MTV's Golden Era: From "Video Killed the Radio Star" to "Jeremy"

I am currently reading I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution, by Craig Marks and Rob Tannenbaum (pub. date: Oct. 2011). We Gen Xers are, for sure, the book's target audience. If you were between the ages of 10 and 18 when MTV launched in 1981, you will enjoy this book, which covers only what the authors call "MTV's Golden Era": the years 1981 to 1992.

The book's format--an oral history, with quote after interesting quote from musicians, music execs, video directors, VJs, etc.--keeps the book flowing. You get great information without too much dull exposition.

The book begins, well, at the beginning, when MTV was just a gleam in some radio executives' eyes. What's interesting is just how quickly and half-assedly everything was thrown together. They got the okay in January 1981 and were determined to launch on August 1st (when, they figured, kids were home on summer vacation and had nothing better to do than watch videos all day). The founders had seven months to come up with a station name, logo, and catch-phrase; to figure out how to make record companies give them free videos; and to hire all the video disc-jockeys.

The book includes surprising information. For example, I didn't know that Michael Nesmith of the Monkees was one of the main players at the beginning (though he left before MTV even launched due to creative differences with the rest of management). In fact, it turns out that he deserves much of the credit for MTV. In the late 70's, Nesmith developed a show, called PopClips, that played nothing but videos. A pilot was made but it wasn't a success. The concept for MTV was born.

So the origin story is pretty interesting. But the book's strength is the information it shares about all the craziness that occurred behind the scenes of the making of your favorite videos.

"Save a Prayer" video: Nick Rhodes
and John Taylor (on on elephant)

About Duran Duran's "Save a Prayer" video, which was filmed in Sri Lanka, Nick Rhodes says: "John and I were on an elephant, Simon was on one with Andy, and Roger was on one of his own. And they brought a female elephant who let out this enormous noise, which one of the guys in the crew was taping. He thought, Oh, this will be funny, and he played it back through the speakers. Nobody knew that it was her mating call. So the elephant with Roger on its back charges down the swamp and mounts this other elephant. Roger's hanging on for dear life.... If he'd fallen off, he could have been trampled to death. It was funny as hell, but also quite hairy for a moment."

Dr. Magnus Pyke in the "She Blinded
Me With Science" video

This story Thomas Dolby tells about the "Blinded Me With Science" video cracked me up: "My dad, a professor of classical archaeology at Oxford University, was one of the scientists in the video. And we had Dr. Magnus Pyke, a famous British TV personality and bona fide scientist. When I saw him a few years later, he cursed me, because in America, people would walk up behind him in the street and shout, 'Science!' He was a man of accomplishment, and was annoyed by that."

I love that: Sneaking up on a proper Oxford scientist and screaming "SCIENCE!"at him. That's classic America vs. England right there.  

And since this book is about musicians, you'll be happy to know there's plenty of insider info on groupies, drugs, drinking, sex, and inflated egos.

Stevie Nicks in the Arizona desert,
filming the "Hold Me" video

Simon Fields, a video producer, says this about Fleetwood Mac:
"'Hold Me' was a f#*@ing nightmare, a horrendous day in the desert. John McVie was drunk and tried to punch me. Stevie Nicks didn't want to walk on the sand with her platforms. Christine McVie was fed up with all of them. Mick thought she was being a bitch, he wouldn't talk to her. They were a fractious bunch."


And how about this juicy tidbit from Joe Elliott, which will make you want to call up Def Leppard's "Foolin'" on YouTube:

Joe Elliott and his "wedding tackle" in the
"Foolin" video

"...there's a fantastic scene when I'm chained to a pyramid and I break out of the shackles. I sit up and look at the camera and sing, 'Is there anybody out there?' And if you look at the video--which I suggest you do, because it's quite funny--you can see that underneath my white trousers I have on tighty whities. I wasn't wearing them on the first take. [The director] Mallet watched that scene back through the lens and said, 'Dear boy, I can see your wedding tackle. You need to put some underpants on. They'll never show this on the telly if we don't clean it up a bit.'"


So if you watched MTV as much as I did in the 80's, you will definitely get a kick out of this book. I don't know if I'd shell out the $18 Amazon is asking for the hardcover (my copy was a Christmas present--thanks, hon!) but the paperback is coming out in September. It's worth checking out.

Sports Authority

This past Saturday marked the beginning of spring soccer here in our little Westchester town. Unfortunately, though our six-year-old son was signed up, he spent the morning reassembling his Hogwarts Lego instead.

My son played soccer last fall, and every Saturday morning my husband would beg, cajole, and bribe to get him to the field. It would go something like this:

"If you try really hard during practice before the game, then you only have to play half the game." ... "Okay, fine, you can skip the game but only if you try your best during practice, and no moaning."... "C'mon, just try, it'll be fun. We can get a doughnut afterwards."

My poor husband got worn down and gave up the fight. So this spring my kid is playing zero organized sports...with zero organized sports in his future.

Whenever we bring up the idea of my son trying something else--karate or T-ball, say--all we get back from him is, "NO, NO, I hate sports!"

Which isn't exactly true. He loves kicking the ball around with his dad and playing baseball in the backyard. But if he gets any whiff of real competition, forget it.

My husband is bummed. When we learned our firstborn would be a boy, visions of bringing his son to Mets games and bonding over shared love for the team floated through is head. Instead, the boy couldn't care less. Last summer the whole family went to a Mets game. My son enjoyed himself because he loves giant pretzels, cotton candy, and fun-to-climb stadium steps. End of story. Oh, there was a game going on? News to him.

The same goes with football. His favorite thing about it? The "football snacks" (i.e. normally-forbidden junk like Bugles, Doritos & Ruffles) we serve while watching playoff games. I'm sure if someone were to mention the word "Superbowl" to my son today, his mouth would water in anticipation of greasy, salty snacks.

When our son was four and showed little interest in organized sports, I told my husband to be patient. I was pretty sure school would peer-pressure him into caring. Well, Kindergarten is wrapping up in a couple months and there's been no change.

"Do kids in your class talk about the Giants?" my husband asked our son during playoff season.

"Yeah."

"Do they like the Giants? Do they watch games on TV and know about the players and stuff?"

"Uh-huh."

Hmmm, guess that's why the kid's best friends in school are girls.

Our son is athletic enough--you should see him bat, he sends the ball flying. His problem is mental: He's nervous he won't be good and therefore doesn't want to even try. We are reluctant to force him to play sports even though other parents have suggested that's the only way to get your child over his or her fear.

It's gotten so bad that my son doesn't even enjoy himself at sports-themed birthday parties. He's fine if the kids are allowed to roam the gym freely and experiment with the equipment as they choose. But once he hears, "Okay, let's all line up, this is what we're going to do" he's OUT.

I recently had to RSVP "no" to a party for one of his classmates because the party venue was the scary-sounding Sportime. My husband has had enough of my son complaining and not participating at sports parties so he just won't go anymore. The way I see it is no cake and gift bag for you if you don't play along. What kid doesn't want to go to a birthday party? That cannot be normal. It's very frustrating.

I don't know...he's only six. There's still time. Maybe it'll happen on its own.

Or maybe it won't. Which is okay, too.

Things I'm Sad My Kids Won't Experience

The world has changed so much over the past few decades. Many of the changes are incredible and awesome, but not all. Occasionally, I'll catch myself thinking fondly about something I did or experienced when I was younger, and it will occur to me that, because the world is so different now, my kids probably won't have the pleasure of that experience.

Here are some things I'm bummed they'll (probably) miss out on:

I remember being 12 and going to the
record store to buy my brother an Ozzy
record for his birthday. This album
cover was an education.

Poring Through Records at a Divey, Yet Excellent, Record Store
Remember when the only way to learn what the singers of the songs you loved looked like was through the record store? Remember wasting countless hours trying to decide which album to spend your allowance money on? And the record store was educational, too: How else was I going to learn about Satanism if not via Ozzy Osbourne's album covers?

Receiving a Love Letter in the Mail
I don't mean to brag but I've received a few love letters in my day. Sure, I've gotten love emails too, but there is no comparison: Hand-written sweet nothings beat those printed out on 8.5 x 11 computer paper any day.

MTV Circa 1982
The town I grew up in didn't get cable until practically the 90's (boo!). But the next town over got it in the early 80's, and luckily my grandparents lived in that town (yay!). Whenever we'd go over their house for dinner, my brother and I would turn on MTV, sit on the floor a foot from the screen, and become zombified for hours. It was the most awesome thing ever invented and I was completely obsessed. I think we somehow even convinced the adults to let us leave the TV on DURING DINNER. I remember jumping up from the table mid-turkey-eating and running into the family room upon hearing the beginning strains of INXS's "The One Thing." Michael Hutchence was so hot in that video my tween self could hardly handle it. MTV blew my mind on a regular basis back then.

No idea where this photo is from, but this is pretty
much how I remember it. 

A Huge Blizzard (Like the One in 1978) That Closes School for Weeks
Okay, so it's possible. But if this winter is any indication of how this Climate Change thing is going, massive blizzards are a thing of the past. I will never forget, in 1978, opening up our front door to find an impenetrable wall of snow. Poor grown-ups: Their cars were buried, the shoveling was murder, and their annoying kids were home from school for two weeks. But for us kids it was unbelievable: School was cancelled for two weeks (!!), and all we did was build epic forts and sledding tracks that led downhill from the front yards of our houses to the back. Incredible speeds were attained, no helmets were worn, much hot chocolate was drunk. Legendary.

Visiting a Europe Where the Residents Actually Seem Foreign
My mother is British so we spent a lot of family vacations in England, and back in the 70's and 80's (and even the early 90's) there was very little American influence over there. One or two McDonalds in London, maybe. The city was still very Dickensian then--stark, historic, beautiful, and so, so different from America. My last visit to London was in 2005, and I spent the whole trip marveling at how American the city looked and felt. The ratio of quaint, dingy pubs to garish, cheesy chain stores had officially tipped in the wrong direction. I'm sure it's even worse now. The same goes for Paris, Rome, Madrid, etc. Too bad. Where does a person have to go to escape America's clutches?

But on the other hand, technological advances have certainly made life better in many ways. Here's a list of a few things I'm glad my kids (hopefully) will never have to suffer through:

Catching the Chicken Pox
Using a Fax Machine
Dial-Up Internet
Acid-Wash Jeans
MS-DOS
And the worst of the worst: 
Having to Type Up Their College Applications One-By-Excruciating-One