While it would take a couple of years for most cable companies to pick it up, August was when it started. Saturday, August 1, 1981, at 12:01 am Eastern Time, to be exact. They started with the following quote:
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.
They only dropped the use of the Space Shuttle launch in 1986 after the disaster.
The first song played on MTV was “Video Killed the Radio Star” by the Buggles. It was released as a single in 1979, and included on their 1980 album The Age of Plastic. I’m not sure I like this song, but you have to admit that it certainly was an appropriate choice.
By the middle-to-late 1980s, Music videos were a pretty good art-form. While there was a lot schlock – because you had to have something – there were some interesting videos. “Land of Confusion” and “Take on Me” come to mind.
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