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A music video is a
video
Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) syst ...
of variable duration, that integrates a music
song
A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetit ...
or a music
album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records co ...
with imagery that is produced for
promotional or musical
artistic
Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas.
There is no generally agreed definition of wh ...
purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music
marketing device intended to promote the sale of
music recordings.
Although the origins of music videos date back to
musical short films that first appeared, they again came into prominence when
Paramount Global's
MTV based its format around the medium. These kinds of videos were described by various terms including "
illustrated song", "filmed insert", "promotional (promo) film", "promotional clip", "promotional video", "song video", "song clip", "film clip" or simply "video".
Music videos use a wide range of styles and contemporary video-making techniques, including
animation,
live-action
Live action (or live-action) is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live-action with animation to create a live-action animated film. Live-action is used to define film, video ...
,
documentary, and non-narrative approaches such as
abstract film. Combining these styles and techniques has become more popular due to the variety for the audience. Many music videos interpret images and scenes from the song's lyrics, while others take a more thematic approach. Other music videos may not have any concept, being only a filmed version of the song's live
concert
A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir, or band. Concerts are held in a wide variet ...
performance.
History and development
In 1894,
sheet music publishers
Edward B. Marks and Joe Stern hired electrician George Thomas and various artists to promote sales of their song "
The Little Lost Child".
Using a
magic lantern
The magic lantern, also known by its Latin name , is an early type of image projector that used pictures—paintings, prints, or photographs—on transparent plates (usually made of glass), one or more lenses, and a light source. Because a si ...
, Thomas projected a series of still images on a screen simultaneous to live performances. This would become a popular form of entertainment known as the
illustrated song, the first step toward music video.
Talkies, soundies, and shorts
With the arrival of "
talkies
A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades passed before ...
" many
musical short films were produced.
Vitaphone shorts (produced by
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
) featured many bands, vocalists, and dancers. Animation artist
Max Fleischer introduced a series of sing-along short cartoons called ''
Screen Songs'', which invited audiences to sing along to popular songs by "following the bouncing ball", which is similar to a modern karaoke machine. Early cartoons featured popular musicians performing their hit songs on camera in live-action segments during the
cartoons. The early animated films by
Walt Disney
Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...
, such as the ''
Silly Symphonies
''Silly Symphony'' is an American animated series of 75 musical short films produced by Walt Disney Productions from 1929 to 1939. As the series name implies, the ''Silly Symphonies'' were originally intended as whimsical accompaniments to pieces ...
'' shorts and especially ''
Fantasia'', which featured several interpretations of classical pieces, were built around music. The
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
cartoons, even today billed as ''
Looney Tunes'' and ''
Merrie Melodies'', were initially fashioned around specific songs from upcoming Warner Bros.
musical films. Live-action musical shorts, featuring such popular artists as
Cab Calloway, were also distributed to theaters.
Blues singer
Bessie Smith appeared in a two-reel short film called ''
St. Louis Blues
The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the ...
'' featuring a dramatized performance of the hit song. Numerous other musicians appeared in short musical subjects during this period.
''
Soundies
Soundies are three-minute American musical films, and each short displays a performance. The shorts were produced between 1940 and 1946 and have been referred to as "precursors to music videos" by UCLA. Soundies exhibited a variety of musical gen ...
'', produced and released for the
Panoram
Panoram was the trademark name of a visual jukebox that played short-filmed musicals (the effect being the equivalent of 1980s music videos) popular within the United States during the 1940s. It was conceived and produced by the Mills Novelty Co ...
film jukebox, were musical films that often included short dance sequences, similar to later music videos.
Musician
Louis Jordan made short films for his songs, some of which were spliced together into a feature film, ''Lookout Sister''. These films were, according to music historian
Donald Clarke, the "ancestors" of music video.
Musical films were another important precursor to a music video, and several well-known music videos have imitated the style of classic Hollywood musicals from the 1930s–50s. One of the best-known examples is
Madonna's 1985 video for "
Material Girl
"Material Girl" is a song recorded by American singer Madonna for her second studio album, '' Like a Virgin'' (1984). It was released on November 30, 1984, by the Sire label as the second single from ''Like a Virgin''. It also appears slightly ...
" (directed by
Mary Lambert) which was closely modelled on
Jack Cole's staging of "
Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend
"Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" is a jazz song introduced by Carol Channing in the original Broadway production of '' Gentlemen Prefer Blondes'' (1949), with music by Jule Styne and lyrics by Leo Robin.
Marilyn Monroe version
American actr ...
" from the film ''
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes''. Several of
Michael Jackson's videos show the unmistakable influence of the dance sequences in classic Hollywood musicals, including the landmark "
Thriller" and the
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Scorsese emerged as one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era. He is the recipient of many major accolades, inclu ...
-directed "
Bad", which was influenced by the stylized dance "fights" in the film version of ''
West Side Story''. According to the Internet Accuracy Project,
DJ/singer J. P. "
The Big Bopper" Richardson was the first to coin the phrase "music video", in 1959.
In his autobiography, Tony Bennett claims to have created "...the first music video" when he was filmed walking along the
Serpentine in
Hyde Park, London
Hyde Park is a Listed building#Heritage protection, Grade I-listed major park in Westminster, Greater London, the largest of the four Royal Parks of London, Royal Parks that form a chain from the entrance to Kensington Palace through Kensingt ...
, with the resulting clip being set to his recording of the song "
Stranger in Paradise". The clip was sent to UK and US television stations and aired on shows including
Dick Clark's
American Bandstand.
The oldest example of a promotional music video with similarities to more abstract, modern videos seems to be the
Czechoslovakia
, rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי,
, common_name = Czechoslovakia
, life_span = 1918–19391945–1992
, p1 = Austria-Hungary
, image_p1 ...
"Dáme si do bytu" ("Let's get to the apartment") created and directed by
Ladislav Rychman
Ladislav Rychman (October 9, 1922 - April 1, 2007) was a Czech film director, who made the Czechoslovak musical comedies ''Starci na chmelu'' (The Hop Pickers) (1964) and ''Dáma na kolejích'' (Lady on the Tracks) (1966).
'' Starci na chmelu'' ( ...
.
1960–1973: Promotional clips
In the late 1950s
the
Scopitone
Scopitone is a type of jukebox featuring a 16 mm film component. Scopitone films were a forerunner of music videos. The 1959 Italian Cinebox/Colorama and Color-Sonics were competing, lesser-known technologies of the time one year before the Scop ...
, a visual jukebox, was introduced in France and short films were produced by many French artists, such as
Serge Gainsbourg,
Françoise Hardy
Françoise Madeleine Hardy (; born 17 January 1944) is a French former singer and songwriter. Mainly known for singing melancholic sentimental ballads, Hardy has been an important figure in French pop music since her debut, spanning a career o ...
,
Jacques Dutronc, and the Belgian
Jacques Brel to accompany their songs. Its use spread to other countries, and similar machines such as the Cinebox in Italy and
Color-sonic
Color-Sonic was a type of visual jukebox developed in the United States in the 1960s. They were the first ones to use continuous loop cartridges, which were both more durable and more easily replaced than the film reels used by their competitors, ...
in the U.S. were patented.
In 1961, for the Canadian-produced show ''
Singalong Jubilee
''Singalong Jubilee'' was a CBC Television programme produced between 1961 and 1974. It featured musical performances by local singers, playing folk, country, and gospel music, in studio on stage and on location. Anne Murray, Catherine McKinnon, K ...
'', Manny Pittson began pre-recording the music audio, went on-location and taped various visuals with the musicians lip-synching, then edited the audio and video together. Most music numbers were taped in-studio on stage, and the location shoot "videos" were to add variety. In 1964,
Kenneth Anger's
experimental
An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when a ...
short film, ''
Scorpio Rising'' used popular songs instead of dialogue.
In 1964,
The Moody Blues
The Moody Blues were an English rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1964, initially consisting of keyboardist Mike Pinder, multi-instrumentalist Ray Thomas, guitarist Denny Laine, drummer Graeme Edge and bassist Clint Warwick. The g ...
producer
Alex Murray wanted to promote his version of "
Go Now". The short film clip he produced and directed to promote the single has a striking visual style that predates
Queen's similar "
Bohemian Rhapsody
"Bohemian Rhapsody" is a song by the British rock band Queen, released as the lead single from their fourth album, '' A Night at the Opera'' (1975). Written by lead singer Freddie Mercury, the song is a six-minute suite, notable for its lack o ...
" video by a full decade. It also predates what
the Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...
did with promotional films of their single "
Paperback Writer" and B-Side "
Rain
Rain is water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. It provides water ...
" both released in 1966.
Also in 1964, the Beatles starred in their first feature film, ''
A Hard Day's Night'', directed by
Richard Lester
Richard Lester Liebman (born January 19, 1932) is an American retired film director based in the United Kingdom.
He is best known for directing the Beatles' films '' A Hard Day's Night'' (1964) and '' Help!'' (1965), and the superhero films ' ...
. Shot in
black-and-white
Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey.
Media
The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...
and presented as a
mock documentary, it interspersed comedic and dialogue sequences with musical tones. The musical sequences furnished basic templates on which numerous subsequent music videos were modeled. It was the direct model for the successful US TV series ''
The Monkees
The Monkees were an American rock and pop band, formed in Los Angeles in 1966, whose lineup consisted of the American actor/musicians Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork alongside English actor/singer Davy Jones. The group was con ...
'' (1966–1968), which was similarly composed of film segments that were created to accompany various Monkees songs.
The Beatles' second feature, ''
Help!
''Help!'' is the fifth studio album by the English rock band the Beatles and the soundtrack to their film of the same name. It was released on 6 August 1965. Seven of the fourteen songs, including the singles " Help!" and " Ticket to Ride", ...
'' (1965), was a much more lavish affair, filmed in color in London and on international locations. The title track sequence, filmed in black-and-white, is arguably one of the prime archetypes of the modern performance-style music video, employing rhythmic cross-cutting, contrasting long shots and close-ups, and unusual shots and camera angles, such as the shot 50 seconds into the song, in which
George Harrison's left hand and the neck of his guitar are seen in sharp focus in the foreground while the completely out-of-focus figure of
John Lennon
John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...
sings in the background.
In 1965, the Beatles began making promotional clips (then known as "filmed inserts") for distribution and broadcast in different countries—primarily the
U.S.
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
—so they could promote their record releases without having to make in-person appearances. Their first batch of promo films shot in late 1965 (including their then-current single, "
Day Tripper
"Day Tripper" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles that was released as a double A-side single with " We Can Work It Out" in December 1965. The song was written primarily by John Lennon with some contributions from Paul McCartney a ...
"/"
We Can Work It Out
"We Can Work It Out" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, written by Paul McCartney and John Lennon. It was first issued as a double A-side single with "Day Tripper" in December 1965. It also appeared on the 1966 US release '' Yesterd ...
"), were fairly straightforward mimed-in-studio performance pieces (albeit sometimes in silly sets) and meant to blend in fairly seamlessly with television shows like ''
Top of the Pops
''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most o ...
'' and ''
Hullabaloo''. By the time the Beatles stopped touring in late 1966, their promotional films, like their recordings, had become highly sophisticated. In May 1966 they filmed two sets of colour promotional clips for their current single "
Rain
Rain is water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. It provides water ...
"/"
Paperback Writer" all directed by
Michael Lindsay-Hogg
Sir Michael Edward Lindsay-Hogg, 5th Baronet (born 5 May 1940) is an American-born television, film, music video, and theatre director. Beginning his career in British television, Lindsay-Hogg became a pioneer in music film production, directing ...
, who went on to direct ''
The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus
''The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus'' was a concert show organised by the Rolling Stones on 11–12 December 1968. The show was filmed on a makeshift circus stage with Jethro Tull (band), Jethro Tull, The Who, Taj Mahal (musician), Taj Mah ...
'' and the Beatles' final film, ''
Let It Be''. The colour promotional clips for "
Strawberry Fields Forever
"Strawberry Fields Forever" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney. It was released on 13 February 1967 as a double A-side single with " Penny Lane". It represented a departu ...
" and "
Penny Lane", made in early 1967 and directed by Peter Goldman, took the promotional film format to a new level. They used techniques borrowed from underground and avant-garde film, including reversed film and slow motion, dramatic lighting, unusual camera angles, and color filtering added in post-production. At the end of 1967 the group released their third film, the one hour, made-for-television project ''
Magical Mystery Tour
''Magical Mystery Tour'' is a record by the English rock band the Beatles that was released as a double EP in the United Kingdom and an LP in the United States. It includes the soundtrack to the 1967 television film of the same name. The EP ...
''; it was written and directed by the group and first broadcast on the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
on
Boxing Day 1967. Although poorly received at the time for lacking a narrative structure, it showed the group to be adventurous music filmmakers in their own right.
Concert film
A concert film, or concert movie, is a film that showcases a live performance from the perspective of a concert goer, the subject of which is an extended live performance or concert by either a musician or a stand-up comedian.
Early history
The ...
s were being released in the mid-1960s, at least as early as 1964, with the ''
T.A.M.I. Show
''T.A.M.I. Show'' is a 1964 concert film released by American International Pictures. It includes performances by numerous popular rock and roll and R&B musicians from the United States and England. The concert was held at the Santa Monica Civ ...
''.
The monochrome 1965 clip for
Bob Dylan's "
Subterranean Homesick Blues
"Subterranean Homesick Blues" is a song by Bob Dylan, recorded on January 14, 1965, and released as a single by Columbia Records, catalogue number 43242, on March 8. It was the lead track on the album '' Bringing It All Back Home'', released so ...
" filmed by
D. A. Pennebaker was featured in Pennebaker's Dylan film documentary ''
Dont Look Back''. Eschewing any attempt to simulate performance or present a narrative, the clip shows Dylan standing in a city back alley, silently shuffling a series of large cue cards (bearing key words from the song's lyrics).
Besides the Beatles, many other UK artists made "filmed inserts" so they could be screened on TV when the bands were not available to appear live.
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...
featured in several promotional clips, beginning with their 1965 clip for "
I Can't Explain". Their plot clip for "
Happy Jack" (1966) shows the band acting like a gang of thieves. The promo film to "
Call Me Lightning" (1968) tells a story of how drummer
Keith Moon came to join the group: The other three band members are having tea inside what looks like an abandoned hangar when suddenly a "bleeding box" arrives, out of which jumps a fast-running, time lapse, Moon that the other members subsequently try to get a hold of in a sped-up slapstick chasing sequence to wind him down.
Pink Floyd produced promotional films for their songs, including "
San Francisco: Film", directed by
Anthony Stern, "
Scarecrow", "
Arnold Layne
"Arnold Layne" is a song by English rock band Pink Floyd. Released on 10 March 1967, it was the band's first single release. It was written by Syd Barrett.
Lyrics
The song's title character is a transvestite whose strange hobby is stealing wo ...
" and "
Interstellar Overdrive
"Interstellar Overdrive" is an instrumental composition written and performed by Pink Floyd. The song was written in 1966 and is on their 1967 debut album, '' The Piper at the Gates of Dawn'', clocking in at almost ten minutes in length.
The so ...
", the latter directed by
Peter Whitehead, who also made several pioneering clips for
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...
between 1966 and 1968.
The Kinks
The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, north London, in 1963 by brothers Ray and Dave Davies. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British rhyt ...
made one of the first "
plot" promotional clips for a song. For their single "
Dead End Street" (1966) a miniature comic movie was made. The BBC reportedly refused to air the clip because it was considered to be in "poor taste".
The Rolling Stones appeared in many promotional clips for their songs in the 1960s. In 1966,
Peter Whitehead directed two promo clips for their single "
Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing In The Shadow?"
In 1967, Whitehead directed a plot clip colour promo clip for the Stones single "
We Love You", which first aired in August 1967. This clip featured sped-up footage of the group recording in the studio, intercut with a mock trial that clearly alludes to the drug prosecutions of
Mick Jagger and
Keith Richards
Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943), often referred to during the 1960s and 1970s as "Keith Richard", is an English musician and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the co-founder, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-princi ...
underway at that time. Jagger's girlfriend
Marianne Faithfull
Marianne Evelyn Gabriel Faithfull (born 29 December 1946) is an English singer and actress. She achieved popularity in the 1960s with the release of her hit single " As Tears Go By" and became one of the lead female artists during the British I ...
appears in the trial scenes and presents the "judge" (Richards) with what may be the infamous fur rug that had featured so prominently in the press reports of the drug bust at Richards' house in early 1967. When it is pulled back, it reveals an apparently naked Jagger with chains around his ankles. The clip concludes with scenes of the Stones in the studio intercut with footage that had previously been used in the "concert version" promo clip for "Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby". The group also filmed a color promo clip for the song "
2000 Light Years From Home
"2000 Light Years from Home" is a song by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released on their 1967 album ''Their Satanic Majesties Request''. Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, it also appeared as the B-side to the American sing ...
" (from their album ''
Their Satanic Majesties Request
''Their Satanic Majesties Request'' is the 6th British and 8th American studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released in December 1967 by Decca Records in the UK and by London Records in the US. It is their first to be relea ...
'') directed by
Michael Lindsay-Hogg
Sir Michael Edward Lindsay-Hogg, 5th Baronet (born 5 May 1940) is an American-born television, film, music video, and theatre director. Beginning his career in British television, Lindsay-Hogg became a pioneer in music film production, directing ...
.
In 1968, Michael Lindsay-Hogg directed three clips for their single "
Jumpin' Jack Flash
"Jumpin' Jack Flash" is a song by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released as a non-album single in 1968. Called "supernatural Delta blues by way of Swinging London" by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine, the song was perceived by some as t ...
" / "Child Of The Moon"—a color clip for "Child Of The Moon" and two different clips for "Jumpin' Jack Flash". In 1968, they collaborated with
Jean-Luc Godard on the film ''
Sympathy for the Devil
"Sympathy for the Devil" is a song by English rock band the Rolling Stones and the opening track from the band's 1968 album ''Beggars Banquet''. The song is a product of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards' songwriting partnership.
It is consi ...
'', which mixed Godard's politics with documentary footage of the song's evolution during recording sessions.
In 1966,
Nancy Sinatra
Nancy Sandra Sinatra (born June 8, 1940) is an American singer and actress. She is the elder daughter of Frank Sinatra and Nancy Sinatra ( Barbato), and is best known for her 1966 signature hit " These Boots Are Made for Walkin'.
Nancy Sinatr ...
filmed a clip for her song "
These Boots Are Made for Walkin'
"These Boots Are Made for Walkin' is a hit song written by Lee Hazlewood and recorded by American singer Nancy Sinatra. It charted on January 22, 1966, and reached No.1 in the United States ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and in the UK Singles Chart.
Su ...
.
Roy Orbison appeared in promotional clips, such as his 1968 hit, "Walk On".
During late 1972–73
David Bowie
David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...
featured in a series of promotional films directed by pop photographer
Mick Rock, who worked extensively with Bowie in this period. Rock directed and edited four clips to promote four consecutive David Bowie singles—"
John, I'm Only Dancing" (May 1972), "
The Jean Genie
"The Jean Genie" is a song by English singer-songwriter David Bowie, originally released in November 1972 as the lead single to his 1973 album ''Aladdin Sane''. Co-produced by Ken Scott, Bowie recorded it with his backing band the Spiders from ...
" (November 1972), the December 1972 US re-release of "
Space Oddity" and the 1973 release of the single "
Life on Mars?" (lifted from Bowie's earlier album ''
Hunky Dory''). The clip for "John, I'm Only Dancing" was made with a budget of just
US$200 and filmed at the afternoon rehearsal for Bowie's
Rainbow Theatre concert on August 19, 1972. It shows Bowie and band mimicking to the record intercut with footage of the
Lindsay Kemp
Lindsay Keith Kemp (3 May 1938[British Film Institute entry for Lindsa ...](_blank)
mime troupe, dancing on stage and behind a back-lit screen. The clip was turned down by the BBC, who reportedly found the homosexual overtones of the film distasteful, accordingly ''Top of the Pops'' replaced it with footage of bikers and a dancer. The "Jean Genie" clip, produced for just US$350, was shot in one day and edited in less than two days. It intercuts footage of Bowie and band in concert with contrasting footage of the group in a photographic studio, wearing black stage outfits, and standing against a white background. It also includes location footage with Bowie and
Cyrinda Foxe
Cyrinda Foxe (born Kathleen Victoria Hetzekian; February 22, 1952 – September 7, 2002) was an American actress, model and publicist, best known for her role in ''Andy Warhol's Bad'' (1977). She was married to both David Johansen of the proto-p ...
(a MainMan employee and a friend of David and
Angie Bowie) shot in
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
outside the famous
Mars Hotel, with Fox posing provocatively in the street while Bowie lounges against the wall, smoking.
Country music also picked up on the trend of promotional film clips to publicize songs. Sam Lovullo, the producer of the television series ''
Hee Haw
''Hee Haw'' is an American television variety show featuring country music and humor with the fictional rural "Kornfield Kounty" as the backdrop. It aired first-run on CBS from 1969 to 1971, in syndication from 1971 to 1993, and on TNN from 1 ...
'', explained his show presented "what were, in reality, the first musical videos",
[Lovullo, Sam, and Mark Eliot, ''Life in the Kornfield: My 25 Years at'' Hee Haw, Boulevard Books, New York, 1996, p. 34. ] while JMI Records made the same claim with
Don Williams
Donald Ray Williams (May 27, 1939 – September 8, 2017) was an American country singer, songwriter, and 2010 inductee into the Country Music Hall of Fame. He began his solo career in 1971, singing popular ballads and amassing seventeen number ...
' 1973 song "
The Shelter of Your Eyes".
[Millard, Bob, ''Country Music: 70 Years of America's Favorite Music'', HarperCollins, New York, 1993, p. 179. ] Country music historian Bob Millard wrote that JMI had pioneered the country music video concept by "producing a 3-minute film" to go along with Williams' song.
Lovullo said his videos were conceptualized by having the show's staff go to nearby rural areas and film animals and farmers, before editing the footage to fit the storyline of a particular song. "The video material was a very workable production item for the show," he wrote. "It provided picture stories for songs. However, some of our guests felt the videos took attention away from their live performances, which they hoped would promote record sales. If they had a hit song, they didn't want to play it under comic barnyard footage." The concept's mixed reaction eventually spelled an end to the "video" concept on ''Hee Haw''.
Promotional films of country music songs, however, continued to be produced.
1974–1980: Beginnings of music television
The Australian TV shows ''
Countdown'' and ''
Sounds
In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid.
In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the ...
'', both of which premiered in 1974, were significant in developing and popularizing what would later become the music video genre in Australia and other countries, and in establishing the importance of promotional film clips as a means of promoting both emerging acts and new releases by established acts. In early 1974, former radio DJ
Graham Webb launched a weekly teen-oriented TV music show which screened on
Sydney's
ATN-7
ATN is the Sydney flagship television station of the Seven Network in Australia. The licence, issued to a company named Amalgamated Television Services, a subsidiary of John Fairfax & Sons, was one of the first four licences (two in Sydney, ...
on Saturday mornings; this was renamed ''Sounds Unlimited'' in 1975 and later shortened simply to ''Sounds''. In need of material for the show, Webb approached Seven newsroom staffer
Russell Mulcahy
Russell Mulcahy ( ; born 23 June 1953) is an Australian film director. Mulcahy's work is recognisable by the use of fast cuts, tracking shots and use of glowing lights, neo-noir lighting, windblown drapery, and fans. He directed music videos ...
and asked him to shoot film footage to accompany popular songs for which there were no purpose-made clips (e.g.
Harry Nilsson
Harry Edward Nilsson III (June 15, 1941 – January 15, 1994), sometimes credited as Nilsson, was an American singer-songwriter who reached the peak of his commercial success in the early 1970s. His work is characterized by pioneering vocal ov ...
's "
Everybody's Talkin
"Everybody's Talkin (Echoes)" is a song written and recorded by American singer-songwriter Fred Neil in 1966 and released two years later. A version of the song performed by American singer-songwriter Harry Nilsson became a hit in 1969, reachin ...
"). Using this method, Webb and Mulcahy assembled a collection of about 25 clips for the show. The success of his early efforts encouraged Mulcahy to quit his TV job and become a full-time director, and he made clips for several popular Australian acts including
Stylus,
Marcia Hines,
Hush
Hush may refer to:
Film and television
* ''Hush'' (1921 film), starring Clara Kimball Young
* ''Hush'' (1998 film), starring Gwyneth Paltrow
* ''Hush!'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film directed by Ryosuke Hashiguchi
* ''Hush'' (2005 film), starring ...
and
AC/DC.
As it gained popularity, ''Countdown'' talent coordinator
Ian "Molly" Meldrum and producer Michael Shrimpton quickly realized that "film clips" were becoming an important new commodity in music marketing. Despite the show's minuscule budget, ''Countdown''s original director
Paul Drane was able to create several memorable music videos especially for the show, including the classic film-clips for the AC/DC hits "
It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)
"It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)" is a song by Australian hard rock band AC/DC. It is the first track of the group's second album '' T.N.T.'', released only in Australia and New Zealand on 8 December 1975, and was writte ...
" and "
Jailbreak".
After relocating to the
UK in the mid-1970s, Mulcahy made successful promo films for several noted British pop acts—his early UK credits included
XTC's "
Making Plans for Nigel
"Making Plans for Nigel" is a song by the English rock band XTC that was released as the opening track and lead single from their 1979 album '' Drums and Wires'', by Virgin Records. It was written by Colin Moulding, the band's bassist. The lyri ...
" (1979) and his landmark video clip for
The Buggles
The Buggles were an English new wave band formed in London in 1977 by singer and bassist Trevor Horn and keyboardist Geoff Downes. They are best known for their 1979 debut single " Video Killed the Radio Star", which topped the UK Singles Cha ...
' "
Video Killed the Radio Star
"Video Killed the Radio Star" is a song written by Trevor Horn, Geoff Downes and Bruce Woolley in 1979. It was recorded concurrently by Bruce Woolley and the Camera Club (with Thomas Dolby on keyboards) for their album '' English Garden'' an ...
" (1979), which became the first music video played on
MTV in 1981.
In 1975,
Queen
Queen or QUEEN may refer to:
Monarchy
* Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom
** List of queens regnant
* Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king
* Queen dowager, the widow of a king
* Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...
employed
Bruce Gowers
Bruce Gowers is a British television director and producer, best known for his work on large-scale live music and event productions.
Gowers started his career in his native United Kingdom, where his music video for Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" b ...
to make a promotional
video
Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) syst ...
to show their new single "
Bohemian Rhapsody
"Bohemian Rhapsody" is a song by the British rock band Queen, released as the lead single from their fourth album, '' A Night at the Opera'' (1975). Written by lead singer Freddie Mercury, the song is a six-minute suite, notable for its lack o ...
" on the BBC music series ''
Top of the Pops
''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most o ...
''. According to rock historian Paul Fowles, the song is "widely credited as the first global hit single for which an accompanying video was central to the marketing strategy".
''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
'' has said of "Bohemian Rhapsody": "Its influence cannot be overstated, practically inventing the music video seven
icyears before MTV went on the air."
At the end of the 1970s, the broadcasting of music videos on television became more and more regular, in several countries. The music videos are, for example, broadcast in weekly music programs or inserted into various programs. In the United States, for example, on terrestrial networks at the end of the 1970s, music videos were sometimes broadcast on music shows: ''The Midnight Special'', ''Don Kirshner's Rock Concert'', and occasionally on certain talk shows.
''
Video Concert Hall'', created by Jerry Crowe and
Charles Henderson and launched on November 1, 1979, was the first nationwide video music programming on American cable television, predating MTV by almost two years.
[McCullaugh, Jim. "Atlanta Firm Claims First Ever Nationwide Cable Music Show". Billboard Magazine. March 3, 1980 p. 1, p. 38][King, Bill, "Atlantans Pioneering Cable Video Music Show", The Atlanta Constitution, June 3, 1980, p. 1-B, p. 10-B][Werts, Dianne, "Din of Modern Hit Parade Invades Cable Homes", The Dallas Morning News, May 23, 1980,][Denisoff, Serge R. Tarnished Gold: The record industry revisited. Oxford, UK: Transaction books, 1986. p. 369] The
USA Cable Network program ''
Night Flight'' was one of the first American programs to showcase these videos as an art form.
In 1980, the music video to
David Bowie
David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...
's "
Ashes to Ashes" became the
most expensive ever made, having a production cost of $582,000 (equivalent to $ million in ), the first music video to have a production cost of over $500,000.
[David Buckley (1999). ''Strange Fascination – David Bowie: The Definitive Story'': pp.366–369] The video was made in
solarized color with stark black-and-white scenes and was filmed in different locations, including a padded room and a rocky shore. The video became one of the most iconic ever made at the time, and its complex nature is seen as significant in the evolution of the music video.
The same year, the
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
group
Split Enz had major success with the single "
I Got You" and the album ''
True Colours'', and later that year they produced a complete set of promo clips for each song on the album (directed by their percussionist,
Noel Crombie) and to market these on videocassette. This was followed a year later by the video album, ''
The Completion Backward Principle'' by
The Tubes, directed by the group's keyboard player, Michael Cotten, which included two videos directed by Russell Mulcahy ("Talk to Ya Later" and "Don't Want to Wait Anymore"). Among the first music videos were clips produced by
ex-Monkee Michael Nesmith
Robert Michael Nesmith or Mike Nesmith, (December 30, 1942 – December 10, 2021) was an American musician, songwriter, and actor. He was best known as a member of the pop rock band the Monkees and co-star of the TV series ''The Monkees'' (1966� ...
, who started making short musical films for ''
Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock (streaming service), Peacock. ...
''.
In 1981, he released ''
Elephant Parts
''Elephant Parts'' is a collection of comedy sketches and music videos made in 1981 by Michael Nesmith, formerly of the Monkees. Nesmith produced the video through his company Pacific Arts. ''Elephant Parts'' is one hour long with parody commerci ...
'', the first winner of a
Grammy for music video, directed by William Dear. ''
Billboard'' credits
the independently produced
Video Concert Hall as being the first with nationwide video music programming on American television.
1981–1991: Music videos go mainstream
In 1981, the
U.S.
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
video channel
MTV launched, airing "
Video Killed the Radio Star
"Video Killed the Radio Star" is a song written by Trevor Horn, Geoff Downes and Bruce Woolley in 1979. It was recorded concurrently by Bruce Woolley and the Camera Club (with Thomas Dolby on keyboards) for their album '' English Garden'' an ...
" by
The Buggles
The Buggles were an English new wave band formed in London in 1977 by singer and bassist Trevor Horn and keyboardist Geoff Downes. They are best known for their 1979 debut single " Video Killed the Radio Star", which topped the UK Singles Cha ...
and beginning an era of 24-hour-a-day music on television. With this new outlet for material, the music video would, by the mid-1980s, grow to play a central role in popular music marketing. Many important acts of this period, most notably
Michael Jackson,
Adam and the Ants
Adam and the Ants were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. The group existed in two incarnations, both fronted by Adam Ant, over the period 1977 to 1982. The first, founded in May 1977 and known simply as The Ants until November of t ...
,
Duran Duran and
Madonna, owed a great deal of their success to the skillful construction and seductive appeal of their videos.
Two key innovations in the development of the modern music video were the development of relatively inexpensive and easy-to-use
video
Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) syst ...
recording and editing equipment, and the development of visual effects created with techniques such as image
compositing
Compositing is the process or technique of combining visual elements from separate sources into single images, often to create the illusion that all those elements are parts of the same scene. Live action, Live-action shooting for compositing is ...
. The advent of high-quality color videotape recorders and portable video cameras coincided with the DIY ethos of the
new wave era, enabling much pop acts to produce promotional videos quickly and cheaply, in comparison to the relatively high costs of using film. However, as the genre developed,
music video directors increasingly turned to 35mm film as the preferred medium, while others mixed film and video.
During the 1980s, music videos had become ''de rigueur'' for most recording artists. The phenomenon was famously parodied by
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
television comedy program ''