"Ladies and gentlemen, rock 'n' roll." Those were the words spoken by Warner Cable executive John Lack on Aug. 1, 1981, at 12:01 am when MTV — Music Television — went on air for the very first time.
You watched the moment the future of pop culture flickered to life: MTV launched at 12:01 a.m. on August 1, 1981, and the first video, "Video Killed the Radio Star," announced a new visual era for ...
On August 1, 1981, MTV made its debut on a handful of regional cable companies. The network filled up that entire first day with nothing but music videos. And many of those clips came from artists who ...