Bette Midler and Dan Aykroyd Hosted the First MTV VMAs — Because Is There Anything More Rock ’n’ Roll Than Those Two?

With the 33rd annual MTV Video Music Awards airing on Sunday night, we want to offer up this fun fact about the show: The co-hosts for the first show ever were … Bette Midler and Dan Aykroyd.

No disrespect to the Divine Miss M (who was a national treasure even before she started zinging Kim Kardashian and Justin Bieber on Twitter) and the Blues Brother, but they don’t exactly seem of the MTV generation. Looking back at the 1984 show, with Bette rocking shoulder pads bigger than most linebackers’ in an orange lace dress straight out of Hocus Pocus and Dan trying his best to look rock-star chic in a Harley Davidson T-shirt, the decision seemed unusual. To be fair, though, the VMAs have become known for the unusual — from Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley’s uncomfortable kiss to Miley Cyrus and Robin Thicke getting funky with that foam finger.

But Bette and Dan were really big stars in the mid-’80s. The Saturday Night Live alum had two box-office hits that year (Ghostbusters and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom — mic drop) while Bette was about to release a string of really popular movies (Down and Out in Beverly Hills, Ruthless People, Outrageous Fortune, Beaches, and — a personal fave — Big Business). So who better for the powers-that-be to dress up like moon men and send out to entertain “the earthlings.”

In fairness, there is nobody on the planet who could make being dressed “liked [a] baked potato” more sexy than Bathhouse Betty. She whipped off her helmet, strutted around that stage, and kept a straight face delivering her lines, which were filled with sexual innuendo. (“What about my galactic proportions, huh? You can’t even see ’em in this suit.”)

Midler and Aykroyd went on to earn every penny of their presumably small paychecks, by leading a wedding-style conga line across the stage in Radio City Music Hall as audience members including Madonna, Cher, Eddie Murphy, Cyndi Lauper, Rod Stewart, Herbie Hancock, ZZ Top, Hall & Oates, Quincy Jones, The Cars, and Ronnie Wood looked on.

Midler later changed into a sexier outfit — after all, it was the year Madonna writhed around on the stage in her lace ensemble. It was a bustier top with a black-and-white striped print skirt, which must have inspired the Beetlejuice suit a few years later, and a hairnet (?) of some sort. And a special shout out to her ’80s bangs. The struggle to tease was real.

To further prove how ’80s the show was, at one point, Aykroyd was at the podium smoking a cigarette.

For your viewing pleasure, the biggest stars in attendance at the 1984 MTV VMAs…

Another fun fact about the first MTV Video Music Awards: the afterparty, hosted by Aykroyd, was held at the Hard Rock Cafe, which opened its doors in NYC in April of that year. Perhaps being in the music-themed chain restaurant that night inspired Dan to open his own, House of Blues, in the early ’90s.

The 2016 MTV Video Music Awards will air live from New York’s Madison Square Garden this Sunday, Aug. 28, at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT. A pre-show, hosted by DJ Khaled, starts at 8 p.m., with red carpet arrivals beginning at 6:15 p.m. While no host has been announced (that’s NBD — the 2004, 2007, 2011, 2013, and 2014 ceremonies took place without a host), a star-studded lineup is expected, including Rihanna (the Video Vanguard Award recipient), Britney Spears (she’ll be performing her new single “Make Me”), and Kanye West with Kim Kardashian.

We already know that Taylor Swift won’t be there. Not only is she not nominated, but we’re sure she’d like to avoid the Kanye and Kim drama. We don’t think Dan and Bette will be there either, but we sure hope the redhead tweets — maybe while dressed in that orange gown — especially if it’s shade.