WXPN Celebrates MTV's 40th Anniversary With Special Programming This Week
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - MTV is celebrating 40 years! The network, which is part of the Viacom-CBS family, unveiled a commemorative moon person on Sunday at the Kennedy Space Center.
It was designed by famed artist Kehinde Wiley. MTV says the vines and leaves represent "ethnic histories that surround America."
MTV (Music Television) revolutionized the music industry when the music video network was launched on Aug. 1, 1981, and its worldwide influence on pop culture and entertainment continues today.
Here in Philadelphia, public music radio station WXPN is celebrating the 40th anniversary of MTV with specific radio and digital programming starting on Monday, Aug. 2 through Friday, Aug. 6.
Highlights of WXPN'S MTV Week include:
Monday, August 2
9 am ET: The First 100 Music Videos on MTV
Tuesday, August 3
9 am ET: Top 100 Greatest Music Videos of All Time
5 pm ET: Salute to Yo! MTV Raps
Wednesday, August 4
MTV Unplugged Day: Sets of music from MTV Unplugged releases throughout the day
Thursday, August 5
All day: #TBT (Throwback Thursday) featuring music from 1981, the year MTV launched
8 pm - 10 pm ET: World Cafe with special guest Rob Tannenbaum, author of I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution
Friday, August 6
9 am ET: "Friday Morning Mixtape" with Matt Pinfield, former host of MTV's alternative music program 120 Minutes
12 pm ET: "XPN Free At Noon" live concert broadcast with Philadelphia's Pat Finnerty and the Full Band performing songs from MTV's golden age
4 pm ET: "Funky Friday" features the funky soul and R&B music from MTV classics from the 80s and early 90s
7 pm ET: WXPN host Robert Drake spins a special 24-hour marathon of '80s music, complete with a "Rock of the '80s Cam" that will capture the marathon and show the WXPN on-air studio festooned with '80s images and exclusive designs by Nicole and Nicole of Philadelphia's South Street Art Mart
