![]() In the early 1980s, Batsheva Frankel was one of the winners of a contest to rename the music video show, then called FM-TV.įrankel is now a podcaster in Los Angeles, but growing up in Denver she and her friends watched the show religiously, including when it first began as “FM-TV.” So everyone was a little confused about what I was doing.” ![]() And, you know, my friends in middle school - nobody had really been exposed to that music. “I remember watching Teletunes and then going upstairs and trying to mimic the way some of them were dressed. While the video’s big hair, gothic fashion and arthouse aesthetic would now be classified as “typical ‘80s,” at the time, she says it was groundbreaking. ![]() Schoech still remembers the first time seeing the video for British synth-pop band Visage’s song, “Fade to Grey,” on Teletunes. Without platforms like Spotify or YouTube, discovering truly new music required heading down to the local record store and talking with other music fans or making a guess based on an intriguing album cover. “At the time, the way we had to experience music to some extent was very different than how people do now, which is probably why a lot of us hold Teletunes close,” she said. Schoech grew up in Boulder Canyon with only a couple channels to choose from - including Channel 12. Mikii Schoech used Teletunes to figure out her own musical and personal style. Back in the 1980s, Bernson was one of the folks behind Teletunes, working as a programmer, presenter and eventually executive producer for the show. That included programs like Home Movies, which allowed viewers to send in their own homemade films, and Teletunes. They were also trying to produce a lot of their own content.” “It wasn't really hooked up on this PBS distribution chain as it is now. “When the station first went on the air, it was really scrambling for content,” said Shari Bernson, the director of development for the station, now known as PBS12. The station, which had just begun a year earlier, was still trying to find its niche. Teletunes was an early part of programming on the fledgling Channel 12 lineup. “And I'm like, ‘Man, if I could get paid to introduce people to cool music, hang out with rock stars and go to shows, I will have made it.’”Ĭolorado Sound listeners can still hear the show’s influence, McPhail says, not only in the airing of certain songs like Trio’s “Boom Boom” (a Teletunes favorite), but in the eclectic mix of artists and genres showcased. “That's why I still have that passion, because the people that were the hosts on there, they looked like they were having the time of their lives,” he said. He saw it as the best way to play a role in showing audiences new types of music and new artists. It was that risk-taking style that made McPhail originally want to become a VJ. So it was a good way to get introduced to new music - the cool, kind of weird stuff. “They actually played a lot more when it came to a diverse playlist. “They played all the Michael Jackson and Talking Heads videos, but they were cooler than that,” said McPhail, program director for KUNC’s sister station, The Colorado Sound. Growing up without cable, Teletunes was how Benji McPhail kept up with new music. Among fans, its impact can still be felt today. A year later, the music video showcase became “Teletunes” and for almost two decades, it helped shape the way many saw and heard music. In February of 1981, six months before MTV hit the airwaves, FM-TV launched in Colorado on public television’s KBDI Channel 12.
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