I Want My MTV – MTV Celebrates 40 Years

It changed the way we got our music. We got to SEE the music.  We got to see our favourite artists.   I know I was alive but I really don’t remember when it began.  I think in 1981 I was just starting to pay attention to music.  But on August 1st, 1981 at 12:01 a.m. music was about to change.

This Sunday will mark 40 years for MTV.   August 1st, 1981 at 12:01 a.m.  MTV made its debut on tv’s.  But not everywhere.  For the first five months of being on air, MTV was only available in 2.1 million homes in the U.S. – with New York city being one of the major spots that didn’t get the signal.

With so many people being unable to access it, it resulted in one of the ’80’s most legendary marketing campaigns with top artists appearing on MTV commercials, demanding fans to contact their cable outlets with the soon-to-be iconic catchphrase “I WANT MY MTV!”

Back then, it was just what it said. Music television.  It was all music. All the time.  In recent years,  critics have blasted the network for not showing ANY music and instead mostly reality tv shows.   I will say there have been a few shows I’ve loved – the Osbournes one of them.

Any idea what the very FIRST video was that played on MTV?

Click the video below to find out and watch the first couple of hours. Including the the iconic footage of a spaceship’s launch.

Categorised in: Afternoons

This post was written by Carrie Buchanan