The early days of MTV were spent pushing bands and recording artists, as it was Music Television.  Here's some fine evidence of that time period and of the power of the M in 80's advertising...


The "Hip Clip" phenom of the mid 80's, precursor 90's and the "alternative" and "buzz" words...



 

They may never have made as big a splash commercially as some of the other "grunge" (a genre they pioneered) acts out of the Great North West but Tad (named after band leader & ex-butcher Tad Doyle), who formed in 1988, sure made their mark in other lasting ways.

They were banned by MTV, sued by Pepsi, dropped by their label, and got into heavy drinking and drugging, not to mention heavy situations, it seemed, wherever they went: including landing in legal trouble over the found picture of a couple that they utilized (without permission) as an album cover.

Now finally there is a film about the long-defunct band Tad.  Titled "Busted Circuits and Ringing Ears" and made by Ryan Short and Adam Pease for King of Hearts Productions, it's planned for release on DVD on February 19th. Check out the clip above and visit  the film makers' MySpace for more info on this documentary which looks like it will be pretty damn good.

Exactly twenty years ago, in early '88, Tad was formed by singer/guitarist Tad Doyle and bassist Kurt Danielson who recruited both Gary Thorstensen as guitarist and Steve Wied (formerly of Skin Yard)  as their drummer. That was the original lineup and as such got the band signed to the then new label Sub Pop who released their debut album God's Balls in early 1989.  The album track "Wood Goblins" was released as a single and video but was reportedly banned by MTV over  content (scroll down to see the video ).

Tonight was the broadcast of the MTV video music awards. I grew up loving MTV and I loved watching the music videos of my favorite new bands. I was introduced to a lot of new music by seeing their videos for the first time on MTV. I didn't even have cable for years, but I would watch MTV whenever I got a chance at a friends house or my grandparent's house. I even watched that first little reality show called "The Real World" when if first aired. Back when it was one of the only non music video related shows. The times they have changed on MTV. This is the schedule for MTV tomorrow.

6am -9:30am (videos...for real...some videos on in the early morning when nobody is watching)
9:30-1:00pm (my super sweet 16...reality show)
1:00-3:30pm (2 1/2 hours of bad rich kid o.c. style reality shows such as the hills, etc.)
3:30-4:30pm (total request live...partial videos with lame commentary and crowd shots)
4:30-6:00pm (another 1 1/2 hours of bad reality shows about rich o.c. kids and some stupid game show)
6:00-8:00pm (the real world...this show is now beyond ridiculous)
8:00-1:00am (5 more hours of reality shows about rich spoiled white kids with relationship problems and a show about a 17 year old pro skater with some issues)
1:00-2:00am (celebrity rap superstar....reality show)
2:00-4:00am (parental control...reality show in which the parents choose who their kids go on dates with)
4:00-9:00am (music videos and total request live...so the only place to watch videos is in the early morning)

So in one 24 hour period on MTV there are only 6 1/2 hours devoted to anything that is remotely related to music videos. Of the remaining 17 1/2 hours, only one show has anything remotely to do with music or music videos. The other shows really have no place on a show calling itself "Music Television." This is seriously a typical day for MTV. The only difference this year is that in order to try and get better ratings for the live airing of the awards show, they decided to not repeat the show over and over again the next day. I can think of countless shows they could have on MTV that would actually fit into a station supposedly devoted to music videos. They should obviously play more videos. Even Justin Timberlake realized this. He made a little shout out against MTV when he won his awards tonight, begging them to play more videos and less reality shows. There are so many interesting people in the music business. They could have hours and hours of interesting documentaries on so many different musicians. There are also so many amazing videos that they could still show. They could have hour long shows devoted to old 80s and 90s videos or have shows that showed artists earlier videos. They could have great themed video hours. Indie (alternative) videos, metal videos, hip hop videos, r & b videos, electronica vidoes. They did have shows like this before. Alternative Nation, Yo! MTV raps, and Headbangers Ball were on every single day. 120 minutes was on every Sunday and always showed some amazing videos that did not usually get shown on MTV. They did have a game show called remote control, and a couple cartoons like beavis & buthead, daria and aeon flux. But even Beavis & Buthead showed music videos. And these shows never took over the programming. There was always more than just a couple hours of videos. I know that MTV now has MTV2 and some other shows on the higher up cable packages. But the original MTV should still have music as their focus. If they really feel that people need reality shows or fake reality shows, they could at least try and make them about music.

The State is finally making its way to DVD! There have been rumours for years, but it is finally happeing. Still no exact date. But it will happen in the fall. I am just so excited that I had to share it with you all. The show was originally on MTV from 1993-95. This was followed by a special on CBS. The show may have disappeared but its cast has been busy ever since.

The original cast was:
Kevin Allison, Michael Ian Black, Ben Garant, Todd Holoubek, Michael Patrick Jann, Kerri Kenney, Thomas Lennon, Joe Lo Truglio, Ken Marino, Michael Showalter, and David Wain. Kenney, Black, and Lennon went on to star in Viva Variety. Black, Showalter, and Wain created Stella. Kenney, Lennon, and Garant all went on to create and star in Reno 911! The entire cast had roles in the recent movie Reno 911! Miami. Many original members have also been busy in the film world. David Wain directed the new movie "The Ten" and it stars some of the cast. It looks amazing...check out the preview here...

The State was on back when MTV was actually still a good channel. The show was simply brilliant. I did not even have cable back then, but I watched it every chance I got. So I have been waiting and waiting for this to finally come out on DVD. This is one of those shows with crazy obsessive fans that have been demanding it be released on DVD. They had to redo the score for the show. Back when this aired, MTV had a special deal with the record labels. As long as the artists that they used in the scores of the TV shows also had music videos in rotation, the music could be used for free. Things have obviously changed. MTV does not really play music videos anymore. They also would have had to charge like 300 dollars for The State DVD box sets if they had not changed the music. No worries. The music is not what got my obsessed with the shows. The cast was amazing and worked really well together. Most of the skits were original and they did not use very many recurring characters. The only thing that I can compare it to is a really good skit on MADTV. I am also a huge fan of Kerri Kenney, Tom Lennon, Ben Garant, and Reno 911! I can't get enough of that show. Maybe Viva Variety! will also be released soon as well!