How the Moonman was born: Inside the first MTV VMAs that shot ‘unknown’ Madonna to superstardom 40 years ago
It all started with Tina Turner.
She was the first artist to sign on to perform at the first MTV Video Music Awards 40 years ago on Sept. 14, 1984.
And with her blond mane and black miniskirt, the rock ’n’ soul legend shimmied across the stage at New York’s Radio City Music Hall to “What’s Love Got to Do With It,” which was reigning atop the Billboard Hot 100 as her first and only No. 1 solo single.
Turner, in the midst of a career comeback that would culminate with three Grammys in 1985, was just one of the pop icons who had everything to do with the VMAs becoming the hot new music awards show just three years after MTV launched.
“Once you book a couple of big stars, and once you’ve got some other people that are agreeing to be on it, then others go, ‘Oh, yeah, I can be on that too,’ ” Bob Pittman — the co-founder of MTV who was one of the producers of the first VMAs — told The Post.
“And the secret of booking a big event is you start with your A acts. Because if you do start with a B act, no A acts will come because they think it’s for B acts.”
But with Turner and then other ’80s stars such as Rod Stewart, David Bowie, ZZ Top and Huey Lewis and the News joining the performer lineup — along with a relative newcomer named Madonna — it was clear the VMAs were instantly becoming an A-list awards show.
The idea for the VMAs — which will take place at the UBS Arena in Elmont, NY, Wednesday — came about as a way for MTV to claim its territory as the home of music videos.
“As MTV began to be a success, you then start worrying about, ‘What’s our franchise?’ ” said Pittman, who is now chairman and CEO of iHeart Media. “And what we knew was we didn’t want other people to be giving out awards for video music and making it sort of a commodity.
“We wanted video music to be completely synonymous with MTV, so we knew we needed to do an award show. And it’s sort of then trying to figure out how we could do one, how we could afford it.”
After enlisting NBC producer Don Ohlmeyer, the VMAs came to life as something that would go beyond the cable network. “Actually, the first Video Music Awards show was on MTV and it was simulcast on the Metromedia TV stations, because we needed it to get the audience reach for the advertisers,” said Pittman.
When it came to hosts for the first VMAs, they looked outside of the music world to expand the audience appeal.
“We had Dan Aykroyd and Bette Midler the first year,” said Pittman. “Bette was hot at the moment, and so was Dan … Somehow we got them both to agree. And they worked so hard. Both of them were, like, working on the script together.”
Then they had to come up with the iconic trophy — the Moonman, which is now a Moon Person.
“The one thing we said it needs to be is heavy. And when people hold it, it needs to feel heavy,” said Pittman. “The Moonman was related to the imagery of MTV … We put the man on the moon, and we changed the American flag to the MTV flag.”
When that first show went on Sept. 14, 1984, then-New York Mayor Ed Koch opened the proceedings, renaming Radio City as “Video City Music Hall” for the night. Presenters included Cyndi Lauper — who led the nominees with nine nods — Billy Idol, Roger Daltrey, Hall & Oates, Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood and jazz fusionist Herbie Hancock, who topped the winners list with five awards for “Rockit.” But it was the Cars who won the first Video of the Year Moonman for “You Might Think.”
Really, though, the night’s biggest winner was the future Queen of Pop — Madonna — who famously writhed across the stage in a white wedding dress as she performed her classic “Like a Virgin.”
“Madonna was a new artist, sort of an unknown,” said Pittman of the rising star who was nominated for Best New Artist in a Video for “Borderline. “And I remember … Don goes, ‘Who is this?’ ”
But by the the time Madonna made it down that three-tiered wedding cake, it would become a moment that would live on in MTV history — and make the VMAs must-see TV.
“Madonna knew how to sort of shock, and she sort of knew the moment,” said Pittman. “You know, there are just some people that just have a feel for it. She was one of those.”
