Introducing History Daily: "The Launch of MTV"
Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia
Slate Podcasts
4.8 • 2.2K Ratings
🗓️ 24 April 2026
⏱️ 17 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Hit Parade is on a brief break, but if you need a daily dose of fascinating stories, check out History Daily. Host Lindsay Graham (the history guy! not the senator!) explores what happened "on this day in history," with a broad mix of politics, sports, technology, medicine, and much more. Chris recommends this episode about the genesis of MTV—including the forgotten role played by a former member of the Monkees.
Find History Daily's huge archive of quick-hit history at: https://www.historydaily.com/
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey, Hit Parade listeners, it's Chris. While the show is on a brief break, we wanted to recommend |
| 0:06.6 | something for you to check out. Obviously, if you're a listener to my show, you love pop music history. |
| 0:14.4 | And if your appetite for history extends beyond the world of music, check out History Daily. History Daily tells fascinating |
| 0:24.8 | stories of what happened on this day in history, with a broad mix of subjects, politics, |
| 0:32.6 | sports, technology, medicine, everything that makes us who we are today. It's hosted by Lindsay Graham. |
| 0:41.0 | No, not that Lindsay Graham. This is the same Lindsay Graham behind a bunch of great history |
| 0:47.6 | podcasts, including American history tellers and American scandal. The History Daily episode you're about to hear is called |
| 0:57.6 | The Launch of MTV, and it chronicles the lead-up to August 1st, 1981, when MTV began broadcasting |
| 1:07.3 | in the United States with its first video, The Buggles, Video Killed the Radio Star. |
| 1:14.1 | Also, I had forgotten that a former member of The Monkeys was involved in MTV's Genesis, |
| 1:22.1 | and the episode does a great job providing that part of the story. You'll find a link to History Daily in our show |
| 1:31.4 | notes, so head over there to dig into their vast archive of momentous events that happened |
| 1:38.2 | on this day in history. For now, without further ado, here's History Daily's episode on The Launch of MTV. |
| 1:48.7 | It's the summer of 1977. It's the summer of 1977 on a beach in Los Angeles, California. |
| 2:03.7 | 35-year-old musician Mike Nesmith sits on a deck chair on a rocky bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. |
| 2:10.2 | Sitting next to him are three beautiful women. |
| 2:12.9 | They give Mike flirty looks as they sip cocktails, but it's all for show. |
| 2:17.2 | Mike and the women aren't actually |
| 2:18.5 | flirting. They're performing for the camera and film crew on the bluff with them. Mike is making a |
| 2:24.1 | promotional video to accompany his latest single, Rio. Since his heyday as a member of the 60s |
| 2:29.7 | boy band The Monkeys, he has struggled to find consistent success in his solo career. But that's not |
| 2:35.4 | for lack of trying. Mike has experimented with all manner of different ways to promote his music. |
... |
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