I Want My MTV

I just finished the absolutely riveting “I Want My MTV” by Craig Marks and Rob Tannenbaum which documents the heyday (for those of a certain age group) of the groundbreaking music network. The story traces the arc of MTV as it rose from scrappy startup in 1981 flying by the seat of its pants to the juggernaut it soon became as it changed the face of popular music. The book's narrative ends in the mid 90s as the network began its transition away from groundbreaking cable powerhouse towards reality-show warehouse. All along the way, there is a ton of juicy gossip and decadence to sink your teeth into.

At almost 600 pages, “I Want My MTV” is a surprisingly breezy read- every time I picked it up, I fought to put it down. So many images from MTV that have been seared into my memory sprang back to life as I read the book: Larry “Bud” Melman kicking Run-DMC out of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; David Lee Roth swinging across the stage on a pulley while holding a boombox to his head; Axl Rose getting off the Greyhound bus at the bus depot. "I Want My MTV" comprehensively documents all of the music movements that MTV blasted into our living rooms, from post New Wave to rap to metal to grunge. Also included are the stories and remembrances of the executives who worked behind the scenes as well as the VJs who were in front of the camera. As I turned the pages, I had a lot of “oh yeah” moments about things I hadn't thought about in a long time about like MTV Spring Break, Remote Control, and MTV Unplugged.

By them time you're done reading this book, you may find yourself saddened at the current state of MTV. As Dave Holmes says at the end of the book, no one is going to remember anything in particular about "My Super Sweet 16" as they will a Duran Duran video. Thankfully, all of the good bits are preserved forever online. When you read “I Want My MTV”, you will find yourself scrambling to YouTube to relive some of the best memories of your upbringing.