three hours of MTV from 1983

Phoenix Comicon reminded me of the cons I went to when I was a kid, and reminded me of what cons could be -- and should be -- when they're run by people who care more about creating a good time for fans, than figuring out ways to separate fans from their money.

I'll have a full trip report later today, but until then, I have found something HAWESOME to pass the time, or at least listen to in the background while you work. Three hours of MTV, recorded on VHS in 1983, including wonderfully cheedy commercials. I've been listening to part one for about thirty minutes, and the nostalgia is starting to overwhelm me.

Part one:

Part two:

Generation X! Rejoice, while the damn kids today wonder why MTV is actually playing music videos.

(from Appelogen via boingboing)

Comments

[Wil]

So many of these videos remind me of particular days or times in my childhood -- I was 11 in 1983 -- and even though I knot it's not really possible, I feel like I can remember the first time I watched some of them.

Many of the videos also shine a light -- for me, at least -- on how shitty the videos they make today are. When these videos were made, the medium was new, people were experimenting, and even established bands like The Police were using them to build and craft their image (watch Synchronicity II in Part 1, and you'll see what I mean.) Compare it to the crap they make for pop music today, where they throw some kids into the desert and splice in the requisite shots of "singer in the rain" and "mysterious stranger that's never explained or has any relation to the music" and even something like Say, Say, Say, from McCartney and Jacko becomes a work of art.

[Keith Coogan]

This is one of the first things I downloaded from video.google.com, compressed and then synced onto my iPhone! Classic MTV! Yeah! It really is amazing how much content they had when MTV first started airing. Most of it was concert footage, but some were honest to goodness "videos" produced for the new medium. I remember clearly the day MTV launched, and I was hooked into watching it for about 12 years straight. I hear MTV even started playing music videos again recently. Too bad I don't have cable. Or maybe not.

[PrincessWHN]

OMG! I remember when Mtv used to play music. Whatever happened to that?

[JennyW]

Thank you for this! I loved MTV back then. It really brings back some memories (for better or for worse!).

[ElizabethN]

That is truly awesome, although it reminds me of my miserable failure at being Nina Blackwood. She was so "cool" and I was so, well, not (despite my best efforts). But hey, I can still recite all the words to Five Minutes of Funk so at least my MTV youth wasn't completely wasted. Thanks for the nostalgia!

[vulgrin]

Ok, bizarre question: On that very first commercial for the cologne, does the woman's voice on the phone sound EXACTLY like the lady that did the "Mad Minutes" with Dick De Bartolo? (Of Mad Magazine and Daily Giz Wiz fame - Leo Laporte used to run the Mad Minutes and I swear she sounds like EXACTLY the same person to me.)

[Ryan]

I was born in 1983, but watching some of this makes me wish I could be nostalgic about it. When I was growing up, the New Kids on the Block and excessive quantities of dayglo were all the rage, not the Who and white leather belts.

Also, MTV is a steaming pile of crap nowadays. Enough with the awful, repetitive reality shows. More music, pls!

[adichappo]

Thank you so much for posting those MTV videos. They have, like, totally made my day. Funny enough, I was just watching an all 80's video special on Classic VH1 earlier today! Why do i now suddenly feel the need to put on spandex and leg warmers...? ^_^

[horsenbuggy]

OK, as a 10 year old girl I remember thinking that Huey Lewis made good music, but that he looked "old." As a 35 year old woman, I look at him now and think, "Dang, he was hawt." How funny.

After the Huey Lewis video, Mark Goodman said something about them being a great band to see live. I have to agree. They were my first concert - 15 years old, the "Fore!" album. They did FOUR encores. They were incredible.

[t_knotts]

Weird... so did they replay this on MTV years later? There's a '99 Prince video at the 19 min mark on vid 1.

--T

[t_knotts]

Hilarious... I'm an idiot. The ALBUM was 1999... lol. Shows how much I know about Prince I guess... thanks for the post.

--T

[ironwolf]

Dude!! This is freakin' hysterical. About 51 minutes into Part I = Michael Bolton, the Hard Rock Years. I WANT MY MTV!!!!

[Mystral721]

Oh man, you reminded me that I have a VHS tape of a block of MTV from when I house-sat for my yuppie brother in my late-teens! I should dig it up and transfer it to DVD before it crumbles away. Ah, nostalgia.

I think I have a copy of a Cop Rock episode somewhere, too.

[horsenbuggy]

Oh. My. God. Michael Bolton trying to front a rock band. Some things need to stay buried in the past.

[Jenny, the Bloggess]

Someone hand me the scissors. I'm tearing all the sleeves off my shirts right now.

[horsenbuggy]

Jenny, you also need a red bandana to wear around the top of your thigh.

[Eric in PA]

Also, Jenny, don't forget to empty two cans of AquaNet into your hair, as well as wear any skin-tight leather you may have...

Ahhhh, skin tight leather...

For the last 20 years, I've watched MTV devolve from "Music Television" to the "Shiny Things Network." Someone at Viacom needs to wake up and realize that the M is for "Music," not the "Morons" who watch it for crap reality TV these days...

[robvs]

Dude! The Panasonic ad at time code 1:02:00 shows the exact boom box that I got as a Christmas present back then. I still use it regularly, although the tape deck has not worked in years. Thanks for the nostalgia trip.

[Alan]

Before the web, records were advertised on tv sold over the telephone. T-shirts were also sold over the phone. Band tour schedules were only available occassionally on television -- and you better have a pen ready to write down your town.

[jewels6gems]

Flashbacks! I was at that Police concert in OKC in 1983.

[amityisland]

The "reality check" for me tha this was 24 years ago...The Police shirt for the 1983 tour was only $12...The Police shirt I got for their 2007 tour was $35 lol.

[Jem is Outrageous]

You totally rule. I met you yesterday at the Con and you were so amazing! Thank you so much for the autograph, the picture and being so sweet :) If I was a big fan before, I'm a HUGE fan now! You're the best.

[kidcharles]

I love the commercial where MTV asks their viewers to push the cable companies to offer broadcasts with stereo sound (about 5 min into part 1). We've come a long way baby.

[SandieK]

The less music video's MTV played, the more pissed off I got. I tuned in for the video's damnit!

And now CMTs the same way (yes, my eclectic music tastes does include country). Only time to get videos is in the morning.

[kidcharles]

Some random thoughts after part one:

Music back then was just good. Even the hair band stuff was good pop music. There's a liveliness to almost all of it, from the New Wave (The Tubes, Bow Wow Wow) to the Rock (Quiet Riot) to the Funk(?) (Prince).

It's fascinating to see some of the artists who came up in the 60's and 70's represented in the 80's. There is a contest to win Neil Young's pink Cadillac during his pseudo-rockabilly phase. A video from the Who (You Better You Bet, a post Moon classic). An announcement about a premiere video from Bob Dylan off the Infidels album.

At the end of part one is a video from Nick Heyward who I had never heard of. I go onto Wikipedia and find out he's still around and has a Myspace page, how bizarre.

I'm struck by how much sound quality is advertised, both in commercials for stereos and in the constant references to MTV being broadcast in stereo. This just doesn't exist anymore. Apple doesn't advertise how good iPods sound, preferring instead to emphasize a visual aesthetic and lifestyle images. This is true of any equipment these days, the packaging is played up (particularly the size of it) much more than the quality of the playback.