My family didn’t get basic cable until Summer 1986. What it boiled down to was that I mostly missed out on the first five years of MTV. There was a lot of catching up to do. A ravenous teen interested in visual artistry, I would watch music videos wherever, whenever possible — mostly MTV, but also BET, Friday Night Videos, Night Flight and even programs on the Spanish and religious channels. But MTV remained king. I witnessed Martha Quinn and Alan Hunter give way to Adam Curry and Kevin Seal, 120 Minutes, Yo! MTV Raps and Club MTV. We had a good run together, but nowadays I glance at MTV and see a complete stranger. I find it tacky and repulsive, but then again I’m no longer 18. Happy birthday, MTV. For further reading try CNN’s 25 Memorable MTV Moments or 25 Years Down the Tube, a wistful and perceptive essay by The Washington Post’s Hank Steuver.