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Relive the first 4 hours of MTV that magical Summer day back in August of 1981.
On August 1, 1981, MTV Music Television made its cable debut as one of its creators, John Lack, announced “Ladies and gentlemen: Rock and Roll!”

Here’s a list of the first 25 videos played on MTV:

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
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. “Bluer Than Blue” by Michael Johnson
19. “Message of Love” by The Pretenders
20. “Mr. Briefcase” by Lee Ritenour
21. “Double Life” by The Cars
22. “In The Air Tonight” by Phil Collins
23. “Looking for Clues” by Robert Palmer
24. “Too Late” by Shoes
25. “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” by Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

Song Facts for “Video Killed the Radio Star”

The song was released in 1979 by the electro-pop duo of Geoff Downes and Trevor Horn, better known as The Buggles. “Video” reached No. 1 on the U.K. singles chart, taken from “The Age of Plastic” album. The pair briefly joined Yes in 1980, with Downes later going on to form the Supergroup Asia and Horn, The Art of Noise. Trevor Horn became a successful record producer, overseeing music by ABC, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Pet Shop Boys, and Simple Minds. He and Seal won the "Record of the Year" Grammy in 1994 for “Kiss From a Rose.”

Note: Tape is edited. Many ad breaks are gone, one video has ""ORIGINAL SEGMENT MISSING"" overlaid, and we come out of a video and Mark names a different video. All spots for The Movie Channel seem to have the same video roll issue.

Also, report segments seem to be missing their voiceovers

shotlist:
0:00:00 colorbars
0:00:04 Bump: Apollo launch moon landing (long logo jingle)
0:01:12 Video: Video Killed The Radio Star - Buggles (video noise in first few seconds)
0:04:43 Bump: ""In the beginning there was music""
0:05:43 Video: You Better Run - Pat Benatar
0:08:46 VJ intros: Alan Hunter, Martha Quinn, JJ Jackson, Nina Blackwood, Mark Goodman
0:10:15 Ad: The Bulk 3-ring binder
0:10:44 Ad: Superman II movie Now Playing Everywhere
0:11:14 Ad: Dolby Noise Reduction (video dropouts)
0:11:45 VJ spot with Mark
0:12:00 Video: She Won't Dance With Me - Rod Stewart
0:14:20 Bump: Vast Wasteland
0:14:30 Video: You Better You Bet - The Who
0:18:15 VJ spot with Mark; Announcing the ""MTV Dial Position Sticker""
0:19:03 Ad: Mountain Dew: Give Me A Dew! (innertubes) (video dropouts)
0:19:32 Ad: Interfaith Hunger Appeal
0:20:02 Bump: REO in Concert! Sat, Aug 8
0:20:14 Video: Little Susie's On The Up - PH.D.
0:23:19 Video: We Don't Talk Anymore - Cliff Richard
0:27:18 Video: Brass in Pocket - Pretenders
0:30:15 Bump: Flag on Moon with Mark voiceover
0:30:25 Video: Time Heals - Todd Rundgren
0:33:47 Video: Take It On The Run - REO Speedwagon (interrupted by some error?)
0:33:59 black screen with tone (tape stops?)
0:34:15 VJ Spot: Mark with ""Dial Sticker"" (cut?)
0:34:55 Ad: Chewels gum
0:35:37 Video: Rockin' Paradise - Styx
0:40:18 Ad: Andron fragrances
0:40:48 Ad: Atari 2600
0:41:18 Video: When Things Go Wrong - Robin Lane & The Chartbusters (video dropout)
0:44:33 Bump: Apollo rocket interspersed with music video shots
0:44:43 VJ: Mark introduces report segment on The Ramones homecoming
0:45:16 Report: The Ramones homecoming
0:46:10 VJ: Mark ""call your cable company"" to ask for MTV
0:46:35 Ad: The Movie Channel (video rolling, dropout)
0:47:05 Bump: Don't Watch That, Watch This
0:47:35 Video: History Never Repeats - Split Enz
0:50:28 Video: Hold On Loosely - 38 Special
0:55:04 Bump: Apollo launch moon landing - Mark voiceover
0:55:40 Video: Just Between You & Me - April Wine
0:59:32 Video: Sailing - Rod Stewart
1:03:55 VJ: Mark: Stevie Nicks involved in heavy metal?
1:04:16 Ad: Dolby Nouse Reduction (video dopout)
1:04:52 VJ: Mark: introduces ""Inside Line"" edition 1: Heavy Metal film soundtrack; Elvis Costello goes country?; On Tour;
1:06:40 Video: Iron Maiden - Iron Maiden
1:10:36 Ad: The Movie Channel (video rolls)
1:11:06 Bump: REO in Concert!
1:11:16 Video: Keep On Loving You - REO Speedwagon
1:14:33 VJ: Mark teases trip contest
1:14:46 Ad: Nickelodeon - Follow the Silver Ball
1:15:17 Bump: ""Before MTV""
1:15:58 Video: Bluer Than Blue - Michael Johnson (no title overlays)
1:18:47 Video: Message of Love - Pretenders (audio blown out)
1:22:08 Video: Mr. Briefcase - Lee Ritenour (video dropouts)
1:25:35 Bump: Flag on moon - Mark voiceover
1:25:45 Video: Double Life - The Cars
1:29:39 Video: In The Air Tonight - Phil Collins
1:34:18 VJ: Mark teases how record collecting could be worth more than baseball cards
1:34:31 Bump: ""if you're not listening in stereo, you're only getting half the picture""
1:35:00 VJ: Mark introduces report on rock memorabilia collecting
1:35:21 Report: Rock memorabilia collecting (montage of clips to What A Wonderful World by Sam Cooke. Any voiceover is not present.)
1:36:23 VJ: Mark talks about upcoming tour dates
1:36:51 Video: Looking For Clues - Robert Palmer
1:40:28 Bump: Vast Wasteland
1:40:47 Video: Tool Late - Shoes
1:43:26 VJ: Mark says call your cable company
1:43:45 Video: Stop Draggin' My Heart Around - Stevie Nicks
1:47:42 black screen with audio from Da Ya Think I'm Sexy by Rod Stewart
1:48:06 Video: Surface Tension - Rupert Hine (Has overlay note ""ORIGINAL SEGMENT MISSING"" and says this video was taken from a rebroadcast)
1:51:38 Video: One Step Ahead - Split Enz
1:54:24 Video: Baker Street - Gerry Rafferty
1:58:49 VJ: Mark: teases ""bugging of John Lennon's control room""
1:59:02 Bump: ""Music as it was meant to be seen""
1:59:32 VJ: Mark: ""Inside Line"" segment on bugging of Lennon's control room; Discusses Talking Heads solo acts; Mentions Journey tour
2:01:21 Bump: Space launch faring jettison, ""somthing new for planet Earth""
2:01:36 cut into Video: I'm Gonna Follow You - Pat Benatar (no title overlays)
2:05:41 Bump: ""Something new for planet Earth""
2:05:52 Video: Savannah Nights - Tom Johnston
2:09:35 VJ: Mark: teases REO in Concert event
2:10:01 Ad: The Movie Channel (video rolls)
2:10:30 Ad: The Leukemia Society of America with cast of MASH ""Only a matter of time""
2:11:00 Bump: ""In the beginning""
2:12:00 Video: Lucille - Rockestra (unusual title overlay at start)
2:14:59 Video: The Best Of Times - Styx
2:19:12 Bump: Spaceman and flag - Mark voiceover
2:19:25 audio left over from edit?
2:19:33 Video: Vengeance - Carly Simon
2:23:41 Video: Wrathchild - Iron Maiden
2:26:36 VJ: Mark: teases story about the people who do ""one of the toughest jobs in rock and roll""
2:26:47 Ad: Dolby Noise Reduction (with video dropout again)
2:27:17 VJ: Mark: introduces report about ""The Life of a Roadie"" by Joanne Green (sp?)
2:27:42 Report: The Life of a Roadie by Joanne Green (sp?) (tape playback issues. no voices, only music.)
2:28:43 VJ: Mark: French dentist invents musical toothbrush
2:29:13 Video: I Wanna Be A Lifeguard - Blotto
2:32:58 Bump: ""giant step into the future""
2:33:09 Video: Passion - Rod Stewart
2:38:38 VJ: Mark: ""the latest music form created by artists - video music"" here on MTV
2:38:52 Video: Oliver's Army - Elvis Costello
2:41:53 Video: Don't Let Him Go - REO Speedwagon (no title. audio is quiet.)
2:45:52 Video: Remote Control - The Silencers (no title. quiet audio.)
2:49:46 Bump: Apollo launch moon landing with Mark voiceover ""rocketing into our fourth hour""
2:50:22 Video: Angel Of The Morning - Juice Newton (video dropouts and jitter)
2:54:12 Video: Little Sister - Rock Pile
2:57:56 VJ: Mark: teases spot ""should this album be rated PG or X - the unknown?""
2:58:12 Bump: ""don't watch that! Watch this!""
2:58:42 VJ: Mark: ""Inside line"" segment on push for ratings on records; The Clash appearing in Martin Scrosese's ""King of Comedy""; Island Records producing documentary about Bob Marley; concert tour news; Maryland man Larry McCurdy invents ""Stereo Eyephones"" (like earphones)
3:00:43 Video: Hold On To The Night - Bootcamp
3:03:57 Video: Dreaming - Cliff Richard
3:07:38 Bump: ""Celebrate the arrival of MTV""
3:07:50 Video: Is It You - Lee Ritenour
3:11:36 VJ: Mark: Get our MTV poster before everyone else!
3:12:07 Ad: Nancy Reagan on the Foster Grandparent program (video dropout at start)
3:13:06 Video: Tusk - Fleetwood Mac
3:16:20 Bump: REO Speedwagon in Concert
3:16:38 Video: He Can't Love You - Michael Stanley
3:20:08 Bump: Flag logo with Mark voiceover
3:20:19 Video: Tough Guys - REO Speedwagon
3:23:59 Video: Rapture - Blondie
3:28:48 VJ: Mark
3:29:04 Bump: ""Before MTV, people had to work hard to entertain themselves""
3:29:35 VJ: Mark: introduces report by Alex Bennet about Gary U.S. Bonds at the Hollywood Bowl
3:29:47 Report: Gary U.S. Bonds at the Hollywood Bowl (can't hear voiceover over the music)
3:30:44 VJ: Mark: concert info
3:31:10 Video: Don't Let Go The Coat - The Who
3:34:37 Bump: ""vast wasteland""
3:34:48 Video: Ain't Love A Bitch - Rod Stewart
3:39:09 VJ: Mark
3:39:19 Video: Talk Of The Town - Pretenders
3:42:32 Video: Can't Happen Here - Rainbow
3:46:35 Video: Thank You For Being A Friend - Andrew Gold
3:51:14 Bump: Apollo launch moon landing - Mark voiceover about the next hour.
3:51:51 END