[ Okay, students! Time for recess from our relentless Craven County history class. In this issue we review some not-so-serious relatively-recent Pop Culture. Although for millenials, it’s still probably ancient history anyway. But here goes nothing … ]
Looking at Max Headroom was like peering into the future.
And it was; because computer-generated images (CGI) could not be produced in 1985. Some techy minds knew what was ahead, but the futuristic CGI magic itself had not been conjured up yet.
So … Max Headroom, MTV’s quirky jerky graphic novelty persona – the coolest geek of the 80s – was a real guy. That’s right. An actor with clay hair in front of a blue screen.
First – for the recent graduates of the birthing room – we need to do a refresher on MTV itself. Shocker Number One: MTV or Music Televison used to play music … on television. Non-stop 24/7 videos, the earliest of which was “Video Killed the Radio Star” by The Buggles. Sort of set the tone for what MTV hoped to achieve.
The next nine in order were “You Better Run” by Pat Benatar; Rod Stewart’s “She Won’t Dance With Me”; “You Better Bet” by The Who; “Little Suzi’s on the Up” by Ph.D.; “We Don’t Talk Anymore” by Cliff Richards; The Pretenders’ “Brass in Pocket”; “Time Heals” by Todd Rungren; “Take It on the Run” by REO Speedwagon, and rounding out the first ten music videos ever played on MTV was “Rockin’ in Paradise” by Styx.
Regardless of the forgetability of some of those songs, MTV was soon the Greatest Show on Earth. Hip VJs (video jocks) hosted an endless stream of musical clips that swiftly got more edgy and complex as production values were ramped up through the use of high-priced Hollywood directors.
Greatest of all? Micheal Jackson’s “Thriller”; Madonna’s “Vogue”; “Smells Like Teen Sprit” by Nirvana; Peter Gabriel’s “Sledgehammer”; and Run DMC / Aerosmith in “Walk This Way” usually top critics’ and viewers’ lists of the best.
But what about Max?
Max Headroom was conceived by three British music executives. One of them, Rocky Morton, said he imagined Max Headroom as “the most boring thing that I could think of … a talking head: a middle-class white male in a suit, talking to them in a really boring way about music videos.” Morton is also credited with pushing for the fictional character’s CGI look.
Canadian-American actor Matt Fewer’s strikingly angular face got him an audition, and his ten minutes of comedy improv wowed the execs. Before long they were slapping prosthetic make-up on Fewer to morph him into the soon-to-be iconic Max. Scenes were shot under too-harsh lighting in front of a frenetic, geometric, phosphorescent backdrop with the actor’s voice electrically altered. Dressed in Wayfarer sunglasses and fiberglass suits, the uber-witty Max Headroom quickly stuh-stuh-stuttered his way into the minds – if not the hearts – of his MTV fans.
The actor portraying Max was born in Washington, D.C. in 1958. His father was a Royal Canadian Navy officer and Fewer grew up in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada. Trained in the performing arts as an actor, singer and comedian, he’s had a successful career in movies and television, and now lives with his wife in California.
And the famous MTV character’s name? The creators said the words “Max. headroom,” and the number of meters of clearance, appear on every overpass in England.
Eddie Ellis is the author of New Bern History 101 and other works about Craven County’s rich heritage. He can be reached at flexspace2@aol.com.
More at edwardellis.com