Table of Contents
Cast of Characters xiii
Introduction: "Ridicule is Nothing to be Scared of" xxxvii
Part 1 Pictures Came and Broke your Heart: "Video Killed the Radio Star" to "Thriller" 1981-1983
1 "It's the Greatest Thing in the World": First Glimpses of MTV 1
2 "I Didn't Know How to Plug in a Light": Music Videos (Only they Weren't Called that) in the 1970s 6
3 "We Were Just Idiots in Hotel Rooms": John Lack, Bob Pittman, and the Creation of MTV 14
4 "What's a VJ?": How MTV Hired its Hosts (Including a Case of Mistaken Identity) 31
5 "A Total, Unmitigated Disaster": MTV Launches with the Buggles, Blotto, and Thirty Rod Stewart Videos 40
6 "Girls Sliding on Poles": The First Dirty Music Video 45
7 "A Hail Mary Pass": How $1 Saved MTV from Bankruptcy 48
8 "Midgets, Models, and Trannies": The First Visionaries and Victims of the Music-Video Era 59
9 "Pouting and Shoulder Pads": Effeminate British Bands Spread Weird Haircuts Across the U.S. 85
10 "Shut that Door!": Office Sex and Power Struggles at MTV 103
11 "They Figured out a Whole New Persona": How Three Gnarly old Dudes Became Unlikely Video Stars 115
12 "Girls Belong in Cages": Metal Takes over the Airwaves 120
13 "That Racism Bullshit": MTV's Aor Format comes Under Fire 136
14 "I'm not Like Other Boys": Michael Jackson Saves a Struggling Network from Itself 143
Part 2 I Play my Part and you Play your Game: "Burning up" to "Here I go Again" 1983-1987
15 "The Two M's": Madonna Touches MTV for the Very First Time 159
16 "You Got Char-as-ma": Prince, Bruce, Billy Idol, and the Gods of 1984 167
17 "He's Got a Metal Plate in his Head": MTV and Van Halen Team up to Nearly Kill a Super-Fan 190
18 "Wannabe Cecil B. DeMilles": Everything-Budgets, Ideas, Hair-Gets Bigger 194
19 "Why Don't I Just Take $50,000 and Light it on Fire?": The Backlash Against MTV 206
20 "Don't be a Wanker all your Life": "Do they know it's Christmas?," "We are the world," and Live Aid 211
21 "A Whopping, Steaming Turd": The Worst Video Ever Made 216
22 "A Wedding Dress with Nothing Underneath it": Madonna Takes-and Pops out of-the Cake at the First Video Music Awards 222
23 "No Cable Network is Worth $500 Million": MTV Gets New Owners: the Founding Team Trashes a Hotel, then Heads for the Exit 227
24 "Gacked to the Tits": Twenty-Four Stories About Drugs 237
25 "They Diss the Beatles": Run-DMC and the Beastie Boys Smuggle Rap onto MTV 241
26 "His Name is David Fincher. He's a Genius": Rick Springfield, Christopher Cross, and the Humble Beginnings of a Hollywood Star 252
27 "There I Am, with My Rack": The Rise of the Superdivas, Male and Female 266
28 "The Legion of Decency": Censoring Videos, for Fun and Profit 278
29 "Hickory Dickory Dock, this Bitch was...": Backstage at the Video Music Awards 284
30 "I'd Like to Thank my Cheekbones": Jon Bon Jovi and Tawny Kitaen Take Hair Metal to the Top 295
Part 3 Where do we go Now: "With or without you" to "U can't Touch this" 1987-1990
31 "The Islands of Misfit Toys": 120 Minutes and the Rising up/Selling out of Alternative Rock 317
32 "Martha was Heartbroken": MTV Finds a New, Mouthier Squad of VJs 330
33 "A True Television Network": The New Boss Orders up a Riotous Show that Forever Changes the Network 345
34 "That's What Hype can do to you": Club MTV Launches the "Upskirt Shot" and a Pop Scandal 358
35 "The First Time I Smelled Freebase": MTV Parties Down at Spring Break 365
36 "I Brought Snowballs to the Desert": Sucking up to MTV's Laddish New Power Broker 372
37 "People in the Hood Rushed to Get Cable": How Ted Demme Did, Didn't, Maybe Did, and Absolutely did Create Yo! MTV Raps 379
38 "We've Always Loved Guns N' Roses": Chicks and a Snake, Headbangers Ball, and the Return of Hard Rock 396
39 "Those Harem Pants Came out of Nowhere": Rap Busts a Move into the MTV Mainstream 410
40 "Ego-Fucking-Maniacs": Michael Bay, Cher, and all 9:08 of "November Rain" 422
41 "I Want to have a Nickname": How MTV Helped Michael Jackson Elect Himself "The King of Pop" 435
Part 4 Nothing Lasts Forever, and we Both Know Hearts can Change: "Justify my Love" to "Jeremy" 1990-1992
42 "Rhythm Nation": Superstars and One-Hit Wonders Stage a Dance-Off in your Living Room 440
43 "Your Manager's an Asshole": Fistfights and Pyro Farts: War Breaks out at the Moscow Peace Festival 453
44 "Kermit Unplugged": An Acoustic Music Show Morphs into a Worldwide Megabrand 457
45 "Silly, Superficial, and Wonderful": Cindy Crawford and Jon Steward Bring Beauty and a Laughs to MTV 463
46 "Tired of Cheap Sex Songs": R.E.M., U2, and Van Halen (!) Elevate the Art Form in the Nineties 468
47 "A Monkey Could do it": Pauly Shore and the Third Generation of VJs 474
48 "A Pep Rally Gone Wrong": "Smells Like Teen Spirit," Grunge, and the Hair Metal Apocalypse 481
49 "You'r no Better than a Rabbit!": Fearless Twentysomethings Shape a Presidential Election 498
50 "Getting out of the Music Business": This is the True Story... of What Happened When the Real World... Took over MTV...and Made Music Videos...Obsolete 505
51 "Let's Get Crazy Tonight": Tears, Tequila, and Broken Glass: MTV VIPs Celebrate the First Decade 510
52 "Fat City": The Bubble Bursts on Music Videos' Golden Era 512
53 "You have no Idea How I Miss it": Fans, Stars, Staff, and Detractors Reflect on the Video Age 518
Acknowledgments 527
Index 529
