MTV Station IDs

I Love My MTV. 

Not the current MTV. I love MTV the way it lives inside my memory. It's idealized. The earliest memory I have of television is A-Ha's Take on Me while staring at the television on the counter in the kitchen. The counter that doesn't exist any longer in a kitchen that was gutted in a house I moved out of. I just remember the music video was love at first sight.

MTV launched in 1981 and demanded attention. Over the golden years, it carved out a unique identity. This included the station ids. Some are visual candy for the animated obsessed.

I recently revisited the station ids. I recognized quite a few. The one with the fries was very familiar. They're even better than I remember. This is art. Some feel like the work of an animator given carte blanche and going wild. Maybe I'm wrong and maybe they were born from focus groups. But I doubt a focus group came up with the dentist station id or the 1-900 station id (look them up).

Five of my Favorites

1. Guillotine

2. The fries one.

3. Multifaced creature

4. The man with the changing head.

5. The Pink Elephant

Special Mention: A black and white instructional video on how to make an MTV logo from a metal.

 

This all ended in my inspiration to try to create one. My attempt is my first attempt at stop motion. I had fun making an MTV with my nephews' playdoh.