MTV started in August of 1981.  I don’t remember the first time I watched it.  And, I don’t recall exactly when we finally got cable at our house; but, it was sometime in the fall of 1983.  I know this because the first weekend we had cable, I was able to tape three movies that fit onto one Betamax tape: “Valley Girl,” “Losin’ It” (a gang of boys – Tom Cruise, John Stockwell & Jackie Earle Haley – head to Tijuana to well, you know) and “The Slumber Party Massacre.”  Clearly, when we got cable, MTV was not the first channel I furiously flipped to on that amazing ten row, three column QUBE red, yellow & green light cable controller that was tethered to the TV.  First stop was always #31/HBO.  Hence where the trio of Cinema Classics came from.

For those of you that never had QUBE, a quick history.  QUBE was a cable television system started in Columbus, Ohio.  The idea was that it could connect viewers to their cable television in an interactive way.  The five buttons on the right side were used for the interactive game shows & polls – and, our household never had a use for them.  I actually remember once coming across one of the game shows that prompted you to answer from your very own cable box.  After that one time, I don’t ever recall seeing anything interactive again, even with all my epic television watching.  The original remote box only had 30 channels (10 network from the region, 10 pay-per-view and 10 community which included a kids programming channel, music channel and weather channel to name a few).  The Kesler family in Hilliard, Ohio were the test family to first use the box that later became the standard for those of us in Ohio and Indiana.  It was owned by what was originally known as Warner Cable.  Way to go Keslers!  If anyone knows them, please send them a huge thanks from me.

Though it lasted only seven years, the idea of QUBE was a venture that led to other cable television innovations such as the birth of MTV.  Some of the people that helped work on QUBE included Ron Castell (a future senior exec at Blockbuster), Steve Bornstein (President of the NFL Network), Ron Giles (developed QVC) and Howard Blumenthal (developed MTV’s “Remote Control” – more on that later), so we weren’t talking a shabby group of inventors.  It was very legit.  It just didn’t last.  However, I am happy to say that I was able to keep one of those tethered boxes until mid-1990s – until you couldn’t really keep up with all the channels using something that could only access 60.  But, if I could somehow choose my 60, I would happily take back that push-button treasure today.

But, back to the topic and back to 1983.  MTV was something that came along and gave me a better appreciation for the music of my teens.  It provided a visual story to go along with the tunes that I heard on the radio.  And, I finally knew exactly what all the singers looked like.  I can clearly still imagine Lionel Richie’s sculpted face in Hello, Ric Ocasek’s façade face in You Might Think and Morten Harket’s chiseled-cartoon face in Take On Me.  Memories that will pop back in my mind every time I hear one of those songs.  The music videos were really like mini movie soundtracks – so, clearly, something I loved.  And, to the majority of Gen X MTV viewers, no mini movie was as big as when in December of 1983 Thriller first aired.  I remember my brother and me sitting on the floor, right in front of our giant console television, counting down the minutes.  It was amazing – a 14 minute mini horror film with an extremely catchy song.  It amazed us.

Then, there were the videos that inspired me to run to the record store immediately.  On the same day in 1984, I saw both Madonna’s Borderline and Bon Jovi’s Runaway.  Within hours, I had Madonna’s vinyl and Bon Jovi’s cassette tape.  MTV was where I first learned to truly love the music of the 80s.  I had no idea what the channel had in store for me come 1987…

“Kenny wasn’t like the other kids; TV mattered, nothing else did; Girls said yes, but he said no; Now he’s got his own game show, Remote Control!”

Remote Control was MTV’s first original non-musical program.  A game show that quizzed contestants on movies, music and television.  Nothing short of a pop culture fan’s dream!  Some of the trivia categories included “Really Bad TV,” “Dead or Alive,” “Geek TV,” “Brady Physics,” and “After These Messages.”  Competitors sat on La-Z-Boy chairs and received snacks during the show, leading to a final round for the winning contestant who got to rest on a Craft-Matic Adjustable Bed while identifying music videos.  The host was Ken Ober and the cast of characters included Adam Sandler, Denis Leary and (most of you know what is coming) Colin Quinn.

My life was changed forever.

Jeans bunched up around his ankles on top of his white Nike high-tops, casually wearing both a black leather jacket and Wayfarer sunglasses indoors for no reason (or care) at all, using his Irish charm and comedic wit to respond to Ken with his gritty, but also smooth, New York accent; all the while holding a lit cigarette, to solidify the persona.  I was in love.  And, back then, I didn’t even know how smart he actually was.  While some college girls ogled the lead singer in the band or the quarterback of the team, I fantasized about the charisma, comicality and arrogance of Colin Quinn.  I was immediately hooked.  From his cameo moments in Three Men and a Baby, Married to the Mob and Crocodile Dundee II, to Celtic Pride, The Ben Stiller Show, and The Larry Sanders Show; and, imagine my delight when I could tune in every week to Saturday Night Live.  Sigh.  And, after “real life” actually surprised me by putting us face to face, I assure you, each time I speak to him, my dreamy fascination only becomes stronger.  Thank you Remote Control.

Finally, just as life seems to interlace moments from the past together over and over again, the last memory I have on the subject of MTV leads me back to Universal Studios.  Beyond the countless movies and television shows created and filmed at what is truly one of my favorite places on earth, the Universal backlot was also where many music videos were filmed.  Though the years, it has been used for songs of Beyonce, Michael Buble, Britney Spears, U2, Rihanna, Red Hot Chili Peppers; and, I can happily say, I was there the week that Michael Jackson’s “Black or White” filmed on Brownstone & Colonial Streets – and I got to talk about it on my tour (still the best job on the planet).  And, that was probably the last MTV video that I made a point to see.

From a bit of a music non-aficionado, MTV still, amazingly, managed to weave its way into many of the highlights of the world that I’ve created for myself to live in.  And, I know tomorrow or next week or years from now, I will still smile from ear to ear when I hear Mark Goodman or any of the original vee-jays on Sirius/XM’s “80s on 8” play one of those memorable songs that immediately spark the memory of their corresponding video.  They are images that will never bring me anything but pure happiness.  Long live Run-DMC & Aerosmith!  #50WeeksTo50