On This Day in History: August 1

The Launch of MTV

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Remember when the “M” in MTV stood for “Music” and it wasn’t all Teen Jersey Catfish Mom? Pepperidge Farm remembers. First off, Christopher Cross, despite not being a bassist-for-Duran-Duran pretty boy, is NOT the radio star that video killed. “Sailing” hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the summer of 1980 and won three Grammys the following year. “Arthur’s Theme” also hit #1 and even won a fucking Oscar for Best Original Song in 1981. The song “Video Killed the Radio Star” was first recorded by Bruce Woolley and the Camera Club in 1978, so unless they had a time machine . . .

--On This Day in History, Shit Went Down: August 1, 1981--

On August 1, 1981, MTV launched at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Time, and its first-ever video was a cover of “Video” by a British synth-pop band called the Buggles. Although it’s worth noting that the Buggles’s keyboardist, Geoffrey Downs, was a co-writer of the original song.

MTV wasn’t carried everywhere, but where it was, it had an effect on music sales. Songs that didn’t get radio play but were on MTV saw much demand in record stores. There wasn’t a plethora of American music videos yet, but the Brits had been making them for years and got lots of MTV airtime. The station was credited with launching the “Second British Invasion”—the musical variety; I lost count of how many military/colonizing ones there were—by creating U.S. demand for bands such as The Human League, Billy Idol, Culture Club, Bonnie Tyler, the aforementioned Duran Duran, and people getting A Flock of Seagulls-style haircuts.

Early in the station’s history there was much criticism of its lack of inclusion of Black performers; there were only a select few getting limited play, including Michael Jackson, Donna Summer, and Prince. The success of Jackson’s Thrilleralbum helped “break the color barrier”—the one MTV had erected in the first place—leading to more airtime for Black artists. Although traditionally designed as a pop-rock station, MTV did begin to play rap and hip hop as it emerged in the mid 80s.

I heard “Sailing” on the radio a while ago and it was hot garbage. Cross’s debut album may have been a huge hit at the time, but afterward he languished in obscurity with all his follow-up efforts, and I don’t think it can be blamed on his drunk-uncle looks. Geddy Lee’s mug never graced the cover of Tiger Beat magazine, but that didn’t stop Rush from continuing to experience commercial success in the MTV generation.

Video didn’t kill Cross’s radio star, sucking did.

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