MTV Turns 42 Today

Hard to believe it was 42 years ago that MTV premiered on our TV’s. It’s also hard to believe they have been playing reality TV stuff and the like, longer than they ever played videos.

I remember the daily video countdown they did back in the 80’s. My friend had to race home to make sure he caught the #1 video (and it had been for many weeks) Motley Crue’s Home Sweet Home. I’ll admit, back in the day, it was cool to see this stuff on the TV. I mean, of course, we didn’t have internet and the TV and radio were all we had. Albums were, if I remember correctly, like $7.00 or something like that.

When I was 15, I worked at my first radio station. Now, I grew up in the “Hair Band” era. Bon Jovi, Motley Crue, Iron Maiden, etc. but the radio station I worked at was more like 70’s and 80’s light pop/rock. Michael Bolton, The Eagles, Madonna and so on. But I would bring my $7.00 albums with me to work and play AC/DC, Def Leppard and more, every night. My inspiration was MTV for sure. That’s where I learned all about new music. Ratt, Poison, etc. When MTV actually played videos, it was amazing. We’d watch for HOURS just to see our favorite video. If you miss that little piece of nostalgia, I recommend going to YouTube and go down the rabbit hole.

In fact, CLICK HERE to see the first 2 hours of MTV. It’s a hoot. Happy birthday MTV.

Trivia: How many of you remember the very first video they played on MTV?