8.02.2006

MTV Music Television: A 25th Anniversary Retrospective

In honor of yesterday's 25th anniversary of the launch of MTV on August 1, 1981, here are several special video clips of early MTV moments. For those of you interested in seeing more, VH1 Classic will be replaying the first 24 hours of MTV programming again this Saturday, August 5 (after playing it yesterday on the actual anniversary).



Meet the MTV VJs: First Day Broadcast, August 1, 1981

The first moments of MTV featured the "Moon Launch" ID that became so famous (the "moon man" became an unofficial MTV mascot, serving as the model for the statuettes at the MTV Video Music Awards), followed by a welcome by VJ Mark Goodman and introductions from the other VJs, Alan Hunter, Martha Quinn, J.J. Jackson, and Nina Blackwood. (1 min. 52 secs.)





"Video Killed the Radio Star": The 1st Music Video Played on MTV

Anyone with an average trivia IQ knows that the first video ever played on MTV was "Video Killed the Radio Star" by The Buggles. A lot of people are familiar with the song as well. But how many people have actually seen the video? If you never have (and even if you have), here it is. (3 mins. 20 secs.)





"I Want My MTV": The Plea of a Generation

The slogan "I Want My MTV" quickly became a battle cry of the 1980s generation, although the campaign was started so that ads could be played on other networks in an attempt to convince cable systems to add the fledgling MTV to their channel line-ups. (23 secs.)





Have an MTV Sandwich: The Early MTV Network IDs

One of the best and most creative things about the first few years of MTV was the network IDs that played during commercial breaks. Here is one of the most well-known, the "Sandwich" ID. If you're interested in seeing more of the early IDs, surf to YouTube and do a search for "MTV ID." (10 secs.)




(Video source: YouTube)

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