#iwmm

“I Want My MTV!” 1984-1985, featuring Cindy Lauper, Billy Idol, David Bowie,  Boy George & Culture Club, Hall & Oates, Joe Elliot/Def Lepard, The Police,  Madonna, John Mellencamp, Ric Ocasek/The Cars.

I Want My MTV! 1984-1985

Interview with animation director Candy Kugel

Director/animator Candy Kugel played a critical role in the original look of MTV: Music Television. She illustrated and directed the animation for the “Top of the Hour” (colloquially known as the “MTV moonman” piece), and many others too.* Collaborating with producer Buzz Potamkin, Vincent Cafarelli and Marilyn Kraemer at Buzzco/New York, it was a special creative relationship. 

Alan Goodman and I had started Fred/Alan in April 1983, after we’d overseen the original “I Want My MTV!” campaign Dale Pon and George Lois (agency: LPG/Pon) the year before. Wouldn’t you know that after we left, MTV was doing so well that the next year, they could afford much nicer spots? 

Candy went on to supervise and direct the animation of the ‘84-’85 “I Want My MTV!” for Buzzco. The spots had a much higher production value –live action shots around the world, with hand painting and rotoscoped animation overlays– were beautiful. Because of MTV’s early successes, the company was able to fund a much larger media buy in many more markets across America.

In June 2020, I talked with Candy about the production of the campaign.

Candy Kugel: The concept of using animation over live-action developed from an earlier project we did for a radio station in San Francisco. We had experimented with a Xerox process that allowed us to print film frames onto paper, and then we manipulated them by hand. When it came time to figure out how to integrate rock stars into the MTV campaign, we thought this technique would allow us to work over the live-action footage in a way that made it unique and exciting.

Fred Seibert: How did you get involved in developing this animation style?

Candy Kugel: Kodak had just released a type of paper that made photo rotoscoping possible without needing negatives. It was a direct printing technique that seemed perfect for what we wanted to do. [MTV President]  Tom Freston, [account executive] Leslie Fenn, and I discussed what the final look would be. I didn't have a concrete vision at the time, but I confidently told them, "It’ll look like nothing you've ever seen before."

Fred Seibert: What was the process of shooting the footage and developing the animation?

Candy Kugel: We shot Hall & Oates first at Silvercup Studios in New York. Daryl Hall was standing with his legs apart, and John Oates was on an apple box to match his height. It was funny, but it worked. We chose a take, sent it to the lab for rotoscoping, and then it was entirely up to me to animate over it. I had free rein creatively, which was exciting.

Fred Seibert: How were some of the other artists handled?

Candy Kugel: Cindy Lauper was a standout. She was shot in New York and had this great energy. She asked me how her line looked in her costume, and I assured her I’d fix any issues in the drawings. The take where she was surprised by the last champagne bottle popping was genuine, so we used that. Def Leppard also filmed in New York, and Joe Elliott came up with the punching bag idea himself.

Fred Seibert: What about Billy Idol?

Candy Kugel: He was shot in New York as well. I didn’t know his music beforehand, but the moment he walked into the room, he took my breath away. He had incredible charisma—completely commanding the space. More than a musician, he had a presence like an actor.

Fred Seibert: And Culture Club?

Candy Kugel: That was shot in Europe. I didn’t know their music much beforehand either. I was given footage and had to create something from it. I had a lot to work with, so I just started experimenting.

Fred Seibert: The Police were part of this as well, right?

Candy Kugel: Yes, but that was a difficult shoot. Dale returned from filming them with really bad footage. Sting was reportedly difficult, and the material was nearly unusable. It was frustrating, but we worked with what we had.

Fred Seibert: How did the final edits come together?

Candy Kugel: The inserts and final compilation were done at PrinzCo Rack with editor Michael Biondi. Dale was always particular about what color should be behind people, even though everything started in black and white and we added color later.

Fred Seibert: Looking back, what stands out to you most about the project?

Candy Kugel: It was such a creative and experimental time. We were pushing boundaries with a style no one had seen before, blending live-action with bold, expressive animation. It gave MTV its iconic, rebellious visual identity. Dale, for all his quirks, had a vision and trusted us to execute it. The campaign became legendary because it captured the spirit of MTV’s early years—bold, unexpected, and unapologetically fresh.

Fred Seibert: Thank you for sharing these insights. It was an incredible project.

Candy Kugel: My pleasure. 

I Want My MTV ... Back! 1986

The cable wars begin.

Over the last few years it feels like the fights between cable programmers and cable system have become an almost everyday occurrence. But by midway into the first decade of real consumer cable, a negotiation fight breaking out in public between channel owners and cable system owners was a shocker. They were almost always stoked by the "Darth Vader” of system owners, John Malone of TCI in Denver, at the time the largest cable operator in America. And, he was never shy about using that power to get the deals he wanted.

The cable wars really began around MTV. And MTV won.

The hard won fight was initially with MTV and ESPN, asking/demanding a “per subscriber” fee from cable operators to subsidize the cost of giving them quality programming so that cable could compete with the giant broadcasting networks of CBS, NBC and ABC. But, as you can imagine, the operators were never happy with the arrangement –even though with each new channel the operators would increase the home owner’s cable bill for that price and then some– and for the last 40 some odd years have often tried to reduce the freight of their wholesale costs.

In 1986 the negotiations almost came to an abrupt halt when John Malone said, in effect, “Fine, we don’t need your stinkin’ channel, we’ll shut it off.”

But Bob Pittman, fearless fighter that he is, was not going to take that lying down. Who cares if Malone controls 25% of all the cable homes in the country?! We control the most loyal viewers on television! Was Pittman right? John Malone and the rest of the media industry was about to find out.

First, pretty much overnight we made a spot and started running spots on MTV and VH1, and buying commercials. “If you flip to MTV or VH1, you might not find it.” But that was just the beginning.

MTV corralled the most powerful weapons in it’s arsenal, the rock stars. Anyone that was available in New York or Los Angeles on a moments notice was conscripted. Phil Collins, Billy Joel, Rod Stewart and Paula Abdul, giants of that moment were among those that showed up.

Alan and his team came up with an undeniable visual, all the stars filmed in stark black & white, bathed in shadow.

“Suddenly, everything changed. One minute there was music, the next minute... none. Just like that, they took off MTV. The local cable company, the guy you pay every month. Is it fair to take your MTV away? I think if we all put the pressure on they’re going to have to change their mind. If your MTV is missing, call them. I’d call. Tell them, ‘Don’t make decisions for me. Tell ‘em ‘I want what I paid for. Tell ‘em, “I Want My MTV... BACK.”’“

Wow. The spots really packed a wallop, as you can see and hear. Notice the not to subtle references to the original “I Want My MTV!” campaign that sparked the pop revolution.

“Demand!”

“Call!”

“Your MTV!”

And the capper? Bob threw a free rock concert with MTV stars in Malone’s Denver backyard. Needless to say, MTV was turned back on in a damn hurray. For the past 30 years other programmers have tried similar moves. But until the Super Bowl was threatened –and that was broadcast not cable– the operators were able to beat back most of the efforts.

MTV wins. Actually, it must be said, Pittman wins!

No one else in cable programming really understood the power of consumer loyalty. The conventional wisdom in media had always been that if you had a captive audience that delivered your channel high ratings, it must be that the audience just loves you. There was no one else on cable, until an MTV cadre of executives went to ESPN in the 90s and nurtured their fan relations, who really understood loyalty. Allegiance, faithfulness, fidelity, that’s what it’s all about.

Alan remembers: “The 'I want my MTV back' campaign is interesting because of how many other networks tried to do the same thing when THEY got kicked off during contract negotiations, and utterly failed. The fact is, “demand” was something that always worked for MTV ever since the launch because our viewers felt locked out. Do you think a lot of Lifetime viewers were motivated to grab the phone and call their cable operators when their signal went off?

“I remember Tom Godici, then one of our fantastic, but junior, art directors, with this campaign. I was slated to go direct one of the stars –can’t remember which one– and I walked into Tom’s office and told him to go instead. He was a little surprised and nervous about it, but I told him I trusted him and knew he could do a good job. I loved that about our agency, that we would give people a shot.”

Read about the original “I Want My MTV!” Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and some of its aftermath Part 4, Part 5

.....

Jongin and Kyungsoo in I Would Move Mountains

This is the story of a girl whose soul is hard to manage. Impossible to cage. The soul of a vixen. A femme fatale. A siren who lurks beneath a placid surface of false pretenses. She feigns love and attraction to lure men into a hollow love of physicality. She simply asks for his undying love, but quickly ices over at the implication of affection. “Just don’t fall in love with me. Don’t ruin this.”

Click here for my posts about MTV and here for Fred/Alan’s MTV work.

The Post-history of “I Want My MTV!” Part 4

The “I Want My MTV!” story wouldn’t be complete without a look at Dire Straits’ 1985 music video “Money for Nothing.” Mark Knopfler originally wrote the song after seeing a store wall of television sets tuned to MTV. During recording Sting dropped into the recording session and added the melody of his “Don’t Stand So Close to Me” with the then unbiquitous "I Want My MTV!“ and forever pushed our battle cry out of advertising history and into the cultural slipstream (the film went on to be honored as the 1986 VMA Video of the Year). If there was ever a more effective branding accident I don’t know what it is.

When the video first came out, I never asked Dale Pon –the key man behind “I Want My MTV!” about his reaction to this unusual turn of events.

…:::Update: I sent this post to Dale:::… 

“What did you think of the Dire Straits video?”

“Absolutely amazing!  I was very happy.

“Twitchy that the campaign was familiar, there were those ready to quit ‘I Want My MTV!’  They hadn’t heard that change is good, but not for its own sake.

Dale Pon R.I.P. April 28, 2020

I’ve written quite a lot about my friend and mentor Dale Pon, who died of complications due to Covid-19 in April. Dale was a media innovator who never looked for public recognition for his work, only for his clients. Notable for readers here is his leadership on the famous “I Want My MTV!” campaign.

So, I was gratified to get a request from New York’s The City for their Covid-19 memorial initiative, which is trying to get as many remembrances of lost city folk as possible. The volunteer writer (a fantastic college sophomore) spent a lot of time with my answers and put together an obituary on Dale, much appreciated by his family and friends.

This is it. 

This is the exact thing. 

It represents everything, and it's absence, at the same time. 

It contains everything and yet it's empty. 

This, is what the feeling of a void and an omnipresence, looks like.