Waubonsee Community College

I want my MTV, the uncensored story of the music video revolution, Rob Tannenbaum and Craig Marks

eng

illustrationsplates

index present

non fiction

I want my MTV

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Rob Tannenbaum and Craig Marks

the uncensored story of the music video revolution

Presents the first decade of the MTV network, developing from a radical programming concept to a defining network for a generation and a force in the worlds of music, television, sports, fashion, and politics

Introduction: "Ridicule is nothing to be scared of" -- Part 1. Pictures came and broke your heart : "Video killed the radio star" to "Thriller," 1981-1983 : It's the greatest thing in the world: first glimpses of MTV -- I didn't know how to plug in a light: music videos (only they weren't called that) in the 1970s -- We were just idiots in hotel rooms: John Lack, Bob Pittman, and the creation of MTV -- What's a VJ?: How MTV hired its hosts (including a case of mistaken identity -- A total, unmitigated disaster: MTV launches with the Buggles, Blotto, and thirty Rod Stewart videos -- Girls sliding on poles: the first dirty music video -- A Hail Mary pass: how $1 saved MTV from bankruptcy -- Midgets, models, and trannies: the first visionaries and victims of the music-video era -- Pouting and shoulder pads: effeminate British bands spread weird haircuts across the U.S. -- Shut that door!: Office sex and power struggles at MTV -- They figured out a whole new persona: how three gnarly old dudes became unlikely video stars -- Girls belong in cages: metal takes over the airwaves -- That racism bullshit: MTV's AOR format comes under fire -- I'm not like other boys: Michael Jackson saves a struggling network from itself -- Part 2. I play my part and you play your game : "Burning up" to "Here I go again," 1983-1987 : The two M's: Madonna touches MTV for the very first time -- You got char-as-ma: Prince, Bruce, Billy Idol, and the gods of 1984 -- He's got a metal plate in his head: MTV and Van Hale team up to nearly kill a super-fan -- Wannabe Cecil B. DeMilles: everything, budgets, ideas, hair, gets bigger -- Why don't I just take $50,000 and light it on fire?: The backlash against MTV -- Don't be a wanker all your life: "Do they know it's Christmas?," "We are the world," and Live Aid -- A whopping, steaming turd: the worst video ever made -- A wedding dress with nothing underneath it: Madonna takes, and pops out of, the cake at the first Video Music Awards -- No cable network is worth $500 million: MTV gets new owners, the founding team trashes a hotel, then heads for the exit -- Gacked to the tits: twenty-four stories about drugs -- They diss the Beatles: Run-DMC and the Beastie Boys smuggle rap into MTV -- His name is David Fincher, he's a genius: Rick Springfield, Christopher Cross, and the humble beginnings of a Hollywood star -- There I am, with my rack: the rise of the superdivas, male and female -- The legion of decency: censoring videos, for fun and profit -- Hickory, dickory dock, this bitch was ...: backstage at the Video Music Awards -- I'd like to thank my cheekbones: Jon Bon Jovi and Tawny Kitaen take hair metal to the top --Part 3. Where do we go now : "With or without you" to "U can't touch this," 1987-1990 : The island of misfit toys: 120 minutes and the rising up/selling out of alternative rock -- Martha was heartbroken: MTV finds a new, mouthier squad of VJs -- A true television network: the new boss orders up a riotous show that forever changes the network -- That's what hype can do to you: Club MTV launches the "upskirt shot" and a pop scandal -- The first time I smelled freebase: MTV parties down at spring break -- I brought snowballs to the desert: sucking up to MTV's laddish new power broker -- People in the hood rushed to get cable: How Ted Demme did, didn't, maybe did, and absolutely did create Yo! MTV raps -- We've always loved Guns n' Roses: Chicks and a snake, Headbangers Ball, and the return of hard rock -- Those harem pants came out of nowhere: rap buses a move into the MTV mainstream -- Ego-fucking-maniacs: Michael Bay, Cher, and all 9:08 of "November rain" -- I want to have a nickname: how MTV helped Michael Jackson elect himself "the king of pop" -- Part 4. Nothing lasts forever, and we both know hearts can change : "Justify my love" to "Jeremy," 1990-1992 : Rhythm nation: superstars and one-hit wonders stage a dance-off in your living room -- Your manager's an asshole: Fistfights and pyro farts: war breaks out at the Moscow Peace Festival -- Kermit unplugged: an acoustic music show morphs into a worldwide megabrand -- Silly, superficial, and wonderful: Cindy Crawford and Jon Stewart bring beauty and laughs to MTV -- Tired of cheap sex songs: R.E.M., U2, and Van Halen (!) elevate the art form in the nineties -- A monkey could do it: Pauly Shore and the third generation of VJs -- A pop rally gone wrong: "smells like teen spirit," grunge, and the hair metal apocalypse -- You're no better than a rabbit!: fearless twentysomethings shape a presidential election -- Getting out of the music business: this is the true story of what happened when the real world took over MTV and made music videos obsolete -- Let's get crazy tonight!: tears, tequila and broken glass: MTV VIPs celebrate the first decade -- Fat city: the bubble bursts on music videos' golden era -- You have no idea how I miss it: fans, stars, staff, and detarctors reflect on the video age

Uncensored story of the music video revolution