MTV: Video Made The Radio Star

A belated tribute to MTV on their 30th annivaersary.

I was reminded by posts at Retrospace and Go Retro! blogs that MTV was celebrating its 30th anniversary.

Indeed, MTV was launched on August 1, 1981. According to Wikipedia :

 MTV launched with the words "Ladies and gentlemen, rock and roll,"

spoken by John Lack, and played over footage of the

first Space Shuttle launch countdown of Columbia

(which took place earlier that year) and of the launch

of Apollo 11. Those words were immediately followed by the original

MTV theme song, a crunching classical tune composed by Jonathan

Elias and John Petersen, playing over photos of the Apollo 11

moon landing, with the flag featuring MTV's logo changing

various colors, textures, and designs.

The innovative music channel would become a central part of life in the '80s, especially if you were young and into the vibrant music of that era.

I remember these colorful "I Want My MTV" commercials well.

According to Wikipedia the first music videos played on MTV were:

1. "Video Killed the Radio Star" by The Buggles
2. "You Better Run" by Pat Benatar
3. "She Won't Dance with Me" by Rod Stewart
4. "You Better You Bet" by The Who
5. "Little Suzi's on the Up" by Ph.D.
6. "We Don't Talk Anymore" by Cliff Richard
7. "Brass in Pocket" by The Pretenders
8. "Time Heals" by Todd Rundgren
9. "Take It on the Run" by REO Speedwagon (the video begins but ends after a few seconds due to technical difficulties.)
10. "Rockin' the Paradise" by Styx

Ironically, notwithstanding the name of the song, MTV probably brought more vibrancy and life to early and mid '80s radio, as it opened up the media to newer music groups