Pit5 Music News Cache

For better or for worse, MTV - which celebrates its 25th birthday Aug. 1 - has introduced the world to an extraordinary number of significant pop-cultural phenomena in its 25 years: Madonna; Michael Jackson; grunge; "Beavis and Butt-head"; reality television; Jon Stewart; Jenny McCarthy and Carmen Electra; Britney Spears; Ozzy Osbourne's family; Nick Lachey; and a bunch of jackasses who cackle while connecting their private parts with safety pins.

Since the channel made its debut in 1981, it has spent considerable time blithely introducing execrable trends, from empty-headed, misogynistic rap and teen-pop videos to VJ Jesse Camp. But it has also shifted quickly, rapidly, creatively, to accommodate new and important trends - such as the rise of Southern politician Bill Clinton or the AIDS-awareness agenda of doomed "Real World" contestant Pedro Zamora. It's easy to shout "MTV Get Off the Air!" as the Dead Kennedys did in 1985, but without it we'd have none of this:

1981 - MTV goes on the air Aug. 1. First video: "Video Killed the Radio Star," by the Buggles.

1982 - "I Want My MTV!" campaign stars Pete Townshend, David Bowie and other veteran rockers.

1983 - After months of inexplicably refusing to air African-American artists, MTV breaks Michael Jackson's "Thriller." Jackson transforms into the King of Pop, ultimately selling 27 million copies of "Thriller," while his success gives the channel staying power.

1984 - The first Video Music Awards showcase Madonna in a bustier and wedding dress, simulating sex all over the floor.

1985 - MTV goes crazy over Live Aid, Bob Geldof's end-world-hunger concert that draws Madonna, U2, Bob Dylan, The Who, a reunited Led Zeppelin and Phil Collins drumming on two continents.

1986 - Dire Straits' "Money for Nothing" - with its "I want my MTV" refrain sung by Sting - is the big winner at the VMAs.

1987 - MTV expands to Europe and Australia.

1988 - "Yo! MTV Raps," starring Dr. Dre (not that one) and Ed Lover as roly-poly, hapless hosts, debuts, popularizing hip-hop at a crucial early stage. (Of course, MTV did help break Run-D.M.C. years earlier.)

1989 - After initially being banned, veteran rocker Neil Young's anti-corporate "This Note's for You" wins the video of the year award at the VMAs.

1990 - Still ban-happy, MTV refuses to air Madonna's "Justify My Love." The debacle helps both parties, however, as Madonna releases the video for $9.98 as the first "music video single" and the channel eventually reverses itself. "Justify My Love" becomes a massive hit and one of MTV's biggest videos ever.

1991 - Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" video debuts - starring cheerleaders wearing punk-rock anarchy symbols and singer Kurt Cobain leering underneath a clump of blond hair - ushering in the Grunge Era.

1992 - "The Real World," one of the first reality shows, debuts. So does "Choose or Lose," MTV's groundbreaking coverage of the U.S. presidential race, during which candidate Bill Clinton answers the infamous "boxers or briefs?" question and wins over the youth vote as well as the nation.

1993 - "Beavis and Butt-head" debuts, and the two stoned-out high school freshmen become absurdly influential - and they wind up an unpopular subject in the halls of Congress. Their obsession with "fire! fire!" ostensibly leads a 5-year-old Ohio boy to set fire to his house and kill his 2-year-old sister, and Sen. Fritz Hollings refers to them as "Buffcoat and Beaver." Many disclaimers ensue, but the show stays on the air - with David Letterman doing a hilarious turn with our heroes on the balcony of the VMAs. Oh, and one more debut the same year: "The Jon Stewart Show," starring an unknown comedian with a thing for politics.

1994 - Kurt Cobain commits suicide; MTV airs a round-the-clock tribute, including numerous repeats of Nirvana's "Unplugged" performance and Courtney Love's teary reading of Cobain's suicide note.

1995 - Jenny McCarthy becomes Official Hottie of the Moment by co-hosting the new show "Singled Out," but it's her eventual replacement, Carmen Electra, who goes on to lasting show-biz success.

1996 - A two-year malaise sets in over the network, beginning with the old-fart grudge match between singer David Lee Roth and his old band, Van Halen, who "reunite" on the VMAs. Also, MTV2 debuts, playing the videos MTV has been gradually dumping over the past few years in favor of variety programming.

1997 - MTV Malaise, Year Two, stars singer-songwriter Fiona Apple (who curses the channel and the entire music industry while accepting a VMA); a dead rapper (the Notorious B.I.G., subject of a Puff Daddy-Faith Hill-Sting tribute on the awards show); and Martha Stewart and Busta Rhymes (who present an award together). "Beavis and Butt-head" exit. "Daria" enters, but the days of smart, hip MTV girls are numbered.

1998 - Britney Spears makes her MTV debut with "... Baby One More Time" - another tragic demonstration that the cheerleaders in pigtails and short skirts will always beat out the wisecracking, bespectacled Darias. To formally usher in the Teen Pop era, MTV rolls out "Total Request Live," with dreamy host Carson Daly and about a zillion screaming teenagers in Times Square.

1999 - Fires, alleged mosh-pit rapes, riots and Limp Bizkit performing "Break Stuff" mar the boiling-hot Woodstock '99 - and MTV News is there, with garbage-dodging host Kurt Loder soberly narrating the action above an "Apocalypse Woodstock" logo.

2000 - Proving the deadpan, disgusting "Tom Green Show" wasn't merely a cultural blip, Johnny Knoxville and his band of dare-taking, skateboarding, pain-addicted stuntmen make their debut with "Jackass." They're often hilarious - Knoxville's flatulent bit in an all-female yoga class is not to be missed.

2001 - Britney Spears dances with a lucky boa constrictor on the VMAs.

2002 - Black Sabbath front man Ozzy Osbourne comes back in an unexpected way when he declares himself "the prince of -- darkness" on his family-values reality show. Wife Sharon and kids Jack and Kelly become stars, while tattooed, complaining, slurring, cursing Ozzy simply reinforces his image.

2003 - "The Kiss": Madonna deep-smooches Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera on the VMAs. Inexplicably, the Madonna-Britney kiss gets far more attention, leaving Christina as perpetual No. 2.

2004 - In the most controversial moment in Super Bowl halftime history, singer Justin Timberlake "inadvertently" pulls Janet Jackson's blouse open, revealing the Breast That Changed the World and prompting millions of people to hit "repeat" on their TiVos. The FCC has a fit, and the NFL vows never again to let MTV produce the entertainment. "Laguna Beach" debuts, with its bevy of reality show beauties.

2005 - Ratings drop after "The Osbournes," "Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica" and "The Ashlee Simpson Show" go off the air. Replacing them with "Meet the Barkers," starring tattooed Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker and his blonde-bombshell wife, is like NBC replacing "Friends" with "Joey."

2006 - What will be the next culture-changing "Real World" or "Beavis and Butt-head"? Will it be "Cheyenne," a reality show about a young and beautiful singer-songwriter, or "The Hills," a take-off of "Laguna Beach"? The smart money is on dating shows, from "Room Raiders" to "Next" to "Parental Control" - one of these will discover the next Tom Green and Drew Barrymore. We're certain of it.