MTV Memories

[2muchcoffeeman]

Also, let's see if you can spot the difference in this oft-played video between the MTV version we all watched and the actual version linked here. Probably should spoil this somewhat with a NSFW warning.

Thank you, and God bless you.

 

[BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo]

Of all of the live videos filmed and shown, this might be my favorite.

The Flame was succeeded atop the charts in July 1988 by one of my all-time favorite live videos:



This was the fourth and final single from Richard Marx's first record (but the first no. 1) and seemed to be a perfect summation of the road to get there. He's exhausted and dripping with sweat. Even the drummer, in one of my favorite stills, gazes skyward in exhausted fashion as he taps the cymbal. But the still images of the band show a group of musicians having the time of their lives and the performance sounds as good as ever. And the audience is just as into it in real time as they were in the still photos. Such a cool representation of life on the road and how the time on stage makes everything else worthwhile.

 

[BitterYoungMatador2]

 

[BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo]

"I'm comin' home real soon be ready cause when I do I'm gonna make love to you like 15 men" with Rod actually signaling 15 with his hands is an all-time ****ing great line.

 

[Bubbler]

Especially for Slacker, another MTV as-it-was Youtube clip. From the dawn of my own time picking out my own music in late 1982 and definitely from the time when I first had MTV. Two hours this time! Jump in Slacker! :)

Some legit gems (X! "Up All Night!", "A Town Called Malice!", a relatively high quality for the time (actual production value) "It's Raining Again" piece, and the fantastic "Shadows Of The Night" video), some genuine weirdness (Spoons and their tribute to Rover from "The Prisoner?") and some horse**** too, but that was MTV back in the day.

 

[Bubbler]

So riffing off of that previous post, that clip is MTV at its bare essence as I remember it. In its early days, it was cheap, experimental, played music I wouldn't have otherwise known, etc. I was 11-12 and very impressionable and very naive too.

Take "Up All Night" by the Boomtown Rats. It's probably better known as bumper music for Jim Rome these days as you never hear it in the wild, but MTV and other outlets (HBO's "Video Jukebox" for example) played the **** out of it in this period.

Me being young and escaping my parents music, "Up All Night" was one of the first videos I ever saw. The first time I saw it I distinctly remember feeling like I was watching something forbidden. Something my parents wouldn't approve of me watching. Writhing with snakes? WITHOUT A SHIRT ON! Who does that? Bizarre imagery and (for the parents tastes of the times) weird music sensibilities! I WAS OFF THE RESERVATION AND I KINDA DUG IT.

Ridiculous to think about it that way now, but that's the impression it left on me then. Now? I think of it as one of the few Boomtown Rats songs I can stomach. The bass line is tasty as ****.

 

[Slacker]

Especially for Slacker, another MTV as-it-was Youtube clip.

I shall watch this one twice, then. Making popcorn first!

 

[garrow]

So riffing off of that previous post, that clip is MTV at its bare essence as I remember it. In its early days, it was cheap, experimental, played music I wouldn't have otherwise known, etc. I was 11-12 and very impressionable and very naive too.

Take "Up All Night" by the Boomtown Rats. It's probably better known as bumper music for Jim Rome these days as you never hear it in the wild, but MTV and other outlets (HBO's "Video Jukebox" for example) played the **** out of it in this period.

Me being young and escaping my parents music, "Up All Night" was one of the first videos I ever saw. The first time I saw it I distinctly remember feeling like I was watching something forbidden. Something my parents wouldn't approve of me watching. Writhing with snakes? WITHOUT A SHIRT ON! Who does that? Bizarre imagery and (for the parents tastes of the times) weird music sensibilities! I WAS OFF THE RESERVATION AND I KINDA DUG IT.

Ridiculous to think about it that way now, but that's the impression it left on me then. Now? I think of it as one of the few Boomtown Rats songs I can stomach. The bass line is tasty as ****.

Up all night
Ooh MAGA
Trump's staying up all night

Iranian mountain
Big city street
The only real difference is in
The people you meet

Up all night
Ooh MAGA
Trump's staying up all night

Not an agreeable town
Not neat and sedate
Why even the mothers
Are filled with hate

Up all night
Ooh MAGA
Trump's staying up all night
Say it ain't so Joe, say it ain't so Joe

Angry and brain broken
Well heeled and insane
They know they're alive
When they start to feel pain

 

[SJ Staff]

Freshman year, coming home from the school pep rally and seeing this for the first time blew my mind. Went to school and asked my friends had anyone else heard of Nirvana. Nada. Went to the handful of stores that sold music to see if they had this album. Nada.

About a week later, everyone was talking about Nirvana at my school.

This one's good

 

[SixToe]

Luka is such a crusher.

One of the first songs that I can recall actually listening to the lyrics and thinking "Damn, that's serious."

Probably the latest one for me to do this is Numb by Linkin Park. Enjoyed the song but never had dissected them until a couple of months ago.

 

[terrier]

Watching my next-door neighbor as a freshman, who became a producer on Yo! MTV Raps (Italian Kid from Long Island), throwing down an extra chair for Courtney Love when she wandered into rhe balcony under the influence while Kurt Loder was interviewing Madonna at the VMAs. (Gotta ask him if he was prepared for rhat.)

 

[BitterYoungMatador2]

Wasn't a huge MTV watcher as a kid because I was such a sports nerd and I was also one of those kids who was told there was to be no MTV on because my mom thought it was the devil. I honestly didn't care. If you had banned me from watching NBA on TNT or Evening at the Improv that would have had a greater impact on me. Regardless, there were some videos I watched and shows, like the half hour of crotch shots better known as Club MTV, the half hour comedy hour and Remote Control. As for videos, how could this one not be added yet.

 

[BTExpress]

I liked the Pop-Up Video version of that song.
[/vh1memories]

(Heck, I liked most Pop-Up Video versions)

 

[Batman]

"I'm comin' home real soon be ready cause when I do I'm gonna make love to you like 15 men" with Rod actually signaling 15 with his hands is an all-time ****ing great line.

Makes you wonder again if there might be something to the urban legend about him having to have his stomach pumped.

 

[Bubbler]

Another MTV-as-it-was from Christmas 1985.

I skimmed it. In the middle, there’s a full-on doc about “Sun City” and something I forgot about called “Carol Aid”. You can see what MTV was starting to transition into (longer form fare) and it has to be right at the tail end of the original VJ era too. I don’t think any of them were on MTV by 1987 or so.

Also, Paul McCartney’s tribute to the WWI Christmas truce and some Night Ranger for BYH.

 

[BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo]

I (I) AIN'T GONNA PLAY SUN CITY

 

[BTExpress]

The YouTube closed captions leave a lot to be desired. "John krugger melon Camp . . . "

 

[Bubbler]

I (I) AIN'T GONNA PLAY SUN CITY

At the time, the Brewers spring training site was in Sun City, Ariz. I initially thought the worst thing the Brewers did in 1985 was start the "other" Brian Giles at shortstop for a short period before Ernie Riles took over. Hardly the stuff Little Stephen needed to get involved with.

Little Stephen is weird to me. Has his heart in the right place and Underground Garage is the best satellite radio station. However, his image has always put me off and his music just doesn't do it for me either.

"Sun City", the song, is both kinda great and really dated. But apart from being for a good cause, it did allow Miles Davis, Hall & Oates, Hanoi Rocks and the Fat Boys to work together, so it's worth it for that alone.

Also, dickhead, did you notice your boys are near the start of this clip? That song resonated for me at the time because it was about this time I found out we were moving out of state after I had just started high school. Sniff! You speak to me, Jack Blades and Jeff Watson!

 

[Songbird]

This was one of the first things that captivated me because Bowie and Bing ... singing a Christmas song?

Seems like they would have done more of this over the years.

 

[BTExpress]

Bing died 33 days after recording it.
Bowie agreed to it only to please his mother, who adored Bing. Bowie hated Drummer Boy, and him doing Peace on Earth instead was the compromise reached.