Rod Stewart - Young Turks

What this video is

Released within months of MTV's August 1981 launch, 'Young Turks' was among the earliest videos to receive heavy rotation on the nascent channel — at a time when Rod Stewart reportedly accounted for roughly 40 of the approximately 200 videos in MTV's initial rotation. The video is historically significant as the first MTV broadcast to feature street-dance popping, introducing a West Coast street-dance subcultural…

Why it matters

A landmark document of the early MTV music video as narrative short film. Directed by Russell Mulcahy — the director of the very first video MTV ever broadcast — 'Young Turks' demonstrates the rapid formalisation of the music video grammar: parallel narrative montage, location realism,…

The director

Born 23 June 1953 in Melbourne, Australia. Began career as a film editor at Australia's Seven Network before pioneering the music video form with Australian bands in the mid-1970s. Relocated to London and joined Jon Roseman Productions, directing clips for…