MTV Yearbook | 1981

The MTV Yearbook sends you on a voyage back to the biggest, best, most memorable music videos of every year since the beginning of MTV -- aka, the beginning of time, as far as we're concerned, anyway. Pop princesses, boy bands, hard rockers,...

Music Videos from 1981

  1. MTV Yearbook: 1981 August 1, 1981 'Video Killed the Radio Star' and MTV was born--with a little help from The Buggles, Devo, Blondie and more.

  2. Blondie "Rapture"

  3. Elvis Costello "Oliver's Army"

  4. The Buggles "Video Killed The Radio Star"

  5. Robin Lane & The Chartbusters "When Things Go Wrong"

  6. U2 "I Will Follow"

  7. Rod Stewart "She Won't Dance With Me"

  8. Rod Stewart "Sailing"

  9. Rod Stewart "Tonight's the Night (Gonna Be Alright)"

  10. Lee Ritenour "Mr. Briefcase"

  11. .38 Special "Hold on Loosely"

  12. Genesis "No Reply at All"

  13. Steve Winwood "While You See a Chance"

  14. Pat Benatar "You Better Run"

  15. Cliff Richard "We Don't Talk Anymore"

  16. Depeche Mode "Just Can't Get Enough"

Full Description

The MTV Yearbook sends you on a voyage back to the biggest, best, most memorable music videos of every year since the beginning of MTV -- aka, the beginning of time, as far as we're concerned, anyway. Pop princesses, boy bands, hard rockers, rappers, rhymers ... more or less any and all videos that mattered most every year dating back to our birth the music video revolution we helped usher in.

Want to see what the big clips were during the year you were born? The music videos that ruled the school while you were graduating? What about those guilty pleasures that gave you those freaky dance moves you still can't shake? You can find them here, thoughtfully indexed by the year in which they were most popular. It's a musical nostalgia trip and awesome video experience all rolled into one.

But, the MTV Yearbook doesn't stop there. Mixed in with the music videos are clips of the biggest MTV moments of each year. All of the unforgettable events, concerts, people and news people couldn't stop talking about -- and some many hoped would be forgotten. These are the artists and events that rocked and ruled any given calendar year dating all the way back to 1981, when MTV signed on the air and changed all of the rules.

So, step into the music video time machine, the MTV Yearbook. It's just like your high school yearbook, except you can't draw horns and beards on the people you hate. (Sorry.)

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