MTV Uncensored

Drawing on thousands of hours of interviews and performances, an irreverent, behind-the-scenes look at music television shares dozens of anecdotes about performers ranging from Madonna and Ben Stiller to Eminem and Jennifer Lopez, as well as inside information on MTV's top 100 videos, entertaining secrets about off-screen shenanigans, and other choice gossip.

Remember when Diana Ross felt up Lil' Kim on live television? When Chuck D interviewed Strom Thurmond? When Madonna's breasts exploded from her bustier on the first MTV Music Awards? When Nirvana trashed Kurt Loder's hotel room? When Radiohead's Thom Yorke almost drowned on MTV Beach House by diving into a pool with combat boots? When Tabitha Soren appeared in the Beastie Boys' "Fight for Your Right" video. Or when she swatted Bill Clinton's hand away when he patted her head? When Downtown Julie Brown carried on like the lost Gabor sister? When Florence Henderson flashed her fuzz-enhanced armpits in a parody of Basic Instinct?

You'll remember it all in living color if you read the sassy, flashy MTV Uncensored, the network's 20th-birthday present to its fans (and itself). More stars than there are beds in rehab offer their irreverent reminiscences, and sumptuous images by the greats of pop-culture photography jostle with spontaneous onscreen and backstage shots grabbed from video history while it was happening. I wish there were captions for the kazillion images, even if it had to be an index in tiny type at the back. But if you're hip, you'll recognize at least 99 percent of the faces. I also wish there was a longish introductory essay or a through line of historical narrative in addition to the profusion of punchy quotes and "20 Questions for 20 Years" celeb insta-interviews. But that wouldn't be very rock & roll, would it? One old-timer interviewed in the book says that working at MTV is "the most fun you can have with your clothes on." MTV Uncensored is the most fun you can have with your TV off. --Tim Appelo