MTV went on the air Saturday, Aug. 1, 1981, with the words "Ladies and gentlemen, rock and roll." A montage of Apollo 11 launching into space played. An image of a neon-colored MTV flag on the moon was shown. A rock tune was blasted. MTV had landed. Not on the moon, but on the minds and bodies of young adults looking for a counterculture.
Now MTV is 33 years old. And like many people in their early 30s, it seems as if they have come into a bit of a midlife crisis. In the '80s, with its acronym standing for Music Television, the original purpose of MTV was to broadcast music videos 24/7. Flash forward to 2010, when MTV legally dropped "Music Television" from its corporate logo. This move made sense, seeing as the network had stopped focusing on music by the mid-2000s. But what does MTV stand for now?
Let's analyze today's programming. In the early morning, "Girl Code," a show where people talk about the intricate dos and don't of being a female, plays. Then, reruns of the popular reality show "Laguna Beach" air from 9 to 11 a.m., followed by several episodes of "Ridiculousness," a comedy clip show. Then "Catfish," the reality docu-series about people getting romantically tricked on the Internet, runs until 5:30 p.m. Queue another couple of episodes of "Ridiculousness" and a screening of the film "Final Destination 2" and that is MTV's Friday lineup. If we use this lineup as a study, should we conclude that MTV now purely just stands for reality shows?
The network has made no apologies for shifting away from its musical legacy. MTV has also chosen to change its audience, with its target demographic now being younger adolescents in their early teens rather than young adults. So rather than broadcasting perspectives about the Cold War, we have episodes of "Teen Mom 2."
Regardless of MTV's current trajectory, there is no denying that the network revolutionized the music industry, inviting and elevating a new genre of art into popular culture entirely. So in honor of its birthday, let's take a look back at the 5 most iconic videos that appeared on MTV.
The Buggles - "Video Killed The Radio Star" (1981)
Famously known as the first video to be played on MTV, the Buggles song title boldly referenced the movement their video was spearheading. Did the video kill the radio star? Rolling Stone certainly thought so when it denounced music videos as "Orwellian" contraptions that were sucking the real artistry away from music and instead supplanting it with ADD-inducing clips filled with sexual stereotypes.
Michael Jackson - "Thriller" (1983)
MTV transformed dancing into a form of pop cultural currency. When you think of songs today you don't just think of the songs, you think of the dance moves that go along with it. And that is mostly due to Michael Jackson's historic, 13-minute video. Unprecedented in its merging of film-making and music, it is almost impossible to think of the song "Thriller" without thinking of the dance moves, the outfits and the narrative of the video itself.
Madonna - "Like a Prayer" (1989)
Remember when Madonna was cool and subversive? You probably don't but it was during the time of this video. Combining sex, racial politics and religion all in one, it garnered so much controversy that Pepsi walked away from its contract with the singer.
Nirvana - "Smells like Teen Spirit" (1991)
The anthem of apathetic youth in the '90s, "Smells like Teen Spirit" paved the way for alternative rock at MTV. The video ushered in an era for the network that was filled with the sounds of Pearl Jam, Nine Inch Nails and Tori Amos. To this date, the video remains the iconic portrait of teen angst.
Britney Spears - "...Baby One More Time" (1998)
In addition to introducing the Catholic schoolgirl uniform as the risqué Halloween costume of choice for every American teenager, "...Baby One More Time" launched the career of the legendary and infamous Britney Spears. In its final episode, TRL (Total Request Live) declared "...Baby One More Time" as the most iconic music video of all time and played it as the countdown's last video.
