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Re: MTV Turns 20 - I Want My MTV - WHO Cares?



Well it changed me & I hated it (har).  Truthfully, MTV affected me quite a bit 
& I loved it.  I remember getting home from school in 9th & 10th grade (1981,
1982) & immediately switching on the TV to watch videos untill 11:00 at night.
Then, the next day in school, my music-minded friends & I would talk about the
videos, the bands, the fashions, etc.  It truly was life-changing.

I started getting into groups I never knew existed.  The Who included.  MTV
properly introduced me to The Who.  Plus all the New Wave groups, some punk,
etc., etc.  Wonderful times.

Nothing slick about it at all.  Goofy-looking VJ's, crude videos (quite obvious even
back then), & retro, kitchy buffer footage sprinkled around the videos.

During the first two years it seemed like it was the same hundred videos over & over 
again.  But most of 'em were good.  Sometimes, to fill up time, they would play
about 10 minutes of weird space footage mixed with footage of odd inventions & 
the like.  Maybe some synthesizer music over it.  No one's band or video - they
were just killing time for *lack* of videos!

Then Michael Jackson & Thriller hit & the quick slide to Shitsville started immediately
& gained speed quickly.  That's about when I bailed.  What was that?  1984?

Anyway, The Who were all over MTV during those "Golden Years."  Those FACE
DANCES black & white videos were played constantly, as were videos made from
clips from TKAA.  "Sister Disco" from Kampuchea.  Plus Pete's videos.

> I've seen the Rough Boys video, and the Give Blood video, and the English
> Boy video, but this is more Pete trying the standard formula of pushing
> his songs and himself as an artist in order to comply with a record 
> company contract that includes a video requirement.  I believe he
> missed or chose not to compete in the medium.  What was his reasoning?

You're a bit off here.  Pete *did* jump into the video medium rather exuberantly.
The CHINESE EYES videos from 1982 attest to that.  Right off the bat Pete was
trying to link up his music with some sort of video product to create more of an
experience for the listener/viewer.  He tried again with WHITE CITY in 1985.

But people weren't really looking for a complete package like that.  No one was really
demanding an artist's album include some kind of associated videotape to compliment 
the music.  It wasn't any kind of a "next big step" in presenting music.  Sure, videos
could promote an album but again Pete was trying something grander, something deep-
er.  A record which compliments a videotape & a videotape which compliments a record.
A new entertainment package for the revolutionary 1980's!  Well....

Remember, MTV was HUGE in the early 80's.  It confused & scared a lot of people.
The MTV of today is a corporate, money-making, non-entity.  A big music commercial
channel.  Back then it was a low-budget maverick stirring up many feelings not just in
kids but in older rock fans as well.  Like the first month of being in love, it was all new &
exciting.  

I have a copy of The Who's press conference to announce their final, pay-per-view, 
Toronto, 1982 live special & almost the entire question & answer session is about video, 
the importance of video, how videos will affect the future of Rock, etc., etc.  Crazy, 
almost panic-like speculation about where it was all headed.

And Pete had to deal with it, too.


- SCHRADE in Akron