MuchMusic’s Checkered History

In 1984, a Montrealer named Corey Hart went from relative anonymity to rock stardom, complete with screaming mobs of fans. Hart’s debut album had been released in Canada the year before, to tepid results. A warmer response from the American market surely helped. But there was another factor: 1984 was the year MuchMusic launched, beaming Hart’s pouty lips and spiked hair into Canadian homes, making Hart this country’s first music video star. I was five years old at the time, and Hart’s First Offense and Michael Jackson’s Thriller were the only two LPs I considered mine. I knew all the words to the songs, perhaps because, like many music aficionados a decade older than me, I had gone from never having seen a music video to being able to recreate every twitchy, fright-night move of the creeper zombie dance, and spending my evenings running through the back alley of an East Vancouver living room, pretending my already-thick spectacles were sleek, dark...