![]() The awkward title of Benatar’s “Between a Heart and a Rock Place” gives a sense of the earnest, determined tone found in these pages, and in her songs, for that matter. If their stories seldom rise above cliché, they are also examples of the fact that things become clichés for a reason, that they are are generally based on some kind of truth, especially in rock ’n’ roll. New autobiographies by two of the women who were in perpetual rotation during MTV’s first few years are a study in the divergent paths that could lead to rock stardom during the Reagan years.īenatar and Belinda Carlisle, lead singer of the Go-Go’s, are such perfect mirror images it’s almost cartoonish: New York versus Los Angeles, musical theater versus punk, eyes-on-the-prize ambition versus cocaine-driven excess. The answer is “You Better Run” by Pat Benatar, and it’s a reminder that for all the valid criticism that MTV received over the years for the ways in which women were represented in music videos, the channel’s wide-open programming, especially in its early years, also offered a new opportunity for female musicians. ![]() O.K., then, smart guy, what was broadcast next - what was MTV’s first “regular” video? The goofy New Wave number was a shot across the bow, the perfect mission statement for the upstart network, which will celebrate its 30th anniversary this summer. So let’s assume that if you’re reading this, you already know that the first clip ever to run on MTV was “Video Killed the Radio Star” by the Buggles. ![]()
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