# MTV is 30 years old today. What was your favorite early MTV video? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 1, 2011, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mtv-is-30-years-old-today-what-was-your-favorite-early-mtv-video/591033 "2011-08-01T13:36:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mtv-is-30-years-old-today-what-was-your-favorite-early-mtv-video/591033/21 "2011-08-01T15:27:51Z")
My brother and I would come running to see Motley Crue’s [Smokin’ In the Boys’ Room](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4E2nFXaeMA), or Ozzy’s [Shot in the Dark](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Rm44ULq0X0), or Ratt’s [Round and Round](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0u8teXR8VE4&ob=av2e), or…well, pretty much all of it back in those days. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mtv-is-30-years-old-today-what-was-your-favorite-early-mtv-video/591033/22 "2011-08-01T15:32:44Z")
[Owner of a Lonely Heart](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELpmmeT69cE) - Yes ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mtv-is-30-years-old-today-what-was-your-favorite-early-mtv-video/591033/23 "2011-08-01T16:27:29Z")
Tawni Kitaen wet and rolling all over a car by White Snake. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mtv-is-30-years-old-today-what-was-your-favorite-early-mtv-video/591033/24 "2011-08-01T17:37:45Z")
[Cry](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxtPRF6NG7I) by Godley and Creme ---
**Author:** ![Laggard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de053/32.png) [@Laggard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laggard)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mtv-is-30-years-old-today-what-was-your-favorite-early-mtv-video/591033/25 "2011-08-01T18:16:54Z")
Two Tribes by Frankie Goes to Hollywood ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mtv-is-30-years-old-today-what-was-your-favorite-early-mtv-video/591033/26 "2011-08-01T18:23:21Z")
What I remember (from visiting my grandparents who had cable and we didn’t, so I only saw about 10 hour of MTV the first few years it was running … but I digress), was a full-length Ozzy Osbourne concert, with Randy Rhodes, shot on video … he had the blue tights and the not-quite finished tattoos a-rockin’. … I’d never seen anything quite like it. I don’t even think I’d been to an actual concert myself at the time. (actually, I can’t remember if Rhodes played or not, but I think he did … when did he snuff it again?) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mtv-is-30-years-old-today-what-was-your-favorite-early-mtv-video/591033/27 "2011-08-01T18:34:08Z")
Not my favourite, I really have no love for her music at all, but I always associate that early 80’s MTV stuff with Madonna’s “Lucky Star”. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mtv-is-30-years-old-today-what-was-your-favorite-early-mtv-video/591033/28 "2011-08-01T18:48:11Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > Tawni Kitaen wet and rolling all over a car by White Snake. Oh, yeah! In a similar vein (and maybe NSFW): [Hot for Teacher by Van Halen](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0XLKcMoXRE) [Girls, Girls, Girls by Motely Crue](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B94tdKkY_s8) ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mtv-is-30-years-old-today-what-was-your-favorite-early-mtv-video/591033/29 "2011-08-01T18:50:50Z")
I think I’ll go with “Sledgehammer”. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mtv-is-30-years-old-today-what-was-your-favorite-early-mtv-video/591033/30 "2011-08-01T18:55:45Z")
Not really a _favorite_, but a video that stands out in my memory is the [Genesis - Land of Confusion](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zU9lv_WqK6k) video with the Spitting Image puppets. ---
**Author:** ![dzeiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/46a35a/32.png) [@dzeiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dzeiger)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mtv-is-30-years-old-today-what-was-your-favorite-early-mtv-video/591033/31 "2011-08-01T19:04:16Z")
> [@Don\_Draper](#): > > [Owner of a Lonely Heart](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELpmmeT69cE) - Yes With extra bonus points for making Jon Anderson look something like a badass. Golden Earring’s _Twilight Zone_ was awesome. (_When the Lady Smiles_ was better, but I think the video’s subject matter prevented it from getting much airplay). _Thriller_ was the video we all ran to the TV to watch whenever it came on. As a kid who wasn’t particularly familiar with Elton John at the time, _I’m Still Standing_ really jumped out at me, even among the other strangeness of early videos. And Road Warrior Sting was really cool in _Synchronicity II_ ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mtv-is-30-years-old-today-what-was-your-favorite-early-mtv-video/591033/32 "2011-08-01T19:10:52Z")
> [@dzeiger](#): > > Golden Earring’s _Twilight Zone_ was awesome. (_When the Lady Smiles_ was better, but I think the video’s subject matter prevented it from getting much airplay). Now I have to watch that again. I only remember seeing it once, but don’t recall anything too salacious about it (at least compared to, say, David Lee Roth’s “California Girls”. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mtv-is-30-years-old-today-what-was-your-favorite-early-mtv-video/591033/33 "2011-08-01T19:14:49Z")
I have now watched [When the Lady Smiles](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYxp6OIEZlk)again. It seems I was rather oblivious when I was 14. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mtv-is-30-years-old-today-what-was-your-favorite-early-mtv-video/591033/34 "2011-08-01T19:23:19Z")
Even though I didn’t like \*Synchronicity \*a tenth as much as I liked all their previous albums, I do have a soft-spot in my heart for all those goofy Police videos … expecially the one for “Synchonicity II.” ---
**Author:** ![Agnostic\_Pagan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c4cdca/32.png) [@Agnostic\_Pagan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agnostic_Pagan)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mtv-is-30-years-old-today-what-was-your-favorite-early-mtv-video/591033/35 "2011-08-01T19:34:24Z")
[True Faith](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=og1HAkjOuL0) by New Order. I had heard of surrealism. That was the first time I had seen it. It came out in '87 so it is a bitter younger than most of the others mentioned, but still from the ‘golden’ age of videos. [Love is A Stranger](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6f593X6rv8&ob=av2e) is still one of my favorite videos. Actually there are very few videos by Annie and Dave I don’t like. And she is still sexy as hell. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mtv-is-30-years-old-today-what-was-your-favorite-early-mtv-video/591033/36 "2011-08-01T20:09:49Z")
When I was a wee lad of 8, my family finally got cable television, and one of the first channels I checked out was MTV. First video I ever saw was Genesis’ [“That’s All.”](http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xigxw_phil-collins-genesis-that-s-all_news) Some videos that hold a special place in my heart, for various reasons: \*Divinyls’ [“I Touch Myself.”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wv-34w8kGPM&ob=av3n) Nirvana’s [“Smells Like Teen Spirit.”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTWKbfoikeg&ob=av2e) Dr Dre ft Snoop Doggy Dogg’s [“Dre Day.”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xS9hvs5F7s) Paul Simon’s [“The Boy in the Bubble.”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uy5T6s25XK4) George Harrison’s [“Got My Mind Set on You.”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GdeU0ww4zY) \*George Michael’s [“Freedom 90.”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diYAc7gB-0A&ob=av2e) - I was 15/16 when these songs came out, so my fondness for these videos should be somewhat apparent. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mtv-is-30-years-old-today-what-was-your-favorite-early-mtv-video/591033/37 "2011-08-01T20:24:10Z")
> [@Don\_Draper](#): > > [Owner of a Lonely Heart](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELpmmeT69cE) - Yes Concur. ---
**Author:** ![kiz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7feea3/32.png) [@kiz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kiz)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mtv-is-30-years-old-today-what-was-your-favorite-early-mtv-video/591033/38 "2011-08-01T20:26:56Z")
> [@BMalion](#): > > Hell, I remember _Don Kirschner’s Rock Concert_, you kids. You’re not the only one 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mtv-is-30-years-old-today-what-was-your-favorite-early-mtv-video/591033/39 "2011-08-01T20:29:16Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > George Harrison’s [“Got My Mind Set on You.”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GdeU0ww4zY) I always preferred [the original music video for this song](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-xk6m8qvM8&feature=related). I was flabbergasted a couple of years ago when someone pointed out that the guy in the video is a very young Alexis Denisof (of _BtVS_ and _Angel_ fame). ---
**Author:** ![Mewl\_Dear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Mewl\_Dear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mewl_Dear)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mtv-is-30-years-old-today-what-was-your-favorite-early-mtv-video/591033/40 "2011-08-01T20:47:14Z")
Call Me Al and Me and Julio by Paul Simon. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mtv-is-30-years-old-today-what-was-your-favorite-early-mtv-video/591033.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mtv-is-30-years-old-today-what-was-your-favorite-early-mtv-video/591033.md?page=3)