I Want My MTV [From 30 Years Ago]!

Happy birthday, MTV...or what's left of it, at least. It's hard to believe it's been 30 years since MTV launched and aired its first music video, The Buggles' "Video Killed The Radio Star," completely changing the music world.

Before MTV, there was no such thing as a VJ, music videos or even really a channel just dedicated to music. The station has contributed to the success of many of the biggest acts in music, such as Madonna, Prince, Michael Jackson and Duran Duran.

Michael Jackson's "Thriller"

 Many shows have come and gone on the station, but the most disappointing change came around the early-mid 2000s when MTV dramatically decreased the amount of air time for music videos. For a while, TRL was one of the few music shows left, but the show was was put to rest in 2008. This seemed to be the beginning of the end of MTV as a music channel.

As of 2010, MTV officially no longer stands for "Music Television." And to me, it stands for "Meaningless Television." It's now a great source for making inane, irrelevant morons named "Snooki" famous, while simultaneously contributing to the downfall of society. But have no fear -- If you happen to watch TV at 5 a.m., you may be lucky enough to catch a music video airing.

Snooki - The current face of MTV.

The station still airs the annual VMAs, but I'm not sure if anyone really knows why. MTV is really meaningless to any music artist that has emerged in the past decade, considering the station has chosen to air reality television such as Jersey Shore marathons every day instead of actual music.



"I have no interest in stuff like Jersey Shore," Mark Goodman, one of MTV's original VJs, told RollingStone.com. "I have an 18-year-old daughter and I have watched other shows with her, but it's not for me. I'm 30 years past the demo."

It's depressing that MTV is a completely different channel now, but we can still celebrate what it once was. Maybe when Snooki dies of alcohol poisoning, we can have our MTV back.

The Buggles - "Video Killed the Radio Star"