Pajiba

Funny you should mention Pete Wentz...he's getting a show that'll replace TRL at MTV. From MSN:

MTV found a replacement of sorts with "FNMTV." The show debuted over the summer in a 15-episode run hosted by Pete Wentz, bassist for rock band Fall Out Boy. Taped in Los Angeles, it aired Friday nights and televised exclusive music videos and performances by such diverse acts as Slipknot and the Jonas Brothers.

Where's your godtopus now?

I also recall when MTV played actual music videos. My oldest recollection of it was a video by Wendy O. Williams and the Plasmatics. I don't recall the name of the song, but the video involved Wendy driving a school bus through a wall of old TV sets, then dynamiting the bus.

I gave it points on artistic merit.

I don't remember the earliest days of MTV (we were late to get cable) but a few years in I distinctly remember the way they still ran the same videos over and over again. If you wanted something different, there was Night Flight, which showed a more eclectic mix of videos by bands I never thought even made videos (and then you could watch 'Night of the Living Dead' or 'Wild Style').

One random memory of MTV- They had a contest in which they asked people to make their own videos for the song 'True Blue' by Madonna and promised to show them all day. And they did. It was basically hours and hours of home movies set to 'True Blue'. The winner was supposed to have their entry made the official video to the song, but Madonna ended up making the video herself anyway.

TRL is the undead, and someone finally put the last bullet in its zombie braaaain. It died around 9 plus years ago when boy bands made their resurgence and then Tom Green's Bum Bum song topped their "charts" for a bunch of weeks in a row. Ever since then, TRL's been shuffling about in circles waiting for someone to boomstick them us out of their our misery.

Is that a recent pic of Liza Minelli? If so, man... she's lookin pretty good. The jeans aren't that flattering, but I guess when you're that age minimizing the FUPA is a priority.

Change sucks, doesn't it? Especially when they're changing out our old "good" shit for some new "awful" shit.

I'm such a pea-brain that I never understood the point of music videos in the first place. When MTV made the scene and everyone I knew was geeking out over it, I was the kid scratching my head wondering why you would want to listen to music on the crappy TV speakers when there's a perfectly good stereo available and why you would want to watch bad lip-syncing and painfully obvious "dramatic interpretation"? Oh well. That's certainly not the only boat I've ever missed in my life.

So I know more about FNMTV than I do about TRL thanks to my own teenagers. Those FNMTV folks are certainly shrewd. They troll YouTube for hollaback videos to current radio pap and then feature said videos on FNMTV and on the MTV home page, ensuring legions of wannabe tweens and teens will vie for their 15 seconds of fame. How do I know this, you might wonder? Well, my kids made a video to one of the Trannycat Dolls songs and it made the cut -- so they spammed friends and family alike to get them to check it out. And it worked.

Such is life with aspiring videographers; we have a dedicated "green room" in our house (all walls painted green and no furniture) that is quite effective at keeping them off the streets and otherwise preoccupied...

the canadian music channel MuchMusic used to run a lot like old-school MTV. Played lots of fun stuff, had very low production values. I freaking loved that channel.

sansho1--thanks! I haven't seen that Fish Head video for at least 22 years. Ugh. Now I do feel old. Anyway, thanks for the link.

Clearly, I am old enough to remember the good old days of MTV, though I didn't discover it until '83. I've decided it's better that they (and VH1) never have anything I want to watch, 'cause those videos were addictive and you'd lose hours to the tube--usually waiting for something good to come on.

OH HELLS YEAH!!!!

Now MTV can stop even PRETENDING to play videos anymore. I predict their next step will be to change their name, because, heh, WHAT MUSIC?

HAAA TAKE THAT GENERATION DOUCHEBAG BITCHES.

Che, trannycat doll home videos are quite a price for keeping them off the streets! I think I feel sorry for you.

Posted by: lordhelmet at September 16, 2008 1:44 PM

Funny you should say that, lordhelmet. They're already pretty savvy in that they have music that they like, and then they have music that they make videos to in order to draw attention to themselves. They have a YouTube channel with a couple of videos that have over 100,000 views, and they're approaching 1,000,000 total views with over 3,000 subscribers. Of course, the high-view stuff is all the fluff like Trannycats and Katy Perry; their personal tastes are (thankfully) more eclectic and challenging.

So, Che, m'lud. How old would these teenagers be..? Their actions sound young. There's really no way they could be college age. But imagine, Pajoibs... Courting a Grovera. I just want some intelligent discussion! If this girl who keeps TEXTING (grr,,, Blerg!!!) me adds ONE MORE EMOTICON!!! I WILL ... ... breathe.... at least she's pretty... ... Breathe... Pretty face... so pretty... *goes quietly into the night*

Music Videos, where have ye gone?

I was late to the MTV. The first video I remember was GnR's "November Rain". I also remember the big shiny controversy over the NIN "Closer" because Mark Romanek felt that MTV's censors had distorted his vision to the point where it no longer mattered.

I hate MTV.

"Phantoms" at 12? Loveline at 7?

Shay, you are bumming the upper reaches OUT!

Dammit, when I was 7 I saw an Echo & the Bunnymen video in broad daylight! And you've brought that now painful memory roaring back to the surface! I need to go eat some barbecued iguana to dull the ache!!!

Not only do I remember them putting music videos on, I remember the first batch of original programming. Stuff like Liquid Television and the one and only Remote Control.

To see that replaced with The Hills and My Super Sweet 16.

The world is not a better place.

Jeebus, I'm old enough to have had a crush on Martha Quinn. But didn't every guy, and probably more than a few girls?

Mmmmmmm. Martha Quinn, who is not, not, not in the Centerfold video (J Geils Band. Gotta love a band with the word "Band" in their name.) I still have a snap of her smooching at the camera that a friend of mine pulled off the TV, the hard analog way. Crush? Me? Not much, no.

I um, "heard", cough, cough, that with a little digging one might find a digital version of the Buggles original somewhere on the interwebs. You can still catch some of the good old ones in other media. Aerosmith's videos are all on Youtube, as is November Rain.

If we're speaking of old school tunes with videos that meant something, like art, or at least an unapologetic trashy good time, I nominate these as iconic:

- Devo
- Joan Jett & the Blackhearts
- Peter Gabriel
- Any of the approximately 75 generic hair-metal bands making videos that kept Tawney Kitaen and the Firebird production line fully occupied for about three years there.
- Prince back when he was dirty. Any more he only really lets the funk out in concert.

These days even the ogling is adulterated with unfortunate subtext. Urban angst and anger in the rap / hip-hop stuff. "Look at me, I'm a semi-famous tramp" in all the semi-famous trampy spiritual spawn of Madonna by way of Britney Spears. And worst is the righteous righteousness with a topping of smug in the country but not really paeans to shallow appreciation of the unfair gender. (Honkey Tonk Badonkadonk, I mean you. How the h - e - double - toothpick did they manage to make a gaggle of objectively hot girls in painted on jeans bo-ring? That takes real genius.) I like my eye candy uncomplicated, thank you. Sometimes it's OK to just let art flow over you.

MTV was once a source of innovative stuff. I'd make sure to catch the early non-video fillers, like Aeon Flux. Brilliant, unlike the sucky movie. And where did Twisted Sister, break? That's right.

Even if you're going to be pervey, really, just go there. Anybody else remember, I think it was officially called "MTV Beach Party" but even the entertainment press knew it as "Soft core in the afternoon on MTV."

I want my MTV. Hard.

Che, part of me imagines you know the legal age in every state just off the top of your head. On account of being awesome like that. (Warning: In my weakened state, awesome may be confused with pedophillic.)
Why did I drink last night... I just have to take it when I can get it. It was awesome.
(Woww... Just need to take the alcohol when I can get it... the joke lays in my use of the word awesome. And now I need some meth just to get me back to normal.)

I'm proud to say I watched the original transmission and for many years a TV in the house would ALWAYS, but I mean ALWAYS, be on MTV.

Before MTV though, there was HBO's video Jukebox,. that's were I first saw Bonnie Tyler's, "Total Eclipse of the Heart," Thomas Dolby, some Saga (remember those guys?)etc.

Dial MTV was pretty awesome, too....as I remember from 3rd and 4th grade!

Anna von Beaverplatz, I am right there with you. I used to RUN home from fifth grade in 1981 (which officially makes us over the hill), to watch MTV on our twelve button cable box (that also had the magical toggle wheel that tripled our choices). I originally thought it was completely commercial free because they never seemed to have any advertising (except for snickers bars, whose ad they showed about ninety times a day). I had no idea it was because no businesses thought the advertising dollars would be well spent on a fledgling music video channel.

Though R&B was pretty under represented, early MTV played a crazy mix of music. The white boy, bar bands (Loverboy and Billy Squire), second British invasion bands (Duran Duran & Wham!), the synth-pop/make-up bands (Human League and ABC), old school American Rock (Boston and .38 Special), chick fronted bands (The Motels and Berlin), art house (pre-famous Talking Heads and The Tubes), heavy metal (Judas Priest and Motorhead), the popsters (English Beat, Squeeze, the Police), punks (PIL and Wendy-O), and then the completely un-categorizable (Wall of Voodoo and Adam Ant). Jesus, just thinking about it makes me want to sneak cigarettes. I still have untold hours of early MTV on VHS tapes, because for some strange reason I used to tape it (remember how what a novel new invention the VCR was?!?). I freaking LIVED for music at that age.

I don't know if it is because I am now older than dirt or if MTV has been so thoroughly co-opted and corrupted by the music business and commercial concerns, but I haven't seen anything worthy to watch on that piece of shit channel in a good fifteen years. What a shame.

Yes, the over-30s where Pajiba statistically goes to die. There's certainly some younger people but what's funny is your mentioning your age, which automatically makes one think "and I was....?"

Yeah, I wondered about Loveline being on in Ireland, if I'm remembering correctly here, but it's about the same time period as this other one.

Diane Farr! Yet another brunette MTV crush!

And yes, Clinton babies are now driving.

tell me about the TRL cancelation!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!