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Hollywood Loves Las Vegas (For A Price)

Author Shawn Tempesta
Hooray! Hollywood loves Las Vegas just like all the cool kids loved that one kid who had rich parents. Deep inside... you know why they are hanging out with us.

Ah, to be a Las Vegas resident! Everyone loves us! The Oakland Raiders moved to Las Vegas because they couldn’t wait to be in Southern Nevada! Also because they got a bunch of public money. Same for the Oakland Athletics. Casinos love it here! They also get the cheapest gaming tax rate here. Now Hollywood loves Las Vegas! But don’t think it is going to come cheap.

If you haven’t heard, there is already a planned movie studio planned in a joint project between Sony Pictures Entertainment and the Howard Hughes Corporation (who are the people behind Summerlin). Mark Wahlberg has flat out said he wants to make Vegas the new La La Land.

A third project shows how much Hollywood loves Las Vegas. Only if we pay.

Hollywood Loves Las Vegas’ (And Nevada’s) Sweet Sweet Cash

Warner Bros. Discovery, the mega media conglomerate behind many of your favorite TV shows, networks and movies, has come forward with their hands out. They announced in a press release that they are ready to plunk down $8.5 billion on a new film development venture between UNLV and real estate company Birtcher Development.

The only caveat is they will only go forward with the “Warner Bros. Studios Nevada” project if the state of Nevada approves fat tax credits that would encourage the company to move productions to Southern Nevada versus sending them to other media tax havens like Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Back in 2023, Mark Wahlberg and friends tried to get it passed in Carson City but it didn’t go anywhere. The expanded film tax credits are set to be proposed again in 2025. If they pass, expect a lot of investment from Tinseltown. If they don’t? Expect only COPS episodes for a while.

Like everyone else, Hollywood loves Las Vegas for its sweet public funds. And you thought prostitution was only legal in Nye County!

Shawn Tempesta is the co-host of Aimee+Shawn on 102.7 VGS in Las Vegas, Nevada. He is also an Emmy award nominated television host. As a content creator for 102.7 VGS, Shawn writes about current events, education, funny and trending stories.

I Want My MTV! Happy Birthday To The Music Video Network

I want my MTV! We were all saying it. And it was 43 years ago today, August 1, 1981, that we watched The Buggles kick off this new video music channel – and it was glorious. Music videos all day long.

MTV Defined All Things 80’s

The 80’s were a colorful, indulgent, “no worries” time if you were a teen. When MTV was launched, me and my friends would sit in front of the TV for hours, anxiously waiting for the next video. Who would it be? Michel Jackson’s Thriller? George Michael’s butt video (Faith)? Duran Duran in the boat (Rio)?

I want my MTV! Nina Blackwood, Mark Goodman, JJ Jackson, Martha Quinn, and Alan Hunter would give us all the info we needed on those videos, and artists, cause they were totally cool, and totally in the know.

MTV Perfected A Really Simple Concept

The concept behind MTV was simple: Show music videos and content related to music – all day long, every day. And it worked phenomenally. The golden age of MTV lasted from the early 1980s to around 1992, and in its heyday it had a massively huge impact on the music scene.

If you’re old enough to remember the launch of MTV on August 1st, 1981 at 12:01 A.M., this will bring you right back. Yes – somebody put the first two hours of MTV on YouTube, and it will immediately time machine you right back to that day, and time, and feel.

Everyone now knows the first video they played was “Video Killed the Radio Star” by The Buggles. You’ll also see all of the original VJs introduce themselves, plus the very first ad that ever aired on MTV, for a three-ring binder called The Bulk.  It was followed by a commercial for “Superman 2”.

MTV Made Music History

For many, the 80s and 90s represent the most interesting stage in music video history. With huge budgets to spend, a number of revolutionary music videos were released.

The iconic “Thriller” video, and A-ha’s amazingly clever and creative “Take On Me” represents music videos that were hugely influential at the time, that cemented MTV as a cultural force. There’ was incredibly powerful about visuals and imagery being combined with music. Each video was like a mini movie. And videos quickly became a large part of creating music.

Here is the link for that first two hours of MTV.  Go put on your neon Dolphin shorts, your headband, and your Reeboks, and scroll through it.

And here are the first ten videos that were played on MTV. I WANT MY MTV!

  • 1. Video Killed The Radio Star - The Buggles

    How dare The Buggles mess with radio! But it was a bit prophetic, in the sense that VIDEOS changed the music scene entirely!

  • 2. You Better Run - Pat Benatar

    Not the first version of this song. In 1966, with the band Listen, Robert Plant made his recording debut singing lead vocals on a cover version of “You Better Run”, which was released as a single by CBS Records.

  • 3. She Won't Dance With Me - Rod Stewart

    The lyrics to ‘She Won’t Dance With Me’ contain the use of the word f***,  which remained unedited in the video. A very big deal!

  • 4. You Better You Bet - The Who

    “You Better You Bet” was written by Pete Townshend as a love song for his girlfriend at the time. He says, “I developed [‘You Better You Bet’] over several weeks of clubbing and partying. I had gone through a lean period in my marriage and was seeing the daughter of a friend of mine. I wanted it to be a good song because the girl I wrote it for is one of the best people on the planet.”

  • 5. Little Suzy's On The Up - Ph.D

    The song was released as Ph.D’s first single, appearing on their self-titled debut.  Tesla also covered the song in 1986 under the name “Little Suzi”. Tesla released the cover as the second single from their debut album, Mechanical Resonance. The single broke Tesla into the mainstream and was the most successful single from their debut album.

  • 6. We Don't Talk Anymore - Cliff Richard

    The song reached number one on the UK Singles Chart in August 1979, remaining there for four weeks. It was Cliff Richard’s tenth UK number one and his first since “Congratulations” in 1968.

  • 7. Brass In Pocket - Pretenders

    The lyric describes the female singer about to have her first sexual encounter with a particular person, and it is expressing her confidence that it will be a successful experience!. According to a Rolling Stone magazine critic the song used “an iron fist as a metaphor for Chrissie’s sexual clout”. Me-ow!

  • 8. Time Heals - Todd Rundgren

    Healing was Todd Rundgren‘s ninth studio album, released in 1981. The album is all about spirituality and the human condition. Things he touched on a lot in his earlier music, but not quite with the consistency in this album. Where every track explores a different aspect. 

  • 9. Take It On The Run - REO Speedwagon

    This was the first concert video to be aired on MTV, from REO Speedwagon’s Live Infidelity home video release and it was so cool! But – the video was interrupted after 12 seconds due to technical difficulties. The technical difficulty moment contains only a blank black screen with a  tone for a few seconds before going back to the MTV studio. First day – bound to be some glitches.

  • 10. Rockin' The Paradise - Styx

    Released as the fourth single from Styx tenth album Paradise Theatre. “A.D. 1928” is a short, piano-based song by Dennis DeYoung, set to the same melody as The Best of Times, that segues into Rockin’ the Paradise. These two tracks would serve as the opening songs of the Paradise Theatre album, but also its tour, and the 1996 Return to Paradise reunion tour.

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