MTV's 25th Birthday (CRAMPED)

I grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Grand Rapids is so squarely midwestern that it serves as a test market for a LOT of products, and for this reason, GR got cable well before many other cities. For years, Manhattan was without cable while we in Grand Rapids were watching HBO movies. As a voracious musichead, I was really, really excited when MTV got up and running. I have a dim memory of excitedly watching the now-celebrated Buggles video, though I can't be sure whether I was watching as MTV launched or am projecting this memory backwards. What was great about the first year or two of MTV was that only the most outré acts were bothering to make videos at all, so the channel was remarkably eccentric and eclectic. One clear memory I had was of the first time I saw The Cramps' "Garbage Man" now YouTubed below. (NOTE: presented for purposes of comment/criticism according to section 107's articulation of Fair Use, but will remove promptly if contacted by the copyright holder.) The Cramps were entirely unlike anything I had seen or heard of at that point in my life. Yes, there were vague rumblings about "punk" slowly rippling through Grand Rapids, and kids would wear cut-off safety pins in their cheeks part of their Halloween costumes (no piercing required) but MTV delivered The Cramps' writhing, sordid garage sludge right into my living room. I sat slackjawed. This video seemed like an emanation from another planet. Lux, Ivy, and their crypt-kicking colleagues delivered a sharp "thwack" to my potentially narrow mind (BeatlesBeatlesBeatlesBeatlesBeatlesBeatlesStonesBeatlesBeatles) and I'm grateful to them, and to the channel (however since compromised) that shoved 'em in my face.

Cramps - Garbageman

MTV's 25th Anniversary . . . thanks from bringing THIS into my life (see below).