Here are some of my favorite videos from the early days of MTV
I was 11 years old when our family first got cable TV in the summer of 1982, and I remember watching MTV as it celebrated its one year anniversary a few weeks later. I consider the music of the early 1980s to be some of the best music ever made, and I think a lot of that has to do with the new wave influence that was so pervasive at the time, combined with a strong pop sensibility, and just so many creative artists who were around at the time.
The videos at that time tended to be very low budget, but that didn’t hurt them at all. On the contrary, it encouraged a certain kind of creativity. I feel a lot of nostalgia toward these videos, and I am glad that I was able to watch MTV in its early years. Most of these videos are from 1982 or earlier, but there a few from a little bit later.
I have listed these videos in alphabetical order by artist. At the time I made this list, all of these videos were available at YouTube. Some of them may be pulled by YouTube in the future, at the request of the artist, the record company, or whoever else owns the copyright.
And now, on with the show! Here’s the MTV rocket blasting off to get things started:
Toni Basil – Mickey
Jackson Browne – Somebody’s Baby
Kim Carnes – Betty Davis Eyes
The Clash – Rock The Casbah
Josie Cotton – He Could Be The One
John Cougar – Jack And Diane
Crosby Stills and Nash – Southern Cross
Fleetwood Mac – Gypsy
John Fogerty – Centerfield
Go Go’s – Our Lips Are Sealed
Daryl Hall and John Oates – You Make My Dreams
George Harrison – All Those Years Ago
Michael Jackson – Billie Jean
Joan Jett and the Blackhearts – I Love Rock And Roll
Billy Joel – Pressure
Loverboy – Working For The Weekend
Manhattan Transfer – Boy From New York City
Steve Miller Band – Abracadabra
Missing Persons – Words
Motels – Only The Lonely
Juice Newton – Queen Of Hearts
Pointer Sisters – Slow Hand
Pretenders – Back On The Chain Gang
Prince – 1999
Scandal – Goodbye To You
Survivor – Eye Of The Tiger
Total Coelo – I Eat Cannibals
The Waitresses – I Know What Boys Like
Dick from Aliquippa replied:
I definitely agree with this list. The best videos are the early ones, and best of all are the ones that are basically a band’s live performance. I’m old enough to remember ABC’s “In Concert” series late Friday nights, too.
June 19, 2012 at 9:23 pm. Permalink.