On August 1st, 1980, MTV premiered and played a total of 116 music videos over a 24 hour period.  The 18th video that they played was for Michael Johnson’s Bluer than Blue, which features the singer singing about a failing relationship in a blue-tinged house.

This was an early music video, made three years before MTV even premiered so it looks fairly primitive to modern eyes.  It’s still a step up from the performance clips that were used for most music videos during the late 70s.  It actually has a narrative, albeit a simple one.

Enjoy!

The First Videos Shown 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 Pretenders
8. Time Heals by Todd Rundgren
9. Take It On The Run by REO Speedwagon
10. Rockin’ in Paradise by Styx
11. When Things Go Wrong by Robin Lane & 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