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Memory Lane…Inside MTV Studios During Their First Month On Air
I’ve never seen much behind the scenes footage of the MTV production crew in action, but from an August 1981 “PM Magazine” episode, here is a good look. I thought you may enjoy it too. Thanks to ABC’s Howie Zeidman for making this available. -Bobby Ellerbee
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URYgIdZ3F2A&feature=youtu.be&t=46s
A PM Magazine show when MTV first went on the air.. All the VJ’s are in this clip..Also behind the scenes
In the Degan photo below, the small middle building was the first MTV studio.That small brick building was Teletronics 33rd Street Studio where MTV began. The building became an NEP studio. Most recently, this studio was the home of cable news channel Al Jazeera, which is no longer on the air. I’ve read that the building is scheduled for demolition, or could already be demolished.
Really cool piece of history here. Thanks!
Always had a crush on Martha Quinn… Thanks for a great post!
I heard them on the wireless, back in ’52… 😉
MTV started in a small studio run by Teletronics on the West side of Manhattan, known as their 33rd Street studio. About 4 years after it began, MTV moved production to Unitel Video on 57th Street, where I worked starting in 1987. MTV production was taken in-house in 1995. Here’s a Google 3D map of the original MTV Teletronics studio located a few blocks from the Javits Convention Center.
I was a student at Teaneck High at the time, so I remember this package well. Our town was known as the first to de-segregate our schools voluntarily, but there were still differences between the races musically. The white kids ate up the “FM prog rock” format MTV was parroting, but African Americans were waiting for soul music to come to the channel. Rap was yet to penetrate any airwaves, but being 15 minutes from Harlem, and 20 minutes from the South Bronx, kids had their own freestyles coming out of boom boxes.
Thanks Bobby.
I worked at Warner Amex, at their Buffalo Satellite Uplink from 1980, until Nickelodeon, and The Movie Channel shifted to Hauppauge, LI, in September and October1981, respectly. I was in the Uplink building in Hauppauge – Smithtown about a month prior to the MTV launch in August 1,1981. I never thought the facility was going to be ready in time. All studio segments for MTV were recorded at a studio in midtown Manhattan, then sent by some courier system to be integrated with cue sheets with the music videotapes at the Network Operations Center. One must remember, that stereo television was not available then, so MTV was I believe, the first network startup with stereo tv from day one.
Love this, thanks!
Early MTV is an inseparable part of my childhood. My sister and I absorbed everything we could from that channel starting in the early 80s. This time of year I can’t help but get nostalgic over Band Aid. Our local stations in El Paso played very mainstream hits, but MTV opened a world of new wave and alternative acts I’d never discover on radio. REM, Split Enz, Squeeze, They Might Be Giants, The Replacements, early Talking Heads…the list goes on and on. Of course the huge acts like Michael Jackson, Duran Duran, The Police and Prince were just as exciting, especially combined with the outrageous visuals. The VJs, concerts, contests, music news and promotions made the whole thing feel like a music geek party. Even as they drifted from pure music programming they stayed relevant. “Remote Control” was a gameshow for the Letterman generation. I watched up through the middle 90s, and by then I’d aged out. The channel is meaningless to me now, but the memories are terrific.
Wait, so MTV used to play…music? Just kidding. Like Peter I read “I want my MTV” recently. Great read. Thanks for the clip.
I read “I want my MTV” by Craig Marks and Rob Tannenbaum earlier this year. Could not put it down. Amazing stories from the people that made it and the the people dragged into it. Start up culture flying by the seat of their pants stuff..and quite possibly lessons to be learnt for VOD channels now.
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