1968 (Forty years later...)

[MaineWriter]

LOL! I remember Ed sullivan but the others were a bit before me. I grew up with American bandstand and soul train! LOL
I remember watcdhing MTV for the first time in 82 as well! It was great! Not like what it is now. Do they even play music anymore?
I think the first video I saw was Hungry like the wolf!

I watched Soul Train in college. God, I loved that show! LOL

Hungry Like the Wolf by Duran Duran is a terrific video. So is Rio. You can watch them both on YouTube. I think the first video I saw was one of the first videos they ever showed: Video Killed the Radio Star. Great stuff!

L

[Katie77]

We had an Australian version of Bandstand which featured only Australian artists.

I remember seeing the Bee Gees on there, three young kids from England, who sang a song called "My Old Mans a Dustman".

Also Helen Reddy, who actually won a talent quest on our Bandstand and her prize was a trip to America....where she became a star. Actually at the time, Helen's sister, Toni Lamond was a very popular artist in stage and comedy shows. Helen was an unknown here until she made it big over there.

And of course Olivia Newton John, she was always on Bandstand. She was just a young teenager.

Oh and how can I forget Peter Allen.....he was part of the Bankdstand "family". Back then he was in a duo, and they were called The Allen Brothers, even though they weren't really brothers.

And of course we had our own Aussie stars that never ventured overseas, but still became legends here.

We also had another show on every afternoon. It was called Komotion...and Aussies would mime the songs of overseas artists......it was a very popular show, and was our only chance then, to hear those songs on TV, even though we were not seeing the real singer sing them.

[Aloysius J. Gleek]

Ok, it's not a 60's thread, but it seems right to add:

I saw my first music video in 1982 and almost fainted. I thought it was the greatest invention since the LP. LOL.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_music_videos_aired_on_MTV

First music videos aired on MTV
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is a list of the first music videos aired on MTV. These music videos were played on MTV's first day, August 1, 1981.

1.  "Video Killed the Radio Star" by The Buggles
2.  "You Better Run" by Pat Benatar
3.  "She Won't Dance With Me" by Rod Stewart (Contains use of the word "fuck" by Stewart [1]. A VH1 broadcast of the video posted on YouTube suggests the word was never edited from the video [2].)
4.  "You Better You Bet" by The Who
5.  "Little Suzi's on the Up" by Ph.D.
6.  "We Don't Talk Anymore" by Cliff Richard
7.  "Brass in Pocket" by The Pretenders
8.  "Time Heals" by Todd Rundgren
9.  "Take It On the Run" by REO Speedwagon
10. "Rockin' the Paradise" by Styx
11. "When Things Go Wrong" by Robin Lane and the Chartbusters
12. "History Never Repeats" by Split Enz
13. "Hold On Loosely" by 38 Special
14. "Just Between You and Me" by April Wine
15. "Sailing" by Rod Stewart
16. "Iron Maiden" by Iron Maiden
17. "Keep On Loving You" by REO Speedwagon
18. "Message of Love" by The Pretenders
19. "Mr. Briefcase" by Lee Ritenour
20. "Double Life" by The Cars
21. "In the Air Tonight" by Phil Collins
22. "Looking For Clues" by Robert Palmer
23. "Too Late" by Shoes
24. "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" by Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
"Surface Tension" by Rupert Hine
25. "One Step Ahead" by Split Enz
26. "Baker Street" by Gerry Rafferty
27. "I'm Gonna Follow You" by Pat Benatar
28. "Savannah Nights" by Tom Johnston
29. "Lucille" by Rockestra
30. "The Best of Times" by Styx
31. "Vengeance" by Carly Simon
32. "Wrathchild" by Iron Maiden
33. "I Wanna Be a Lifeguard" by Blotto
34. "Passion" by Rod Stewart
35. "Oliver's Army" by Elvis Costello
36. "Don't Let Him Go" by REO Speedwagon
37. "Remote Control/Illegal" by The Silencers
38. "Angel of the Morning" by Juice Newton
39. "Little Sister" by Rockpile with Robert Plant
40. "Hold On to the Night" by Bootcamp
41. "Dreaming" by Cliff Richard
42. "Is it You?" by Lee Ritenour
43. "Tusk" by Fleetwood Mac
44. "He Can't Love You" by Michael Stanley Band
45. "Tough Guys" by REO Speedwagon
46. "Rapture" by Blondie
47. "Don't Let Go the Coat" by The Who
48. "Ain't Love a Bitch" by Rod Stewart
49. "Talk of the Town" by The Pretenders
50. "Can't Happen Here" by Rainbow
51. "Thank You for Being a Friend" by Andrew Gold
52. "Bring It All Home" by Gerry Rafferty
53. "Sign of the Gypsy Queen" by April Wine
54. "The Man with the Child in His Eyes" by Kate Bush
55. "Ashes to Ashes" by David Bowie
56. "Just Between You and Me" by April Wine
57. "Rat Race" by The Specials
58. "Once in a Lifetime" by Talking Heads
59. "Victim" by Bootcamp
60. "Tonight's the Night" by Rod Stewart
61. "Cruel to Be Kind" by Nick Lowe

I think the first video I saw was one of the first videos they ever showed: Video Killed the Radio Star. Great stuff!

Played on MTV's first day, August 1, 1981:
1.  "Video Killed the Radio Star" by The Buggles
(That I knew--I loved that song!)

I'm listening to the Jukebox now, "Angel of the Morning."  Thanks, it's great. 

Played on MTV's first day, August 1, 1981:
38. "Angel of the Morning" by Juice Newton (Who knew? Not me!)



Me, I'm a visual guy, and not very musical; that's just the brain works.  For whatever reason, this novelty song by a Norwegian band on MTV in 1985 finally penetrated my brain, and I thought--oh, that's what video is for!! I loved it.

A-ha -- Take On Me     (1984)
[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUod3jGQt0U[/youtube]

(By the way--aren't the clothes and hair a scream?? And for you younger folk, the final image of this video is not a reference from The Matrix (1999), which had been not created yet, but from the 1980 film, Altered States, with William Hurt and Blair Brown.)

[southendmd]

Thanks for that memory, John.  Wow, that animation still holds up after all these years. 

[Meryl]

That A-ha video has always been a favorite of mine!  Thanks for the blast from the past, John.  I wish all videos had that terrific creativity and joy. 

[Aloysius J. Gleek]

Thanks! I really loved that early MTV period, too, when they all began to get creative!

For visuals, you can't beat the following:


Dire Straits - Money for nothing     (1984)
[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNaKWXqXkhw&feature=related[/youtube]


Peter Gabriel - Sledgehammer    (1986)
[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqyc37aOqT0[/youtube]


Peter Gabriel - Big Time    (1986)
[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0FBi5Rv1ho&feature=related[/youtube]

[Katie77]

Oh....I love Dire Straits, my favourite being "Going Home" (instrumental).....powerful powerful music.

As a footnote to when I mentioned my son being an Elvis fan....back when he was a teenager, he would be in his room listenng to Elvis and Hubby and I would be in another room listening to Dire Straits.....talk about topsy turvy.....

[MaineWriter]

I was just reading an article about Peter Gabriel and they were talking about Sledgehammer. Everyone tried to talk him out of the idea and he was adamant and now it has become one of the most famous music videos of all.

I love that A-Ha video...and so does my 17 year old daughter. Which says something about young people liking their parents' music!

We were in Jamaica in 1989 and saw the group The Fixx filming a music video called "This Magic Stone." We sat and watched the filming for a few hours and I remember my sister memorably saying to me, "No wonder they use drugs...you'd have to, to manage to get through this crap and make it look realistic."

I never heard the song on the radio nor saw the video on TV so obviously it was a flop, but I can still hum a few bars of the melody (courtesy of Leslie's vault brain).

L

[Katie77]

II never heard the song on the radio nor saw the video on TV so obviously it was a flop, but I can still hum a few bars of the melody (courtesy of Leslie's vault brain).

L

Yeah Leslie.....we all have that Wurlitzer Juke Box up there in our brain.......and the music just keep going on and on.....

[Lynne]

We saw Peter Gabriel live in Worcester, MA circa 1996 and it was a terrific show.  Some of his songs (like Sledgehammer) relied on nostalgia and his pants were wicked tight...still fun tho!!