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- August 1st, 1981 📺
August 1st, 1981 📺
Music videos, 24 hours a day
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Today, we’re dialing the time machine to August 1st, 1981. Today was the day that MTV officially became a channel on cable TV. Whether or not you still watch MTV (I’m guessing most of you don’t), what the channel did was revolutionary.
Let’s go! 🚀
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August 1st, 1981 📆
On August 1st, 1981, the world changed forever, at least for anyone with cable and a love for music & hairspray. At 12:01 AM, MTV (Music Television) launched with an iconic first 90 seconds and the words “Ladies and gentlemen, rock and roll”.
The channel was a revolutionary idea: 24-hour music videos hosted by charismatic “video jockeys” or VJs. Teenagers rejoiced. Parents sighed. Artists realized they now had to look cool and sound good. David Bowie, Madonna, Prince, and Michael Jackson didn’t just dominate the charts, they dominated screens, turning music into a visual art form (and sometimes a fashion crime scene).
MTV eventually shifted toward reality shows about fist-pumping and beach house drama, but its early years reshaped pop culture. It made music visual, youth culture louder, and helped spawn both new genres and new icons. MTV didn’t just play the hits, it became one. And on that fateful August morning in 1981, a new era of music was born.
What was the first-ever music video to air on MTV? 📺 |
Take Me Back ⏮️
🎥 What we’re watching: Raiders of the Lost Ark, the highest-grossing movie of 1981
🕹️ What we’re playing: Blasting space invaders in Galaga
📖 What we’re reading: Noble House by James Clavell
🛒 What we’re buying: A Simon memory game
👦 Who we’re following: Burt Reynolds because of that mustache
🍔 What we’re eating: The all-new McRib at McDonald’s
🎤 What we’re singing: “9-5” by Dolly Parton
🥤 What we’re drinking: Sugar-free, one calorie TAB cola 👇
Just For Fun 🙃
Today was a big day for music in general, with Diana Ross and Lionel Richie releasing their duet of “Endless Love” which would become the Billboard Song of the Year 1981.
This isn’t just any duet, this is the #1 duet of all-time according to Billboard.
OOTD On This Day🧢
Monday through Friday, five “different” outfits. The 1981 Sears Spring/Summer catalog had you covered!
Happy Birthday🎂
French Algerian designer Yves Saint-Laurent turned 45 years old today, holding the unofficial title of “coolest name ever”
A Nostalgic Word from our Sponsor:
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