I lived in Germany when MTV first started, so I didn’t see it until I was 16. We were visiting friends in San Antonio, Texas, during the Christmas season of 1984. The first video I saw was Hall and Oates’ “Out of Touch” - it’s set on a rooftop. I was so excited - I thought it was the best video ever. The second one was Duran Duran’s “Wild Boys” - remember that one? It had a freaky Mad Max vibe.
30 years old and I still love MTV.
So, what was the first video you saw on MTV?
Men are from Mars, women are from Venus, dogs are from Pluto. - Anonymous
Hungry Like the Wolf was the first video I saw when we finally got cable.
Sorry to get off the topic, but Sealemon88’s post made me think of something. Does anyone else think that showing the making of the video before the premiere ruins your first impression of the video?
It reminds me of seeing all the making of footage of The Matrix before seeing the movie. The whole time I was watching the movie all I could think of was “They used this special effect for this shot”. It doesn’t allow you to suspend disbelief, which I think is a major role in having fun watching a movie/video.
“My guitar is my first wife. It doesn’t scream at me. It screams for me.” SRV
The first video I ever saw was Peace, Love, and Understanding by Elvis Costello.
But on the subject of the first MTV video, what were the Buggles thinking when they wrote that song? Did they intend their song as irony and it ended up turning out to be true? Or was Nostredamus listed in the credits?
The first time I ever saw MTV, I was eight years old & at a friends birthday party. (I grew up without cable TV, if that can be believed.) The video was “Dancin’ in the Streets”, by David Bowie & Mick Jagger. I got so excited I fell off the couch & my head bled & I’ve loved David Bowie ever since.
“All you need to be a superhero is a heart that is pure, a mind that
is strong, and underwear that is fresh!”
There was a video for the song “Cry” by Godley and Cream. It was the grandfather of morphing which is seen in almost every special effects spectacular.
“But on the subject of the first MTV video, what were the Buggles thinking when they wrote that song? Did they intend their song as irony and it ended up turning out to be true? Or was Nostredamus listed in the credits?”
“Video” has been a synonym for “television” (as opposed to a shortening of “music video” or “videotape”) as long as the idea of television has been around. Early on ('40s and '50s), people used “video” as much as “television” because of its rhyming with radio. IIRC, Variety had “video” in its banner heading (“MOVIES THEATER RADIO VIDEO” or something like that) from the late '40s.
Besides, “video killed the radio star” makes no sense if you take video to refer to music videos. Music videos made the “radio stars” (singers and bands) richer, not worse off. But it makes sense as “television killed the radio star”: television meant the end of half-hour and hour-long sitcoms, dramas, variety shows, and such as radio programs.
I think the first one I saw was “Too Much Time on My Hands” by Styx. The all time worst videos had to be Hall and Oates’ early where they are standing in front of a black sheet (or what have you) and playing their instruments. They did two or three videos like that. They were so imaginative, weren’t they?
But ya gotta love “Fish Heads”–anyone remember that one??
