MTV Turns 25

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by Brenda Clemons, U2 Station staff writer

MTV is 25! Why, that makes me; never mind how old that makes me. Lets just say I remember that fateful day when MTV first came on the air. Everyone under the age of 30 sat around our sets amazed at the images that flickered upon the screen. Of course, with few exceptions, most videos were cheesy and amateur compared to the ones today. Most were of people with bad hair dos dancing haphazard to (usually bad) electronic music. There were some exceptions of course. I remember Stevie Nicks dancing like a dream in Fleetwood Macs Gypsy. And Michael Jackson defined cool in Thriller.

Oh, yes, those were the days. Michael Jackson hadnt had plastic surgery and was still innocent in the eyes of the public. MTV actually played videos 24/7 and music news was updated every 20 minutes. Thanks to groups like Duran Duran, it was okay for girls to like guys who wore makeup.

Not everyone was in love with the network. Critics complained that videos were killing the integrity of music. Music executives scrambled as they tried to come to terms with the new media. Soon it wasnt as important to sound good, as it was to look good. I think it is true that video killed the radio star. Would we have Britney (Spears) and Ashley (Simpson) if they had to rely solely on their musical ability?

In the midst of the cold war, color and sound were almost as important as air. As we danced with the videos, we could forget that at any second the world might end in a fiery nuclear explosion. The joke at the time was that MTV was really a weapon invented by the communist. They would soon come and invade the West and no one would notice. We would all be too busy watching our MTV.

At its worse; MTV is tacky, and boring. At it's very best it defines a generation. Cheers to MTV and another 25 years.

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This page contains a single entry by Brenda published on August 11, 2006 11:38 PM.

Higher Than the Sun was the previous entry in this blog.

Cynics mock, charities defend stars aiding Africa is the next entry in this blog.

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