that whole first black artist on MTV thing is real redundant now. It was more important to break through all formats of radio and that's what MJ and Prince (and Whitney) did in the '80s. This happened even while radio segregated mainstream pop, rock and R&B music. The exposure on MTV was only to broaden the commercial aspects that "R&B" artists could reach. That's really what the MTV exposure did for black artists after 1983. | |
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VinnyM27 said: Timmy84 said: Yeah Donna was popular on MTV long before the arrival of Whitney. "Unconditional Love", her duet with Musical Youth, was also played on MTV. Donna's appeal was probably because she was never categorized as "R&B", many of her early '80s recordings were not played on the R&B stations anyway except for "She Works Hard for the Money". With other acts like Diana Ross, it was also because Diana was still more connected to "black music" then to the format that MJ, Prince and Tina were appealing to. Whenever I see Donna in the R&B category I think "Are you out of your mind?". Maybe "Donna Summer" was considered an 80s R&B album (and "Mistaken Identity" was very New Jack/Pop). That being said, the store I saw Donna in the R&B catogery in also placed Pink in there.... Donna Summer surely is not R&B at all, she's pop-rock. She never recorded music in the helm of Aretha Franklin though she could hold her own versus Aretha. She always did music that was from R&B. Many of the disco hits she recorded were either electronic, pre-techno, funk and/or pop rock flavor. And The Wanderer was mainly rock and new wave. She's far from being an R&B singer. But that was the role they gave her back then and at the time of her success in the '70s she could never understand why they would categorize her. | |
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Does it matter? | |
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Riverpoet31 said: Does it matter?
It matters if people keep pushing lies and myths. | |
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Well, i dont see the 'issue'.
MTV is a commercial enterprise. When they realised they could reach a bigger market by programming video's of certain black artists, they did. Does it really matter who was first of them? | |
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Riverpoet31 said: Well, i dont see the 'issue'.
MTV is a commercial enterprise. When they realised they could reach a bigger market by programming video's of certain black artists, they did. Does it really matter who was first of them? What does it matter about the truth? I don't know.....U tell me. | |
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No one said it "mattered". I was curious as to who it was. It is an interesting bit of musical history. "Lack of home training crosses all boundaries." | |
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"interesting" in what way?
In terms of information? To play the worn out racism card again? For your information: its 2010. | |
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Riverpoet31 said: "interesting" in what way?
In terms of information? To play the worn out racism card again? For your information: its 2010. 400 plus year of it.....U are right. It is WORN out. [Edited 2/11/10 12:24pm] | |
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