MTV has reached manhood, or womanhood if you prefer, as it celebrates it’s 30th birthday this weekend. MTV was launched on 1st August 1981. The first images broadcast were the launch of the Apollo 11, which rather dates it now but would have been fresh in the recent memory at the time!! The opening video was the Buggles song “Video Killed The Radio Star.” Ironically 30 years on, the Internet and You Tube have killed the Video Star!!

MTV has undergone many changes and permutations in the past 30 years, but this weekend VH1 Classic will commemorate MTV’s 30th Anniversary with a three-day broadcast of footage from the 1980s, including a re-broadcast of MTV’s opening hour, kicking off tomorrow morning at 6am, Saturday 30th July.

In a recent Rolling Stone interview, VJ Mark Goodman recollects that he was a 28-year-old disc jockey when he auditioned for MTV in 1981. He recalls: “During one of the auditions I had to interview Robert Morton, who went on to produce David Letterman’s show, as he pretended to be Billy Joel. He was just being a total ******* asshole on purpose to make it the worst possible interview. In another round, I had to talk to the audience about the Eagles, whose photos were pasted up on a poster board on an easel”.

In the interview Mark Goodman remembers that it took some time for all the major artists to begin making videos and he explains the initial obstacles MTV faced – “I think we only had 300 videos at first, which is why you saw Andrew Gold every few hours. We also had lots of Rod Stewart, and even acts like Charlie Daniels. One of the early success stories were Duran Duran. We started playing ‘Planet Earth’ early on and it got them wide exposure. We started to hear about British bands coming to the States and being shocked by how many people showed up”.

In his Rolling Stone interview, Mark Goodman describes the massive significance of the advent of MTV to the record and music industry – “We sort of propped it up when there was kind of an indulgence in the industry. We were coming off Saturday Night Fever in 1979 and the industry had this gigantic bubble and then things got awfully quiet. We came along just in time and revitalised things, or at least opened people up to more music”.

In the UK, MTV launched the careers of Justin Collins, Davina McCall and Russell Brand who have all gone on to bigger and better things. In the UK we also had “Max Headroom”, which aired on a Saturday afternoon and showcased the latest music videos of the day. At the time, like MTV, it was cutting edge and it is easy to forget what an intrinsic part of the record industry’s promotion of it’s artists, the video was in the 1980s. So Many Happy returns to MTV….and thanks for the memories…….

You can capture, preserve and re-live the memories of the 1980s music and accompanying videos by ordering your favourite vinyl record or CD, single or album, framed and mounted as a picture disc. ORDER NOW by clicking on…….. http://www.myfirstrecord.co.uk/

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