On this day, August 1st, 37 years ago MTV was launched to the world.
On Saturday, August 1, 1981, at 12:01 am Eastern Time, 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 and of the launch of Apollo 11.
The show was supported by five original "video jockeys" or VJ's.
- Nina Blackwood
- Mark Goodman
- Alan Hunter
- Martha Quinn
- J.J. Jackson (RIP-2004)
The first music video shown on MTV was The Buggles' "Video Killed the Radio Star" followed by Pat Benatar's "You Better Run".
The original purpose of MTV was to be "music television", playing music videos 24 hours a day and seven days a week. But we all know how that turned out - it now consists mainly of original reality, comedy and drama programming and some movies mixed in, with limited music videos shown in off-peak time periods.
In 1984, MTV rolled out the Video Music Awards (VMA's) and it still airs every year. Other programs, unfortunately, came to an end. Although I've read that Unplugged returned last year.
- Dial MTV (1986)
- 120 minutes (1986)
- Headbangers Ball (1987)
- Yo! MTV Raps (1988)
- MTV Unplugged (1989)
If you grew up in the late 80's and early 90's, MTV undoubtedly had a major influence on your life. What was your favorite show? Your first video? I can still remember the day we got cable, getting that huge cable box, finding MTV and tuning in to:
