Yes, Virginia, there was Music Television before MTV

My recent posts regarding music technology and nostalgia brought back some memories from my childhood related to music delivery. In my conversation with David about vinyl albums, I told him that I liked the "shhhshing" noise that comes from playing an album. That noise is so familiar that it is comforting to me, which lead me via stream of consciousness to the thought that most of the music I listened to while I was growing up had static of some kind.

In the 70's every kid I knew had a transistor radio that they would take to the pool or carry in their bicycle baskets when they were out and about the neighborhood. These were not the higher tech boom box variety that came along in the '80's; they were a step or two above crystal sets, but we loved them. I had a portable, pocket sized version and my dad had the "trans-oceanic" version, which was bigger, had a handle, and was encased in shiny black vinyl with a faux alligator print. We would fiddle with the tuning knob trying to get the stations tuned in well enough to be able to hear the music without static. We listened as much or more to AM radio (rather than FM) for our music, and in the 1970's it wasn't all talk radio and Spanish stations. During that era, everything seemed to cause interference with the broadcast signal. Even in our parents' cars, the signal never stayed tuned in clearly for very long, and every time we passed under an electrical line or stopped at a stop light we'd get static so bad that we couldn't understand what was being said.

The only time we could count on music without static was when we heard it on TV. On Saturdays we would watch American Bandstand (1952-1989) and Soul Train (1971-Present) to listen to the latest music and see (and copy) the coolest dance moves. Those shows came on after Saturday morning cartoons and we watched religiously. At night, we had other options, like The Midnight Special (1973-1982) and Night Flight (1981-1988). The Midnight Special was hosted by Wolfman Jack along with a musical host, like Helen Reddy. The show started at midnight and featured clips of live performances. Night Flight was completely unhinged. I remember seeing weird short films, Bambi Meets Godzilla, and Dynaman in between music videos, concert and documentary footage of different bands (the one that comes to mind now is ABBA). Night Flight was on from 11 PM Saturday night till 3 AM Sunday Morning on the USA Network and it is the oddest example of original programming I can think of. They really should put it out on DVD.