Capturing the Pop Culture Mecca’s Rise to Fame

Many children of the 1990s take MTV, the longtime pop culture Mecca, for granted. Music videos rarely air on the cable channel anymore, now replaced by reality shows like “16 and Pregnant” and “Jersey Shore,” which make a circus of irrational human behavior.

Roughly 60 button-down-shirted Brooklynites gathered Tuesday at Brooklyn Heights’ BookCourt bookstore to discuss the days of hair metal and British New Wave. The night also featured a discussion about the book “I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution,” co-written by Craig Marks, whose works have appeared in Spin, The New York Times and Rolling Stone, and Rob Tannenbaum, a member of music duo Good for the Jews. The book recaps MTV’s early milestones – between 1981 and 1992.

“When they started playing music videos, there were maybe 150 that existed in the whole world,” Marks said. “[MTV was] programming a network 24/7 of these.”

Though the book reveals much scandal from MTV’s initial years, its content also provides a historical account of its rise as a tastemaker. Tannenbaum calls the channel’s story one of both business and mischief.

“The book could equally be read by a Harvard MBA student who has an interest in cocaine and midgets, and a Bard student who has absolutely no interest in cocaine and midgets,” Tannenbaum said.

For readers in both categories, the night’s question-and-answer session revealed a rocky start to the music video world. Before director John Landis helmed Michael Jackson’s video projects in the mid-1980s, the filmmaking genre struggled to gain credibility.

“In the first couple years of MTV no one who had any sort of ambition or prospect was involved in music videos,” Tannenbaum added. “The people who directed them weren’t established directors.”

But directors and bands began forming new bonds as the decade progressed. The presentation included clips of music videos from throughout the era, featuring artists like Queen, Michael Jackson, and Journey.

Marks and Tannenbaum’s writing will bring swells of nostalgia to those who remember MTV’s beginnings.  Accompanying the reading with your “Greatest ‘80s Jams” playlist and a mullet feels necessary.