30 Years Ago, MTV Launched Its First Broadcast. Where Were You?

Thirty years ago, two famous weddings took place, Diana Spencer married Prince Charles and Luke married Laura on the soap opera General Hospital. In 1981, Rick Springfied's "Jessie's Girl" was playing on the airwaves and on Aug. 1, Music Television: MTV was born.

Eight years later, Laguna Niguel became a city and today has a population of more than 67,000.

According to History.com: "MTV: Music Television goes on the air for the first time ever, with the words (spoken by one of MTV’s creators, John Lack): “Ladies and gentlemen, rock and roll.” The Buggles’ “Video Killed the Radio Star” was the first music video to air on the new cable television channel, which initially was available only to households in parts of New Jersey.

“MTV went on to revolutionize the music industry and become an influential source of pop culture and entertainment in the United States and other parts of the world, including Europe, Asia and Latin America, which all have MTV-branded channels."

In the U.S., MTV now plays hardly any music videos and instead favors reality programming (Jersey Shore, anyone?). the brand has exploded into a number of different cable channels—MTV2, MTVu, and of course for those over 25, VH1 and VH1 Classic. 

What are your fondest memories of MTV and what were you doing in the summer of 1981? Tell us in the comments.