I have a feeling the woman on MSNBC is full of shit. Jacko wasn't the first black on MTV.

[LostInAnomie]

She also made the claim the MTV didn't show black artists. Unless I am wrong, I was pretty sure Diana Ross was the second artist featured on MTV.

[MilesColtrane]

1. I'm going to say that Eddy Grant was the first.

But, that's just a guess.

[KamaAina]

2. I thought it was either Jacko or Prince

back in the day, they were on the same label (Columbia?), which didn't like it that two of their biggest stars weren't getting airplay on the phenomenon that was MTV, so (I read somewhere) they threatened to pull all their other videos unless they got it.

[Swede]

3. MTV was labelled as racist back then.

But we all know they only love the color green.

[jmm]

4. Don't know if he was the first but MTV's site

gives him credit for driving many to the network when it was new and does state black artists weren't really accepted on MTV before him-

http://www.mtv.com/music/artist/jackson_michael/artist.jhtml

If he was the first really wasn't important, helping change the way they viewed marketable artists was.

[RoyGBiv]

5. He wasn't the first ...

But he was the first that was regularly featured and who became a mainstay of the network.

They played one song by Eddie Grant a lot in those early days, but it was just that one song. With Michael, they built entire themes, and that lead to more black artists being featured in similar ways.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

6. I thought that sounded strange, too ........

Madonna was the first, I remember that.

But saying Jacko's video was the first sort of implies that he was the only one, and that's certainly not so, even in the early days of MTV.

All sorts of people are going to be saying all sorts of things, and when I think of what someone said on MSNBC earlier, about how Jacko was surrounded by yes-people and enablers, it's tragic that he never got a chance to get the psychiatric help he so clearly needed. When he started mutilating his face, the plastic surgeon should have sent him right to a shrink before going any further, and contacted his managers to do something about what was going on.

That's maybe the worst of it, because, according to reports, Jacko was a smart guy, a very savvy and tough businessman who carefully crafted his image and who got it just the way he wanted it. Then found himself a prisoner of it.

And, he was continuing the unhealthy tradition with his kids, not allowing them even to go to school - having them tutored. That's not good, not good at all.

I just took down from the shelf a book I read a long time ago, and I'm gonna give it a spin one more time this weekend, if time permits. It's wonderfully informative, chock full of interesting and documented facts about Jacko, by a reporter who used to work with Keith Olbermann. I heard her interview with KO earlier today, and was reminded of it.

I highly recommend it to those who are interested in some facts about the real Michael Jackson, it's "Be Careful Who You Love: Inside the Michael Jackson Case," by Diane Dimond. An enjoyable read.......................

[LostInAnomie]

7. I'm pretty sure The Buggles' "Video Killed The Radio Star" was the first video.

They were right.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

8. They sure were,

but I heard more than once that it was Madonna - "Like A Virgin," I think.

Now, you're gonna make me go look it up, dammit ------------------------------------>

WOW! You're SMART! You were RIGHT!

And Pat Benatar was second! Madonna's not even near the top? Where the hell did I get THAT idea?

Well, thanks for the enlightenment, and check this out for fun:

http://tinyurl.com/6otzjm

[cemaphonic]

9. Like a Virgin wasn't even *Madonna's* first video

[cemaphonic]

10. I always thought they were some one-hit-wonder bunch of nobodies.

But it turns out that the Buggles was a Trevor Horn project. Who knew?

[muriel_volestrangler]

11. Oh, I knew that one

When he joined Yes, traditional fans were up in arms that The Buggles were polluting joining an iconic prog rock group. And when he marketed Frankie Goes To Hollywood, they just said "this proves our point".

[mockmonkey]

12. I remember a critic

saying at the time that "Yes" will get better once they work the "bugs" out.

[ArnoldLayne]

13. I believe it was Electric Avenue by Eddy Grant but the first video

played on MTV was Video Killed the Radio Star by The Buggles in Aug. 1982.

[LTR]

17. Nope

Eddy Grant's song came out in 1983.

And MTV debuted August 1981, with the Buggles video as its first.

[LynneSin]

14. To be honest there was a stink about that when MTV first came out

Yes there were African-Americans on MTV but it seemed that the channel overwhelming favored videos by white artists. Here's more information about it at Wiki:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MTV#Breaking_the_color_barrier

During MTV's first few years on the air, very few black artists were included in rotation on the channel. Those who were in MTV's rotation included Eddy Grant, Tina Turner and Donna Summer. MTV rejected other black artists' videos, such as Rick James' "Super Freak," because they didn't fit the channel's rock dominated format at the time. The exclusion enraged James; he publicly advocated the addition of more black artists' videos on the channel. Rock legend David Bowie also questioned MTV's lack of black artists during an on-air interview with VJ Mark Goodman in 1983.<16>

Before 1983, Michael Jackson also struggled to receive airtime on MTV.<17> To resolve the struggle and finally "break the color barrier", the president of CBS Records at the time, Walter Yetnikoff, denounced MTV in a strong, profane statement, threatening to take away MTV's ability to play any of the record label's music videos.<17><18> However, Les Garland, co-founder of the channel, said he decided to air Jackson's "Billie Jean" video without pressure from CBS.<16> In any case, MTV began showing the "Billie Jean" video in regular rotation in 1983, forming a lengthy partnership with Jackson and helping other black music artists.<19>

According to The Austin Chronicle, Jackson's video for the song "Billie Jean" was "the video that broke the color barrier, even though the channel itself was responsible for erecting that barrier in the first place."<20> After airing Jackson's music videos, MTV, then a struggling cable channel, became very popular. Jackson's videos were credited for this success<21> and MTV's focus switched from rock to pop and R&B.<19> This move helped other black artists such as Prince and Whitney Houston break into heavy rotation on the channel.

[redqueen]

15. Well the WaPo said he was...

but apparently there's some confusion about it.

[LTR]

16. I do remember seeing Stevie Wonder on MTV in 1982

Granted, it was "Ebony And Ivory".

But MTV's early years resembled a rock radio station. Lots of Fleetwood Mac, Rod Stewart and Tom Petty mixed with newer British haircut bands. Very little black music was played, though I wonder whether Prince or MJ were played first.

And yes, "Video Killed The Radio Star" by The Buggles was the very first video shown on MTV back in 1981. Anyone who's ever played Trivial Pursuit knows that.

[LynneSin]

19. Billie Jean was first

That was the video that really did break the barriers.

[Rabrrrrrr]

18. Wasn't the black VJ the first black on MTV?

Can't remember his name.

[redqueen]

20. JJ Jackson

The issue with MJ though is more about black artists, I think.

[NewJeffCT]

22. you beat me to it

JJ Jackson, and the names Alan Hunter, Mark Goodman and Nina something? oops, forgot Martha Quinn.

[redqueen]

23. Blackwood.

And there was Martha Quinn, too.

OT: wasn't Alan Hunter the one in the Fashion video?

[NewJeffCT]

24. wasn't there a skinny blondish guy as a VJ?

Alan Hunter? I'm old, so my memory ain't what it used to be.

edited to add: wikipedia answers:

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Who_were_the_original_5_MTV_VJ%27s

[redqueen]

25. Yeah...

that was Alan.

[NewJeffCT]

27. at least I wasn't going crazy

or, maybe I should say "Crazier"

[NewJeffCT]

21. JJ Jackson or something like that?

I think... and, they had a geeky looking blonde white guy, a curly haired white goofy guy and a blonde woman.

[NewJeffCT]

26. Here is a list of the first 62 videos on MTV

Not sure about all of them, but it looks to be mostly an all white crowd on the list... I'm surprised Iron Maiden got airplay?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_music_videos_aired_on_MTV