Watch MTV’s first day on air in 1981

MTV changed the music world when it debuted in 1981 with it’s original culture impact bringing new adventurous music to the masses with wild visuals and an overall sense of cool. A wonderful person has revived all of that fun as it aired on TV with all of the VJ’s, interviews, outdated commercials, and of course the music videos featured in hundreds of hours of video posted on Internet Archive. Yeah, you won’t see any of reality shows that the channel is known for now.

Here is what MTV was like when it first signed on the air on August 1, 1981 as a channel that some thought was ridiculous at the time.  It would go on to change the music industry in a massive way in the decades to come.

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This Youtube channel shared the first 2 half hours of MTV which is very odd as it’s so music focused, emphasizing how to adjust your stereo so you can get the most of the broadcast, and very dated commercials for some obsolete products. Music is included from the Buggles (who had the first ever video on the channel), Iron Maiden, the Preteneders,. REO Speedwagon and more.