Credit: Far Out / MTV
Mon 3 August 2026 1:30, UK
August 1st, 1981: it was another ordinary, but also not so ordinary, day. In the middle of it all, MTV fizzed its way onto the airwaves, and music as people knew it was changed.
I can bet you’re already thinking this is going to be about ‘Video Killed the Radio Star’, aren’t you? Yet while The Buggles were an important part of that whole affair, it would have been an unprecedented achievement for them to have been both number one and the first song to ever be played on MTV at the very same time.
No, although MTV was naturally initiated to bring the height of chart and pop culture to the television screen, its launch on that late summer day was not, in fact, a reflection of the top hits as the world knew them at the time. Instead, as The Buggles famously took home a piece of history, the charts were doing their own separate thing.
That involved Shakin’ Stevens in the UK, and Rick Springfield in the US; two artists who, these days, you wouldn’t typically associate with the peak of the pop culture canon. But you’ve got to remember that 45 years ago was a very different time, and the pair were, indeed, the kings in command on either side of the Atlantic.
In this sense, even though MTV would have undeniably been an important asset for them to keep their eyes on at the time, it was far from the ultimate end goal. The truth was that no one could have predicted the channel was the start of a musical behemoth, and at least for some time afterwards, the charts would have remained the major focus.
What were the number ones on the day MTV began?
For Shakin’ Stevens, near enough the whole month of August 1981 saw him riding high, as his hit single ‘Green Door’ topped the charts for four weeks, starting from the very first day. The reality was that he had Jim Lowe, all the way back in 1956, to thank for his guaranteed success, as the cover became a chart behemoth once more after over 25 years.
By comparison, Springfield’s song ‘Jessie’s Girl’ was much less of a surefire winner, but slowly burned its way to the top spot across the 50 states. Having first entered the chart in March and having taken 19 weeks to steadily climb to the pole position, the moment when he finally achieved his number one glory on August 1st was like the cherry on top.
Further reading: From The Vault
There was an odd phenomenon which followed suit with ‘Jessie’s Girl’, though, as it wasn’t released for another three years over the pond in the UK. By the time it finally did reach those shores in 1984, not only was it a longstanding hit in America, but it followed a trail of MTV, which by this point was completely booming.
Those small nuggets of chart trivia may seem insignificant in the grand scheme of things, but for a moment that was so pivotal to the history of music as the launch of MTV, everything that helped contribute to that landscape deserves its own sense of recognition. It wasn’t just The Buggles going for glory, because there was so much more music in store.
