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