# The First Two Hours of MTV **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [May 30, 2023, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-two-hours-of-mtv/984759 "2023-05-30T02:31:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2023, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-two-hours-of-mtv/984759/21 "2023-05-30T18:40:04Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > I was in college in 1981, so no TV. (I thought I remembered music videos from the late 70s?? Maybe they were on other stations before MTV) For years before MTV, local channels in Los Angeles filled their late night time slots with video shows; content that cost them absolutely nothing to air. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2023, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-two-hours-of-mtv/984759/22 "2023-05-30T18:50:03Z")
I remember watching music videos as fillers between movies on HBO before MTV. Including the aforementioned _Fish Heads_ which should be wished into the cornfield of earworms. MTV;s debut was hyped enough I remember seeing the Buggles song and thought how apt it was. Due to the British show _Top of the Pops_, there were a lot of British music videos lying around. So MTV relied on those for a while despite many of the acts not being known in the US at the time. Some became known, of course, but many just disappeared from the US consciousness. (This trend also explains the fascination with “disco” Rod Stewart whose best years were behind him.) The number of videos that are just “performances” in front of a camera (with or without an audience) is quite high. Pat Benatar already having a few “regular” videos in the can helped propel her career. ---
**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2023, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-two-hours-of-mtv/984759/23 "2023-05-30T18:56:28Z")
The new seasons of _Beavis and Butt-Head_ on Paramount+ start off with the Sting sung “MTV” over the flag bumper. That sure hits the nostalgia button, which I guess is entirely appropriate for a resurrected cartoon from that era. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2023, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-two-hours-of-mtv/984759/24 "2023-05-30T18:58:49Z")
I got the most mileage out of 120 Minutes. Alas when grunge hit most of the Euro & non-grunge acts (the ones I personally preferred) vanished from the broadcast. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2023, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-two-hours-of-mtv/984759/25 "2023-05-30T18:58:57Z")
Is it true that MTV was only shown in parts of New Jersey when it began, meaning that most people who claim they were there from the beginning have faulty memories at best? ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2023, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-two-hours-of-mtv/984759/26 "2023-05-30T19:19:33Z")
Mark Goodman’s hair! So '80s. I loved my MTV (and VH1) back in the day. The four living VJs all work for Sirius/XM now, so I still get to hear them to this day. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2023, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-two-hours-of-mtv/984759/27 "2023-05-30T19:26:09Z")
Nina’s voice gives me the willies. The channel gets changed immediately whenever she comes on. ---
**Author:** ![Southern\_Yankee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/southern_yankee/32/2800_2.png) [@Southern\_Yankee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southern_Yankee)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2023, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-two-hours-of-mtv/984759/28 "2023-05-30T20:02:29Z")
I think they are doing production now. I have seen the intro on a number of shows recently. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2023, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-two-hours-of-mtv/984759/29 "2023-05-30T20:42:14Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Is it true that MTV was only shown in parts of New Jersey when it began, meaning that most people who claim they were there from the beginning have faulty memories at best? That’s what the Wiki says. The only new network I ever watched when it first went live was F/X back in the 1990s. They had hosts and shot out of a studio in New York, and the host mentioned that nobody there could see them because the new network wasn’t being carried by any cable stations there. I imagine most people who remember the launch really just remember when it became available to them. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2023, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-two-hours-of-mtv/984759/30 "2023-05-30T21:01:57Z")
Hardly anybody I knew even had cable TV in 1981 and I lived in the second largest metropolitan area in the country. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2023, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-two-hours-of-mtv/984759/31 "2023-05-30T21:23:38Z")
I’m quite a bit younger than you all I guess because my peak MTV viewing was late 80s/early 90s. I watched it from a youngish age because my Aunt and Uncle were really into it, and they were 4 and 5 years older than me. In that era you had Madonna, hip-hop acts like Salt n’ Peppa and eventually grunge, alongside _The Real World_ and other TV shows. I miss just being able to watch music videos. You don’t have many artists putting their all into music videos like they used to. And when you talk to younger people today, some of them are baffled by the idea of a music video and think it’s weird that so many of us experienced music this way. But I loved how it often added new dimensions of personal expression to a familiar song. ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2023, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-two-hours-of-mtv/984759/32 "2023-05-30T21:50:18Z")
Cable tv was taking off back then, I watched MTV from the beginning, and VH 1. Music videos were the future. Then all of sudden they got boring! ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2023, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-two-hours-of-mtv/984759/33 "2023-05-30T21:50:24Z")
Some of the VJs are on Sirius/XM now. Just like in the good old AM top 40 days (sarcasm) they all insist on talking over the beginnings of the songs! Seriously, one time Blackwood growled over “Would I Lie To You” by the Eurythmics all the way until the vocals came in, ruining the best part of the song! Did anyone ever really like it when DJs talked over the records? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2023, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-two-hours-of-mtv/984759/34 "2023-05-30T21:55:21Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#): > > Did anyone ever really like it when DJs talked over the records? I listen to various BBC stations and I still hear a lot of this there. What really drives me a bit nuts is how the volume of the music in the background constantly changes as the DJ talks and pauses. It automatically goes down when the DJ talks and ramps right back up to full volume as soon as there’s enough of a pause. And back and forth and back and forth. I don’t remember this on American radio when a DJ talks over the intro. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2023, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-two-hours-of-mtv/984759/35 "2023-05-30T22:12:48Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > It automatically goes down when the DJ talks and ramps right back up to full volume as soon as there’s enough of a pause. And back and forth and back and forth. I don’t remember this on American radio when a DJ talks over the intro. I did it as a DJ for (US) college radio and there wasn’t anything automatic about it. I would have one hand on the mic volume and the other on the input volume. Nobody goes into radio unless they love the sound of their own voice. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2023, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-two-hours-of-mtv/984759/36 "2023-05-30T23:05:58Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#): > > Just like in the good old AM top 40 days (sarcasm) they all insist on talking over the beginnings of the songs! They think the audience likes the “authentic” sound of the period. I doubt it very much. I might want to listen to the music of the 70s, or the 80s, but I don’t need the yammering. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2023, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-two-hours-of-mtv/984759/37 "2023-05-31T00:09:11Z")
Anybody remember the filler segments of Time-Lapse mushrooms growing? ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2023, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-two-hours-of-mtv/984759/38 "2023-05-31T01:16:35Z")
If you want more than two hours of mostalgia, the oral history [I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution](https://www.amazon.com/Want-My-MTV-Uncensored-Revolution/dp/0452298563/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2FOEIL3TNEHPW&keywords=mtv+oral+history+book&qid=1685495490&sprefix=mtv+oral+history+book%2Caps%2C125&sr=8-1) has (almost) every VJ and executive talking about how MTV came about. Lots of fun seeing how everybody just sort of stumbles around trying to build a whole universe out of basically two turntables and a microphone. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2023, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-two-hours-of-mtv/984759/39 "2023-05-31T01:35:34Z")
Did they show the cute li’l rappers who took the fashion world by storm by wearing their pants backwards? ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2023, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-two-hours-of-mtv/984759/40 "2023-05-31T01:55:24Z")
You’re thinking of Kriss Kross and I’m pretty sure they didn’t hit it big until ten years later in the early 1990s. And like I said in the OP, there were no black artists featured during the first two hours of MTV. Though one or more of the videos featured black musicians or dancers. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-two-hours-of-mtv/984759.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-first-two-hours-of-mtv/984759.md?page=3)