Here is a detailed, in depth article about a new MTV documentary. This is a must read for anybody here who claims to have an interest in the 80s (and there seem to be a lot of you) but who were not there. If you are not aware of the information in this piece, then YOU DO NOT KNOW THE 80s. This is how it worked.

Some quotes from the article:

"If you were on MTV, you were BIG! GIGANTIC! No one is that big today, NO ONE! There ended up being MTV outlets all over the world, you could tour everywhere, you were rolling in dough, you can still tour to this day. As for today’s artists? The biggest, from Beyonce to Lady Gaga to Bieber… None of them are even as big as Pat Benatar was."

"Yes, MTV was influential. It WAS the culture. You learned how to dress and…"

"Now it’s all on demand. The audience is in control. Everybody can play. However, something has been lost. The truth is, the internet and the creativity it has spawned is just as momentous as MTV, it’s just that more people are in control and there’s no dominance. MTV added coherence, clarity. If it made it on the channel, it was worth knowing about. And all the worthwhile acts were on major labels. It wasn’t until the early nineties that indie labels really started to get any traction."

"But make no mistake, MTV and music were positively PRIMARY in the eighties. Has there been any musical event in the twenty first century with even a tenth of the mindshare and impact of Live Aid? OF COURSE NOT! And you wanted to get rich, but you also wanted to give back. Sure, you might have hated Kurt Loder and Tabitha Soren, but the news they were delivering oftentimes couldn’t be gotten elsewhere or was ignored by the target audience…MTV was a public service, in tune with its fans!"

Read the entire article here, if you claim to be an 80s aficionado. You will learn something about the way things really used to be for better and worse.

https://lefsetz.com/wordpress/2020/09/05/the-mtv-documentary/

And here's another important bit ofthe article, in case you still haven't read it yet:

"And then came Michael Jackson. I was not in the room, but the story on the street, documented everywhere, is that Walter Yetnikoff threatened to pull all of CBS’s clips from the channel if Michael’s wasn’t aired. MTV caved. But in this movie, MTV wants Michael Jackson, but when the company delivers 'Billie Jean' instead of  'Beat It', they’re hesitant. The stories are not inherently contradictory, but the Yetnikoff story makes MTV look bad, and gives power to the record companies, and that does not fit with the narrative. Although they do credit David Bowie with changing their programming philosophy, airing videos by black artists. This was a big battle back then, as was the airing of hip-hop, which is dealt with fairly in this doc, it’s just interesting that the kids of all the old rockers are now deep into hip-hop."

https://lefsetz.com/wordpress/2020/09/05/the-mtv-documentary/

I can't believe Classic MTV will celebrate 40 years in 2021.  :o

I can't believe Classic MTV will celebrate 40 years in 2021.  :o


I wonder if MTV will be a thing 30 years from now. It's going to be a super weird day when MTV turns 70 years old.

I wonder if MTV will be a thing 30 years from now. It's going to be a super weird day when MTV turns 70 years old.
MTV is not the thing now, it does not show music on the channel.

MTV is not the thing now, it does not show music on the channel.


That's what the article is about. MTV, as a cultural influence, and a BIG one, lasted pretty much exactly ten years from 1981-1991. For all intents and purposes there was no MTV after that.

I wonder if MTV will be a thing 30 years from now. It's going to be a super weird day when MTV turns 70 years old.


Who knows if MTV will exist by then.

Who knows if MTV will exist by then.
Will we still have television then?

Will we still have television then?


Probably not.

Probably not.
Watching something online?

Watching something online?


I just don't know what we'll be watching many years from now.

"But in this movie, MTV wants Michael Jackson, but when the company delivers 'Billie Jean' instead of  'Beat It', they’re hesitant".


I'm not surprised lol. Whilst I love MJ, I never saw the big deal with "Billie Jean" as a song. I mean the video is great and legendary, but the track itself never went anywhere for me. I think the video sold the song.