Ep 690: Happy 40th Anniversary, MTV
Written by admin on July 31, 2021
It was August 1, 1981 when MTV launched and changed the course of music history in several ways. Music videos were on the rise and soon became a necessity for artists to earn airplay on the specialized cable channel, which would gain popularity over the next few years thanks to encouraging people to call their cable carrier and tell them: “I Want My MTV.” In the coming years, MTV would be a worldwide phenomenon and a real hit-maker, introducing its viewers to multiple modern music genres and offering “Closet Classics.”
This week on Revenge of the 80s Radio, we play songs from the first 25 videos ever aired on MTV (mostly in order) and a few others from Day 1 as we look back at the days then the cable channel actually played videos.
Despite what the channel has become over the last two decades, MTV was for a time cutting edge, interesting, fun to watch and a prime source to hear (view) new music from new as well as established artists. Happy 40th, MTV.