The seeds were being planted for music video’s eventual takeover: Some of the artists behind 1981’s greatest videos would go on to be defining faces of the franchise, while some of the directors would help mint future stars and set the visual precedent for MTV’s early years. The production values weren’t top-grade and the ideas were often half-baked, but the excitement of embarking upon new and unexplored terrain was palpable. What the videos of 1981 did have on their side, however, was the same amateurish energy and charm as MTV itself. performance shows like Top of the Pops or The Old Grey Whistle Test, or just sent to markets where an artist didn’t plan to tour to give them added visibility - budgets and aims were low, with many shot as rudimentary performance clips, or as unintelligible art pieces. MTV’s golden age would kick off in earnest a couple years later, as the channel’s increasing influence inspired an influx of both label spending and artist ambition - not to mention an emerging class of video auteurs behind the camera, many of whom would eventually make the jump to feature films. Since most 1981 videos were shot before MTV even existed - filmed to be shown on proto-MTV video programs like PopClips or U.K. What’s more, the music videos weren’t quite there yet either: By most estimates, MTV only had somewhere between 100 and 200 videos in their library at the time, and had to lean disproportionately on certain artists with more clips available (like REO Speedwagon and Rod Stewart) simply to fill 24 hours of programming.Īnd the quality of those videos? Well… it wasn’t the highest plane the art form would reach. When MTV first launched on Aug 1, 1981, it wasn’t available in most major markets - the staff held their launch party in Fort Lee, NJ, because no one could get the channel in Manhattan - and the operation was still fairly ramshackle, with a particularly technical difficulty-plagued first 24 hours.
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