Did you know the original studio set for the 1981 launch of MTV (Music Television) on Cable TV was simply a small room with a brick wall, a barber chair, a bicycle, a bay window that looked out on nowhere and a tennis racquet leaning up in the corner.
It will remain unknown exactly why a tennis racquet was used as a primary stage prop for MTV. One can only ponder that it was a reflection of the gigantic popularity of tennis back in August 1, 1981 when the trailblazing network launched with public domain footage of the Apollo 11 footage, a rocket taking off and then astronauts celebrating on the moon. After two music videos – The Buggles “Video Killed The Radio Star” and Pat Benatar “You Better Run, the VJs (video jockeys) were announced, the first was Alan Hunter.
How a tennis racquet figured so quietly but prominently into the equation may be a consequence of the Wimbledon final a few weeks earlier where John McEnroe defeated Bjorn Borg in four sets 46 76 76 64. That was McEnroe’s third Grand Slam title and first of three Wimbledon crowns.
There’s no other logical reason why MTV would place a tennis racquet in it’s studio instead of a football, baseball glove, soccer ball, or even a guitar or framed Elvis poster, than as a tribute to the huge respect tennis had at that time on the Americana totem pole.
MTV was first broadcast at Teletronics, which was at 33rd St and Tenth Avenue, a small studio that previously filmed commercials, industrial films and talk shows. There was just one small dressing room shared by the VJs.
The network eventually became a global sensation with the popular VJs Martha Quinn, Mark Goodman, JJ Jackson, Nina Blackwood and Hunter and launched the music careers of many performers like Madonna, Cyndy Lauper, Duran Duran, Wham, Michael Jackson, Billy Idol, and Patty Smythe and the Warriors. Smythe later married McEnroe.
And right smack dab in the middle of it all for some inexplicable reason was a tennis racquet.
Bjorn Borg · John McEnroe · Martha Quinn · MTV · Pat Benatar
No comments yet.
<< Trying To Survive At Wimbledon Qualies