Talk:List of first music videos aired on MTV

Incorrect
4th of july 1981 MTV first aired on 4th of July 1981. Noonish eastern time after a prolonged period of a blue screen with white lettering that read Music Channel Coming Soon That was on NY VIACOM. Friday the 13th was on showtime that night. It was about 90 degrees in Hauppauge LI that day. Willie Nelson was having his annual 4th of July Picnic. At least part of this list is incorrect. Time Heals, by Todd Rundgren, was the second video aired on MTV. This BBC Article and MTV bio are proof. If this is wrong, then the integrity of this list is compromised.
 * The MTV Todd Rundgren bio is incorrect. While "Time Heals" was one of the first ten videos played on MTV, it was not #2.
 * MTV's first hour was replayed on MTV on Aug 1 1991, and "Time Heals" was later in the hour - #2 was Pat Benatar's "You Better Run." VH1 Classic is scheduled to replay the entire first day of MTV on Aug 1 2006, so we'll see if that differs in any way. Lambertman 13:38, 21 July 2006 (UTC)
 * VH1 Classic is reairing the entire first day of the August 1st broadcast on August 1st, 2006 at midnight. This list is incorrect. I've noticed many of these songs are completely out of order.
 * Yea, the PhD song is #4 while Time Heals is either 6 or 7 (Pretenders is #5 and Pat Benetar is #2)
 * One Step Ahead by Splitz Enz was #26 not Madness. [unsigned]

Maybe my memory is out of whack, but I sat there and waited for MTV to start broadcasting and I distinctly remember Gary Nueman "Cars" was the first video ever played, then came "Radio Killed The Video Star". And I didn't even see "Cars" listed so I suspect the accuracy of this list whole-heartedly. (and yes Gary Nueman's Cars came out in 1979, so my timeline is accurate) - Signed, Chris Cox. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.8.52.207 (talk) 13:22, 5 May 2011 (UTC) Sorry for the typo, it's Gary Numan and the song is "Cars". —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.8.52.207 (talk) 13:45, 5 May 2011 (UTC)
 * Your memory is out of whack. I lived in New Jersey in 1981 and I stayed up until midnight to watch the launch, and the list on wikipedia is accurate and in the right order.  The first video was VKTRS, then there was a commercial bumper, then the Pat Benatar video, then a taped introduction of all the VJs.  Before they launched, they replayed the first space shuttle launch.  There was no Gary Neuman video. --Trixter (talk) 20:15, 19 June 2012 (UTC)

Mickey
i believe tony basil's "mickey" was the first if not the second artist played on mtv. she did not even make it in the top ten. —Preceding unsigned comment added by ROSONNA123 (talk • contribs) 01:34, 27 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Sorry, you're unquestionably wrong. Lambertman (talk) 03:51, 27 January 2008 (UTC)
 * no doubt, Mickey (song) wasn't released until 1982.Sagefats (talk) 21:41, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

Is it true
Is it true that they ran a test run over the air the night before with another video? [unsigned]

How do you know this info? - TV&MovieFanatic — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2A00:23C8:A31A:8C01:74CB:D705:D9E9:1C9 (talk) 17:41, 1 March 2021 (UTC)

Full list?
Now that VH1 Classic has aired the videos from the first 24 hours of MTV, should the list be expanded to incorporate all those videos? And is there another source which can be used to verify VH1 Classic's airing? [unsigned]
 * VH1 Classic played a few tracks that categorically could not have been played on MTV's first day. For example, the performance of Genesis' "Turn It On Again" that was captured for Three Sides Live was recorded in November of 1981. Three Sides Live wasn't released until 1982. -- ChrisB 18:42, 20 August 2006 (UTC)

Split Enz not Madness
Let me clarify my edit summary. The original source listed the song as "One Step Beyond" by Split Enz. When it was reposted, someone assumed that "Split Enz" was the mistake, and changed it to "Madness". In truth, it was "Beyond" that was the mistake. -- ChrisB 23:21, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

62 Videos in an Hour?
How can this list have 62 items when MTV's first hour (as this is linked to) contains only 60 minutes. That would mean that each music video would have to be under a minute. Hopefully this error will be corrected, or the link that brought me here (first hour) changed. [unsigned]
 * I can't speak for the link that brought you here, but the first hour ended after .38 Special's "Hold on Loosely." Also, please sign your comments. Lambertman 16:02, 28 August 2006 (UTC)
 * This whole list may be suspect, someone used to have "Money for nothing" by the Dire Straits listed as the first video. Sagefats 16:11, 16 February 2007 (UTC)
 * It says that this is the complete video list for the first DAY... if that is the case then it means that they only played an average of just over two and a half songs per hour. [unsigned]
 * Or they played these over and over again. Music videos weren't exactly in ample supply back then, and IIRC MTV couldn't even get rights to all of them that were around. Lambertman (talk) 17:09, 25 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Have you seen how many commercials MTV runs? Two and a half videos per hour might be a bit HIGH... Seriously, MTV was running about 5 videos each half hour in the late '80s when I was a regular viewer. Using that number, that's a bit over 6 hours with the list as given. Was MTV a 24-hour station from the start? Alternatively, if programming started at 6pm, then there would be 6 hours until Midnight- and that might be what's considered the first 'day'. CFLeon (talk) 21:57, 16 December 2008 (UTC)
 * MTV had far fewer commercials back then, and no major advertisers. Remember, most people didn't believe a 24-hour music channel would survive. Admiralh (talk) 05:33, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

Buggles NOT First Video?
"Video Killed the Radio Star" has been replaced at #1 by "I Ran" by Flock of Seagulls with no cites. Is this vandalism? All references still state that VKtRS was the first (full) video shown on MTV. CFLeon (talk) 03:39, 13 December 2008 (UTC)
 * it was vandalism. buggles were the first. don't hesitate to undo the vandalism when you see it, especially when it's unsigned and there's only an IP address.Sagefats (talk) 03:28, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

Dire Straits
some genius keeps vandalizing this list, placing Money for Nothing (song) by the Dire Straits as the first video played by MTV. Since the song debuted in 1985, and since it is common knowledge that The Buggles were first, it is quite impossible for Money for Nothing to have been first. Sagefats (talk) 19:43, 20 April 2010 (UTC) Actually Buggles were 2nd. A song called "Cars" by Gary Numan was first. Least that's what I saw sitting there waiting for them to go on air. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.8.52.207 (talk) 13:43, 5 May 2011 (UTC)

The Silencers
The link to The Silencers doesn't seem right, since according to the link, that band didn't form until 1986. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Admiralh (talk • contribs) 05:30, 29 June 2009 (UTC)
 * There was more than one band called The Silencers. Wikipedia does not list the earlier New Wave band, which had disbanded by 1984.  The list is correct (although if it links to the 1986 Silencers, then it's wrong). --Trixter (talk) 20:17, 19 June 2012 (UTC)

Incomplete list
other videos played during first 24 hrs: -Stevie Nicks: Edge of Seventeen -Dire Straits: Sultan of Swing -Pat Benatar: Heartbreaker and Hit Me with Your Best Shot (live version) -The Police: Roxanne, Message in a Bottle, Don't Stand So Close to Me, De Do Do Do De Da Da Da -Blue Oyster Cult: Burning for You -Styx: Come Sail Away, Renegade -Journey: Anyway You Want It -The Cars: Just What I Needed--98.226.9.223 (talk) 11:37, 7 March 2011 (UTC)


 * Gotta say I think you're right about the two Benatars and the Sultan of Swing. I remember thinking about how it made sense (the song had been out about 3 years at the time, and many of the songs were in that age category - I was in film school that summer, and we were all in front of the TV to pay attention to these little mini-movies and I remember thinking Sultan of Swing made a good attempt) .  I also remember Styx "Come Sail Away" because I had no faces to put with the music until that day and wasn't impressed with their video.  I have written down in a journal from that period only one of these songs though - De Do Do DO De Da Da Da, which I state was the "local favorite" of that first day (I was living in student housing, there were a lot of us).  I had no clue who The Police were until that day or that Sting played bass, but if he wasn't on all day long, then my memory (and my journal) are really off.  Could we have been watching a variety of feed?  I was West Coast/Bay Area.QueenofRods (talk) 05:38, 26 April 2013 (UTC)

What does the "Appearance" column mean?
Could someone please add a note indicating what the "Appearance" column showing numbers like 1/2 or 2/5 means? It's not obvious at all... ToastyKen (talk) 05:06, 15 September 2014 (UTC)
 * I agree, and I've added a note to explain it. (1/2 would mean the first time, out of two total times, that the video was played that day; 2/5 would mean the second time, out of five total times, that the video was played that day.) --Metropolitan90 (talk) 04:40, 16 September 2014 (UTC)

First cover song?
Why do both #2 and #32 have a note describing them as the first cover song to be played? bd2412 T 20:29, 11 June 2016 (UTC)
 * Because the descriptions are WP:OR and someone screwed up. - Sum mer PhD v2.0 02:16, 9 August 2016 (UTC)

Notes/OR
Wow. What was the first video by someone with type A positive blood? What was the first video whose length in seconds is a perfect square? These "notes" are absurd. First video on MTV? Sure, I get it. First song from an EP? First from a Colorado-based musician? No. These would invite more OR: first song from a movie soundtrack/compilation/double album/not on an album/released on CD/not available on cassette/... What about the first from New Jersey/Europe/the Southern Hemisphere? The first first from a deceased artist? The first video played twice? We could do this all week with an endless list of meaningless, trivial firsts. I'll be cleaning many of these out in the next week or so. Any that anyone would care to restore, please cite a reliable source that discusses the video as being that first in an article about MTV. - Sum mer PhD v2.0 21:26, 1 August 2016 (UTC)

Don't Let Him Go - REO Speedwagon
This recording of the first 4 hours of MTV shows Don't Let Him Go by REO Speedwagon as appearing immediately after Olliver's Army by Elvis Costello. Not sure if the video is wrong or the list. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2601:445:4480:14A9:ADFB:B44F:A9FC:6B4B (talk) 01:36, 7 June 2017 (UTC)

List? Where is it?
The article begins "This is a list of ..." but there's no list given. WTF?! JezGrove (talk) 22:07, 25 October 2018 (UTC)

Why is there a Talk topic in the main article?
In the main article there is someone claiming that the list is wrong. That should be here on the Talk page, not in the main article. Keovar (talk) 12:07, 23 February 2024 (UTC)