Revisiting Club MTV, a show that time has forgotten

The Muse

The Downtown Julie Brown-hosted dance show that ran on MTV from 1987 to 1992 was modeled on American Bandstand. "What was special about Club MTV was its inherent idea that dance music constituted a format distinct from but within the realm of pop music of the late ’80s," says Rich Juzwiak, adding: "Club MTV represented an idealized club experience that remained unparalleled even after I began experiencing clubbing firsthand. Unlike many of its dance-show predecessors, it was shot at an actual club and not a sterile TV studio. The Palladium was authentically cavernous, its giant screens (actually, clusters of smaller screens together projecting one big image as was the style at the time) imbuing it all with the sense that the future had arrived. Well lit, with controllable volume and happy vibes, all of which could be consumed from the comfort of my couch, Club MTV presented club culture as consumable in 30-minute nibbles. I’ve never felt particularly comfortable in clubs, certainly not without drugs (whose use Club MTV never even hinted at, thus it took me years to understand their connection with electronic music), certainly not while pummeling music with no vocals and one-note bass lines made the notion of a conversation impossible. In keeping me naive to what awaited, Club MTV spoiled me. Looking back, it did it in the best way possible, priming me for nostalgia for a place and time I never actually visited and giving me a fantasy to hold through life."