In 1954, the release of “Rock around the clock”, known as the original white Rock n’ Roll song and becoming number one on the pop charts, marked a turning point in the history of popular music and it’s success in the future. In the late 70s, early 80s, Reagan was president, then Senator Al Gore’s wife led the crusade against inappropriate rock lyrics and founded the Parents’ Music Resource The hippies became yuppies and began to devote their time to raising wellmannered, preppie children. Rock music, a vital social phenomena among American youth,had grown dull due to it’s lack of style change from earlier music. Something new andmodern was in need. August 1, 1981, was a day that would change the history of musicforever. On this day, MTV first aired with its very first music video by The Buggles“Video killed the radio star”. This video was also the millionth to air on Feb. 27, 2000,and third most aired in video history (Peter Gabriel’s “Sledgehammer” being the first).This new way of presenting rock music, through a 24 hour cable music video channel,would change Rock n’ Roll forever. The first video was a new medium withoutboundaries, which meant that no one knew how MTV would impact artists’ careers or justhow big MTV would inevitably become. Along with MTV came the modo” Sit back, relaxand turn off your mind”.Music specials were already airing on certain television channels. In 1979,NBC-TV aired a show at the UN General Assembly, to help UNICEF raise money tocombat hunger and to provide food for the world’s children. The show featured stars suchas the BeeGees, Rod Stewart. Donna Summers and a few others. Another special wasaired on ABC-TV. A landmark documentary about Rock’s biggest names “The heroes ofRock n’ Roll” starring Jeff Bridges. The Grammy Awards were televised from Radio CityMusic Hall in NY, on Feb....
