R. Serge Denisoff MTV Research Files

Collection

Identifier: MUSIC-021

Staff Only

Collection Overview

Abstract

Collection consists of research files compiled by popular culture scholar R. Serge Denisoff during his resarch on MTV Music Television in the 1980s and early 1990s. Collection includes MTV promotional materials and publications, articles clipped or copied from various media sources, Denisoff's notes on MTV, selected papers by other scholars on MTV-related topics, lists of MTV citations in academic and media publications, MTV promotional photographs, and other related material.

Dates

Creation: Majority of material found within 1981 - 1991

Extent

0.8 Cubic Feet (2 boxes)

Scope and Contents

The R. Serge Denisoff Research Files Collection includes primary and secondary documents compiled by Denisoff during his research on MTV Music Television. The collection documents the founding and early years of MTV, largely through newsclippings and magazine articles about MTV collected by Denisoff from industry and popular publications during the 1980s. Some clippings were filed separately by topic, such as stock options, racism charges, MTV and cable expansion, etc., though some clippings are filed together regardless of topic. Some folders of newsclippings also contain Denisoff's notes on popular press or academic articles. The collection also contains some MTV promotional material, including press releases, promotional photographs, as well as material intended for the viewing public. There is some documentation of contemporaneous academic scholarship of MTV through some typewritten articles by other scholars and an extensive collection of citations for academic articles that mention MTV. Finally, the collection contains scant documentation of MTV's competitor VH1, which began airing content in 1985.

Biographical / Historical

Bowling Green State University (BGSU) Sociology Professor R. Serge Denisoff was born on June 2, 1939 in San Francisco, California.

Dr. Denisoff received his A.A. in Sociology at San Francisco City College in January 1964. He graduated with a B.A. in January 1965 and an M.A. in June 1967 both in Sociology from San Francisco State College. By June 1969 Denisoff had been awarded a Ph.D. in Sociology from Simon Fraser University in British Columbia. His research interests, while writing his master's thesis and doctoral dissertation, focused upon "political consciousness and social movements" and "protest songs and the American Communist Party". His numerous published works concentrated primarily upon sociological and musical topics. Books included such titles as Inside MTV, Solid Gold: The Popular Record Industry and Waylon (a biography of singer Waylon Jennings).

Dr. Denisoff taught at San Francisco State College from 1965-1967. He served as a teaching and research assistant at Simon Fraser University from 1967-1969. Between 1969 and 1970 he was an assistant professor of sociology at Los Angeles State. He received a faculty position at BGSU in the Sociology Department in 1970 and remained until his retirement in 1990.

Dr. Denisoff's professional affiliations included memberships in such organizations as the American Sociological Association, the Popular Culture Association and the American Folklore Society. He founded the Journal of Popular Music and Society and served as editor. He died August 12, 1994.

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Researchers using this collection assume full responsibility for conforming to the laws of libel, privacy, and copyright, and are responsible for securing permissions necessary for publication or reproduction.