We brought on our Guest and Garret's sister Seavon to help us reminisce on the birth of Music Television!
We brought on our Guest and Garret's sister Seavon to help us reminisce on the birth of Music Television!
what's up, y'all? It's your favorite. VJ Ashley. Hello,
Aaron:nostalgic friends. It's Aaron. How they, and it's me, Garrett, and Sivan. What?
Ashley:And you're listening to Nostalgic,
MTV version
Aaron:you may hear an extra voice in the intro.
Seavon:I'm Seavon I am sister to Garrett.
Garret:So the reason that we have brought our guests, Sibal on here is that Ashley, Aaron and I were so young when MTV came out, what better of a person to comment and give us the history of MTV than a person who was directly in front of it, So that's why we chose her
Ashley:I'm pretty sure I saw pictures of Sivan with big eighties hair, so I was like, yep, she's the one.
Garret:Tees, tees, tees. Like that definitely was her big eighties hair.
Aaron:What are we talking about today?
Garret:We are talking about mtv, how it started how that first decade affected all of us as kids and teenagers.
Aaron:we're touch on the first decade, a little bit of history, some facts, the launch of it, and a real time perspective on how iconic it really was.
Ashley:Yeah, it's really nice to have the different generations, since I'm like 10 years younger than you guys, and then 10 years older and
Seavon:Especially when it comes to mtv, right? Because it launched in the early eighties, but it went on for so long, I mean, It was pretty impactful, but in very different ways.
Ashley:And still going on technically music. No, but it's there.
Aaron:it's not even music television anymore, it's just M TV right?
Ashley:that's it. Oh, Like, Idiocracy, where things just keep getting a little bit dumb. That's what we've done here. All right. So before we get into it though, I am gonna bring up some nostalgic news. The Goonies house is up for sale for 1.6 million. Wow.
Aaron:I think it's a steal. Yeah. You know what you can buy in Kentucky for 1.6 million,
Kentucky
Aaron:you can buy every, the whole state except for Fort Kn.
Oh right. The gold vault
Ashley:My question is was that real or was that a stage?
Aaron:I think they did film it inside the house. If you look at it, you
Ashley:think so? It's very common for them to use the outside of something and then film elsewhere.
Aaron:The inside looks amazing now, so it doesn't look anything like it did in the movie.
Garret:what's the point?
Seavon:Bragging rights.
Ashley:Everyone before they come in have to do the truffle shuffle,
Aaron:didn't you visit that Ashley when you were stationed in Oregon or
Ashley:No, I didn't go to Astoria.
Aaron:I would just wanna hold up the Deb Bloom, right where the rocks are
Definitely
Ashley:next is, should I twain? This is Erin's, is it your number one nineties crush?
Aaron:Yep.
Is getting the music icon award
Seavon:we're actually going to see her. That's the surprise. Christmas present is. The girls are getting Shania Twain tickets.
Oh,
Aaron:We did a podcast on our early childhood crushes, and Shania Twain was my number Uno. she got it going out.
Garret:She's great.
Ashley:And her new album's coming out. Sos You'll have to tell us how that is. then I got a couple TV things. there is talks of Indiana Jones coming out as a Disney series, although it's just talks right now. a Christmas story sequel coming out, called a Christmas Story Christmas, It's Ralphie and he has kids and it's coming out at HBO Max later this month.
Garret:I saw the preview for it, and it looks kind of weird
Aaron:got the same characters, like the Bully and the kid that got his, the mom was in it.
Seavon:fun fact If you come to Cleveland, you can tour the house.
Garret:It was filled in Cleveland.
Seavon:Absolutely.
Ashley:It was. is it up for sale? I pay 2 million
Seavon:during this period of time, a lot of people will go to the house. Obviously there's a cult following, right?, you can go and tour the house.
Ashley:Huh. So it's like a
Aaron:museum,
Seavon:you know, I've not been, but a lot of people talk about it that's probably one of the things I need to do before I leave Cleveland. For sure.
Ashley:it's always when someone visits, you do stuff, but you never actually do it yourself. exactly. And the last thing I have is that Sister Act three is coming out
Seavon:Is Wolf be in it?
Ashley:Whoopi is, and actually on that note, Whoopi is turning 67 this month, tyler Perry will be helping produce it, which is pretty cool. They did an interview with her and her dream cast is, Lizzo and Nicki Minaj. I don't think they're actually gonna be on there, so don't get too excited. she was, I just need a good time right now and I need a cast that's gonna have a really good time. And she's like, I, she didn't even call her Nicki, she said The girl with the boobs. And somebody was like, Nick Mina. She's like, yes,
Seavon:So funny
Aaron:Patrick loves Lizzo man.
Ashley:I love Lizzo too.
Seavon:Who doesn't love Liz though?
Ashley:no one that we would be around. What Aaron,
Aaron:I mean, you know,
Ashley:friendship off brother, sister.
Aaron:You can't me as
Ashley:some notable November birthdays. Brian Adams is turning 63. Ralph Maio, who played Karate Kid is 61. Anthony Cuts, who is the lead singer of the Red Hot Chili Peppers is now which I don't like at all. Christina Applegate is turning 50. Tina Turners turning 82
Aaron:That's crazy.
Ashley:Yep. And P Diddy, he's turning 53.
Aaron:Is he still P Diddy or Is he, what does he know?
Ashley:Oh, I don't know. Did he
Aaron:change it? He just used to always change it all the time.
Ashley:Oh. And that leads us into some deaths. I thought it was notable Gallagher, who was a comedian who used to smash his watermelon. Yeah. I never saw him, but most people know of him at
Seavon:all.
I remember seeing commercials for it,
Garret:I, remember somebody in my family was watching it. That's the only way
Ashley:that's pointing at herself. jerry Lee Lewis, known for great balls of fire, sh lace, whole lot of shaking going on. died at 87 and he was a hall of fame inductee. That was recent actually, October 22nd, 2022, he was inducted into the Hall of Fame. Oh wow.
Little bit before he passed away, maybe that's what he was waiting for. He's like, I can let go now. All right.
Ashley:Aaron Carter, who is a nineties pop star, Nick, Carter's little brother from the Backstreet Boys. He passed away,
I think he was 34. Pretty sure it was some kind of drug related, which is terrible.
Garret:Yeah. That's sad
Ashley:Leslie Jordan, who, is a gay icon, will and Grace,
Aaron:He was awesome in American Horror Story. He was a character on there for
Ashley:a while his latest one was, call Me Cat. His last episode is gonna air on the 1st of December. So he is got one more episode where he's in it. I have two more, but one of them was more recent. Do you remember what episode we talked about the Power Rangers and how some of them had passed away. Some of'em were in jail. And then we just found out yesterday that the Green Ranger, Tommy has passed away as well. He committed suicide, which is
Garret:awful.
Ashley:he was my favorite. Yeah. I did read a lot of love and support, though. People were like, this Dude was so inspirational and,, that was cool. he
Aaron:was, I saw where he came on as, the Green Ranger, he was supposed to be written off the show, but when he left the show, the fans spoke up so much. That's why they brought him back as the white Ranger.
Ashley:I do remember him coming back. and then lastly we have Kevin Conroy, who was the voice of Batman. And I left it last so Garrett could
Garret:This, one hurts. Cause this is like a childhood hero. He was Batman for 30 years. He did all the Batman, the animated series, the Justice League. He even did video games, but he was such a good person for so long. He was great to his fans. he was the person that came up with that duality where there's a voice for Bruce Wayne and a voice for Batman. And now it's become sort of like iconic for that. I found out recently that he was gay Losing him was so tough That was like a Robin Williams, where you have this one person who's such a good soul, good spirit, and then to lose them was just a shock., he will be greatly missed. There's just an outpouring of love for him. It's definitely, a crushing blow in 2022 to lose someone like him.
Ashley:Well said. The world is a little bit darker. Now to make it a little bit brighter.
Aaron:Right, that's what I was getting ready to say what we're gonna do, we're going to go over a few highlights, some facts of the launch of mtv, and then have an interview with Sivan and see impactful it was. So August 1st, 1981 at 12:01 AM. MTV launched with Ladies and gentlemen, let's rock and roll. It was actually going to be one small step for man, one giant leap for music, but copyright issues. The Armstrong they, they couldn't get the rights of that. So that's what they went with. the first video was of course, video killed the radio star by the bugs. They played a rotation of Pat Benard, the who, rod Stewart Iron Maiden. But at the launch it was only actually available in New Jersey. They had very limited videos to show. It actually struggled for the very first couple years. So they launched an ad campaign, the, I want My MTV campaign with David Bowie, the police, Mick Jagger. And even after that, they were two months away from going under Really? The breaker was, they broke the color barrier. Brought Michael Jackson on with the thriller video, is what really turned it around. They got the ratings back for that video. It was a 14 minute video and. Michael Jackson just shot to stardom. His album sales went up, their ratings went up. So other artists realized, hey, this music video thing might work. All the veterans started jumping in. New artists, Madonna Guns and Roses, Duran Duran.
Ashley:Let me ask you something Were they making music videos before, cable like, did Michael Jackson have a video of Thriller, or did he specifically make Thriller for
Aaron:Made it for mtv. Right on. When you saw artists on TV they were on talk shows, and when you see the older videos, it's just them playing their live music. So after the ratings went up, they had a national relaunch March 5th, 1983 at six 19. Pm I don't know why it was that time, but very specific. 1984 was the first BMA awards. You'll remember the Moon Man was the statue, the astronaut that planted the flag. So before the VMA Awards, they used to show a lot of footage of the actual Apollo 11 They would show the launch, and then they would show the moon man, planting the flag on the moon. But after the Apollo 11 crash that killed seven astronauts, they just cut it the astronaut planting the flag. That's how the Moon Man was born. The first VMAs were hosted by Dan Arod and, and Bet Midler had live performances from Zi top Huey Lewis in the news, Tina Turner, and then the iconic Madonna, like a virgin, that was at the very first bmas.
Garret:Oh, yeah. That's synonymous in, we still play that in the gay bars that like,
Ashley:I didn't realize it was the first one,
Aaron:No, I didn't know that either. the most awarded. Ashley, you're gonna laugh at, this was Herbie Hancock.
Garret:Do you know who Herbie Hancock is?
Aaron:I have no idea who he is The only reason not mentioned it a because I knew you would think it a funny because of Tommy Boy One of Chris Farley's test questions was about somebody's signature on the Declaration of Independence. And it was John Hancock. Right. he put Herby Hancock Yeah. So the second most awarded artist was Michael Jackson. Herbie Hancock got five awards. Michael Jackson got three.
Garret:Yvonne, do you know who Herbie Hancock is? Who was Herby
Seavon:Hancock? I remember it, but at the same time I'm like, what? mean he took five awards? Did he create the videos?
Ashley:Right. What are he awards? Is he a behind the scenes guy? Like what are we? Yeah, agreed.
Seavon:None of that even rings a bell to be very honest. I'm like, okay, that's a Google moment. Not
Ashley:for now, but for later. right? Oh no. We we're always like, well Google it. Garrett, you're gonna have to, post on Facebook, Herbie Hancocks five awards so we know something.
Aaron:All right. So the MTV really started blowing up. They started expanding into different genres., in 1985, they started the show, the Head Bangers Ball With D Snyder from Twisted Sister in 1986, they actually were the first ones to start, showing PSAs about safe sex initiatives, the HIV epidemic. It's your Sex life was kind of the main focus on that. They also had the live aid with you two and a lot of other famous artists to raise awareness and fundraise about the famine and Ethiopia and other countries.
Ashley:a good platform for it, right?
Aaron:And then in 1988, they expanded into rap, and hip hop with yo MTV Rap hosted by Dr. Dre not the Dr. Dre that most people know from NWA. But original Dr. Dre
Garret:Oh, interesting. So there's
Ashley:two of them, Gallagher, two, Dr. Dre too,
Aaron:that's when I was really introduced to hip hop. They had Run DMC LL Cool J Naughty by Nature, and that's when I discovered hip hop then in 1989 was the first MTV spring break in Daytona Beach. A week long celebration of spring break and what goes on at spring break. And after that was the first MTV Unplugged series.
Ashley:Oh yeah. I used to love
Aaron:that. They started off with, squeeze, sip Straw and Elliot Easton were the first couple that they have. I have no idea who they are.
Garret:No idea.,
Ashley:Or bringing in our experts, Yvonne
Seavon:Oh no. Trust me. I went back and watched some of the MTV start, and I was like, what? Who? There was so many acts that I was like, I don't even know who that is. Like, were they one hit Wonders
Ashley:if they were two months from bankruptcy, they're like, we're just gonna get whoever we can.
Aaron:Yeah. If you make a video, we'll play it Were they radio stars and video killed the radio star?
Seavon:I don't know.
Aaron:Those acts that we just discussed, that we had no idea who they are actually led into, the ones that we remember, Bob Dylan Nirvana. Eric Clapton, Alanis Moett iconic unplugged series. That's pretty much, the highlights of the first decades. We didn't really get into the VJs, you could really do a whole episode on just the VJs and, MTV News which we'll go into the next decade, like the real world and talk shows, there is a website called Internet Archive where you can go back and watch live recordings of the whole first decade of mtv. Somebody recorded all of'em on VHS and actually transferred it over to DVD and you can go on this website and watch it just like you were watching it at home. That is super impressive. It was pretty cool.
Ashley:How was squeeze?
Aaron:Didn't get that far into it. Okay, so before we get into our interview, we have a few questions we like to call Rapid fire, which we do with our guest. Good way to break the ice for you guys to get to know Sivan.
Ashley:And ammo for us to judge her
Aaron:yeah, of course. So rapid fire questions you don't really have to explain, you can just kind of answer and we'll roll on. So cats or dogs, dogs. What is your go to karaoke song?
Garret:I think I know this one.
Seavon:It is Shania Tws, any man of mine.
Aaron:Let's,
Ashley:maybe you'll take that icon award from her. Yeah. Oh my gosh.
Seavon:You have no idea. funny story. Martin and I are in Scotland and I didn't realize In Scotland, you have these pubs and people will go up and they'll sing their song so I get up and I'm totally belting out. Shania shaking my hips, doing the whole dance. well when I'm done he is like, I think we may have to leave the bar, cuz I think you sung Big Sega's song.
Aw, you stole a song
Aaron:what she's
Garret:not telling you though is everyone that goes up there is just reading the words and she's looking at the crowd and singing her heart out and working it as hard as possible. And they're just like,
Aaron:mm, no you get done and everybody's just staring at you
Ashley:likey
Seavon:I was probably oblivious
Ashley:which is honestly better, right?
You're like, what?
Seavon:I was just like, I'm singing Shania. Doesn't everybody sing it this way?
Ashley:I'm singing for Nelson, ain't I? Babe?
Aaron:Sure are. Okay. If you could be any TV character in any show, which one would you be?
Seavon:Janice from? Friends Oh my God. Sandler Bang
Garret:that's who you would pick with. Youve gotta tell me why
Seavon:just everything. If you ever listen or watch her outside of that character, it's like, how in the world did she so creatively come up with that? And the laugh?
Aaron:Well, you got the laugh down. I thought we were watching friends for a second. Okay, a couple more, and then I have a couple of Christmas ones. If you had a shot to break a world record, what category would it be?
Ashley:What's your talent?
Seavon:the number of cherry stems I could tie in my mouth.
Aaron:There you go. And see, that's why we do this right here.
Ashley:really get to the heart of people, myself, conversation. It's like I don't even know her.
Aaron:Who is this? And what is the one thing that you lose or misplace the most?
Seavon:My phone every day. So we live on five acres. The other day I'm walking And I said to my husband, I cannot find my phone. So I walked back to the barn and it was in the middle of the grass,
Garret:in the grass.
Seavon:I don't know, 50 feet from my house.
Ashley:.Oh my goodness. All right., to dive into that. How are you, when you lose your phone, are you like, cool or are you a panicker?
Seavon:My first reaction is go find your phone on your own. Don't tell anybody. I lost my phone again.
Aaron:There's no crisis here. Oh, Nothing
Ashley:to see here. doing the pat down., what? Are looking
Aaron:Nothing. What? What are you looking
Ashley:for? totally
Seavon:you gotta hide your damn Yeah. The phone. Yeah. Okay.
Aaron:Just a few Christmas ones. Is Die Hard a Christmas movie?
Seavon:Yes.
Aaron:Right answer. I know. I said there were no wrong or right answers on these, but
Ashley:also that'll lead into, we're gonna have a mini in December on that whole subject, so we'd like to know where our guests stand.
Garret:Mm-hmm.
Aaron:What is the best part of Christmas?
Ashley:I'm like, when it's over
Seavon:The giving of gifts, and the decorating and the shopping I don't know. I like it all
Aaron:.So what's the worst part?
Seavon:Taking down decorations.
Ashley:You're one of those.
Seavon:Cause you're so happy when you're putting'em up. The, you have to take them down and I'm like, Ugh. God.
Aaron:Do you already have yours up now?
Seavon:No, we are a very not before Thanksgiving kind of house. Thank, I like it. Gosh.
Aaron:We are a day after Halloween house
Garret:no. What's wrong?
Aaron:I say we
I picked my battles and this isn't one
Garret:Okay. If you're held hostage and it happens, then we can forgive if it makes her happy, then I'm good with it, so no big deal That's sweet
Is it down by January 1st. Cause I'm that person too I'm
Ashley:it does not go past New Year's. I've
trees chucked at the end of the driveway I'm
Aaron:We're out. looks like the Grinch just packing stuff
Seavon:Now. I am so with her though. As soon as I'm ready, I'm ready. And it's like, all right, everybody bring up the totes it's
Ashley:about to go down
Aaron:right? what is the best present you've ever received for Christmas?
Seavon:That's a hard one because I wouldn't say there's one thing, but I will say whenever my kids, were younger and they gave you like those homemade things that nobody else is ever gonna care about, like, salt dough, ornaments and stuff like that. I don't know, that stuff always made me happy. Both of my daughters on separate occasions for Christmas gave me ceramics that they made narc class and I still have both of'em. My oldest daughters is probably still the funniest cuz hers was like a weird ass crown that said queen bee in the side.
Aaron:Oh
Seavon:Anything that somebody gives you that's homemade I think is just a little bit more appreciated cuz the effort that goes in.
Ashley:True.
Aaron:True. I agree. Okay. That's all I got. Great
Garret:job. So thank you Sivan for coming out and being a guest on here with us. We very much so appreciate it.
Seavon:Thanks for having me.
Garret:Do you remember the day MTV came out?
Seavon:I can't say that I remember the day that it came out, cuz I was nine when it came out but there were certain distinctions that I remember about it. the whole, orbiting the earth and, the Columbia I believe was the spaceship that launched the space guy And then just watching a few of the videos, you had two different thought processes one of them like, okay, we're a band, we're just gonna sing like we normally do, and somebody's gonna video tape us, right? And then the other side took it to a Very artsy, theatrical, little bit bizarre sometimes, but you could tell they were trying to stretch the limits.
Garret:Did you feel like MTV was gonna be significant when you first started watching it, or,
Seavon:I don't know that significant was a word like I would've used. TV in general back then had big implications in the way, families gathered around watching And there's the whole cable era so you get to watch what you wanna watch. I think there was a lot of newness with mtv. you got to see your favorite artists, you got to see videos, maybe people you never even knew about. the other thing, the variety of what you listen to was Wow. from the bugles to Rod Stewart Patar to, cliff Richard just All over the place.
So
Ashley:when you said you love all music, that's where it came from. You got introduced on mtv.
Seavon:Ah, that's a good
Ashley:point. Side question. Is it bugs or bugles? I think it's bugs. and I just wanna make sure I'm saying it correctly. and I'm going to the OG.
Seavon:I think it was the bugs. Did I call it the Bugles?
Ashley:Yes, you totally did.
Aren't those corn chips
Aaron:I just assumed that I was wrong, so I was like,
I did too. And then I was like, I'm gonna ask
Seavon:You're Calling me out.
Ashley:It was more because I'm like, oh my gosh, how many times have I said that to someone and nobody has ever said, Hey bro, like got something in your teeth,
Seavon:you've
Aaron:been saying this wrong for years.
Ashley:Right. anyway,
Garret:what was your first impression of MTV
Seavon:It's really cool to see the bands that you wanna see. you know, you Think about it, you would go see somebody at a concert for brief period of two hours, three hours, and unless you paid an arm and a leg, you wouldn't see their face, you wouldn't see their expressions. That brought all of that to the forefront because then it wasn't just listening to them on the radio. You could see how they, moved their mouth and how they tossed their head. yet had impressions not just on myself, but probably on my generation fashion, sort of mimicking, What you thought was cool. Yeah.
Garret:Oh, a hundred percent. Did you feel like there was a two-way connection between your friends and your social groups and MTV and how they would affect each other?
Seavon:I remember very distinctly, there were lots of clicks and groups. A lot of it related to music itself, There was this differentiator we were either called head bangers or hairbands or metal heads. Then you had the punks and the people who are alternative, and you had new wave. You had a lot of different genres that showed up in little Populaces. Throughout school and throughout society.
Ashley:Ooh, what group are you in?
Seavon:When I was in junior high, I was definitely more into heavy metal. We listened to a C D C and Judas Priest Ozzy Osborne and all those. Then as I got into high school, I was a lot more malleable and I would flex between new Wave and a little bit of punk, a little bit of pop, little bit of heavy metal. I didn't wanna be fit in one groove or just way too edgy for me. Like I could never live up to that expectation.
Garret:Do you feel like your friends in high school or,, some people that you knew were trying to put themselves in those sort of singular spheres, like if you're trying to be eclectic, they were like, I'm in the metal, or I'm into this.
Seavon:Oh yeah. Segregation Was huge, in high school and junior high based on who you hung out with and, and who you dressed like and what band you like. I wouldn't say that. Everything related to music. but Music, had a big influence. And I really do think that MTV was a huge part of that we had better visualization to the relationship you have with music
Ashley:It makes me think of eighties movies, how you had such distinct groups like the jocks and the nerds and the stoners. MTV started all of it.
Garret:I would say they started all of it, but they definitely, reinforced those stereotypes.
Ashley:Tomato to tomato.
Garret:So talk to us about school MTV I feel was trying to target your market, but at the same time, were you having a direct effect on mtv? Was there synergy happening?
Seavon:I think there's always synergy but even watching Pat Betar, right? Pat Betar had lots of mouth movements she did that were very distinctive and head, turning and flipping her hair and all kinds of stuff. This is gonna sound bizarre, but long hair, and guys flipping their hair back and forth, bed banging it around. Those were perfectly normal things to see in the hallway of school. Really? Oh yeah, there was just so that came from, being able to see what was happening on TV on a regular basis. Cause remember when I was in high school, we had Teen Magazine and that had all the stars and stuff. But those are still pictures.. MTV really brought all that to life.
Ashley:Yeah. They're doing this thing and they made it on tv. So maybe if I do this thing I can also be cool. You know, it's the first time where you can almost mimic, like, oh, okay, I'm just gonna do what they're doing.
Garret:Yeah, there was a lot of imitation. if you're seeing a video and then they're reenacting that tossing their hair around so what did our parents think of mtv
Seavon:this could be its own episode depending on what side of the, bread your parents was, buttering we lived in a house where I would say it was. The angel and the demonn. My dad didn't care. He was super cool with it. He was actually into it. I remember him dancing with me, every once in a while have it on. Yes. Oh my He always had this funny little head thing that he would do when he would dance
Ashley:it the Pat Benne hair? Flip
Aaron:When you said head thing, I'm picturing night at the Roxbury, But then I also think. When dad's dance, I'm a dad. I think I probably do a little weird head thing too,
Garret:so you do the bigger snaps in the,
Aaron:yeah. Cut the rug now come on.
Seavon:it is funny, but then my mom, was very selective in what she wanted to watch or what she would listen to she loved tears for fears. That was her gig. She really loved that whole UK new wave music, whereas. when Madonna came out and she was doing her religious thing, my mom would flip the hell out. So she was kind of extremes. Like only this, but not that.
Garret:sounds like mom.
Aaron:Mm-hmm. What about our parents, Ashley do you remember then? Yeah. I don't remember. Dad watching TV ever, besides Andy Griffith. So I don't think he knew what we were watching, but I can say that Dad had a lot of musical influence for me. He listened to Green Day, the police, and that's how I got introduced to those bands. And then our mom is also on. I almost said the religious spectrum. I don't know if that's a thing. and the thing, very selective about what she would watch. She didn't watch mtv, when she actually sat down and watched it was like, I do not approve of this and cut off her cable. When Be With, and Butthead came out and mom saw that it was done. Yeah, that's when I antenna channel three.
Seavon:Like click, click, click, click, click.
Garret:So were there any artists on N TV that you fell in love with from watching them where you never would've gotten to know that artist without mtv.
Seavon:I would go back to the exposure of different genres you had all these different types of music that were coming together out of one it wasn't like a radio station where they segregated their type of music. you had Peter Gabriel, Madonna, Michael Jackson, rap, Phil Collins, Eric Clapton's everything was coming at you So you were exposed to a lot more and I would say maybe this started some of this empathetic movement that we have today because you saw things from a different perspective that was another way MTV had its thumbprint on this world.
Garret:that's a very well rounded way of thinking. Who became your favorites to watch?
Seavon:I was definitely a metalhead, head Banger's ball was one of my favorites. The more hair bands the better. Here's the other funny thing All the guys wore makeup. Head bangers were super macho and they were tough and they'd kick your behind in Extreme makeup.
Garret:wait, did you think it was hot
Seavon:Oh, absolutely guys look like girls and I'm not but they're beautiful andro. So going back through the videos There were two videos that were like really distinctive. One was Sledgehammer, The dancing fruit. that you're like, was he on? Yeah. I think so. The other kind of really creative one Was Cry by Godly and Cream do you know what I'm talking about? And all the faces merged into different faces. they're all singing the song and it just melts from person to person to person in the same face. It's very cool.
Aaron:The video I thought of when you were talking about Faces Merging was the Michael
Ashley:Jackson Black and White. Michael White. That's what I was thinking of too.
Seavon:No, you have to go watch it. It's way before the whole black or white thing, it's relatively early on,
Garret:Oh my God. This is bringing back memories.
Seavon:that is one that you totally need to go back and watch
Garret:was this on
Seavon:crybaby? oh, it might have been,
No
Garret:ashley's about to throw her desk.
Ashley:I am leaving
Garret:All right. So do you have any favorite VJs or do you remember any of your favorite VJs?
Ashley:Martha Quinn,
Seavon:I remember very distinctively, she was the most popular, VJ
Ashley:I'm looking her up. I don't know who that is.
Seavon:Oh, I would say she was like, girl next door. She was peppy, but very relatable. And the other girl that I really liked was Daisy Fuentes. the other interesting thing about both of them was they were actresses. They weren't VJs. Some of them, like JJ Jackson and a few of the other ones, were actually DJs that became VJs, whereas they were actresses that became VJs. So kind neat.
Ashley:Well, they're probably like we've gotta go with looks now where a DJ they don't have to look good, but we're on video now, so Yeah. We've gotta start getting some good goodlooking people up.
Garret:Yeah. I remember Daisy Fuentes And then downtown Julie Brown. She was one of my favorites. I loved her accent, her vibe, everything.
Ashley:She still has a serious thing, right? Downtown Julie Brown. It's nineties one.
Garret:the reason I know that is because Gabriel gets serious. One day I was like, I know that voice. And then she was like, I'm downtown Janet Brown. I was like, oh my God, she's still active.
Ashley:It hasn't changed. It takes me back.
Not that it would change completely. She's got smoker's voice downtown. Julie Brown,
Garret:And now she's from Jersey.
Ashley:You guys know I don't do accents. I mean, I do just not the accents I'm trying to do.
Aaron:Ashley is the old Jewish woman. Accent is,
Ashley:that's the only one I got it guys.
Garret:Do you remember, Polly Shore, totally Polly.
Seavon:Oh. He was funny. A bit awkward and out there, but that was kind of his charm, and obviously then he had a successful acting career.
Garret:We did an episode on, Poly Shore, so I was wondering where he stood in with you Cause he definitely had his 15 minutes, more like maybe 30.
Ashley:If you get a chance, Yon look up, he has a band Shore and the Crusts and it's a bunch of old dudes, but he is just being poly shore. It's just him doing covers oh God. Yeah. It's exactly what you would think it would be.
Seavon:like weird Al Yankovic. You don't expect him to be anything different than what he is,
Ashley:Correct. Has anybody watched the new weirdo Yankovic movie with Daniel Re No,
Garret:but I heard it's good. It's one of those where I'm like, I wanna wait till I hear from people that I trust before I step into this. Cuz it feels like it could get icky. So, do you remember any of the non-musical shows that MTV produced? there was House of Style, which covered fashion. famous last Words with Kurt Loader which by the way, he is 77 if that wants to take y'all back.
Aaron:I didn't think he a with us anymore.
Garret:he's alive. I always thought he was gay too, but that may not be correct. I don't know. Does anybody else know the answer to that?
Ashley:I did not keep up with Kurt Lauder's Love Life.
Garret:Oh, I thought you got the newsletter.
Seavon:I have to say, when they started bringing on more shows, I started watching a lot less. my generation knew it as music, video, television. You went there to watch music videos. You didn't go there to watch a television show.
Oh man. I was all about some real world
Garret:that came a little bit after.
Seavon:I think I watched a little bit. of it. And that was way too, like real
You're like, I come here to fantasize and get away. I don't need the drama.
Aaron:The fake world is what I'm looking for here. come on. Yeah, right.
Garret:did you like any of the shows or they were just a complete turnoff?
Seavon:at that point in I was in high school and there was way better things to do than to sit and watch shows. it didn't center my life. But I do think it had a huge influence on my generation we just had so much more access to celebrities artists and, bands that, shaped how we formed ideas likes and dislikes and looks more than we had in the past. That was the other thing. When rap came on and you had, oh, what was it called? Yo M TV raps. Yeah, That brought a whole new genre. Dancing, talking things you could say things you couldn't say. There was a whole bunch of stuff that you hadn't even, at least I hadn't been fully exposed to. You know?, there's just so many idiosyncrasies that came from that age. And the question is how much that was from mtv and how much of it wasn't if you go back and watch like the VJ sat on the desk, right? It was totally anti-establishment we're gonna break the rules from the get go type of thing.
Garret:I do remember that coming across vividly is I'm not gonna do things in a straight line, I'm gonna just zza all over the place. Did you guys feel the same?
Ashley:am the same way. It was just like, we're starting our own thing. We're not gonna be like anything else. It was very break the mold for sure.
Aaron:mean, The YO MTV rap. Their style, you know, being a skinny white kid a naughty by nature shirt it, it was just so new to me and things that I had never really seen before and definitely, I wanted to wear what they were wearing, everything.
Garret:So it had an influence.
Aaron:Oh, for sure.
Ashley:If you look at, our website, Aaron has his high school playlist and his was all wrapped I was like, wow, our lists are so different. But that was his influences
Seavon:Ashley are you older or
Garret:How dare you.
Ashley:I know it would seem that way
Garret:however he's older.
Aaron:Yeah. I usually introduce her as my younger, more mature sister.
Ashley:you
Aaron:Ashley Do you remember in Switzerland when we met in Naughty by Nature?
Ashley:Wait, what?, yes. Yeah,
Aaron:we were at this hostile Ashley and I were older by probably, what, 10 years there was a. Younger college kids, and Naughty by Nature was having a concert at one of the hosts that we were at, and they're walking through and nobody knows who these guys are. And of course, I holler his name and we start talking and he's like, how in the world do you know who we are? I'm like, I've listened to you since I a a kid
walked right by.
Ashley:But who can pick him out of a lineup?
Seavon:I can sing all their songs, but they would've gone totally inconspicuous anywhere around me
Ashley:Also in Switzerland, maybe in California or on a trip to New York, but not in the middle of nowhere, Switzerland.
Garret:But did you learn who they were from mtv?
Aaron:Yes, of course, their videos were different. They were. In the city. Talking about guns and rap and drugs, things that I knew nothing about.
Garret:MTV directly influenced Aaron and he saw enough of their videos to point out who they were. For me, I guess it would be Duran Duran I would be like, oh, I know that guy. Or Bon Jovi,
Ashley:Think about two, that MTV probably influenced enough that they could tour in Switzerland and actually have people show up because how else is Switzerland hearing about naughty by nature?
Garret:True. That's a good point,,
Ashley:So the crazy Thing we'd be sitting around and we would think that people spoke English because they would be singing all of the American songs in English. Right. So they'd be singing it and we'd be like, oh man, we know that song. And we'd go to try to talk to them and they would be like, no, we don't speak English. you just sang an entire Pearl Jam song. Like I don't,
Aaron:yeah, we were in Barcelona and we ended up in an Irish cover bar.
Ashley:That was so cool. Its
Seavon:like a 5:00 AM
Aaron:So they were singing Green Day and all these, but they spoke No. But they were singing,
Seavon:for nonverbal, I would walk, but on Proline River,
Garret:oh man, that song has almost religious connections between Sivan and I and Martin and
Seavon:their wedding.
Garret:We were all singing that song, almost chanting it, jumping up and down, and I was wearing a kilt. And so it's just kilts going up and down, I've been to some weddings, but my sister's wedding was a very, very fun time.
Ashley:we already heard about their whiskey habits.
Garret:So back to mtv. Have you watched MTV at all since then? Anything
Ashley:recently? J for sure.
Seavon:no, I realize I'm from the decade that appreciated the music video. So never watched a lick of fricking Jersey Shore. And it was funny I was doing my research and then it was the whole MTV TRL channel that they had and it was in Times Square and there was all these guests, celebrities and musicians
Garret:it was huge.
Seavon:Oh yeah. It was enormous. Never watched
Ashley:Did TRL still have music videos? I can't remember. I remember the artist would go on.
Garret:Well that's what it was. Was it? Okay. I know it was Carson Daley but they had a live audience and the bands would come on and they would meet them and do interviews and then they would play their videos. Is that, I'm just trying to get a grasp.
Aaron:so it a a countdown show, the fans voted on the videos they wanted to see was like top 10. Okay. I remember there was a period of time where I knew if I hurried home from school, if I caught traffic I would get home in time for Britney Spears on trl.
Ashley:That's hilarious.
Seavon:I just don't recall having much interest in watching reality television, which is what I think MTV started to become towards the very latter part of the eighties and nineties. Like Erin was saying, they were almost out of business, because nobody paid for the videos to be played, so the only thing they had was their advertisement, it was a little bit risque as far as how long people were gonna stay and watch. Two to three minute video versus five minute video, and then they go off and do something else. Are they gonna catch their advertisement or not? There was a lot of, dynamic shift they had to do just to be profitable.
Garret:I definitely think that's why they've changed. They've had to change with the times. I mean, YouTube definitely was a spear in MTV's head as far as videos go,
Aaron:Remember they tried to do MTV Classics and, sub channels, MTV two, I just think that the reality TV just carries more weight on some stuff cuz I've never seen an episode of Jersey Shore. I could pick out Snooky, and some of the other characters,
Ashley:I think that was before Influencers are what they are now. They were kind of that initial influencer oh, Snooki's doing this, even though, I've seen almost every episode of Jersey Shore. It's ridiculous. But to me, some of the shows I watch is because it's like I'm watching another species I don't even know how to turn it off because I don't know what's happening and I don't know what world this is, but I can't stop watching it sometimes I remembered like I'm at the zoo. I mean, I'm just like, what? This is their main call. What a
Seavon:s Smush. Mush.
Garret:Ridiculous. I would come in sometimes, so Ashley and I live together and I'd be like, what are you watching? Why are you watching this? And she'd be like, whatever, don't judge me. And I'm like, Uhuh, this is stupid. And then I'd be like, what is she say? And then I would like sit down with
Ashley:a, it would be like grabbing my popcorn,
Seavon:Sitting next to me. I'm like,
Garret:mm-hmm. And then we binge watch the entire
Ashley:freaking season. The whole thing. Yeah.
Garret:So do you watch any MTV now or are just the nostalgic memories that you have of it good enough?
Seavon:I will say there is something about going back watching those really bad grainy. videos, it's amazing to me how far technology has gone out and my favorite part, even beyond the videos, if you go on YouTube you can watch the first two hours of mtv. The advertisements are fabulous.
Aaron:we like a good
Ashley:advertisement. Yes we do. Did they age okay
Seavon:No, You just need to go back like Atari you know. oh yeah. Some of the things that they were advertising. I was just like, this is brilliant.
Ashley:We may have to do just MTV advertisements next episode.
Aaron:I also think A high def TV killed the radio star. Cuz when you see some of these people in high def, you're like, whoa.
Seavon:That was one of the advertisements was Doby sound was new And how their logo was patented. I don't know. It was funny. You just need to, it's worth the two hours of your life
Ashley:I've definitely depended on worst things.
Seavon:It takes you back to even the TVs that we watch these on, Most of them were those big huge tube boxes. That nowadays you can't even,
Ashley:we talked about that. You can't even donate'em. They're like, we only take flat screens. Did you have the one where when you turned it off, it still stayed green for a little while. Like live up.
Garret:This is
Aaron:radioactive. Exposing ourselves
Seavon:right?
Garret:is there. Anything that you remember about MTV or in that decade that we haven't covered that you want to just get outta your brain.
Seavon:I don't think so was certainly a pivotal point in that timeframe and it had a lot of social. Influences and a lot of really good things that continue to help us transition into better people.
Ashley:Mt has made us all better. I love it. Or had, I dunno about now
Garret:I think so back then you, like she was saying, you were exposed to so many different things. I think that is one reason why we're so eclectic in what we listen to and we don't just have one genre because we were exposed to so many so without mtb, I don't know that would have that. Yeah.
Ashley:It let the outcast be accepted,
Garret:mm-hmm.
Seavon:as Aaron said, he was a white boy wanting to, he liked rap, I got bars, you know.
Garret:that's all the questions that I have.
Ashley:Before we end though, everybody, I'm gonna ask, what was your most standout, MTV music video Just the one that you were like, yes, if it came on. So I'll start it out like mine. It's not my favorite one, but for some reason it's one that I always have fond memories of is, you remember when Ugly Kid Joe did hate everything about. And it wasn't even a great video. It was the stupidest song, they're flying a, blowup doll, a blowup doll on the beach, and it's just this, nineties grunge band singing about hating everything.
Aaron:was it Pat from Saturday Night Live?
Ashley:it's like, are you the guys on the beach who hate everything
Garret:I'm getting a blip, but
Ashley:nothing, you watch it, it'll come back to you. But that's one that just, when I think of mtv, I'm there for some reason. A a Ron.
Garret:I'm torn between
Aaron:Pearl Jam Jeremy that's one that really is one of my first videos like, this is different and then under the Bridge by Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Ashley:Yes. Love that one. Reason So
Aaron:We used to record him on vhs and we found out that if you like slow mode, when Anthony Cuts was running with his shirt off and then you could rewind it real fast and then slow mode. It was just, it was,
Ashley:so Aaron and I. Laugh, cried over this stupid video cause it's got real long hair. So it's like whipping and he is running, and we just kept doing it. And it was the funniest thing we'd ever seen. I don't know why
Aaron:I think we discovered Slowmo and on your VCR and like this is it. We're here, this is never gonna get any better than this. You know, it's like, and fast forward So those are two of course. I mean, the early hip hop videos naughty by nature. O p Hop, Ray
Garret:Man. I never watched any of those.
Ashley:Oh man. Oh man. I love TLC too. Like, I ain't too proud to be
Aaron:now. what about your waterfalls video?
Ashley:I could do that whole wrap to this day. I could do
Aaron:left Eye
Ashley:in real time.
Garret:I don't know. Any Madonna video that came on, I was just I wouldn't say obsessed with her, but I, did love her each of her videos were just so unique and cool and different that I was always drawn to'em, specifically rain. I loved that one. And I also loved I can't think of the name of it. It was off bedtime stories and it was something about repressing yourself but they were in white boxes, like all the box Wasn't Express yourself. Didn't repress yourself. so in the beginning of the video, she's in leather and she's tied up to a chair and they're taking her legs and pulling them apart. Because it's Madonna and I don't know human nature I think that might have been it. MTV reminds me of all of those videos and then for some reason, November Rain. And I think it was because,
Ashley:oh, I do love
Garret:November Rain. that was a video that just always came on.
Aaron:I always thought it was two songs. I'm like, why are they,
Garret:why we please back
Seavon:to back all the time? And I'm like, whoa.
Aaron:It's the same song. Okay.
Ashley:Well, and I still do that with these videos where it's telling a story. I'm like, I need a conclusion to this. I need to know what happens here. It's like I watched a three minute movie that I never get the end to. I'm it's annoying. You have to use your
Garret:imagination. Oh dude, I hated that. What? Aerosmith's Janie's got a Gun. I thought that was from a movie.. I would try to find it. I would ask the people at Blockbuster and they would look at me like I was just from the movie about the
Seavon:Got a Gun. I need to
Garret:And they would be like, what? I'm like, I don't know the name of it. It's on the chain. He's got a Gun thing by Aerosmith. And they're like, that's not a movie. And I'm like, no, it is. And
Ashley:they're like, okay. Crazy. Yeah. Yeah. The ones where it looks like it's clipped, like the Jerry McGuire thing mm-hmm. where it's like they flip it in there and that's what you think it is and you're like, Nope. Let me ask you this, and we'll probably delete this, but is there a music video to hearts? All I wanna do is make love to you do you know? I haven't looked it up, but when you listen to that song, I need to know what is happening is basically her dude can't give her a baby. So she goes and picks up a hitchhiker and has sex with him and then runs into him. There's a video.
Seavon:as perfect. I'm remembering the video as you're telling me. I'm remembering it
Ashley:too. I hear it and, I'm like, I need to see this in person.
Garret:but I don't think it has anything to do with that. I think it's just it's her sister rocking out on her guitar and then it's her singing.
Seavon:she totally takes a guy meets him and takes him
Ashley:to old hotel room, uses him for one night. One of, I, I need this storyline. any other heart video probably. But this one was very specific. I was like,
Seavon:So two videos that really stand out for me. one, I'm a huge Smashing Pumpkins fan. Okay. Oh
Garret:my God. Please tell them how much of a smashing Pumpkins fan you were. Are is.
Seavon:Well,
Ashley:not as much as I was, but what does that mean? Was in
Garret:Love, in Love, love at
Ashley:the, not Billy. No. Billy Gordon. Yes. Strange looking. Mm-hmm. No, he's just,
Seavon:okay, so first off, he actually has a podcast right now called 33, I think. Grips Keeper. He is so intelligent. he's super Articulate, talented. you need to listen to the podcast. it's really cool cuz he's going through each song and explaining the meaning of it or where it came from you just need to listen to him and you'd understand why he's attractive.
Ashley:But this was before we knew he was smart when you were listening to the music and just the music. So I don't know if you can chalk that up to intelligence. Oh
Seavon:yeah. Yeah. I could tell. I could tell he was really smart. I
Ashley:wanna know what is his regular speaking voice like? Cause he was that high,
Seavon:well he was on the,
Aaron:he did a thing on the, that was his speaking voice on the symptoms, right? Oh, I
Ashley:don't, didn't, don't pick on my boy Billy we already had our nineties crush episode. I would never trust me, my list is
Seavon:But do you remember the aha video take on me? Yes, absolutely had the cartoon, but the person that was pretty innovative,
Ashley:folder through the pencil sketching.
Garret:Yeah. Come on. What year did that come out? do we know?
Ashley:Come on, Aaron. Trivia expert.
Garret:Aaron Don't know.
Ashley:it doesn't hurt that the song is the catchiest song in the world. Having those two, they were a one hit wonder. No, they had a few hits, but I felt like they did have some other ones. Just not as big as that
Garret:one. Okay, I have the answer, but what is your guesstimate?
Ashley:99
Garret:i's
Seavon:on Matt. What
Ashley:am I.
Seavon:86. 87, something like that. It
Garret:came out in 85.
Seavon:that was pretty innovative for sure.
Garret:That's a timeless one. That one just will always be cool. Truth
Aaron:my go-to song, when I start getting a little buzz, I'm like, oh, I got one for y'all. I got my dad dance with my head bobbing and everything
Seavon:So,
Garret:no, don't do it.
Seavon:Well, this was fun.
Aaron:Absolutely. Thank you so much for joining
Garret:us. we really appreciate
Ashley:it. Thanks for being older than us. It was great.
Seavon:Wow. So
Garret:Ashley just signed her death warrant.
Seavon:Well, I was thinking, so I'm eight years older than Garrett,
Ashley:right? are you waiting for him to confirm, like, right. Yes.
Seavon:And how much older are you than Ashley? I was
Ashley:born in 83. Yeah. So I'm three years older. Yeah. And Aaron's 81.
Seavon:Why's the bye bye. She's the baby She's the baby. Oh
Ashley:yeah. No, she's the baby. they'll call on me older It's okay. I earned it. Touche, touche. Whatever. I'm just gonna edit everything and make everybody say I'm fabulous
Aaron:Yeah, Ashley is fabulous.
Ashley:Yeah.
Seavon:So you're all eighties babies then.
Ashley:No doubt. Question though. do you tell yourself your nineties because that's when, like you said, when you were nine to 11, that's when you get influenced really. You know what I mean? So I can't tell if I'm an eighties or nineties Most of my stuff came from the nineties. MTV for me was nineties.
Garret:I'm definitely an eighties baby
Ashley:I love 80 stuff
Seavon:I would definitely say eighties is what molded me. But the interesting thing is I was born in 72, so I had a good solid eight years of the seventies too. Disco and all that stuff was, certainly an influence. I mean, I think I remember my dad wearing platforms, to your point. Yeah.
Ashley:Oh, wow. And Erin and I talk about too is. Our parents were very if it ain't broke, don't fix it and pick stuff up off the side of the road. So we grew up with Atari and a beta max and we're like, this is not our generation, but my parents are like, it works and we got all these for free. so you have all endless video games. I'm like, it's pong. Everybody else has a Sega. It's so, it was awesome though. We didn't know any different now people my age are like, wait, you played Atari? And I'm like, yeah, did you not And then I started to realize this was not normal, but that's okay. Right. Thank you. Appreciate ya. later, Sivan. Thanks for joining us.
Aaron:Thank you for joining us for this MTV first decade podcast. If you have any memories you'd like to share way MTV impacted your childhood, or any videos that we forgot or didn't mention, let us know. We're always glad to hear from you.
Garret:Mm-hmm. pick us out
Aaron:on our nostalgic podcast.com, which may be changing soon, but we'll keep you posted on that DVDs, all the social medias or nostalgic podcast gmail.com. Leave us a story, a comment, a review, just holler at us. Always a pleasure.
Ashley:Mm-hmm. Yeah. And we'd like to know what you think of 10,000 maniac.
Garret:And how awesome they were, how much you listened to
Ashley:them. I love 10,000 Maniacs. I'm just saying, I don't think it's Norm Mm-hmm. Or maybe it's like it hasn't aged well.
Garret:I heard it on the radio not that long ago. I I was jamming to it. But
Ashley:even like talk, they come from different cities. Like what is that song even about what's happening? I just,
Seavon:songs are
Garret:about in
Aaron:the podcast with that right there.