REO Speedwagon - Ridin' the Storm Out (1981)

What this video is

This performance video occupies a singular position in MTV history: it was broadcast on August 8, 1981 — just one week after MTV's launch on August 1 — as the network's first-ever Saturday Night Concert and first live stereo concert broadcast. REO Speedwagon's Hi Infidelity was simultaneously the best-selling album in America, spending 15 non-consecutive weeks atop the Billboard 200, making the band the ideal…

Why it matters

A cornerstone artifact of American arena rock's commercial zenith, this video documents the genre's defining live ritual — the stadium anthem as collective catharsis — and represents the transitional moment when arena rock crossed from radio and VHS home video into the nascent music television…

The director

Richard Namm is credited as Film Director and Film Producer of REO Speedwagon: Live Infidelity (1981), confirmed via IMDb (tt13398292) and multiple Discogs release entries (PAL VHS r16653285, Betamax r11797778). The production was released under (C) 1981 CBS…