We can't rewind; We've gone too far

As the prophecy foretold.

Video Killed the Radio Star was the first video aired by Mtv in1981. It was the summer before my sophomore year of high school, and I don't know how to explain the importance of this to anyone who wasn't a teenager in the 80s. It was like being alive at the dawn of television - this whole new medium that would change the world.

I need you to understand how very primitive music-listening was in the early 80s. I grew up listening to music on the clock/radio in my bedroom. By high school, I'd graduated to a small, two-speaker boombox that sat on my wind sill and played cassette tapes. Vinyl records were still the audiophiles music of choices; cassette tapes were portable and we could play them in our car. They cost $8-10 at the music store which was literally one-half of my monthly allowance.

At my house, we only had basic cable, but I did babysit for some more high-end folks, who lived in beachfront houses and had Mtv. It was like the best junk-food upgrade for teenage babysitters in the 80s.

Mtv introduced the second-wave British invasion, as video-savvy bands like Duran Duran, Culture Club and the Eurythmics began releasing not only radio singles, but music videos to promote their visual style and reach a larger audience. Soon the Police, Clash, Cars and David Bowie were in regular rotation.

And then in the fall of 1982, Michael Jackson released his Thriller album.

My best friend Shelley was the first person I knew to have Mtv at home, and we watched it unendingly. I can only imagine that it must've driven her mom crazy. Mtv promoted World Premiere Videos like blockbuster movie releases, but none surpassed Michael Jackson's Thriller video.

The 15 minute theatrical short was directed by John Landis, a well-known horror film director, at a time when film directors had nothing to do with music videos. Mtv played the full-length video at the top of the hour, every hour, and every day Shelley and I would rush home from school to catch the 4 o'clock showing, eager to learn the choreography. That video essentially shattered the Mtv color barrier, opening the door to Prince, Whitney Houston and others.

(Note: the disclaimer at the beginning is because the Jackson family were practicing Jehovah's Witnesses, and the church had come out publicly denouncing the video.)

The popularity of dance movies like Footloose and Flashdance can no doubt be attributed to the ubiquity of music videos. Visual artists like Cyndi Lauper, Boy George and Billy Idol experienced an acclaim that radio play may have never afforded them. How attractive an artist was became an asset for bands Duran Duran, Wham! and Madonna.

I remember watching the Bon Jovi video She Don't Know Me with Shelley. "Who is this?" I asked her.

"I don't know," she said, "but I like the way he walks!"

One could argue that hair bands would have never taken off like they did without music videos. God knows their music wasn't that good.

By the time Mtv shifted its focus to programming like The Real World, Road Rules, Beavis & Butthead, and Total Request Live, I had moved on to better television. To this day, I don't watch reality TV. I understand our U.S. Secretary of Transportation got his start as a wayward wastrel on The Real World which surprises me absolutely not at all.

After 44 years, Mtv is shutting down its music-only channels as of December 31. It makes me sad that it's going away. I guess maybe YouTube killed the Mtv star. Too many entertainment choices these days. It's the death of a simpler time, the time of my youth.