“Do You Have MTV?”

Back in the 1980s, I worked briefly for Steve’s Calabash Restaurant as a busboy. I made a handful of friends while working there, one of whom I had initially asked out on a date only to discover that she had a boyfriend in the United States Army. Another female friend later married one of my best friends. One of my friends from the restaurant was a guy from England, Pete, that was traveling across the United States. He was stopping at various places and working for a while to support himself before moving on to continue his adventures.

Pete and I went down to Myrtle Beach one day, as it promised to be a good time and he had never been there. If you have ever went to Myrtle Beach in the summer without a hotel/motel reservation, you understand that you are likely going to have to scramble to find a room for the night. We eventually found one that had a vacancy. It wasn’t far from the Myrtle Beach Pavilion and all the adjacent attractions. However, Pete had one question besides the cost of the room. He wanted to know if the motel carried MTV. We were assured that it did.

It might be tough now to imagine the impact that MTV had on culture, entertainment, and the music industry. I used to watch the daily countdown of top videos after school. Headbangers Ball was a big favorite of my friends and I, often playing in the background at any gathering or party at someone’s home. I even remember once skipping a 6th period Latin class to watch MTV and eat pizza at Showbiz Pizza.

As it turned out, our motel did not have MTV. We didn’t spend much of our evening in the room anyway. While we we there, I recall the BBC program, Doctor Who, playing on the “telly.”

Today is the anniversary of MTV’s debut. If you are interested, click on the link below to see the first 100 videos played on MTV.

https://www.npr.org/sections/world-cafe/2021/07/30/1021813462/the-first-100-videos-played-on-mtv?utm