Classic MTV Returns!

That's what we did. Played it like a radio. In fact my brother had MTV in stereo hooked up to his receiver and I used to tape cassettes off MTV much like people taped off the radio. It was awesome!

I remember the first video I ever saw was Pete Townshend "Face Dances Part 2".

 

Didn't you see him in the promo?

 

The Radio MTV Sticker the Station gave out told the Subscriber where MTV was on their FM dial,so they know where to tune in!

 

Lots of early MTV history and pictures of memorabilia here

Fred Seibert dot com »

 

If you guys haven't read it, I strongly recommend I WANT MY MTV, the oral history of the network. Fantastic reading for anyone interested in the era.

You guys have been talking about Martha Quinn - there's one comment in the book about how the most common question from visitors to the network (Musicians, execs, etc) was, "How can I f___ Martha Quinn?"

 

Trust me, don't let the "girl next door" thing fool you about her, she was extremely difficult to work with, especially once we became #1 in late 1984...

 

How weird is this? Yesterday I perused that site for awhile. Looked at among other things the vintage MTV t-shirts. Last night at work some dude comes in with an old, faded "I Want My MTV" t-shirt. Something I haven't seen in decades. Weird.

 

Are you enjoying your time in The Twilight Zone?

 

When I read the I WANT MY MTV book around 2012, I found a playlist on youtube that was the first 8 or 12 hours of mtv programming, in order with all the VJ breaks and promos and music. At the time I had a roku2 that didn't need HDMI, so I plugged it into my old 21" SDTV.

It was glorious. So many things I had just read in the book about mistakes, silly things, the first videos, etc.

God bless youtube. Sadly, I don't think most of that playlist is still around - I haven't checked in awhile, though.

 

I was always an Alan Hunter guy. Maybe not so much now, but when I was like 10, he was my favorite. In my teens, it was Tabitha Soren. Sweet, sweet, Tabs.

All of the original VJ's take turns on Sirius XM's 80's channel, and have their own Facebook pages. I remember in the 80's Martha Quinn played Bobby Brady's wife in one of those Brady movies. I think he was paralyzed after a race car accident. Thrilling!

 

And... reading that book... You probably understand that it wasn't difficult as it might have seemed if you were the right kind of person...

 

It's nothing other than rebranding.

 

Not too much change so far in the Guide, I like 120 min but its the same shows over and over. Not worth to upgrade the cable package. All the stuff is on YouTube

 

Wish it or even vh 1, was available in Canada.

I found it a little funny that here, in one of the hottest summers in years, I can't find the video of 'The Heat Is On' on YT.

 

Rather than a return of MTV, I'd rather see introduction of a music video channel like Country Music Television (not the music but the format). Country Music Television had a very simple format: Station ID, run three music videos, Station ID, commercial break (repeat 24/7). No on-screen personalities (just a voice over during the Station ID), no hype, no contests, just a lot of music videos. The only change was the occasional focus on an artist for a half hour.

 

That would be awesome! I'd go for that.

 

The one by Glenn Frey or the one by Agentha Fältskog?

 

MTV has gotten so bad that they felt the need to bring back the old format?
Great, brilliant idea.

 

An Appreciation of Glenn Frey's Glorious '80s Songs »

 

It really won't be the old format- just old shows and probably clips meant to target an older demographic than the regular MTV channel.

 

TVLine reports that starting on August 1, VH1 Classic will be no more. Instead, Viacom will replace it with MTV Classic, which will feature “an eclectic mix of fan-favorite MTV series” from the 1990s and 2000s. These include Laguna Beach, Beavis & Butt-head, Cribs,Jackass, Punk’d and Clone High. August 1 will be 35 years to the day that MTV debuted.

MTV President Sean Atkins said: “MTV’s programming vault is a music and pop culture goldmine with universal resonance. MTV Classic gives audiences a modern and artful home for classic MTV programming and — alongside MTV, MTV2, MTV Live and mtvU — rounds out a diverse portfolio with music and youth culture at its core.”

At 12 PM ET on Monday, MTV will re-air MTV Hour One, along with the Total Request Livespecial The TRL Decade. There will also be a marathon of some of the best MTVUnplugged episodes, including Bob Dylan, Alice in Chains, Erykah Badu, Oasis, Neil Young and Nirvana. The network will also include music videos.

 

Hey, an Unplugged marathon! Cool!

 

Vh1 Classic got unwatchable. I'm all for this. It would be nice if they reached back a little further and aired Just Say Julie and Remote Control.

Here is their schedule. There are still some VH1 Classic shows on the schedule, for example, they are playing Queen Rocks Montreal for the millionth time.

VH1 Classic TV Schedule | TWC Central »

 

I'm bummed to see they are not focusing on the 80s, which I think is what most people would think of when you say "classic MTV". But I'm looking very forward to seeing that first hour. I've only ever seen it on bad YouTube clips.

 

I assume they will eventually mix in 80's shows too.