Watch the first 10 videos played on MTV, 40 years later

MTV made a grand proclamation with their first video. Of course, the song was already a hit at the time of the station’s launch as it began to chart in November 1979. Either way, MTV wanted its viewers to know that video was the way of the future.

Following up was Pat Benetar’s version of the Young Rascals track. Benetar recorded the track for her second album Crimes of Passion, which was released almost exactly a year before MTV took to the air.

The third video to ever be played on MTV has a fun little easter egg that if you blink, you’ll miss it. While the audio featured an edited version of the track, the video that was played featured an unedited “f***” during the song.

The Who’s 1981 classic became one of the band’s biggest songs and also holds the distinction of being the first video to be repeated in MTV’s history.

The song represented Ph.D’s first single and also showed off the promise MTV had in giving artists who create humorous music videos the opportunity to showcase their work to a large audience.

The song was a worldwide hit and reached number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States. The music video also encompasses everything we love about the 80s.

It’s one of the best known songs from the Pretenders as it marked the seventh music video to be played on MTV. Funny enough, lead singer Chrissie Hynde admitted she wasn’t a big fan of the song when it came out.

“Time Heals” was originally included as a bonus single to Rundgren’s 1981 record Healing. Oddly enough, it went on to become the top charting song from the album peaking at the number 18 spot on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart.

“Take It on the Run” was the first concert video that MTV aired and also represented the channel’s first run in with technical difficulties. Just 12 seconds after it started, the video was interrupted by a black screen before sending it back to MTV’s studio.

The fourth single from the band’s triple-platinum album Paradise Theater rounded out the first ten music videos ever to be played on MTV.