1991
This 1991 MTV documentary on Racism includes a segment on Wanted, a metal band whose members are black from Oakland, CA and Vinnie Cappa, a white rapper from Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, NY. Wanted describes how they encounter resistance to their choice of music from friends, family, and the industry. Cappa and friends discuss Bensonhurst's racist reputation. Warning: very terrible rapping included in this clip.
This clip from MTV's 1991 documentary special, Racism: Points of View, comes from a segment that considers the causes of racism. It begins with Ice-T and Perry Farrell performing a cover of Sly & the Family Stone's "Don't Call Me N***** Whitey," which they did that summer on the first Lollapalooza tour. After that David Byrne states that he needs to recognize that he is racist and try to do something about it. This is followed by material describing how hip-hop artists like Public Enemy educate white people about race and issues facing Black Americans.
This clip of MTV's 120 Minutes from September 1991 includes the premiere of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit." You can see here its placement following an interview with The Farm (who just had a video for "Groovy Train" play) with producer and host Dave Kendall recorded at a different time. Dave then shows up (in a very different outfit) to introduce the new Nirvana song. It, too, is proceeded by a special "World Premiere" promo that played before any video premiere, whether it was on 120 Minutes, Headbangers Ball, or anywhere else in MTV's programming.
What were reruns of Saturday Night Live doing on Music Television? This promo from 1991 drew comparisons between classic components of the old SNL with things that could be seen on MTV. Comedy was one of the first kinds of programming on MTV besides music videos, dating back to The Young Ones in 1985. By the time this promo ran in 1991, viewers had already gotten used to episodes of Half Hour Comedy Hour every day, as well as the "vid-com" era of 1989-1990.
This clip of MTV flow features a promo for Like We Care, which was designed to be a daily lifestyle news magazine for teens that would air in the 5 pm slot. Promos for the show played off the combination of famous people and "normal" people who would be featured in the show, as well as how it would tackle "stuff you care about" as varied as getting into college, racism, animal rights, and dating. The show was reduced to a weekly program five weeks after it premiered, but it is important context for understanding how The Real World fit on MTV at the time of its premiere. Also notice how just prior to the promo, there is a segueway from another "normal" person who is part of the MTV's Most Wanted show being broadcast.
The rise of Nirvana and alternative music in the fall of 1991 demonstrated MTV's continued power to break bands and influence in the music industry. It also disrupted the programming practices of rock radio and MTV itself. Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" was the kind of video that could play on the alternative show 120 Minutes, the metal show Headbangers Ball, and then ultimately in heavy rotation throughout the day outside of such specialty shows. The hair metal that had dominated the Headbangers Ball was quickly out of fashion, and the set and style of the show would have to change. In this clip from the fall of 1991, Nirvana's Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic appear and talk with host Riki Rachtman about their influences and speculate on their success with tongues-in-cheek. In a previous segment, Kurt had explained that he wore a dress in order to be in style for "the ball."
In this additional clip from the same November morning of MTV flow in 1991, we see a promo for Generation, an MTV documentary about Generation X, followed by an MTV news segment that again shows the ways in which MTV at this time combined reporting on music news with contemporary political and cultural events. We first get a clip of Lars Ulrich talking about Metallica's upcoming tour and the special things they are doing for that, but then Kurt Loder follows up with a short piece about former KKK leader David Duke, who is at the time one of the major candidates for governor of Louisiana. There is a music angle, however. The story includes a quote from C+C Music Factory vocalist Freedom Williams about Duke who is "definitely wack". Coming up in the next hour, a buzz clip from Nirvana, "Smells Like Teen Spirit"!
This promo taken from November 1991 MTV flow exhibits the networks attempt at earnest pro-social messaging in contrast to its typical sarcastic branded promos, including the "Art of Music Video" promo (uploaded here) that aired less than a half hour prior. The promo is for an MTV contest that is linked to raising money to "save" Walden woods that is threatened by development. As a prize, you could meet rock star Don Henley, who founded an organization to fight the development. You can also get an autographed copy of a book signed by various circa 1991 MTV stars who are friends of the project. It is important to recognize how MTV combined such pro-social promos with a sarcastic attitude toward commercial culture. ALSO it is important to note that this promo comes just after a video by Julian Lennon, "Saltwater," then highlighted by MTV as an important new video, that contains an environmental message, visualized by bucolic wilderness scenes incorporated into city scapes.
This promo taken from MTV flow in November 1991 displays the same MTV ironic attitude established 10 years earlier in promos during the channel's launch. However, in this case the attitude is specifically about the production of music videos, and includes a number of supposed creative workers talking about what is expected of music videos, from record executives to location managers. While this promo is symptomatic of the sarcastic attitude toward commercial culture that characterized the MTV brand, other elements in the flow at the night (see clips) exhibit an earnestness about issues such as the environment and typical young adult growing up struggles.
