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March 19, 2004
FAVORITE MTV MEMORIES
Tim commented on my J.J. Jackson blog by saying that great minds blog alike... and as it turns out, he had a really good post yesterday on his site sharing his memories of JJ and of the early MTV years. He mentioned one of the first MTV contests, in which the network gave away a house in Indiana, inspired by John Cougar's then-current hit, "Pink Houses." (Hey, back in the day there was no such thing as a Mellencamp. John Cougar ruled MTV; John Mellencamp rules the Geritol Network.) The kicker to the contest was that the house would of course have to be pink, fitting with the song. Cougar and his band would assist the new owner... and in one of the most memorable of all MTV soundbites, the promo for the contest closed with Cougar looking at the camera and drawling, "And we'll paaaaint the muuuther paaiiiink." That commercial is darn near 20 years old now, but I have seeing and hearing it in my mind all day, thanks to Tim's blog. (You're an evil man, Tim.)
Rather than be dismayed, I have allowed my memory to run wild, back to the days when MTV was new, when VH1 didn't exist and when MTV's airwaves were actually filled with videos instead of god awful reality programming and stupid stunt shows. Here are a few of my favorite memories from the years when MTV was still MTV:
The snare drum full of milk from the J. Geils Band "Centerfold" video. The bizarre midgets dancing around the maypole in the video for "Safety Dance." The white horse that kept appearing out of nowhere -- and for no apparent reason or connection to the song -- in "Total Eclipse of the Heart." The nerdy fan in the audience pumping his fist and singing along to the Scorpions "Big City Nights." The bizarre Attack of the Painted Woman theme to Scandal's "The Warrior." The old "I Want My MTV" promos with Cyndi Lauper, Billy Idol, Pete Townshend. The 10 second teaser that they'd play between commercials, featuring an Australian band saying, "We're the Hoodoo Gurus, and we're on MTV. Who are you, and what are you on?"
The alien that walked up the stairs and knocked on the door in "Who Can It Be Now?" The cheerleaders in the god-awful, cheesy video for "Mickey." Fire climbing up Nikki Sixx's leather-clad legs while he played his guitar (a neat trick achieved by pouring lighter fluid on the pants and lighting it... it never even singed him). Billy Idol falling back into the electrical transformer in "Dancing With Myself." Eddie, Michael and Diamond Dave doing that strange little synchronized hop-step toward the camera at the end of "Jump." The old lady standing in the window whipping cream in "Whip It." Bono dressed all in black, waving that giant white flag and marching in place while the mist clouded around him in the live version of "Sunday Bloody Sunday" shot at Red Rocks in Colorado.
The guy washing the window in the background in "Every Breath You Take." The nasty, grungy overalls with no shirt underneath that those crazy Dexy's Midnight Runners wore in "Come On Eileen." Madonna writhing in the middle of a road at night and looking VERY hot in "Burning Up." Joe Elliott's Union Jack muscle-tee, and "Unta, Gleeben, Glouten, Globen" -- whatever the hell that means. The marching hammers in "Another Brick in the Wall." The punk little girl who took the chain saw to the piano in "Close (To the Edit)." The girls from Bananarama tossing banana peels onto the windshield of the cop cars following them in that semi -- ostensibly blinding the cop and preventing anyone from following them -- in "Cruel Summer." Rick Springfield using his guitar to spear the bathroom mirror into submission in "Jessie's Girl." (They were always breaking things in 80s videos, weren't they?)
Asia in Asia. The brick set that the VJs hung in. Kiss unmasked. The suitcase that got up and walked away at the end of Wang Chung's "Dance Hall Days." Reagan and Chernenko beating the hell out of one another in "Two Tribes." Realizing Geogre Michael was gay a decade before he did while watching "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go." ("Choose Life," George?) The cello drawn on the woman's back in "She Blinded Me With Science." The fact that the girl who was being "remade" in the video for "Legs" had better legs and was much hotter than anyof the Eliminator girls. That funky hand move thing that ZZ Top did in every video. ZZ keychains. The stupid shades with the blinking red lights in them that all the guy members of Blondie put on at the end of "Rapture." Milton Berle in drag in "Round and Round."
Man, 80s MTV kicked ass. What a great era. I'm sure I missed some great ones... feel free to share your favorites in the comment section.
Comments
I agree everything you said about the early MTV days. I'm 23 years old and I remember watching the channel when I was a baby.
Posted by: Damar Fulmore at April 21, 2006 01:21 PM
