Video Playlist: Introducing MTV

We haven’t really done much in the way of compiling video playlists for Rhino.com, but there’s no time like the present to remedy that situation, and we thought we’d kick things off with one that spotlights some videos from the days when MTV actually still stood for “Music Television.”

(Yes, we know it’s an overplayed joke. But we also know it’s still an accurate one.)

Some of these videos are from the earliest days of the network, while others are from a few years farther down the line, but they’re all very much from the ‘80s, a.k.a. the glory years of music video. Some of them were MTV staples in their day, like a-ha’s “Take on Me” and ZZ Top’s “Legs” – hey, we just took it from A to Z! – while some may have escaped your notice until they turned up on 120 Minutes several years later, like Echo and the Bunnymen’s “The Killing Moon” or The Smiths’ “This Charming Man.” If you lived through the ‘80s, though, then you’ll no doubt enjoy reminiscing about that time Milton Berle hung out with Ratt, or when Devo introduced one generation to the Rolling Stones while another generation decided that they’d just heard musical blasphemy at its worst, or when Al Jarreau actually got airplay on MTV.

Actually, does anyone remember when Al Jarreau got airplay on MTV? If you don’t, then you must not have been watching in the very, very beginning, during the network’s first 24 hours, when they were spinning Lee Ritenour videos.

Trust us, everyone on this playlist got some MTV time at some point in the ‘80s, so just sit back, press “play,” and get visually stimulated.