MTV is at death’s door

NY Post ^ | July 23, 2015 | Richard Morgan

[oh8eleven]

Viacom is vulnerable in that many of its networks, including MTV, Nickelodeon and Spike, target youngsters — “the segment of the population that’s most rapidly and definitively abandoning linear TV,” according to the analyst.

[mmichaels1970]

Martha Quinn was a cutie in those days.

Never really liked Kennedy, but it's funny to see her on Fox News today.

[rhoda_penmark]

“”F___ the gas pump,
F___ the gas pump...””

That’s now know as a “mondegreen”. (misunderstood lyric - go google mondegreen for fun and laughs.)

examples:

There’s a bathroom on the right
‘Scuse me, while I kiss this guy
Wrapped up like a douche

etc. :-)

[Charles Martel]

Internet killed the Video Star

Internet just pulled out the life-support plug. Rap killed the video star.

[dfwgator]

When the used to let Weird Al Yankovic take over the channel for a few hours...that was the best!

Love "Al TV"

'Interview' with Eminem

[oh8eleven]

I remember being in the Marine Corps when it launched in 1981. We had it in the rec room at the barracks
Rec room? Back in the day ('66-'69) we didn't ... oh, never mind.
Semper Fi :)

[Fledermaus]

I hated it from day one. Ruined every keg party we had in college. No more talking or mingling...everyone just sat like zombies watching music videos. And when it started they only played about 15 different ones all day if not all week.

[beaversmom]

I have a delayed response toward some music. I kinda appreciate some of MJs music a little more now than I did then. Thriller is a good one.

[GOPsterinMA]

I think the last time I tuned in to watch an actual music video was ~1988. VH1 probably around 1990.

Shortly afterwards, MTV started with the retarded game shows, “Real World/Gay Agenda” crap, etc.

Pass.

I’m giving serious thought to dumping cable; outside of the FX(XXXXXXXXXX) channels, there’s very little I watch on cable. Why pay for it? I can tether to my cell phone for my internet access, so I can truly say “Bye bye!” to Comcast and “cut the chord”.

[henkster]

Check out the Frank Zappa video linked in dfwgator’s comment 94 on this thread. He sums it up a lot better than I can.

MTV was a transition from music, which is primarily audio, to video, which is all visual. The audio/music withered. That’s why the genre is dying.

There were good bands in the 1980s when MTV came around...but not much past that. They are not supported by the current format.

[mmichaels1970]

Before that, it was "Remote Control."

You're right. "Remote Control" came first. I sort of forgave them for that one because, like you say, it was pretty funny. I can get adding a silly gameshow that is supposed to be coming out of a guy's basement. It still kind of fit for me.

[Viking2002]

I miss the 80's.

[dfwgator]

Funniest bit was “Dead, Alive, or Canadian.”

[oh8eleven]

I have a delayed response toward some music
Well, being "beaversmom" that's understandable :)

[mrsmel]

I miss the 70s. My older brother and I were being inculcated into the finer points of the Moody Blues, YES, etc, by an older aunt, instead of the music of our own day.

[dfwgator]

Using Yes as an example, look how their music changed because of MTV from what it was in 70s. Granted, I thought “Owner of a Lonely Heart” was a great song and all, but that was not Yes.

[Fresh Wind]

Frank Zappa:

I am gross and perverted
I’m obsessed and deranged
I have existed for years
But very little has changed
I am the tool of the government
And industry too
For I am destined to rule
And regulate you

I may be vile and pernicious
But you can’t look away
I make you think I’m delicious
With the stuff that I say
I am the best you can get
Have you guessed me yet?
I am the slime oozing out
From your tv set

You will obey me while I lead you
And eat the garbage that I feed you
Until the day that we don’t need you
Don’t got for help...no one will heed you
Your mind is totally controlled
It has been stuffed into my mold
And you will do as you are told
Until the rights to you are sold

That’s right, folks..
Don’t touch that dial

Well, I am the slime from your video
Oozing along on your living room floor

I am the slime from your video
Cant stop the slime, people, lookit me go

[Buckeye McFrog]

I miss the 80's.

I'd hop in the DeLorean and head back there now if I could.

[dfwgator]

One of Zappa’s other observations was that how the former hippies ruined music when they became the executives at the record companies, over the old cigar-chomping guys, because they thought since they were young and hip, they *knew* what young people wanted to listen to, whereas the old guys were “Who knows, record it and maybe it will sell.”

[Ticonderoga34]

Guys like Peter Gabriel became big stars by way of MTV. It wasn’t my kind of music but I stared at it for hours on end.

To me, that was the great thing about MTV back in its early days.

In the 80's, MTV would play music from bands and artists whose music wasn't being played on the radio. This helped some acts, like Gabriel break though to a wider audience.

[Skooz]

I hated it from day one.

Ditto. Limp-syncing. Eck.