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I Want My MTV
- The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution
- Narrated by: Luke Daniels
- Length: 20 hrs and 38 mins
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Publisher's summary
Remember the first time you saw Michael Jackson dance with zombies in "Thriller"? Diamond Dave karate kick with Van Halen in "Jump"? Tawny Kitaen turning cartwheels on a Jaguar to Whitesnake's "Here I Go Again"? The Beastie Boys spray beer in "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party)"? Axl Rose step off the bus in "Welcome to the Jungle"?
Remember when all you wanted was your MTV?
It was a pretty radical idea - a channel for teenagers, showing nothing but music videos. It was such a radical idea that almost no one thought it would actually succeed, much less become a force in the worlds of music, television, film, fashion, sports, and even politics. But it did work. MTV became more than anyone had ever imagined.
I Want My MTV tells the story of the first decade of MTV, the golden era when MTV's programming was all videos, all the time, and kids watched religiously to see their favorite bands, learn about new music, and have something to talk about at parties. From its start in 1981 with a small cache of videos by mostly unknown British new wave acts to the launch of the reality-television craze with The Real World in 1992, MTV grew into a tastemaker, a career maker, and a mammoth business.
Featuring interviews with nearly 400 artists, directors, VJs, and television and music executives, I Want My MTV is a testament to the channel that changed popular culture forever.
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In The Comedians, comedy historian Kliph Nesteroff brings to life a century of American comedy with real-life characters, forgotten stars, mainstream heroes and counterculture iconoclasts. Based on over 200 original interviews and extensive archival research, Nesteroff's groundbreaking work is a narrative exploration of the way comedians have reflected, shaped, and changed American culture over the past 100 years.
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Performance issues
- By E. A. Smith on 09-02-19
By: Kliph Nesteroff
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Dynomite!
- Good Times, Bad Times…Our Times - A Memoir
- By: Jimmie Walker, Sal Manna
- Narrated by: Jimmie Walker
- Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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>Born into the violence of South Bronx ghetto life, the comic pioneer of TV’s Good Times fame offers a hilarious and politically charged review of his career as one of television’s first hugely successful Black stars. From opening for the Black Panthers and getting his first Tonight Show spot to becoming the first “Black” TV sitcom star, having comedians David Letterman and Jay Leno writing jokes for him, recording number-one comedy albums, and opening for rock n’ roll bands in 50,000 seat stadiums, Walker’s career hit all the highs.
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An transparent story of a socially but funny American icon.
- By John Lucasey on 05-08-21
By: Jimmie Walker, and others
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Alice in Chains
- The Untold Story
- By: David de Sola
- Narrated by: Sebastian York
- Length: 12 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Alice in Chains was the first of grunge's big four - ahead of Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Soundgarden - to get a gold record and achieve national recognition. With the charismatic Layne Staley behind the microphone, they became one of the most influential and successful bands to come out of the Seattle music scene. But as the band got bigger, so did its problems.
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Disappointing!!!!
- By Rob on 12-23-16
By: David de Sola
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Let’s Go Crazy
- Prince and the Making of Purple Rain
- By: Alan Light
- Narrated by: Fred Berman
- Length: 7 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Purple Rain is a song, an album, and a film - each one a commercial success and cultural milestone. How did this semiautobiographical musical masterpiece that blurred R&B, pop, dance, and rock sounds come to alter the recording landscape and become an enduring touchstone for successive generations of fans?
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A Must-Read For Any PRINCE Fan
- By Bryan K. Chavez on 05-06-16
By: Alan Light
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Me, the Mob, and the Music
- One Helluva Ride with Tommy James and the Shondells
- By: Tommy James, Martin Fitzpatrick
- Narrated by: David Colacci
- Length: 7 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Everyone knows the hits: "Mony Mony," "I Think We're Alone Now," "Crimson and Clover," "Crystal Blue Persuasion." They are nuggets of rock and pop history. However, few know the unlikely story of how these hits came to be. Tommy James had been performing in rock bands in the Michigan area since the age of 12. Prompted to record a few songs by a local disc jockey in 1964, Tommy chose an obscurity titled "Hanky Panky," which became a minor local hit that came and went.
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What a ride - excellent story, well told
- By Dave on 03-25-10
By: Tommy James, and others
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The Gospel According to Luke
- By: Steve Lukather
- Narrated by: Steve Lukather
- Length: 10 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Performance
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In this incisive memoir, Steve Lukather tells the complete Toto story. He also lifts the lid on what went on behind the closed studio doors, shedding light on the unique creative processes of some of the most legendary names in music: from Quincy Jones, Michael Jackson, Paul McCartney, Stevie Nicks, and Elton John to Miles Davis, Joni Mitchell, Bruce Springsteen, and Aretha Franklin. Lukather’s extraordinary tale also encompasses the dark side of stardom and the American Dream. Frank, engaging, and often hilarious, The Gospel According to Luke is no ordinary rock memoir.
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Wow Best Rock Biography Ever
- By Hercules on 09-29-18
By: Steve Lukather
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As If!
- The Oral History of Clueless, as Told by Amy Heckerling, the Cast, and the Crew
- By: Jen Chaney
- Narrated by: Jorjeana Marie
- Length: 9 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Will we ever get tired of watching Cher navigate Beverly Hills High School and discover true love in the movie Clueless? As if! Written by Amy Heckerling and starring Alicia Silverstone, Clueless is an enduring comedy classic that remains one of the most streamed movies on Netflix, Amazon, and iTunes even 20 years after its release. In the first book of its kind, Jen Chaney has compiled an oral history of the making of this iconic film using recollections and insights collected from key cast and crew members.
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Awesome book, awful narrator.
- By Anonymous on 08-08-15
By: Jen Chaney
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Robert Altman
- The Oral Biography
- By: Mitchell Zuckoff
- Narrated by: Robert Altman, Warren Beatty, Cher, and others
- Length: 18 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Robert Altman - visionary director, hard-partying hedonist, eccentric family man, Hollywood legend - comes roaring to life in this rollicking cinematic biography, told in a chorus of voices that can only be called Altmanesque.
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Enthralling!
- By Wise & Careful Shopper on 10-17-10
By: Mitchell Zuckoff
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Sing to Me
- My Story of Making Music, Finding Magic, and Searching for Who's Next
- By: LA Reid
- Narrated by: Dion Graham
- Length: 9 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Legendary music producer LA Reid - the man behind artists such as Mariah Carey, Toni Braxton, Kanye West, Rihanna, TLC, Outkast, Pink, Justin Bieber, and Usher - changed the music business forever. Now he tells his story, taking fans on an intimate tour of his life. Sing to Me is a fascinating journey from Reid's small-town R&B roots in Cincinnati, Ohio, and his work as a drummer to his fame as a Grammy Award-winning music producer and his gig as a judge on the hit reality show The X Factor.
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Wow!! What a journey!!!
- By Marty Cohn on 02-06-16
By: LA Reid
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Keith Richards
- The Unauthorised Biography
- By: Victor Bockris
- Narrated by: Adrian Mulraney
- Length: 20 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Story
In 1992, Victor Bockris' celebrated biography was the first to recognize Richards' pivotal role in the legend of the Rolling Stones. Now that book on rock's most incredible survivor has been expanded. Here are the true facts behind Richards' battles with his demons: the women, the drugs and the love-hate relationship with Jagger. His struggle with heroin and his status as the rock star most likely to die in the 1970s. His scarcely believable rebirth as a family man in the 1980s. Illuminated with revealing quotes and thoughtful insights into the man behind the band that goes on forever.
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doesn't comapre to LIFE
- By A. Garofalo on 02-20-14
By: Victor Bockris
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The Improv
- An Oral History of the Comedy Club That Revolutionized Stand-Up
- By: Budd Friedman, Tripp Whetsell, Jay Leno - foreword
- Narrated by: Johnny Heller
- Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
In 1963, 30-year-old Friedman - who had recently quit his job as a Boston advertising executive and returned to his hometown of New York to become a theatrical producer - opened a coffee house for Broadway performers called the Improvisation. His goal? Simply to make a living, and if all went according to plan, to also make enough professional contacts to be able to mount his first Broadway show within a year's time. Later shortened to the Improv, its first West 44th Street location was in a seedy section of Manhattan's Hell's Kitchen.
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Shockingly tone deaf
- By JenniferW on 06-28-23
By: Budd Friedman, and others
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Easy for You to Say
- By: John Melendez
- Narrated by: John Melendez
- Length: 6 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Easy For You To Say is "Stuttering" John Melendez's memoir of his childhood being bullied in school for his stutter; his years as an on-air personality with The Howard Stern Show; and his subsequent 10-year career as a writer and on-air announcer for Jay Leno's Tonight Show. It details his famously acerbic relationships with celebrities he interviewed/insulted (Raquel Welch once punched him in the face). In the audiobook, Howard Stern emerges as a surprisingly mean, stingy, and megalomaniacal boss - and Jay Leno as a seeming sufferer from OCD.
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Was expecting more
- By Amazon Customer on 10-25-18
By: John Melendez
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Caddyshack
- The Making of a Hollywood Cinderella Story
- By: Chris Nashawaty
- Narrated by: Peter Berkrot
- Length: 7 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Caddyshack is one of the most beloved comedies of all time, a classic snobs vs. slobs story of working-class kids and the white-collar buffoons that make them haul their golf bags in the hot summer sun. It has sex, drugs, and one very memorable candy bar, but the movie we all know and love didn't start out that way, and everyone who made it certainly didn't have the word classic in mind as the cameras were rolling.
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Not Really About Caddyshack Until Hour 5
- By William M. on 07-01-18
By: Chris Nashawaty
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The Chris Farley Show
- A Biography in Three Acts
- By: Tom Farley, Tanner Colby
- Narrated by: Therese Plummer, L. J. Ganser, Mark Boyett
- Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The New York Times best-selling biography of an American comedy legend. After three years of sobriety, Chris Farley's life was at its creative peak until a string of professional disappointments chased him back to drugs and alcohol. He fought hard against them, but it was a fight he would lose in December 1997. Farley's fans immediately drew parallels between his death and that of his idol, John Belushi. Without looking deeper, however, many failed to see that Farley was much more than just another Hollywood drug overdose. In this officially authorized oral history, Farley's friends and family remember his work and life.
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Incredibly sad....
- By Marie B on 04-12-15
By: Tom Farley, and others
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Biblical
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60 Songs That Explain the '90s
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The 1990s were a chaotic and utterly magical time for music, a confounding barrage of genres and lifestyles and superstars, from grunge to hip-hop, from sumptuous R&B to rambunctious ska-punk, from Axl to Kurt to Missy to Santana to Tupac to Britney. In 60 SONGS THAT EXPLAIN THE '90s, Ringer music critic Rob Harvilla reimagines all the earwormy, iconic hits Gen Xers pine for with vivid historical storytelling, sharp critical analysis, rampant loopiness, and wryly personal ruminations on the most bizarre, joyous, and inescapable songs from a decade we both regret entirely and miss desperately.
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My Personal View-Harvilla Rules!
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Those Guys Have All the Fun
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ESPN began as an outrageous gamble with a lineup that included Australian Rules Football, rodeo, and a rinky-dinky clip show called Sports Center. Today the empire stretches far beyond television into radio, magazines, mobile phones, restaurants, video games and more, while ESPN's personalities have become global superstars to rival the sports icons they cover.
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You wish this was SportsCenter!
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A History of Heavy Metal
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The history of heavy metal brings us extraordinary stories of larger-than-life characters living to excess, from the household names of Ozzy Osbourne, Lemmy, Iron Maiden and Metallica to the brutal notoriety of the underground Norwegian black metal scene and the New Wave of British heavy metal. It is the story of a worldwide network of rabid fans escaping everyday mundanity through music, of cutthroat corporate arseholes ripping off those fans and the bands they worship to line their pockets.
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Entertaining but very Biased
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Tune In
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Insanely great
- By Tad Davis on 12-17-13
By: Mark Lewisohn
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Best. Movie. Year. Ever.
- How 1999 Blew Up the Big Screen
- By: Brian Raftery
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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From a veteran culture writer and modern movie expert, a celebration and analysis of the movies of 1999 - arguably the most groundbreaking year in American cinematic history.
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Like talking about movies with a friend
- By Shawn Inmon on 05-30-19
By: Brian Raftery
What listeners say about I Want My MTV
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- David
- 10-24-12
The Most Entertaining Book of the Year
This was simply the most entertaining, engaging audiobook I've listened to in years. It's not just for MTV fans, or just for the demographic that currently watches it in droves. Personally, I never enjoyed watching MTV nearly as much as I enjoyed reading this book about it. If you are even slightly interested in music, popular culture, television, the entertainment industry, or musicians themselves, you will probably love this book too.
It's a remarkable story, of course. This scraggly little video jukebox of a cable channel literally changed television, music, motion pictures and popular culture. More than once. But the key to making this so much more than just a factual recreation of a game-changing cable channel's history lies in a single, brilliant idea: they don't just tell the story, but let the participants themselves tell it in their own words. Culling choice nuggets from literally hundreds of interviews with rock stars,video directors, executives and the scores of people who surround them, the authors then edit and compile pieces of those interviews into a tightly woven narrative. They provide some backstory and context to each part of the music channel's history with concise chapter introductions, and let the rest of the story unfold through the words of the people who created that history. It's messy, honest and human, and the perspectives of the different parties are often contradictory. Just like the real world. Unlike "The Real World," the story-lines are always interesting,
Seriously -- if this sounds even a little intriguing to you, get this book. It's like being invited to the largest MTV reunion ever, full of rock stars and directors and executives, and getting to listen in on each of them as they tell the story of their involvement. It's pure entertainment, flawlessly executed.
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25 people found this helpful
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- Book it!
- 03-05-13
The Scandal Of It All
What made the experience of listening to I Want My MTV the most enjoyable?
At the onset of I Want My MTV I knew I was in for a great ride. It was like a time warp back to my early teens. All the cast was set, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Divo and Motley Crue. There were great scandals such as MTV originally being perceived as a white and rock only channel. The corporate battles over rotation and budgets and of course the question of who really started this thing? It was very entertaining to also hear the behind the scenes story on many of my favorite VJ's. What a cast of characters. It was a great plan to create a microcosm of the typical American youth stereotypes. There's the jock, the beauty, the brain and the rebel. It was like a real life version of a John Hughes movie that lost control and became Animal House.
What other book might you compare I Want My MTV to and why?
As entertaining as the book is, it is also a great insight into the nature of a start up business. If you enjoy books about company origins or the history behind a company, this is a book to consider even if you are not a fan of MTV. There are many business lessons to learn from this story. From protecting intellectual rights and corporate battles, to partnering with other industries and raising capital, this story provides a great example of the risks required to get a great idea "off the ground".
Which scene was your favorite?
My favorite scene in the story is when MTV solicits its fans to attack the phone lines and mail boxes of cable operators requesting MTV in their area. The cable companies soon asked for mercy as they were held captive to fanatics demanding, I WANT MY MTV. Even as I write it, what a great marketing scheme, MY MTV. Getting your customers to identify so passionately with your product that not only do they demand it, but they possess it and call it their own. What a great lesson on connecting with your customer and supplying a product to a market that has gone overlooked. In this case, America's youth.
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
Love him or hate him, you have to pity Billy Squire. A very successful music artist who made it as a recording artist. Who was then asked to reveal himself to the world through a video performance set to music. Unfortunately for Billy Squire, his introduction through music video was both an embarrassment and a career breaker. Note to self, if you are ever asked to do a music video, avoid a bedroom shot where you dance around the room like a fool. Billy Squire's story identifies a pivotal point in music history. A point when image became equally, if not more, important than musical talent. A point that some have argued ruined the music industry. Yet more scandal for your listening pleasure.
Any additional comments?
A captivating story beginning to end. I found I Want My MTV to be an uplifting story about making an idea work. In its infancy, MTV sounded like a destined failure or at most a soon to pass fad. Decades later MTV still continues to exist as it redefines itself as generation after generation pass along. In addition to the great story, the narrator does a fabulous job. The approach to the narration is reminiscent to a Behind the Music episode. Very well executed book.
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19 people found this helpful
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- John Tye
- 08-02-19
Who really wrote the book?
I don't think the author wrote this book. I think he basically sent an email to 10,000 people who each provided 2-4 sentences and he copy/paste the responses.
The only thing this has going for it is I was a young teen when MTV came out so this is a walk down memory lane but the actual format of the book is horrible. So far to chapter 15 it's been the narrator reading a name of a person then 2-4 sentences about MTV or another person. Reads another name, 2-4 sentences about MTB or another person. reads another name, 2-4 sentences about another person.
Ugh. Take the information provided to you and tell a story. Again, repeating myself, it's chapter after chapter of quotes.
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14 people found this helpful
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- Jeffrey
- 03-26-13
Epic! Bittersweet!
First, the narration was fantastic, absolutely made the listen come alive. I missed out on the hey-day of MTV. Too wrapped up in rejection of pop culture because of the horrid deceptions of religion, I missed out and am bitter about that, but this book and listen brought it all back to me as if I had been there in front of my television mesmerized as millions were. Let's face it though, I did see glimpses of MTV in the middle of its high run and who am I kidding, I was so naive, I really could not have understood its power. But enough. This book is utterly entertaining to the max. and should not be missed by anyone who enjoys the history of pop culture in any form. I would put this book in my top three best listens with no hesitation. Thanks for a great experience!
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12 people found this helpful
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- Jeff K
- 07-20-18
Great Book. Poor narration.
This is a must read for anyone who lived through the MTV era. However, it’s obvious the narrator isn’t familiar with pop culture and nobody bothered to proof listen prior to release. Numerous mispronounced names and locations. Fight through it and you’ll enjoy this audio book.
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- Dubi
- 12-16-16
You Want It, You Got It
Let's stipulate that if you've reached this review after clicking through on this title, you must be interested in its subject (MTV) and the treatment promised in its subtitle (uncensored). If that's not true, stop right here, this book is not for you. But if your interest has been piqued, you are in for a treat. One great treat. A 20-hour treat.
Do not fret -- this is not 20 hours about how a bunch of executives started a cable network, no matter how influential that may have been throughout all facets of pop culture. That would most decidedly be unfun (though that story is well- and amply-told in a balanced manner).
No, the vast majority of I Want My MTV is about how many of the best known (and worst) videos of the 1980s and early 90s were made. Thriller, Smells Like Teen Spirit, Bohemian Rhapsody, Addicted to Love, Sledgehammer, Rio, We're Not Gonna Take It, Rock Me Tonite -- and on and on and on. The videos -- that's what brought you here, right? That's why you're considering this book. Well the good news is, that's what you're going to get.
What makes it even more fun is that the authors, having interviewed hundreds of insiders -- artists, directors, veejays, TV execs, music execs, managers, crew, et.al. -- stand back and let them tell their own stories. This is what you'd call an oral history, with short 1-2 page intros to each chapter followed by a series of interview excerpts. At its best, multiple sides of a story (often controversial) are presented back to back, in the participants' own words.
I loved parts of the 80s music scene, hated other parts, totally missed some of it. No matter, whether I liked a particular video or genre or not, the way the story is presented here -- no other word for it: Fun. Do yourself a favor -- take the 20 hours and enjoy yourself.
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- Bill at Torg Stories
- 12-28-12
Brash Entrepreneurship & Behind-The-Scenes of MTV
A high school grad of 1989 and connoisseur of 80s music, I really enjoyed this book. The story spans the time from when the above pictured moon-landing footage was used to promote the network all the way to long after I stopped watching and reality TV took over. Lots of behind the scenes tales about Madonna, Michael Jackson, and bands such as Van Halen, Motley Crue, and Bon Jovi.
The book can become a collage of sorts, drawing heavily on longish quotes from those central to the network. I liked the book about NBC, the Jobs biography, and I hope Netflixed comes to audible soon. My kind of stories!
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- William M.
- 11-20-18
A Fun Listen
I initially hated this book because it is an oral history and I find those to be difficult to follow in audiobook format. After having gotten sued to the format, I have changed my mind and review. I was a kid in the 80s so this is a fun listen. I remember a lot of the videos and events described. The only issue I have is that it sometimes goes too deep into business decisions - I already know that big business ruins fun things - I don't need it messing with the flow of an otherwise enjoyable story.
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Wow! Unexpected Great Read!
If you could sum up I Want My MTV in three words, what would they be?
Funny, fascinating,educational.
What other book might you compare I Want My MTV to and why?
Not sure there is anything comparable. Perhaps the "making of the President" series?
What does Luke Daniels bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
His voice is far more interesting than the voice in my head.
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
The rock star sitting on the elephant for a video, and the elephant bolts off to go mate with the rock star still attached. I laughed for HOURS!
Any additional comments?
This is just a FASCINATING book with SOOOO many interesting stories about people from this time!
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- Flavius Krakdaddius
- 06-17-13
I Miss My MTV
Compared to many of my friends, I didn't even watch MTV that much growing up, but as an adult so many years later, I'm constantly reminded of the network's influence on my life. In a way, this warts and all oral history is like becoming reacquainted with an old friend as an adult, and understanding that person in an entirely new way.
There's a lot of fun behind-the-scenes stuff--excess, decadence and lots of embarrassing hair.This book kept my interest throughout. I was impressed with the wide array of industry figures (including quite a few artists) cited in this book. I also appreciated the wide variety of opinions the authors chose to illustrate controversial (or at least contentious) subjects.
The narration is great, and perhaps most satisfying, the question "Why doesn't MTV play videos any more?" is examined with care.
This well-written, well-researched book could be of interest to anyone who is a fan of pop culture. But to a child of the 80s, this is very close to being a "must-listen."
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