When MTV played Music Videos
 

Happy 30th MTV. For those of you that remember when they played Music Videos (think Martha Quinn, JJ, Nina Blackwood, etc), what was the first video you ever saw and when was it.

Mine was Girls on Film in 1982.

I don't remember the FIRST, but I remember Haircut 100 being pretty early. Most of them were so bad they are not very memorable. But the "I want my MTV" ads were definitely memorable - telling you to call you cable operator to have your TV connected to your stereo... they were the embodiment of 80's design style.

They were replaying this stuff all weekend on VH1 Classic (the irony of this has already been duly noted). Last night at midnight they replayed the tape of the first hour of MTV, long ass moon coverage, technical screwups and all.

The first video I remember ever seeing (on American Top 10) was probably "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy" by Rod Stewart.

Wow, I had completely forgotten about Martha Quinn! I don't remember the very first video I saw but the earliest ones I do remember were...

Bow Wow Wow - "I Want Candy"
Cyndi Lauper - "Girls Just Want To Have Fun"
Devo - "Whip It"

I don't know what year "Relax" by Frankie Goes to Hollywood came out but I recall being very disappointed in the video. It took a while before really good ones came out. Peter Gabriel "Sledge Hammer" and A-Ha "Take On Me".

They've recently announced that "120 Minutes," the Sunday night indie rock show, will be back--this time on MTV2.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/SHOWBIZ/TV/0....ew/index.html

Real videos again?!

"Take On Me" I remember that one. I remember the first video that I saw when we got cable in mumble mumble was "Planet Earth" by Duran Duran. It was an old video then. I remember Rob Lowe in the Go-Go's video for "Turn to You."

Matt Pinfield? Puke.

They already play 120 Minutes-era videos on VH1 classic several late nights/early mornings a week.

It went downhill when he was on, but I still miss getting to see new music videos. I think this will be a mix of throwbacks and new stuff. It's a moot point for me, anyway, since I don't have cable. :(

Last semester of college and everyone was immitating the video.

I think this was 1985 (was out of college by then) There was more than one Relax video. I recall seeing the R-rated video at one point and it was much different than the PG-rated video that MTV showed. Today, it would be shown on TV. How times have changed. It might be on You Tube by now.

The first video I remember seeing on MTV was All She Wants to do is Dance.

Martha, Nina, and JJ are all deejays on XM's 80s on 8. Love listening to them!

http://a.abcnews.com/images/Entertai..._110801_wb.jpg

Martha Quinn, Alan Hunter, Mark Goodman, J.J. Jackson and Nina Blackwood

Ok, I know for sure that Mark, Alan, Nina and Martha are all on that XM station. I don't remember hearing JJ on there

I don't remember my first video, but I loved watching them. I hated the late 90's when TRL came on.

I could watch it for hours on end. I didn't have it at home, so when I baby sat once the kid went to bed, I watched it all night long. Luckily this family usually stayed out until the wee hours of the morning! Loved Duran Duran and Michael Jackson videos.

I didn't have cable during the 80's. I was watching "Friday Night Videos" for most of that decade. I started watching MTV in 1995. It has it's great moments. Have to give props to VH1 Classic for showing MTV's Golden Years.

That is a picture from when they were VJs. JJ is the only original VJ that is deceased.

I remember as a child, being scared to death of this video! I dont think I ever watched it completely until about the 6th or 7th grade! Then I felt really silly! :)

I dont recall watching MTV prior to '86 or '87 (aka 3rd grade).

I remember when MTV took the party bus to Florida for Spring Break. The bus with Alan Hunter stopped in Richmond KY for a pit stop. We all crowed the bus. (We were cheap entertainment.)

Don't remember the year but it was Jack & Diane ~ john cougar mellencamp:)

"Take on Me" and "Sledgehammer" (I was born in the year that came out actually)
http://mimg.ugo.com/200901/23423/sto...edgehammer.jpg

:DMe too!!

For your information:
First music videos aired on MTV
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_m...s_aired_on_MTV
"Video Killed the Radio Star" by The Buggles
"You Better Run" by Pat Benatar
"She Won't Dance with Me" by Rod Stewart
With further Rod Stewart videos airing at positions #15, #26, #37, #51, #66, and #77, Stewart became the artist with the most videos played that day.
"You Better You Bet" by The Who
"You Better You Bet" was both the 4th and 55th video to be aired on MTV, making it the first video to be shown more than once.
"Little Suzi's on the Up" by Ph.D.
"We Don't Talk Anymore" by Cliff Richard
"Brass in Pocket" by The Pretenders
"Time Heals" by Todd Rundgren
"Take It on the Run" by REO Speedwagon
"Rockin' the Paradise" by Styx
"When Things Go Wrong" by Robin Lane and the Chartbusters
"History Never Repeats" by Split Enz
"Hold on Loosely" by 38 Special
"Just Between You and Me" by April Wine
"Sailing" by Rod Stewart
Stewart's "She Won't Dance with Me" was the 3rd video played; with this video, Stewart became the first artist to have two different videos played on MTV.
"Iron Maiden" by Iron Maiden
"Keep on Loving You (Live)" by REO Speedwagon
"Bluer Than Blue" by Michael Johnson
"Message of Love" by The Pretenders
"Mr. Briefcase" by Lee Ritenour
"Double Life" by The Cars
"In the Air Tonight" by Phil Collins
"Looking for Clues" by Robert Palmer (the video never plays due to technical difficulties.)
"Too Late" by Shoes
"Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" by Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
"Do Ya Think I'm Sexy" by Rod Stewart (15 seconds into the video, the video screen briefly goes blank while the audio still plays.)
"Surface Tension" by Rupert Hine
"One Step Ahead" by Split Enz
"Baker Street" by Gerry Rafferty
"I'm Gonna Follow You" by Pat Benatar
"Savannah Nights" by Tom Johnston
"Lucille" by Rockestra
"The Best of Times" by Styx
"Vengeance" by Carly Simon
"Wrathchild" by Iron Maiden
"I Wanna Be a Lifeguard" by Blotto
"Passion" by Rod Stewart
"Oliver's Army" by Elvis Costello
"Don't Let Him Go (Live)" by REO Speedwagon
"Remote Control/Illegal" by The Silencers
"Angel of the Morning" by Juice Newton
"Little Sister" by Rockpile with Robert Plant
"Hold On to the Night" by Bootcamp
"Dreamin'" by Cliff Richard
"Is It You" by Lee Ritenour
"Tusk" by Fleetwood Mac
"He Can't Love You" by Michael Stanley Band
"Tough Guys" by REO Speedwagon
"Rapture" by Blondie
"Don't Let Go the Coat" by The Who
"Ain't Love a Bitch" by Rod Stewart
"Talk of the Town" by The Pretenders
"Can't Happen Here" by Rainbow
"Thank You for Being a Friend" by Andrew Gold
"You Better You Bet" by The Who
"Bring It All Home" by Gerry Rafferty
"Sign of the Gypsy Queen" by April Wine
"The Man with the Child in His Eyes" by Kate Bush
"Message of Love" by The Pretenders
"All Night Long" by Rainbow
"Boys Keep Swinging" by David Bowie
"Rat Race" by The Specials
"Just Between You and Me" by April Wine
"Once in a Lifetime" by Talking Heads
"Victim" by Bootcamp
"Tonight's the Night (Gonna Be Alright)" by Rod Stewart
"Cruel to Be Kind" by Nick Lowe
"A Little in Love" by Cliff Richard
"Take It on the Run" by REO Speedwagon
"Wild-Eyed Southern Boys" by .38 Special
"Wuthering Heights" by Kate Bush
"Celebrate the Bullet" by The Selecter
"More Than I Can Say" by Leo Sayer
"A Message to You, Rudy" by The Specials
"In the Air Tonight" by Phil Collins
"Heart of Glass" by Blondie
"Oh God, I Wish I Was Home Tonight" by Rod Stewart
"Kid" by The Pretenders
"Wrathchild" by Iron Maiden
"Come What May" by Lani Hall and Herb Alpert
"I Got You" by Split Enz
"Sister Disco" by The Who
"Fashion" by David Bowie
"Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" by Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
"Love Stinks" by The J. Geils Band
"Johnny & Mary" by Robert Palmer
"Tomorrow Night" by Shoes

Unfortunately we had one of those cable providers that didn't carry MTV, and the calls asking for it accomplished nothing for years. However, I do remember going to friends' houses in the next town over and just thinking MTV was the greatest thing ever. I don't specifically remember many early videos, though Love is a Battlefield comes to mind although that was a few years later. What is more memorable are the commercials with the fun MTV flag on the moon and its ever-changing design. I also remember the early VJs and thinking they had the greatest job ever.

Happy Birthday MTV. How I miss you, and your original programming.

I have been watching VH1 Classic tonight, complete with commercialsnfor Atari and Superman 2 "playing in theaters everywhere". I MISS MY MTV!!!

Since All She Wants to do is Dance came out in 1984, I suspect that's when my parent's cable company started carrying MTV.

Video killed the radio star. My best friend and I had MTV on from the very first second it aired. We were glued to it for years.

I remember sitting around at a friends house in college all staring at the wonder that was MTV early '80s. I just really remember the horrible technical production of early videos (I'm talking about you Flock of Seagulls!) and the hair!! I love to tell my girls about .. way back when.. MTV was cutting edge. LOL!

I didn't know about the R-rated version. Thanks for telling me! Just watched it on You Tube. It was, um...interesting. And you're right; they'd have no problem showing that version on tv today.

Shoot, I still can't watch it after dark. I pwn at the MJE though. I've been dancing this routine since I was born. ;)

Happy 30th, MTV!

Here's a link for the Buggles video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iwuy4...layer_embedded

We didn't have cable when I was in college. My first video was at a bar on Ohio State's campus called Crazy Mama's. It was a punk/new wave bar and yes, it was legal to drink beer at 18. There was only one sorority house that I recall having cable (and MTV) and I remember many of the actives brought it up during rush.

Oh Boy!

I actually attended a party for the very first viewing of MTV. I believe the first video was...Video Killed the Radio Star!

Back then we watched videos from Europe because the American bands had not started making videos. When you saw an American band, it was usually a concert performance.

Loved Martha Quinn!!!

Here is the link to the launch of MTV...

Ladies and Gentlemen - Rock and Roll!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cw6xe...eature=related