8 Oh-So-1980s MTV Staples Actually Recorded in the ’70s
Thirty-five years ago last week, on August 1, 1981, the now-famous Music Television Network, better known as MTV, debuted. Sadly, the MTV that exists today is a far cry from the channel that was created to play music videos all day and target young men and women with time to kill and hopefully, money to burn on music.
As someone who was still in college when the channel debuted, I can tell you that for music lovers watching MTV in those early years, it could easily become an obsession. It played 116 different videos the first day they were on the air, and though, like many people, I knew who Rod Stewart, the Who, Stevie Nicks, and others were and what they looked like, it was something entirely different to see Talking Heads, the Pretenders, the Cars, Blondie, and others for the first time – not to mention people I’d never even heard of such as the Buggles and the Vapors.
I’m not going to try and give a history of the ideas behind MTV here, nor discuss whose idea it was or how original the whole concept was (though, interestingly, REBEAT favorite Mike Nesmith of the Monkees is often credited as one of the individuals behind the concept of a music television network). Music videos had existed for a while before MTV came along and were often used to promote songs, though more frequently in Britain than in the US.
Thus, the founders of MTV saw the 24-hour-a-day airing of videos as a win-win: product that the record companies already had available and that the network could hopefully use for free, and the record companies would in turn be able to promote their artists. Predictably, though, until MTV created the widespread demand for videos, the pickings were pretty slim at first.
As a result, despite the fact that MTV is seen as a showcase for ’80s music, a number of songs that became iconic MTV videos were not new songs recorded in the ’80s. Though here at REBEAT, we generally don’t deal with ’80s music, I’m on safe ground here as I take a look at eight iconic MTV videos that were actually made in the 1970s.
1) “Heart of Glass,” Blondie (1978)
One of several songs on this list whose video was played on the very first day MTV aired, this single from the group’s 1978 album Parallel Lines went all the way to #1 on the charts in 1979. Blondie had actually been making videos for a while, and as Debbie Harry told I Want My MTV, “We started making videos in 1976…a lot of times we couldn’t go to England to promote a single, and they used a lot of video on TV there. We had a big following in Australia as well, and traveling to Australia every time you released a song was out of the question.”
In that sense, videos were practical, but perhaps the unintended consequence was that videos made former go-go dancer and Playboy bunny Harry a star in her own right. Blondie’s videos made the group, and especially Harry, one of the faces of the fledgling network, and videos such as “Heart of Glass” certainly didn’t hurt. “My nipples are showing in ‘Heart of Glass.’ Maybe that’s why people liked the video so much,” she said.
2) “Video Killed the Radio Star,” The Buggles (1979)
The first video MTV played on its very first day of operation, it has since become famous perhaps for that reason alone. The Buggles saw the song break into the Top 10 around the world, and it actually hit #1 in 11 countries, though it stalled at #40 in the US and would be the group’s only chart appearance in this country.
Released in the US in November 1979, its fame was ensured if, for nothing else, in that it became the answer to the trivia question, “What was the first video played on MTV?”
3) “Whip It,” Devo (1979)
Devo started playing this song at their concerts in late 1979, but they didn’t release it as a single until 1980. Is there any song on this list that’s more MTV-like, more New Wave-representative, than this one?
Actually, Devo has another video worthy of mention, their 1977 cover of “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.” The image of the spazzing punk, and the man/baby sticking the fork in the toaster were frequent images seen in MTV promo spots as well.
4) “Love Stinks,” J. Geils Band (1979)
Recorded in 1979 and released as a single in 1980, the song wasn’t a big Top 40 hit, peaking at #38. But the group had struggled to stay relevant in the 1970s, and the video for “Love Stinks” was a springboard into the MTV rotation and was, in fact, played on the network’s first day on the air. MTV seemed to resurrect the group’s career; after MTV debuted, songs such as “Centerfold” and “Freeze Frame” — and their videos — brought the group their greatest fame.
5) “Pop Musik,” M (1979)
Released in the UK in May 1979, and then in August of that year in the US and Canada, by the fall it had hit #1 in England, Canada, Australia, Denmark, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, and the US. The promotional video for the song featuring lead singer Robin Scott fared well on the heels of the song’s #1 status and was a mainstay of early MTV play even in 1981.
6) “Cars,” Gary Numan (1979)
Released in 1979, Numan’s first — and only — chart hit in the US didn’t break into the Top 10 until 1980. Taken from his extremely successful album The Pleasure Principle, the song was the first of several dozen chart hits Numan landed in England and Ireland. Long seen as a representative New Wave hit, Numan’s appearance and the unconventionality of the video led to it being played frequently in MTV’s early days.
7) “Brass in Pocket,” The Pretenders (1979)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASQSTjgf7zs
Of the performers on this list, perhaps the Pretenders and Blondie are the two groups whose repeated success and characteristic ’80s “look” made many of their videos see heavy rotation on MTV. Taken from their Top 10 US-charting album Pretenders, “Brass in Pocket” went to #1 in several countries, though the single peaked at #14 in the US.
Another video that debuted on MTVs first day, the group’s greatest success in the US came after MTV debuted, when videos such as “Back on the Chain Gang” and “Don’t Get Me Wrong” were MTV mainstays and whose airplay was no doubt bolstered by lead singer Chrissie Hynde’s “tough-rock-‘n’-roll-chick” good looks coupled with their gritty sound.
8) “What I Like About You,” The Romantics (1979)
Recorded in 1979, few songs embody the music, fashion, and frenetic pace of ’80s music more than this video. There’s no “story” in this video, and in fact, it’s just the band playing the song. It’s still a lot of fun to watch though and was great to listen to even if it was underappreciated at the time. It wasn’t a big chart hit — it peaked at #49 — but its reputation grew over the years and led to it being identified as one of the most representative hits of the ’80s.
