MTV Classics: Memories of the 1980s (The Original VJs)

[zman1974]

If I had one wish from a genie , it would be to live 1980-1990 again, and have nothing to do but watch MTV and record all of this.

[kris6694]

Great Compilation! Loved it!

[sawtnpeppa]

Loooooovvvvveee Martha Quinn!!

[trivolutiongame]

@pannoni1 @MrLimsky83 I don't believe they jumoped the shark by having new VJs (inevitable) or Yo MTV Raps (it was a music show).

Blame Viacom's meger with CBS in 1999. That is truly when the music began to die. 

[TheEarlymtv]

mtv. 81-83. best years..

[joeyjoeJMC123]

if i ever win the lottery i will buy MTV and put it back the way it was with VJs and music videos. and i will get rid of all those fucked up stupid reality shows.

[TJR2269]

MTV was good back then. It's sucks now.

[azmax64]

The 80's were great, Back when MTV didn't SUCK! The early years were the best.

[trailgoat]

Great compilation, although way too Alan Hunter-heavy. Although, if I were to make a similar video--it would be way too Martha Quinn-heavy.....

[TheSunnyGirl83]

I have to replay it over and over again, because I miss the "old" MTV.

[patoheavy]

@TheSunnyGirl83 i know how you feel, i'm 22 and yes, i miss the old MTV when really played music

[hilarioph]

You mean JJ past away? :-(

[TheSunnyGirl83]

I watched MTV Europe in the early 90's when I was 7 or 8 years old. Of course, I didn't understand even 1 word in english, but it was soooo cool *lol* I'm not sure, if there is still MUSIC on MTV. I hate MTV for what it is today.

[Number1UltimateMJFan]

I bet Martha, Mark, Alan, and Nina think MTV sucks today. I'm sure if JJ (RIP) were still alive, he , too, would hate it.

[Number1UltimateMJFan]

I don't consider MTV today as MTV. MTV (which stood for Music Television) existed from 1981-2001. Now it's STV (or Shit Television). If it hadn't been from the Real World or Road Rules they would've never gotten to crap like My Super Sweet 16, Laguna Beach, The Hills, and the 2 worst of all: Teen (Slut) Mom and Jersey Shore (of sluts and assholes). Doesn't matter now if they showed videos anyway. The current Top 40 stuff isn't that innovative and the videos for them aren't either.

[MCochran1973]

I MISS MTV FROM THE 80'S!!!

[protonevent]

The Real World killed the video star...

[ninjafretshadow]

they were bought out.wiki it it's quite a read.im glad i was there when it was genuine

[dandyky]

This is the MTV I knew and loved in the early to mid 80s. Mostly music videos and concert news and an occasional George Romero film. Now its all pregnant teens and Jersey Whores.

[MrLimsky83]

MTV used to play great music but when the boy bands started crawling out of the woodwork in the late 90's thats when they started to suck ass. It started to become a corporate whore more interested in making money than playing great music. It Sucks even more now since the only MTV we get here is in Chinese lmao wtf? they mostly show Chinese music which isn't really all that great and even if i hear a good song I don't know the title and artist since the characters are in Chinese lol

[pannoni1]

@MrLimsky83 I see different points of when MTV "jumped the shark". Some say as early as 1986 when the first VJs left; others say 1988 when Yo! Raps arrived at started to destroy rock (slow at first), some say 1992 when grunge became mainstream along with TRL; others say sometime in the late 90s when Internet video started to surface.) There's no looking back unless we want AMTV (no, not morning MTV, but Autotuned Music TV!)

[talladegajunkie1439]

@pannoni1, MTV went bye-bye after 1995

[nicconley]

I was in high school when Mtv started, and it was the best! Its a joke now. These people were like friends to us then. The music was better, the attitude was better, and gas was only $1.10 a gallon!

[helldx07]

@nicconley Its Greed I tell Ya Its Greed !!! Destroy The World!

[EL78LIMO]

wow are all you commenters like teenages from america in the 80's ?? If so i wish i could have been.... I was a european, welsh, spanish 80's kid...still am!... We didnt have those house parties and maddona lookalikes ( much)! How your mam,s let you get away with that shit, id have been sent to a monestry!

[773SleepyHollow]

Um, where the hell is JJ Jackson?

[rainbowblades]

@773SleepyHollow JJ Jackson died in Febuary 1994, at the age of 62, miss him and all the of the veejays from MTV, becomming an adult in the 80's watching them was awesome! We need them back...........

[773SleepyHollow]

@rainbowblades I know he died, I just meant, where was he in this video.

[rainbowblades]

@773SleepyHollow , Sorry and you are right he is not here...

[HungryVermilingua]

When all other were jerking to Maddon's Like a Virgin, I was doing it to Martha Quinn. She is a hottie.

[xxgnrgirlxx]

Alan Hunter was/is so cute :D and I wish I was around in this era so much; these modern days suck especially the current "MTV" that doesn't even play music videos -.-

[glueforall]

I never saw this promo....hilarious!....2:00

[glueforall]

Write to me....Alan Hunter....(gives address)..."Grant Central Station...LOCKER 19"....WHAT???

[glueforall]

WOW....the last time STEVE WINWOOD had his tour dates posted on MTV for a good 5 - 10 seconds...obviously this was the '80s during his 15 mins of fame resurgence!

[Ishykawa]

This is cool, I wish MTV could be like this now adays. WHY WONT THE MEDIA REALIZE THAT SO MANY PEOPLE WANT MORE QUALITY SHIT IN THE MEDIA NOW! Im 15, I want to see Metal more often on TV and the radio.

[beatle0001]

At 1:47, Dweezil Zappa was NOT AN ORIGINAL VJ!!!!!!!!!!

[Tre404]

@beatle0001 ...neither were China Kantner or Carolyn Heldman... but Carolyn comes close.

[geezerbill]

I remember that "True Blue" Video contest. Contestants had to make a video for the song and send it in. Then Mtv played nothing but the video entries ALL weekend. Some were horrible, but some were well-done. But after hearing the song hundreds of times that weekend, I don't think people cared to hear it again!

[Tre404]

@geezerbill ....TOTALLY remember that! Madonna on the contest promos saying "Go Ahead, MTV... Make My Video!" The winning entry was pretty slickly produced; I remember being disappointed that it seemed to be done by professionals.

[blitzedST]

bring back the 80's I'm tired of this modern crap. 80's RULE!!!!!!

[timewarped2the80s]

Fuckin A the 80's! Never again will there be a era like this again!

[chivalryalive]

That was /This was back when the videos and the channel was all about the music and the artists. It seems to become so much more political these days.

I like their 'unscripted' innocence back then much more.

[pannoni1]

Political? Even that era is no longer with us (basically what MTV was in the '90s.) It should really be called RTV (Reality Television).

[agemoix]

Mark Goodman was my favorite VJ. It's a shame MTV has evolved to a  crappy reality tv cable channel. RIP Cool MTV.

[xbox360dog]

wow i really miss mtv. remember when they played music videos. i loved martha quinn. why cant they air the stupid shows on a different channel and just play videos on mtv

[urbanjournalist]

Ah the good old days of watching MTV videos for hours on end in the early 80's. |I loved the quirky new wave videos & the vj's. It's sad what happened to MTV now they do not even play music anymore...

[Sheldon66]

Allan Hunter was the best and the funniest. Mark Goodman was a complete twit!! And still is...he's on Sirius Radio...he thinks he's cool and funny but really is NOT. The girls...well, Nina and Martha were a couple of cuties and J.J. Jackson...RIP dude, you were also great.

[JubalCalif]

I recall having such a HUGE crush on cute, perky7 & sexy Martha Quinn back in the mid-80's when Mtv finally came to our local cable system. THANKS for posting this "blast from the past"! :)

[RapFanatic4ever]

Damm I was only a baby when MTV first came out

[beatle0001]

A lot of these were not the original hosts! At 1:41 and 4:31, those guys are not original VJ's! Let's keep MTV history straight now.

[RodStewartfan1]

I wasnt born in the 81 when MTV started. THANK GOD FOR VH1 CLASSIC! They showed MTV Day 1 on the air in August 2006 when it turned 25. I LUVED IT! I even got to record it on VHS. I hope they do it again when it turns 30 so I can transfer it onto DVD from my DVR. I watched MTV in the 90s and thought it was certainly better than todays!

[becooltoyourschool]

I have it on 12 dvds. The downside is VH1/MTV edited some videos out like Juice Newton Angle of the Morning and there were some mistakes made that were also edited out. Also way to many repeat videos since MTV probably had less than 100 videos to work with in those early days.

[pannoni1]

Too many repeat videos? Didn't you see that "No repeat Monday" thing?

[guodone]

Damn, MTV was great back then. Great VJ's and videos. JUST VIDEOS. I wish they would either release an 'early years' compilation DVD (VJ airchecks with the videos) or run these classic years on a separate VH1/MTV channel. Martha, Alan, JJ, Mark, Nina, we miss you. Even the MTV ID's and promos were great.

[leeri001]

I Want My MTV

[hectorbolshevik]

Martha Quinn, Mark Goodman, JJ Jackson, Alan Hunter, and Nina Blackwood were the only true VJs. When MTV was MTV before it was plagued with "reality" shows that have nothing to do with music. The 1990's really destroyed a lot of good things.

[gersane]

I don't remember the VJs very well, unfortunately. But I agree with you, MTV was sooooooo much better back then.

[hectorbolshevik]

They were people with talent, who enjoyed and knew music, hosting radio on television. I watched MTV everyday as a kid during the 80's, but unfortunately I was a teen in the 90's which was when music degenerated into ultimate crap which has yet to be recovered.

[UWF97Nole]

You ain't kidding. Today's MTV, SUCKS!!! I have my 80s on XM, to relive the folks there, without JJ, God Rest His Soul, you are missed, JJ.

[hectorbolshevik]

I'm always glad to see people with a taste. MTV has sucked since the 90's when it was no longer music TV, but CTV, as in Crap TV. Whoever gave Tabitha Soren, Pauly Shore, and Kurt Loder on should be shot.

[Tre404]

@hectorbolshevik .LOL Loder was such a bitchy lil prima donna, and he SO wanted to be Madonna, remember? You could just see the envy on his face when he interviewed her. I liked Kurt when he was just reading the TelePrompTer on MTV News, because he was completely professional about that. Otherwise, I just wanted to shoot him! I bet he used to go home to his squalid little apartment in Greenwich Village and put on Madonna-esque bustiers, lace blouses and gloves, and crucifixes. LOL

[KOSMICKEN09]

what's also sad is vh1 is in the same state, they used to be a lot of fun. why don't they make CLASSIC MTV, much like they do w/ VH1 CLASSIC.

[CerebralContusion]

I agree! When was the LAST TIME, TODAY'S, MTV PLAYED A MUSIC VIDEO? People who were born post-80s, HAVE NO IDEA WHAT MUSIC IS or SHOULD BE! HOW CAN THERE BE A MUSIC INDUSTRY IF MUSIC ISN'T BEING PROMOTED?

[Heegoop]

@hectorbolshevik Agree with ya bro the 1990s was the decade that started a decline in quality pop culture and the decline just got worse.

[barf245]

@hectorbolshevik MTV ruled from 1980 to 1999 then flopped

[milovy]

I would so watch a classic MTV channel. Just re-run the entire years 1981 to 1986, commercials and everything.

Boy I miss all these VJs... none of them were anywhere near as annoying as the TV personalities we have today.

[aqueencee1]

this was when mtv was good, i don't even watch it anymore. they need a classic mtv channel.

[fjaviercorrea]

1986

[kcroyalfanatic]

whos the guy at 436 and the girl at 440

[EagleFly26]

The guy at 4:36 is Dweezil Zappa (with his sister Moon Unit), who did some guest VJ'ing in those early days ... 4:40 is I believe Carolyn Heldman

[Jneil1976]

Brings back memories. Good memories??? Yes, come to think of it :))))) I remember the concept of a 'VJ,' came to rise during the first part of the 80's. Video killed the radio star.