Music videos were born out of laziness, as a way for artists to have a visual presence in far-flung Australasia without having to suffer the inconvenience of actually traveling there. They would often be used as televisual time-fillers, bunged into scheduling gaps when programs weren’t of convenient length to bump up the running time to a full hour. MTV almost single-handedly changed all this, taking videos from something functional to powerful promotional tools and sometimes works of art. Today we have bands like OK Go, who seem to put more effort into their innovative promos than their pop-punk music, and events such as London’s BUG, which seeks to re-contextualize videos as art worthy of cinema screening. It’s a far cry from the first day of MTV, which featured a slew of British artists (the video being far more ingrained in UK music culture than anywhere else thanks to shows like Top of the Pops) and several wardrobes’ worth of questionable fashion decisions. Here are our favorite five videos shown on August 1, 1981––the day it all began.

Such a perfect choice of an opening song for MTV that it’s difficult to imagine there was anything else in the running. Shame about Trevor Horn’s Simmons-esque springy perm, though, which started another fine 80s MTV tradition––godawful haircuts.

An early example of a high-concept video that featured something other than a straight musical performance from its protagonists. Chrissie Hynde takes the unlikely role of subservient waitress with her band as customers in a cafe. Look out for the dubious visual pun on the word “special” and the unfettered joy with which it’s delivered.

 

The unnerving, washed out imagery of this video is made even more remarkable by the fact that by 1981 Bowie was apparently completely clean. At a cost of £250,000 it was also the most expensive music video ever made at this point.

Like Bowie, David Byrne was already savvy to the importance of visuals in rock by the advent of the video age, as evidenced by his compelling sweat-addled performance here. Achieves the rare trick of looking both utterly of its time and oddly timeless.

Conclusively proving that you didn’t need model good-looks to catch your break on early MTV, this moody clip features little more than Phil’s big monochrome face. There’s also some dodgy imagery involving moons and doors and an ill-advised experiment with a primitive camera filter, which briefly renders Phil neon. It was truly a simpler time.