"It seemed, a few years ago, that almost every conversation I was having contained an affectionate reference to the early years of MuchMusic. While it amazed me how much people recalled, it also struck me that the whole phenomenon could fade from memory, living on in a few random YouTube clips and the greying recollections of those who worked at Much. Talking to people who watched during that time reminded me of how much it meant to them. And to me. I asked a few close friends what they thought about the idea of a book and I got enthusiastic support. I had no idea how extensive and rich an experience it would be. When Much launched in 1984, it was a time when people were obsessed with music. Your favourite band was how you found your tribe.

You talked about the band, wore their T-shirts, waited for the next release and shared it with friends on vinyl, cassette, a Walkman with two headphones, mixtapes, or a ghettoblaster in the rain (see John Cusack in Say Anything ). And with the dawn of the music video, you anticipated your next glimpse of the band. If you wanted to know about your favourite artist--when they were putting out a new record, a new video, when they were coming to your town--and if you wanted to see what everyone else was listening to, wearing, and talking about, MuchMusic was it!. Much came along at a time of a brilliant creative outburst in Canadian music. We represented that perfect counterpart to ambition: opportunity. Some grabbed it. Some missed it. Some rejected it.

In speaking again with the biggest Canadian artists from that era, we talked about the music, but soon moved on to fashion, the challenges of career-building in a formative time in the business and, of course, music videos. Artist after artist spoke of their time in front of the camera and how dramatically it changed their careers. Many look back at the early days of video with bemusement and self-deprecation, but what they created mattered, even if the hair was at times regrettable and the special effects ridiculous. In the conversations I had with my old colleagues, a recurring theme was the enormous freedom we had. There were no restrictions--it truly was a fresh daily, seat-of-the-pants rock ''n'' roll world unto itself that we were blessed to be part of. As programmers, we could play what we wanted without the conventional restraints of format and niche, ratings and phone requests. As presenters, Moses gave us space to discover who we were and how we could connect with our audience. And John Martin [MuchMusic''s first director of music programming] absolutely encouraged the rebellious, risk-taking approach to making television that was at the heart of what drove him daily.

Much was a place with no wardrobe, no makeup, no script, no rehearsal, no pre-record, no fix-it-in-the-mix, no wake-up call, no stylist, no day care, no free lunch, no dog-sitter, no back-patting, no troubleshooting, no researcher, no net--no kidding! To millions of viewers, MuchMusic was the heartbeat of pop culture in Canada in the ''80s and ''90s. It was amazing to be part of a period that changed music in Canada forever. If you were one of the millions of viewers watching back then or if you tuned in later, I think we''ll have a great time recalling the day-to-day craziness at the Nation''s Music Station." from the Introduction.