How MTV changed its tunes with the times
[ 2006-08-22 10:33 ]
VOICE ONE:
Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English. I'm Faith Lapidus.
VOICE TWO:
And I'm Steve Ember. Some people love it. Some think it ruins young minds.
And some remember the days when it was all music. This week our subject is
twenty-five years of Music Television -- better known as MTV.
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
MTV arrived in the early morning hours of August first, nineteen eighty-one.
At one minute after twelve it played "Video Killed the Radio Star" by the
Buggles.
MTV was one of the first specialized channels on American television. People
could watch artists perform popular songs in videos. The network played music
videos all day long.
But at first only a few thousand people could watch MTV. It was offered on
cable television only in New Jersey. Even the people who worked at MTV had to go
to New Jersey if they wanted to see it on television.
VOICE TWO:
In its early years, MTV was a lot like radio with pictures. Radio stations
had DJs, disk jockeys; MTV had VJs, video jockeys. The VJs spoke to the audience
between videos.
Twenty-five years ago, the music industry did not produce a great many
videos. Some people got tired of seeing MTV play the same ones over and over
again.
Also, some people criticized MTV in its early years because it rarely showed
videos by black artists. The network said there were very few choices. In any
case, the situation began to change with help from an unusual video. It appeared
for the first time in December of nineteen eighty-three.
VOICE ONE:
Most videos showed rock bands singing and playing instruments. But this one
was made to look like a scary movie, complete with zombies risen from the dead.
A young man leads the zombies in dance as he sings -- and becomes one of the
undead himself.
The young man was Michael Jackson. And this was the video for the title song
of his album "Thriller." It was fourteen minutes long, more like a short film
than a video.
Hollywood movie director John Landis helped create it. The costly effort
showed that videos were becoming an important part of the music industry. The
video helped make "Thriller" one of the top-selling albums of all time.
(MUSIC)
VOICE TWO:
Some musical artists were less than thrilled with the video success of
performers like Michael Jackson and Madonna. They thought MTV made the music
industry too centered on looks and image and not enough on making good songs.
(MUSIC)
One band that criticized MTV was the Dead Kennedys. In nineteen eighty-five
they had a song called "MTV ?Get off the Air."
(MUSIC)
Some other bands chose not to make videos. This was their way to protest the
influence of MTV. But MTV became more and more popular.
VOICE ONE
Rock stars were not the only people to criticize MTV. Since the beginning,
many people saw it as a bad influence on children. They said MTV showed a world
without morals or values and full of sex and drugs.
From the beginning, MTV edited bad words out of songs and would not show some
kinds of images. Then, in the nineteen nineties, it began to do more about its
own image. MTV created new programs and campaigns to inform young people about
serious issues. There were shows about AIDS, poverty, racism, and violence at
home.
VOICE TWO:
MTV also began to urge young people to vote and expanded its political
reporting. In nineteen ninety-four, President Bill Clinton answered questions
from a group of young people on MTV. There were thoughtful questions, but one
teenager asked him about his choice of underwear: boxers or briefs. "Usually
briefs," the president answered.
VOICE ONE:
In nineteen ninety-one, MTV began a show called "The Real World." "The Real
World" brought seven young people to live together in New York and have their
lives videotaped. The success of the show helps explain the current popularity
of reality programs on television.
"The Real World" also started a trend on MTV. Instead of showing mostly music
videos, it began to show more of other kinds of programming. These included not
only reality shows but also cartoons and game shows. Today, MTV shows many more
hours of these programs than it does of music videos.
But every year MTV honors the best music videos. The two thousand six MTV
Video Music Awards will be presented at Radio City Music Hall in New York on
August thirty-first.
VOICE TWO:
MTV is a group of networks owned by Viacom, a major media company in the
United States. MTV produces programs in many different languages and in many
different countries. Some shows have worldwide popularity -- like the reality
show "Pimp My Ride." The host is the rapper and actor known as Xzibit. Average
people are chosen to have their cars made to look really showy.
VOICE ONE:
Not everyone is happy with the way MTV has changed. Many older fans would
like to see less of shows like "Pimp My Ride" and more of the music television
that gave MTV its name. They say things like, "Remember when there was music on
MTV?"
You can still find music on the different MTV channels and networks. You can
also find programs about how famous musicians live, or lived, their lives. Some
people like to say that MTV today is no better or worse than it used to be, only
different.
VOICE TWO:
MTV has been setting up operations outside of the United States for years. It
now broadcasts in more than one hundred and sixty other countries.
MTV studies what is popular in each new country it enters. This research
helps guide local programs. For example, more people in Germany ride bicycles
than drive cars. So, instead of "Pimp My Ride," the German MTV has a show called
"Pimp My Bicycle."
VOICE TWO:
Within the United States, MTV offers a number of specially targeted channels.
For example, MTV Desi brings music and culture from India to people of Indian
ancestry in the United States.
VOICE ONE:
Yet some people are uneasy with the idea of programs created for just one
group. They worry about cultural fragmentation. They say common culture is
breaking into smaller pieces because people have less in common than they used
to.
MTV is not the only broadcaster with narrowly targeted programming. And
people can debate the influence of entertainment shows. Are they more a cause or
an effect of changes in culture?
But such issues are probably deeper than most people want to think of when
they turn on the television.
In the past, many teenagers watched MTV to see what music was popular. Today,
they watch to see what activities, cars and clothes are cool.
In the past, many parents objected to some of the music videos shown on MTV.
Today, they still object to the videos -- along with the activities, the cars
and the clothes.
So someone could argue that MTV still brings people together.
VOICE TWO:
Over the past twenty-five years, MTV has presented everything from dancing
zombies to discussions of the president’s underwear. It has survived criticism
and changing music tastes and expanded around the world. MTV has succeeded in
reinventing itself from an all-music network to something completely different.
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
Our program was written by Sarah Randle and produced by Caty Weaver. I’m
Faith Lapidus.
VOICE TWO:
And I’m Steve Ember. You can download transcripts and listen to our shows at
voaspecialenglish.com. And please join us again next week for THIS IS AMERICA in
VOA Special English.
（來源：VOA
英語點津姍姍編輯）
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