Just wondering if she had issues getting on MTV back in the day like a lot of other black artists.

I think after Michael Jackson, Prince and Tina Turner turned the tide, it was easier for Whitney Houston to get on there especially because of the songs. Because Arista promoted her as a POP artist, she easily got in there after, say, "Saving All My Love" and, especially, "How Will I Know". Matter of fact, "How Will I Know" was possibly one of the first heavily rotated videos on MTV's lineup after its debut. After that, Whitney was played on MTV as much as Michael and Madonna were.

Yes, she was played a lot.

Timmy84 said:

I think after Michael Jackson, Prince and Tina Turner turned the tide, it was easier for Whitney Houston to get on there especially because of the songs. Because Arista promoted her as a POP artist, she easily got in there after, say, "Saving All My Love" and, especially, "How Will I Know". Matter of fact, "How Will I Know" was possibly one of the first heavily rotated videos on MTV's lineup after its debut. After that, Whitney was played on MTV as much as Michael and Madonna were.

" How Will I Know" was definitely in heavy rotatation...... As a matter of fact the first time I seen that video was on MTV.

Whitney was in heavy rotation from "How Will I Know"until about 1993. They played the CRAP out of the "Bodyguard" videos.

Her older songs were still played often in the 90's, and then towards the end of the 90's, it was mostly on music tv shows that focused on urban music with the exception of a few songs.

Whitney's debut album is like 13x platinum in the US alone. Of course MTV was playing her videos from day 1. Hell, Whitney even performed at the '86 VMAs.

Timmy84 said:

I think after Michael Jackson, Prince and Tina Turner turned the tide, it was easier for Whitney Houston to get on there especially because of the songs. Because Arista promoted her as a POP artist, she easily got in there after, say, "Saving All My Love" and, especially, "How Will I Know". Matter of fact, "How Will I Know" was possibly one of the first heavily rotated videos on MTV's lineup after its debut. After that, Whitney was played on MTV as much as Michael and Madonna were.

Actually, MTV didn't really start playing Whitney that much until 1987 when Dance with Somebody and So Emotional came out, and it wasn't that much either, they showned her in the mornings and late in the evenings, and they showed her Diet Coke commercial throughout the day. People don't remember that VH1 was the channel that played Adult Contemporary, pop and R&B music, so Whitney was shown more on VH1 than on MTV, and of course she was definitely on BET.

MTV was not the spot when it came to R&B music, with the exception of MJ, Prince, Tina and a few hip hop artists like Run DMC, they really didn't start playing Black artists heavily until the late 80s and early 90s.

There was so many music video outlets in the 80s, Friday Night Videos, America's Top 10, NY Hot Tracks, Night Tracks on TBS, VH1, BET, Video Jukebox (The Box), there was a music video show on USA I forgot the name of it, and there was independent music video channels throughout the country.

So anytime you watch documentaries talking about how MTV did this and that for Black artists in particular hip-hop artists, that's all game and revisionist history, BET were already playing those artists in heavy rotation, MTV was usually late but they had the biggest market so they get much of the credit for an artist success. VH1 was more on the ball when it came to R&B artists.

[Edited 2/14/12 2:33am]

that question makes me feel OOOOOOLLLD.

but, yeah, they loved her - especially the uptempo stuf

Timmy84 said:

I think after Michael Jackson, Prince and Tina Turner turned the tide, it was easier for Whitney Houston to get on there especially because of the songs. Because Arista promoted her as a POP artist, she easily got in there after, say, "Saving All My Love" and, especially, "How Will I Know". Matter of fact, "How Will I Know" was possibly one of the first heavily rotated videos on MTV's lineup after its debut. After that, Whitney was played on MTV as much as Michael and Madonna were.

THIS^.

banks said:

Timmy84 said:

I think after Michael Jackson, Prince and Tina Turner turned the tide, it was easier for Whitney Houston to get on there especially because of the songs. Because Arista promoted her as a POP artist, she easily got in there after, say, "Saving All My Love" and, especially, "How Will I Know". Matter of fact, "How Will I Know" was possibly one of the first heavily rotated videos on MTV's lineup after its debut. After that, Whitney was played on MTV as much as Michael and Madonna were.

Oh, God, don't 4get about "The Greatest Love Of All." That video got OVERPLAYED 2me.

I seem to recall "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" was played a lot too!

dannyd5050 said:

I seem to recall "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" was played a lot too!

TonyVanDam said:

Timmy84 said:

I think after Michael Jackson, Prince and Tina Turner turned the tide, it was easier for Whitney Houston to get on there especially because of the songs. Because Arista promoted her as a POP artist, she easily got in there after, say, "Saving All My Love" and, especially, "How Will I Know". Matter of fact, "How Will I Know" was possibly one of the first heavily rotated videos on MTV's lineup after its debut. After that, Whitney was played on MTV as much as Michael and Madonna were.

THIS^.

reallly????

thatruth said:

Actually, MTV didn't really start playing Whitney that much until 1987 when Dance with Somebody and So Emotional came out, and it wasn't that much either, they showned her in the mornings and late in the evenings, and they showed her Diet Coke commercial throughout the day. People don't remember that VH1 was the channel that played Adult Contemporary, pop and R&B music, so Whitney was shown more on VH1 than on MTV, and of course she was definitely on BET....

So anytime you watch documentaries talking about how MTV did this and that for Black artists in particular hip-hop artists, that's all game and revisionist history, BET were already playing those artists in heavy rotation, MTV was usually late but they had the biggest market so they get much of the credit for an artist success. VH1 was more on the ball when it came to R&B artists.

And that's tha truth!

You know? I just thought of something.

Wikipedia and other outlets are saying Whitney was the first black female artist to get regular airplay on MTV but I was kinda thinking something: wasn't Tina Turner first?

I don't know, she seemed to have the sound that MTV was used to playing anyway. I would think SHE was the first black female act to be played regularly on MTV and was probably one of the first black artists MTV played videos for.

Whitney had a huge presence on MTV. "Saving All My Love For You" received significant airplay on MTV, and both "How Will I Know" and "The Greatest Love of All" were in massive rotation. They were big supporters of her early on.

Timmy84 said:

You know? I just thought of something.

Wikipedia and other outlets are saying Whitney was the first black female artist to get regular airplay on MTV but I was kinda thinking something: wasn't Tina Turner first?

I don't know, she seemed to have the sound that MTV was used to playing anyway. I would think SHE was the first black female act to be played regularly on MTV and was probably one of the first black artists MTV played videos for.

Yeah the "Private Dancer" videos were all huge in 1984 on MTV.

Timmy84 said:

You know? I just thought of something.

Wikipedia and other outlets are saying Whitney was the first black female artist to get regular airplay on MTV but I was kinda thinking something: wasn't Tina Turner first?

I don't know, she seemed to have the sound that MTV was used to playing anyway. I would think SHE was the first black female act to be played regularly on MTV and was probably one of the first black artists MTV played videos for.

The day Tina passes, just lock me away

badujunkie said:

Timmy84 said:

You know? I just thought of something.

Wikipedia and other outlets are saying Whitney was the first black female artist to get regular airplay on MTV but I was kinda thinking something: wasn't Tina Turner first?

I don't know, she seemed to have the sound that MTV was used to playing anyway. I would think SHE was the first black female act to be played regularly on MTV and was probably one of the first black artists MTV played videos for.

The day Tina passes, just lock me away

Don't even mention that. I don't want Tina to perish this earth until she's over 100. She can't die now mayne. That's my baby!

NoVideo said:

Timmy84 said:

You know? I just thought of something.

Wikipedia and other outlets are saying Whitney was the first black female artist to get regular airplay on MTV but I was kinda thinking something: wasn't Tina Turner first?

I don't know, she seemed to have the sound that MTV was used to playing anyway. I would think SHE was the first black female act to be played regularly on MTV and was probably one of the first black artists MTV played videos for.

Yeah the "Private Dancer" videos were all huge in 1984 on MTV.

Thought so.

Damn Tina don't get no respect...

Timmy84 said:

badujunkie said:

The day Tina passes, just lock me away

Don't even mention that. I don't want Tina to perish this earth until she's over 100. She can't die now mayne. That's my baby!

You're right. If one person can cheat death for eternity it's the thug Ms. Bullock.

badujunkie said:

Timmy84 said:

Don't even mention that. I don't want Tina to perish this earth until she's over 100. She can't die now mayne. That's my baby!

You're right. If one person can cheat death for eternity it's the thug Ms. Bullock.