janesaddiction.org

The Big 20

By Kate O'Hare

Tribune Media Services

July 30, 2001

On Aug. 1, 2001, MTV turns 20 years old. That means it's a Leo and is old enough to drive a car and vote, but not to drink on many college campuses.

With this in mind, the channel has dubbed its three-hour primetime birthday bash "MTV20: Live and Almost Legal." Carson Daly, the host of MTV's daily video-request show "Total Request Live," is emcee for the party, airing on both MTV and sister channel MTV2. Featured are classic MTV moments, the original VJs and performances by Mariah Carey, TLC, Jane's Addiction, Billy Idol, Method Man, Mary J. Blige, SUM-41, RUN-DMC, Busta Rhymes and the Neptunes.

The special follows "Buggles to Bizkit," a 12-hour rundown of two decades of groundbreaking videos, laid out year by year, along with commentary, classic MTV moments and long-unseen footage.

Few gave MTV much hope when it rolled out with the Buggles' "Video Killed the Radio Star" (dramatic, if not entirely true) in 1981. Music video had been around for a few years at that point, but was still considered just a marketing tool to boost record sales and not an artistic end in and of itself.

While there are those who would argue that applying "artistic" to most music videos is still a stretch, what can't be denied is that music videos have changed not only our perceptions of music, but also fashion, sexuality, film and television in general.

Even with all this, videos were never enough.

"We realized probably within a year of our existence," says Van Toffler, the president of MTV and MTV2, "that we couldn't live or die by music videos alone without creatively packaging and presenting them, and also augmenting them by the universe that exists outside of the music culture. That's news, the style that came out of music video and, ultimately, a game show about music-video trivia with `Remote Control.'

"We realized that the novelty of music videos wore off quickly, and a music video, a song with visuals, didn't last as long as just a song heard on radio. It would burn much faster. But that happened 19 years ago."

In response to this, MTV has branched out with reality shows ("Real World" just celebrated its 10th anniversary), game shows, awards galas, concerts, documentaries and news.

Just days before press time, four of the Backstreet Boys came on "Total Request Live," filmed in a glassed- in studio just above New York's Times Square, and revealed to Daly -- and the teens crowding the studio and the streets below -- that the fifth member, A.J. McLean, was seeking treatment for depression andalcohol abuse.

"We found out about it in the morning," says Toffler. "It's part of what makes us contemporary and meaningful to a young demo. When you're in partnership with artists day in and day out, you create a level of trust and loyalty that you will not either candy-coat or twist it in a way that is not the way they want to tell it. And, without any filters, they can talk directly to the audience.

"Ultimately, it was picked up by the `Today' show and all the local news outlets, that the Backstreet Boys admitted having this issue with A.J., on MTV, on live television."