April Wine — Just Between You and Me

JUL 01 1981 · 12:00

April Wine — Just Between You and Me (1981) Era: MTV Launch Era (1981) - Early music video period coinciding with the inaugural broadcast of MTV; pre-dates established music video grammar, rooted in live performance documentation over cinematic storytelling. Exceptionally high — this video is a primary artifact of the first day of MTV's broadcast history and the first Canadian music video ever aired on the network. Its minimal production values make it a documentary-grade record of early 1981 rock performance aesthetics. Combined with its chart history, Canadian music heritage significance, and MTV origin-story status, it warrants Tier 1 preservation priority. Context: This video occupies a singular position in music video history: it was broadcast on MTV's very first day of operation (August 1, 1981) as the 14th clip aired, making April Wine the first Canadian recording artist ever featured on the network. It was also the first video MTV repeated in the same broadcast day. The clip arrived at the dawn of music video as a promotional medium, before the art form had developed its own visual language — the raw, stage-lit performance aesthetic reflects an industry still treating the music video as a live document rather than a cinematic product. The song itself, written by Myles Goodwyn and dedicated to his wife, represents the power ballad as a commercial AOR device, and its US chart success (Billboard Hot 100 No. 21) was directly amplified by this MTV exposure, demonstrating the network's immediate commercial impact on rock acts. Director notes: The video was copyrighted (C) 1981 Capitol Records and released to MTV for its August 1, 1981 launch broadcast, where it became the 14th video aired and the first ever by a Canadian artist on the network. It was also the first video MTV ever repeated (aired a second time at slot #57 the same day). The production is consistent with the era's standard of live performance captures — essentially a concert document rather than a purpose-built narrative or concept video. No cinematographer, director, or production company credits have been publicly documented for this release as of the latest available records.