The cuase and effect of MTV
 

Some wise words from Mr. Zappa here about 3 minutes in.

The only great stuff that was MTV in it's early years was mainly one thing...TIME FILLER. When the network started off, it tried to be the visual equivalent of your common AOR station, but it found out that there were very few videos that fitted their format so they did the next best thing to fill up those spaces in between Rod Stewart, Pat Bennitar, Journey, and Late Period Who videos with the growing amount of New Wave videos that were coming out of England and LA. Plus, thanks to a working relationship with IRS Records, MTV had The Cutting Edge, which was superior to the 120 Minutes those from the time still rhapsodize about - looking hip as a marketing tool while they were fixing the creases on the blueprint. I loved those shows too, but I knew what was going on as well.

There were a few things that were good - pushing Pop musicians to seriously think visual after a decade of dullness, finally bringing in Rap by the Late 80's after getting a lot of flack from critics and viewers alike, and setting some time in the Graveyard Shifts for some good programs (possibly more Time Filler just to look hip). Still, when it all came down to it, Pre-Viacom MTV was more of a hit and miss attempt to market music while sending the bill to the musicians who were forced to make mega-hits to recoup the monetary loss. It could have been done better, but you know what happens when marketing people form the base of anything. I think the only video they payed for was "Thriller"...a list of one!

Actually, I'm glad that MTV US turned south into the crap that the Mainstream buys up as entertainment. After all of the talk about New Waves and Music Revolutions, in the end each one of them only had a few serious listeners when all was said and done - even the bloated but amusing in a Comedy gone wrong way world of Hair Metal. The main reason was one word, Ratings, and that's what Viacom loves. While some complained about the so-called Reality Shows which are comparable to a long shopping trip at Wal-Mart (seriously, who needs to pay when you can see White Trash Drama for free?), many viewers who only watched MTV in The US for a name brand and not for the music decided not to care and watch a bunch of Low Life Drama Kings and Queens go at it so that the audience can set aside their same problems for a hour or so.

VH-1 is no better, despite focusing more on the music. Remember, it was the other side of MTV that was MOR, the station that unleashed Kenny G to millions of housewives, and the attempt to knock down Ted Turner's video channel (which reportedly payed to show videos). All of that Behind the Music/Band Reunion stuff is amusing at times, but it's still living in a past.

True, there's M2 and other MTV networks, but from where I'm at - The Midwest of The US, living in a Small Town - hardly anyone has heard of them. Of course we have, but we're in that small gathering of people.

The after effect of MTV in The US really was like any scorched earth policy. A lot of bands went into financial trouble, the music industry went into serious trouble forcing them to focus on the mega money winners without taking chances on anything (as if the suits care, anyways), the VJs who worked for peanuts got stereotyped and had trouble to find work outside of MTV, and the viewers who loved the early days got shut out by a company that wanted those rating points from a mainstream that hardly cared about the music in the first place.

Real music lovers who loved the visual, even those who loved their Pop, had other places to go to anyways - The USA Network had Night Flight for starters, the place where some of us saw Another State of Mind (don't think MTV showed that one!). Today, there's a lot of places we can go to, so let those early days rest in the Ghost Mall for those memories you can catch on YouTube and love or laugh. The Internet killed any real reason for MTV to exist as a music network, let's look for the alternatives - it dumped us, and we dumped them, good!

you forgot about the weekly show 120 Minutes

Did not forget it, but I also remembered being at a friend's house and catching The Cutting Edge. so that possibly was the thing that made my views.

120 was a fine show for what it was worth, and there was a time when things were a little interesting when it linked up with Mute Records (there was an Inspiral Carpets concert contest). It had some interesting videos from time to time, but by '93 I viewed that what little magic it had was sliding away. One of the coolest things about 120 was catching Coil's video to The Snow, which only aired once.

There was a VERY short lived show around 1992 called World MTV where it broadcasted videos from other countries, but it was after 120, putting it around 2AM where hardly anyone watched it...although I thank them for showing Kylie Minouge's "Better the Devil You Know"...and you know I say that for the right reasons, not for the song (OK, MAYBE for the song, damn me and my Pop Love sometimes).

Seriously, when MTV focused on the music, it was the necessary evil, but a lot of power plays and curbing the playlist down as it tried to get into every Cable system, especially the ones that would not take it as it was at first, was the first domino that fell. 120, Cutting Edge, and whatever followed including the M2 shows were the pre-YouTube promo tool that showed some alternatives.

I think what caused my rant is the possibility of those wishing the old MTV to come back being those too young to even know why some people rebelled against it in the first place ranging from an intellectual Zappa-level viewpoint and seriously living up to that standard to those like me who took a Punk level stance against it by actually supporting the alternatives that MTV would possibly never play (while of course not adhering to it 100 percent as there's a lot of guilty pleasures in my listening list). It's alright to recognize what happened, but there's the shock that a lot of that playlist was serious crap mixed in with a few good songs - pretty much like Stevie Nicks, Rod Stewart, Journey, REO Speedwagon, a few more AOR hits, then maybe a great clip by Devo or the then-latest New Wave sensation from England with the mix growing by 82-3 until the superstars of '84 arrived. The original aim was not artistic or even aiming for an alternative, although they had to fill in the spaces with that before things went their way by the Late 80's when they could shove the good things into two hour blocks.

Ah yes I'm glad we have another "lets cry and whine about new music" thread. Good good yes I agree music is awful

:laughing:

This interview is amazing. I think all that needs to be said about it is that for the first half of it it's just awkward silences, but two thirds of the way in she wants to **** him.