August 1, 1981: MTV went on the air, broadcasting music videos 24 hours a day in the US.
On August 1, 1981, 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.”
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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.Read more: History
August 1, 1971: "The Concert For Bangla Desh," organized by George Harrison to help victims of famine in that country, was held at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Fourteen 14 years before Live Aid, on 1 August 1971, George Harrison, along with his friend and mentor Ravi Shankar and a host of other stars, pulled off something that had never been achieved, or even attempted before: the two Concerts For Bangladesh at Madison Square Garden in New York.
The audience was treated to a spectacular bill that included Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, Shankar, Leon Russell, Ringo Starr, Hindustani musician Ali Akbar Khan, Billy Preston, Klaus Voorman, Bobby Whitlock, Don Preston, Jesse Ed Davies, Carl Radle and the Apple-signed band, Badfinger.
Read more: U Discover Music
August 1, 1972: The Eagles released "Witchy Woman."
Formed in 1971, The Eagles were quickly tasked in finding a signature sound. While early sessions proved difficult, as they searched to blend rock and country into a cohesive element, the band delivered on their 1972 self-titled debut record.
“Witchy Woman” is a silky number detailing one woman’s spellbinding effects. “Raven hair and ruby lips / Sparks fly from her fingertips / Echoed voices in the night / She’s a restless spirit on an endless flight,” sings Henley on the first stanza.
Read more: American Songwriter
August 1, 1973: American Graffiti premiered in Los Angeles and became a surprise hit.
Good movies about being young in America, like East of Eden, Bonnie and Clyde and Easy Rider, sometimes receive such gigantic commercial and critical acceptance that they single-handedly create new directions in film-making.
American Graffiti, produced by Francis Ford Coppola and directed by George Lucas from a screenplay by Gloria Katz, Willard Huyck and the director, is certainly the freshest American movie in years and may well prove to be a watershed film of major importance.
Read more: Hollywood Reporter
August 1, 1981: The Oak Ridge Boys crossed over from the Country charts to make "Elvira" the top tune on the Cashbox Best Sellers list.
In the case of the doo-wop-reviving, 1981 smash “Elvira,” which transformed The Oak Ridge Boys from a top-tier country act to a mainstream pop draw: it wasn't the song's profundity that won over the nation. The Oaks themselves will tell you as much. “I mean, the song doesn’t really say anything,” chuckles the quartet’s tenor singer, Joe Bonsall. “‘Oom-papa-mow-mow’ means absolutely nothing.”
Read more: American Experience PBS
Video Killed the Radio Star
Buggles
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