It’s hard to believe how revolutionary MTV was when it was introduced on August 1, 1981.
Forty years before we can summon music videos on demand, MTV is the destination of the newest, coolest and most productive music on television.
The simple precept: to be the television edition of the radio. At first, the network broadcast music videos 24 hours a day, animated through video jockeys (VJs). What was the first music video aired on MTV?”radio star.
Of course, the channel has evolved over the decades, either in the music video genres it has promoted (from the early days of rock to pop and hip-hop) or in the programming it has proposed (who can “Beavis and Butt-Head” and “The Real World”?)
As MTV celebrates its 40th anniversary, we check out the iconic music videos we see on the radical network.
MTV was still in its infancy when this jackson “Thriller” bachelor launched in 1983 and helped delineate the cable network, which had temporarily gained ground as a revolutionary new form of television that I watched constantly. While dancing in a hotel, the choreographed video was one of the first through a black artist to gain a strong rotation on MTV, and followed the track’s most cinematic video with the album’s name. -Gary Levin
They were mtv’s billing guys. But being sweet and speeding up isn’t enough, as they had to show their composure by flying to Antigua and pretending to sing without falling off a yacht Who cared if no one understood what the lyrics meant when everything looked so good?- Melissa Ruggieri
I was thirteen when MTV launched, but unfortunately my space didn’t have cable TV; finally, my friend’s most productive circle of relatives did. I went to her space and turned on MTV, Frida, with her haunting voice and feathered hair, walking languidly through the video, gave the impression on the screen. After all, it was the first clip I saw. Ya. Si well possibly not have been iconic, it made a big impression. When it comes to being taken to a whole new visual medium, don’t forget the first one. – Marie Cadden
“Come in, sit down and come over,” my most productive friend at school ordered me when I appeared seconds before the world premiere, the first of countless times we saw the video for this James Bond theme song. Of course, Simon Le Bond, uh, Bon’s detonating Walkman hasn’t aged well, nor has John Taylor’s sexy flying mule. But it’s a blessing and a part to see Andy Taylor, thankfully, come out of Nick Rhodes (who has never been more beautiful) with a killer accordion button. -Kim Willis
I was an insomniac teenager and stayed up until dawn on MTV. In the depths of the night, they let strange things tear each other tore each other, and in a particularly heavy rotation was this hypnotically strange animated video. I listened to this song live, Thom Yorke’s theremin voice went through my psyche like a laser, even then I couldn’t get the symbol of a cartoon type almost naked cutting off my limbs with a punch to my head. Barbara VanDenburgh
I was the youngest child in a space full of teenagers, so MTV was the background noise to accompany sibling disputes. However, Missy Elliott’s “Get your Freak On” music video would calm the chaos and get everyone’s attention. sitar were like a warning for a compelling video every time MTV aired it. Even today, I don’t forget how much saliva turned my abdomen, but I may never look away. – Élise Brisco
I enjoyed MTV’s Making the Video (I guess I liked to be aware of music even when I was a teenager) and Britney’s “Toxic” is the most memorable series for me. Exorbitantly worth a million dollars, the video’s femme fatale aesthetic, cutting-edge choreography and thrilling sound really blew me away. – Jennifer McClellan
I watched “Total Request Live” every day after school, so Britney, Christina, and Justin come to mind when I talk about iconic music videos. But it’s JT’s “River,” taken from his first solo album, that’s best, probably because of all the drama that surrounded his breakup with Britney Spears. Did the actress look like Spears?Was there cheating? I also had a lot of weight on Timberlake. Do it again. So that explains it. – Amy Haneline
Have you ever been more beautiful in a music video?Rihanna is quintessential of coolness in this music video full of drag race-themed innuendos for her bachelorette 2007’s “Good Girl Gone Bad. “This exciting video soon convinced my 15-year-old daughter that I enjoyed the cars and still need her iconic green pants. -Patrick Ryan