Happy 35th Anniversary, MTV!

NY Daily News ^ | 8/1/16 | Nicolas Parco

[SilvieWaldorfMD]

Are you sure you want your MTV?

On its 35th birthday, a quick glimpse at the network shows it’s hardly what it once was.

While change isn’t always easy... it’s not always needed either.

What started as a network dedicated to airing music videos and sharing insight on the topic has transformed into a smorgasbord of reality shows that teens who listen to Justin Bieber are glued to.

It’s a far cry from the station’s days of “120 Minutes” and “Daria” and Kurt Loder staring into your soul telling you what you needed to know at the top of every hour.

Even “Total Request Live” had more substance than what MTV passes off for content now as it actually featured music.

For what it’s worth, the top minds at the network know everyone wants their MTV — the old one, that is.

[SilvieWaldorfMD]

Let There Be Rock!

[Right Brother]

1989 was the last I watched MTV. After that, it turned into crap.

[SilvieWaldorfMD]

Yes - Aug. 1, 1981 through Dec. 31, 1989 were the golden years. After that, it’s all RAP.... er... CRAP!

[Lionheartusa1]

Hip Hop and Rap are not music ,,, it is the lack of music performed by talentless thugs and wanna bees .

[RushIsMyTeddyBear]

Video killed the radio star.

[RayChuang88]

I think MTV--getting away from showing music videos--needs to figure out that they need go to back to that format at least much of the day.

[SilvieWaldorfMD]

“MTV Classic” debuts today — a network airing 1990s videos.... “VH1 Classic” already airs 1970s and 1980s videos....

[NohSpinZone]

This channel is still on?

[Lucas McCain]

Agreed. It is the cultural equivalent of a monkey flinging its own feces.

[Borges]

Hip Hop isn’t music to begin with; it is a culture.

[AnotherUnixGeek]

Are you sure you want your MTV?

No. Who even watches MTV anymore? MTV should be about music, music videos and Beavis & Butthead. The other networks already have the trash reality-show territory covered.

[DesertRhino]

When it moved into rap they destroyed MTV. Another good thing destroyed because it was “too white”.

[RedStateRocker]

And Youtube killed the video channel. Why accept whatever dreck they run when you can find the video yourself?

[Gamecock]

Time has not been good to some of the VJs:

[avenir]

Seeing where the mess ended up makes me appreciate the early days, when fixed scenes of incoming ocean waves played for long stretches due to lack of content.

[EQAndyBuzz]

I like watching the VH1 classics. MTV is a worthless shell of itself.

[SilvieWaldorfMD]

I like “That Metal Show” and “Totally 80s” on VH1 Classic....

[equaviator]

I don’t remember the actual launch of MTV with “Video Killed The Radio Star” but toward the end of that first week you could tell that it was going to be the “Talk of the Town”.

[bankwalker]

The day ... the music ... died .........

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

For a short decade, it was the greatest advertising medium for music ever invented. It spawned hundreds of artists and an amazing explosion of creativity. It had the best demographic for advertisement.

What killed it was a combination of liberal political correctness and the greed of the music industry which hated the idea of anyone else profiting as much as a penny of “their” money they squeezed out of performers for their music.

But it was fun while it lasted.