The Night MTV Came to Amarillo to Party and Dance the Right Way

There was a time and a place for everything in Amarillo. There was a time when Amarillo had a place where those who didn't fit in those places that liked to two-step had a place they could go. This place was called SRO. Just walking through those doors was an experience.

An experience that a lot of us in the eighties and nineties got to enjoy. I went to SRO many times in my early college years. I was in the crowd that had to show up after 2 am. That is when they let the under twenty-one through their doors. They stayed open until 4 am.

There was a time when those four walls on I40 between Western and Paramount couldn't hold everyone in. The time was when MTV came to Amarillo. It's not unusual to see nowadays satellite or cable companies having a dispute and the consumers become the victim and lose a station. We get mad but we move on. Until they come to their senses and our station is returned.

That is not how we were in Amarillo back in the day. Nope. Suddenlink decided they were going to take away our MTV. From the beginning of the station, their motto was "I want my MTV", right?

Amarillo was not going to lie down easy and lose our MTV without a fight. If Suddenlink thought that we would they had another thing coming. So that is when MTV and SRO Club came together for one night to fight.

It was such a big time that they knew that SRO would not be able to hold everyone so they fenced in the building to let the party spill out to the parking lot too. Downtown Julie Brown came to town. MTV filmed one of their shows live from Amarillo. We were on the map.

When MTV came to town in 1991 SRO had just gotten in trouble from the city because, get this, there was dancing after 2 am. What kind of hick town "Footloose" kind of vibe is that?

That's right SRO was busted for dancing after 2 am. Luckily that is another thing that MTV helped with. They helped SRO get a special permit to allow the dancing. Amarillo was free once again and it was all thanks to a special trip to Amarillo from the fine folks at MTV.