MTV didn't exist in 1980, but by 1982, it had gotten to be a force to be reckoned with.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
Music videos may seem old hat now, but let me tell you, in the summer of 1981, MTV was indubitably the coolest thing ever invented. And the people who were in the videos... coolest people ever. No question.
I've only been on MTV once as one of their 'Closet Classics,' with some bootleg footage of a 1970 tour I did in Holland. They didn't know what to make of my music, but they finally invented a name for it - world beat music.
I feel like every couple years MTV reinvents itself in some way, you know?
Until MTV, television had not been a huge influence on music. To compete with MTV, the country music moguls felt they had to appeal to the same young audience and do it the way MTV did.
MTV has always been about redefining itself.
Ultimately, criticism that 'The Real World' has devolved into a lesser enterprise comes from the viewers who came of age alongside it, not the teens of the moment that MTV has always existed for.
In the late 1940s, there weren't any pop stars, and TV didn't exist.
MTV essentially killed 'American Bandstand' and 'Solid Gold,' because music videos are an easier way for pop artists to gain television exposure.
There were incredibly few rock songs making it out to the airwaves until the '80s came along.
At one time, MTV was hip and suddenly it became outdated.