This was the very first video ever shown on MTV when the television channel launched on August 1, 1981.
Australian model and aspiring actress Virginia Hey played the woman who is trapped in the perspex tube in the video. Director Russell Mulcahy (also an Australian) already knew her and hired her to play the role as he knew she was struggling to find employment in London at the time. She would go on to be a familiar actress on Australian TV and films in the 1980s and 90s.
Virginia Hey's debut.
The video for this song was shot on a hired soundstage at Thames Television Studios in Teddington, South West London in August 1979 prior to the release of the single on September 5th 1979. It had to be filmed in one day as the studio was booked for the recording of a TV show the next day. The budget for the entire video was $50,000, a not inconsiderable sum for an unknown band back then.