I Want My MTV, Marks, Craig

For fans of VJ: The Unplugged Adventures of MTVs First Wave

Remember the first time you saw Michael Jackson dance with zombies in Thriller? Diamond Dave karate kick with Van Halen in Jump? Tawny Kitaen turning cartwheels on a Jaguar to Whitesnakes Here I Go Again? The Beastie Boys spray beer in (You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party)? Axl Rose step off the bus in Welcome to the Jungle?

Remember When All You Wanted Was Your MTV?

It was a pretty radical idea-a channel for teenagers, showing nothing but music videos. It was such a radical idea that almost no one thought it would actually succeed, much less become a force in the worlds of music, television, film, fashion, sports, and even politics. But it did work. MTV became more than anyone had ever imagined.

I Want My MTV tells the story of the first decade of MTV, the golden era when MTVs programming was all videos, all the time, and kids watched religiously to see their favorite bands, learn about new music, and have something to talk about at parties. From its start in 1981 with a small cache of videos by mostly unknown British new wave acts to the launch of the reality-television craze with The Real World in 1992, MTV grew into a tastemaker, a career maker, and a mammoth business.