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A Brief History of the Music Video
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Thomas Edison and the Phonograph
Invented in 1877, the phonograph was the first ever recording and listening device. This was a pivitol moment in music history as it allowed for ownership and without ownership nothing could be sold. -
The Television
A beta form of the television of available in the late 1920's, however after WW1 a much improved version became popular in the UK and the USA. In the 1950's television had a primary function of influincing thye nation yet by the 1960's colour broadcasting was introduced to the US and most other developed countries. -
Fred Astaire
With a career that spanned over 76 years the American singer, choreographer, dancer, musician and actor starred in a total of 31 musical films, winning a number of television awards in the process. This is another example of the caloboration between music and film. -
Battle Of The Ice
Sergei Eisenstein directed the 'Alexander Nevsky' a Russian propaganda film. The film climaxes to the so called 'Battle of the ice' which is accompanied by music to give a strong feel of patrotism. -
Fantasia
Disney's Fantasia is arguably the first music video. Walt Disney was a huge fan of classical music and in order to promote it among the younger generations he designed a film from his ever popular cartoons. This was the first time that a film or video had been written for the music rather than the other way around, however many Disney and Fantasia fans debate this. -
Singin' in the Rain
Eugene Curran Kelly more commonly known as Gene Kelly starred in the hit musical 'Singin' in the rain'. Musicals became more and more popular as other such as 'West side story' began to arise in the 1960's. -
Jailhouse Rock
Elvis Presley was able to promote 'black music' and used the music in a significant way. The Jailhouse rock video is choreographed well and has uses lots of different cameras to achieve the final video. -
ITV & Music
ITV had a television show dedicated to music, the artist mimed their songs on air in order to persuade viewers to invest in a copy of their vinyl and by 1965 the show became completely live. -
Top of the Pops Launched
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The Animals
The animals were a completely fabricated band, they were put together to sell. This has been happening for years as the Bee Gees experienced when their lead singer was told to stay at the back due to his appearance. Only now are we openly experiencing this with the X-Factor creating bands. -
Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody
The video was iconic for its simplicity of the four heads but was also revolutionary in terms of its editing, transitioning and effects. -
MTV Launched
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Peter Gabriel - Sledgehammer
This video which saw Peter Gabriel lay under a sheet of glass for 16 hours whilst animators worked around him, the video was a huge success and in many respects surpassed the song which may not have taken off without this groundbreaking video. -
Madonna
In the 1980's Madonna became hugely controversial using religious iconography and sexual metaphors in her 'Like a prayer' video -
Sabotage
The Beastie boys used intertextuality in abundance in this 80's police detective parody, the video uses similar titling and editing to police dramas from thius era to create a music video closer to the Naked Gun than any other music video before its time
