I Want My MTV

<p>Mick Jagger, Madonna, and David Bowie were amongst the megastars who participated in the ‘I Want My MTV!’ campaign which debuted on 1st March, 1982; credited for getting music television to a sustainable number of cable providers and thereby kickstarting a whole genre: the music video. </p><br><p>Ad guru George Lois had come up with the slogan, inspired by an earlier cereal commercial he’d worked on. The promotion hit such a nerve with Generation X that it even made it into a hit single, when Dire Straits and Sting sang ‘I Want My MTV’ in ‘Money For Nothing’. </p><br><p>In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain why the music and cable industry both needed persuading of the merits of taking the new channel; consider why adopting the segregated playlists approach of American popular radio was a mis-step for the originators of the network; and reveal why so many British artists played a role in the early days of the playlist…</p><br><p><strong>Further Reading:</strong></p><ul><li>‘How MTV changed pop music and TV forever - but it all began in cramped room above deli’ (Mirror, 2021): <a href="https://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/how-mtv-changed-pop-music-24659108" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/how-mtv-changed-pop-music-24659108</a></li><li><strong>‘</strong>George Lois Dead: Icon of Ads & Magazines Popularized ‘I Want My MTV’’ (The Hollywood Reporter, 2022): <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lifestyle/lifestyle-news/george-lois-dead-icon-ads-magazine-i-want-my-mtv-1235266407/#" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lifestyle/lifestyle-news/george-lois-dead-icon-ads-magazine-i-want-my-mtv-1235266407/#</a>!</li><li>‘I Want My MTV’ (MTV, 1982): <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGZSWdh17l0" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGZSWdh17l0</a></li></ul><p><br></p><p><strong>We'll be back on Monday - unless you join </strong>🌴<strong>CLUB RETROSPECTORS</strong>🌴<strong>, where we give you ad-free listening AND a full-length Sunday episode every week!</strong></p><p>Plus, weekly bonus content, unlock over 70 bonus bits, and support our independent podcast.</p><p><strong>Join now via </strong><a href="https://apple.co/3xCWWQX" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>Apple Podcasts</strong></a><strong> or </strong><a href="https://patreon.com/Retrospectors" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>Patreon</strong></a><strong>. </strong>Thanks!</p><p><em>The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.</em></p><p><em>Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart.</em></p><p><em>Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 202</em>3.</p><br /><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

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