MTV Killed the Radio
The message always matches the medium
It's 1981. You're in a Stranger Things-ass-lookin’ living room, flipping through channels on your parents' humming CRT TV.
Cable's pretty new, so content for it isn't really a thing yet.
Most of the channels are pretty boring... news, reruns of family-friendly sitcoms, news, sitcoms. But your eyes dilate as you stumble upon a weird new channel.
You see:
Welcome to MTV: Music Television. The music industry just got flipped on its head. (Like it always does with new means of broadcast. Remember the AM/FM shift with prog rock and stereo effects? And ya know, TikTok.)
(Also notice the old-school microphone from rock ‘n’ roll days of yore in The Buggles’ music video?)
Wait, What IS This?
Music videos were pioneered way back (like remember The Big Bopper from our "Day the Music Died" post? He was doing "music videos" in the late 50s).
But up until MTV, they were a bit more like sacred artifacts, novelties, or movies reserved for the biggest stars (like Elvis and the Beatles). You'd buy records, listen to the radio, catch a band live. Rock was a bit more about looking cool on stage than looking great on screen.
Now MTV made the image just as important as the music. Maybe more important. Rock stars were video stars. You needed a concept. A vibe. And if you didn't have one? Good luck getting attention!
That's not to say it wasn't already trending that way. Just look at Bowie and then at the punk scene's connection with fashion.
But MTV was the accelerant. The rocket fuel. Like other things in the 80s, it became an arms race.
How to Become a Global Superstar
Take Duran Duran's "Hungry Like the Wolf." Look at this music video. It's like Indiana Jones meets a cologne commercial, shot in Sri Lanka with hairspray burning a hole straight through the ozone layer. The 80s seemed like a wild time.
Part of what makes "rock history" so hard for stuff after MTV is that things started to get really mixed up. Is this pop? Is this rock? What is genre? (idk)
The King of Pop
Sure, it’s not really “rock.” But MJ owned the 80s. He was the main character. Rock was just trying to keep up. And in 1983, Michael Jackson moonwalked onto the screen with Thriller:
This wasn't just a music video. This was a 14-minute horror movie with zombies, makeup, choreography, and Vincent Price doing a spooky voice-over. It was bigger than anything MTV had ever shown. It proved that music videos could be events.
Fun fact: When this aired, MTV's ratings doubled overnight. Like, literally overnight. The King of Pop had broken down the gates.
Thriller sold over 66 million copies worldwide and became the best-selling album of all time. (Beating even Back in Black.)
Guitar Heroes Get the MTV Treatment
Remember how we talked about glam and hair metal being kinda over-the-top? Well, MTV took that and said hold my beer.
Because glam wasn't just about the music, it was the spectacle. Big hair, leather pants, neon lights, and pyrotechnics. (Quick story: I was on tour once and was watching the headlining band from up on the rafters above the stage and almost got blasted with pyro. Be safe, kids.)
Check out Van Halen's "Jump." The band is basically just goofing around in front of a green screen, but David Lee Roth's karate kicks became instant MTV legend:
And speaking of Van Halen... check out Eddie's guitar solo on Michael Jackson's "Beat It:”
When Good Videos Go Bad
But then with MTV as the main way to get discovered, it got saturated. We see this today with cringe TikTok videos from bands trying to break. (I’m not immune.)
Back then every band suddenly needed a $500,000 music video. For every Thriller, you get ten generic bands running through smoke machines in slow motion, trying to look mysterious and ending up looking like they're late for Halloween.
(This video is absurd lol)
MTV created stars, but it also burned them out faster. Visual excess became cliché. Kids started wanting something real again… ripped jeans instead of sequined jackets, basements instead of soundstages.
Plot Twist: MTV Made a Parody Artist a Diamond-Selling Legend
Here's something wild: MTV didn't just make rock stars famous. It made an artist who made fun of rock stars into one of the biggest artists of the decade. MTV and the videos were so over-the-top, the snake began to eat its own tail.
Meet "Weird Al" Yankovic:
Before MTV, Al was a nerdy accordion player sending homemade tapes to Dr. Demento's radio show. (Dr. Demento was a legendary DJ who played novelty songs and out-there music on late-night radio. Think of him as the godfather of musical comedy. Al would record parodies in his tiny apartment and mail them in, hoping to get airplay.)
But then MTV happened, and suddenly Al had the perfect platform. Making funny music videos was way cheaper than making serious ones. While other bands were blowing half a million on pyrotechnics, Al could grab a camera, some props from the dollar store, and create comedy gold. (It helps that he’s a genius. And you know what happens when genius meets opportunity...)
His "Eat It" video (a parody of Michael Jackson's "Beat It") didn't just go viral—it made Al a household name overnight. MTV played it constantly because it was hilarious, AND it didn't cost them much to license. (Sorry, it won’t let me embed it. It’s worth a watch.)
And Al's drummer, Jon "Bermuda" Schwartz, has been with him for almost FOUR DECADES. I got to interview Bermuda about the whole journey:
Bermuda told me that working with Al is like being "a dozen different drummers on every album" because they parody everything from metal to pop to country. The guy has literally played every style of rock we've covered in this series.
Weird Al has gone DIAMOND multiple times. That's 10+ million copies sold. A parody artist outsold many of the bands he was making fun of. Why? Because 1) he’s awesome and 2) MTV gave comedy a platform, and sometimes being funny is cooler than being cool. (Ice cold!)
The Unintended Consequences
MTV changed music forever, but not always in ways they expected:
Music videos became as (or more) important than songs
Image became everything - if you couldn't perform for cameras, good luck
Budgets exploded - suddenly every band needed a Hollywood production
Comedy became mainstream - thanks to artists like Weird Al getting the same treatment as "serious" musicians
Music was even more of a defining cultural force
But the pendulum always swings. Many fans wanted something more authentic, more real. Next time: college radio, indie labels, and the alternative rock movement that said "screw your million-dollar videos, we're making music in our bedrooms." (If you can’t tell, indie/alt is my favorite.)
Thanks for reading internet friend,
Scoob.pizza
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P.S. If you’re so inclined, keep up with all the things Love Music More by subscribing to this Substack’s companion podcast. And be sure to read the other posts about the History of Rock! And good luck out there ꐕ