wreckingcrewd said:

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Hans Zimmer playing keys for The Buggles!

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Geoff Downes???

I remember in 1991, TCA cable was going to ban MTV and they had rallies to keep it. I think Martha Quinn even came to town to show support.

AgTrip said:

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I remember in 1991, TCA cable was going to ban MTV and they had rallies to keep it. I think Martha Quinn even came to town to show support.

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She did. She rode with the Olsen Twins on their private jet.

Yes, but Zimmer is the one in the back playing keyboards also.

maroon barchetta said:

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wreckingcrewd said:

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Hans Zimmer playing keys for The Buggles!

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Geoff Downes???

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He was never an official member of the band but "worked with them", whatever that means.

What's TCA cable?

I recall my sister and I sitting on the floor in front of our big Zenith console tv changing the dial looking for something to watch and seeing a grainy image that looked like something new. My sister twisted the fine tuner and MTV came into focus. I don't remember which video was playing, Pat Benatar or something similar I think, but our jaws just dropped and we watched it all day until the parents got home then we watched again that night until it went off air.

AgTrip said:

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I remember in 1991, TCA cable was going to ban MTV and they had rallies to keep it. I think Martha Quinn even came to town to show support.

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She did come to town and they set up a stage for a show. My roommates and I were in the crowd and they announced at the start of the show that no posters or banners bashing TCA cable were allowed to be shown on camera. We were close to the front by the stage and Martha Quinn was in a tight mini skirt and looking up I had a clear view of her panties.

AgTrip said:

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I can remember seeing Duran Duran's debut video of Rio. I got up, turned off the tv, got on my Red Line with V bars BMX bike, and rode to Memorial City Mall to the record store. I bought that cassette and played it til it wouldn't play anymore!

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My sister and her friends , like all girls in that era, were in love with Duran Duran and each chose a band member to be their guy. MTV used to publish some kind of guide listing the times of day their videos would be aired and my sister and all her friends would get together at someone's house to watch. I caught wind of when they were coming to our house to watch just before the air time I snuck into my parents closet where the coax came through the wall and the splitter went to the tv in the living room and timed it so seconds after the video started I unscrewed the coax and killed their signal. Listening to the screams my brother and I laughed our asses off. Great Summer that was.

bonfarr said:

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AgTrip said:

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I can remember seeing Duran Duran's debut video of Rio. I got up, turned off the tv, got on my Red Line with V bars BMX bike, and rode to Memorial City Mall to the record store. I bought that cassette and played it til it wouldn't play anymore!

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My sister and her friends , like all girls in that era, were in love with Duran Duran and each chose a band member to be their guy. MTV used to publish some kind of guide listing the times of day their videos would be aired and my sister and all her friends would get together at someone's house to watch. I caught wind of when they were coming to our house to watch just before the air time I snuck into my parents closet where the coax came through the wall and the splitter went to the tv in the living room and timed it so seconds after the video started I unscrewed the coax and killed their signal. Listening to the screams my brother and I laughed our asses off. Great Summer that was.

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So, like this?

start of junior year and heard through the grapevine about it, never turn the station for weeks

MAROON said:

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I was watching live.

Not a lot of bands made videos back then. They all started in earnest when they saw how much it influenced record sales.

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I think a lot of people say they were watching live when MTV debuted, kind of like the number of people at an historic live event grows over time.

So I take you lived in New Jersey when it debuted?

agz win said:

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Apartment full watching debut and some of us may or may not have been dancing the night. Nothing like it at the time.

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So your debut party was in New Jersey?

javajaws said:

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Anybody remember the Fish Heads video?

And I totally didn't realize Bill Paxton was in it and directed it!

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Absolutely! Roly poly fish heads, eat them up, yum. Hadn't seen anything quite that strange in the music world before.

Psychag said:

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One of the TV rooms at The Commons kept MTV on 24/7. The room would be filled as we watched video after video. Pulled all nighters with MTV playing. I remember watching a group of teens playing Bringing On the Heartbreak and thought how great these guys were. MTV was an event. Quite a few prominent movie directors got their start directing music videos. What a time!

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I lived in a Corps dorm the summer between my freshman and sophomore years (1983) and spent lots of time in that dedicated MTV room. I couldn't afford the Commons and it was great that we all got to use the amenities in the summer.

Ok so it appears the actual world premier was only seen by a handful of homes in Jersey.

So, what must have happened is that whenever MTV was rolled out to a new cable system, they re-created the original launch. That is why everyone thinks they saw the launch. Now that I think about it - it must have been sometime in 1982 in College Station when it launched. I remember a large advertising campaign on the cable network and the launch at midnight with the exact same intro, and The Buggles video.

Here is the first two hours of MTV! Such a great time capsule.




And here is another recording from 1985 including commercials. 1:30 has a commercial for Pee Wee's Big Adventure. RIP Paul Reubens.