01 Aug August 1, 1981
A day which will live in music infamy.
I wasn’t watching when MTV took to the airwaves; being from a reeeeeeeely small town in Texas, we didn’t have access to MTV until it hit our cable provider. I was lucky — my forever friend lived far enough away from the “town proper” that her family had a satellite dish. So I was cool by proxy. Don’t judge me; it counts.
I’m a little nostalgic, so bear with my babbling. Yeah, MTV is 39 years old, but the “M” only stood for music for what, 14 of those years? I still curse the onset of “The Real World,” I’m grateful that MTV Classic still shows 80’s videos throughout the week, and even though “Metal Mayhem” only shows the same 12 metal videos, I still watch. Where else will you see vintage Iron Maiden? Hell, where outside of a concert or YouTube will you see ANY Iron Maiden?
For the record, I still turn up the volume when “Video Killed The Radio Star” comes on in the car. I still get chills when I hear the first notes of “The Reflex” and will die on the hill defending Duran Duran as music royalty. And don’t get me started on the masterpiece that is King Missile’s “Detachable Penis.”
The 80’s needed MTV. Honestly, with the demented shit going on in the world now, I think we need it again. We need music. We need visual escapism that doesn’t center around a smartphone screen. Even just a few minutes away from the news would help.
And while I’m babbling, I watched “Ready Player One” this afternoon. Any 80’s junkies out there who haven’t seen it, you need to do two things. First, read the book. It’s one of the best out there. Second, see the movie. Twice. I know there are some 80’s shout-outs that I missed, so I plan to see it again. And for over two hours, I didn’t feel so damn old.
That’s all for now. That movie got the old brain cranking, and I have a cyberpunk story to finish.
“I Want My MTV”…back.
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