I think it is fair to say that MTV will always be best known and remembered as a music video channel, despite its current programming which is a far cry from the days of wall-to-wall music videos and programmes featuring 'VJs' to present them. It was indeed the signifier of the music video.
Music Television was launched on cable outlets on August 1, 1981, but it was a little while after before I personally became aware of this new phenonomen. Not having cable or Sky TV myself until the 90's, MTV was something I rarely got the chance to view and because music is a passion of mine, I was quite envious of those who had regular access to it. It was great to be able to watch music videos and see artists you enjoyed listening to on a regular basis, especially when all there had really been on TV up until then was 'Top Of The Pops' once a week, where if you were lucky, you might get to see one of your favourite bands or singers miming to their latest hit, or worse still, being hilariously danced to after being interpreted by Pan's People, or later on, Legs & Co, both of whom had been Top Of The Pops' resident dancers.
Yes eventually things began looking up for music lovers in the 80's with the arrival of music programmes such as The Max Headroom Show and The Tube, but MTV was available all day for those lucky enough to have access to it.MTV has changed a lot over the years and isn't really anything like it is today. This book, MTV Ruled The World by Greg Prato, takes a look at the glory days of MTV with interviews from the VJs, creators, musicians, and critics who lived through the exciting first few years of MTV. Given the changes in programming from then to now, many people would these days be forgiven for not knowing the 'M' actually stands for 'music'. I for one certainly miss the 'old MTV' and therefore thought this book would make for interesting reading.
Whilst the book was an interesting read, I was initially surprised to discover that many of the thoughts about MTV which emanate from the pages of this book, are ones of negativity. Indeed quite a few of the interviews with the contributors concentrate on the failings of MTV or why certain people disliked it or avoided it. However, this got me thinking and raised a few questions in my mind and as a result I found myself wondering, was MTV really as good back then as I thought it was? As a result of this, I found I was intrigued by the content.
While it was a massive boost to many artists in terms of both raising their profiles and record sales, MTV was also seen as disadvantaging the less 'good-looking' artists, with Def Leppard frontman Joe Elliott suggesting that MTV wrecked a few careers because if your band didn't have particularly attractive members, then you could be 'gone'.
On the other hand, MTV was credited with launching the global career of British band Duran Duran, thanks to those 1982 videos filmed in Sri Lanka and Antigua for three tracks from their 'Rio' album. Whilst there was no doubt MTV provided a big helping hand for Duran Duran, they became known as a video band and I felt they lost some of their credibilty.
As someone who had seen them perform live on more than one occasion prior to 'Rio' and been suitably impressed, I was somewhat saddened by what they later became. Their real talent as musicians seemed to get lost, as it became more about imagery and less about the music. So whilst it may be true that the attractive bands and artists fared well because of MTV, was it often at a cost to their credibilty as artists?
It was interesting to read the thoughts of others and their are many featured here, as well as some amusing anecdotes and stories about artists. Sly Stallone's brother Frank remarks about how great a singer Bonnie Tyler was, but her image made her look like a 'Jersey hairdresser.'
All genres are represented with interviews from artists from the rock and pop world, but it was equally, if not slightly more, interesting to read the views of original VJs, Alan Hunter and Nina Blackwood, who recall their auditions and hiring besides providing some behind the scenes tales about some of the artists. Alan Hunter in particular gives a well balanced view of things whilst not holding back on his thoughts on the music world back then, thus providing a great insight and contributing greatly to what makes this book interesting reading.
I wasn't particularly interested in the polished views of the TV executives and Hunter's contributions give you the realism of it all as do some of the other contributors. For example, the big controversy surrounding racism is given a whole chapter, as the executives dismiss the allegations, maintaining that music from black artists in the early days was overlooked due to a lack of content from record companies. The famous story about Columbia threatening to pull its entire line of videos if MTV refused to air Michael Jackson's clips is also denied. They are contradicted however, by two of Michael Jackson's video directors, who say there was some reluctance and resistance at first to Michael Jackson's material.
The layout of this book is a little haphazard, at times the chapters concentrate on a specific artist or topic, but other times it appears more chronological. Chapters on artists, the genres of video and music as well as the fashions, ensure there is something for everyone here who had an interest in early 80's music and video. It certainly brought back some memories for me and I found I was smiling to myself on a few occasions whilst reading it.
Author Greg Prato wrote this book as he always wanted to know about the formation of MTV and its early years and felt that most things written previously did not cover this era. I feel he has done a great job in capturing the early years of MTV here, both the negatives and the positives. It throws up a few questions which you may not have considered previously, such as the influence it had on determining an artists career.
These days MTV is anything but music as reality shows have taken the place of the videos and VJs, so I found reading this book provided a real trip down memory lane for me, as well as being at all times informative and interesting reading. The early years of MTV has been captured well here and I recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in the history of music television.
MTV Ruled The World is an intriguing book about the formative and early years of MTV
" I Want My MTV..." 
