History of Music Video
The first type of videos made were in the 1930’s, but only then were they seen on jukebox’s for peoples entertainment, they were also in black and white, and never contained dialogue. Again in the 40’s and 50’s videos were more like short films, its only in the early 60’s when pop music started, but even then major artists such as Elvis Presley, Bill Haley and Cliff Richard played narrative roles in films, performing theme songs, which promoted them.
Fans of these artists could only see the films they starred in at the cinema as TV’s didn’t show films because there were only 2 channels which both belonged to the BBC. This was the same for radio, radio stations were not popular back then, and so people used pirate radio stations on boats, for example the Sex Pistols had to play their song ‘God Save The Queen’ on pirate radio station’s as it was banned from being played anywhere else because it was seen offensive and politically incorrect. In 1976 Radio 1 started and is now seen as one of the country’s most popular radio station.
Most pop stars in the 60’s and 70’s were manufactured, and they didn’t write their own material, this still remains to this day. But then music changed by the likes of Bob Dylan and The Beatles. In 1965 ‘Don’t look back’ by Bob Dylan was considered the very first music video, and although he never sang or even lip synced in the video, it was unique, because he challenged authority and he wanted people to think about his lyrics, which he wrote.
The 60’s introduced the world to very talented artists such as Stevie Wonder, who could not only play the piano and harmonica, he was also blind. When he was just 12 he achieved his first million hits. At the beginning of the 70’s music videos were becoming more popular, such as David Bowie with Space Oddity. The cinematography contained many pans and zooms and the editing was very fast paced to connote craziness and fun. Again with ABBA and their song – Take a Chance On Me, they just stood in front of a plain white background and edited some of the shots out of focus to connote romance. There was more music on TV now such as shows like ‘Top Of The Pops’ and ‘Old Grey Whistle Test’ as serious musicians needed to prove they could really sing.
It was in 1975 when Queen spent 9 weeks at number 1 with Bohemian Rhapsody, they spent £5,000 on the video which was very expensive back then. The video has elements of performance, with lighting and dry ice; it was less boring to watch than any other video.
In 1981 the channel MTV started, which unlike the BBC was broadcast globally, so everyone around the world could watch the latest music videos, which were usually played on a loop, every 2 hours.
At this point, the video was as/more important than the song. In 1982 Wham made a video for Club Tropicana, and it was unique because the video had a narrative. They make use of voyeurism, as the audience enjoy watching them, they are offering us a lifestyle. In the 80’s there was a conspicuous consumption that everyone was supposed to be wealthy and enjoying life.
It was in 1986 when music video was taken to a whole new level with Peter Gabriel’s Sledgehammer, where the video is made out of thousands of pictures which are put together to make it look like he’s singing. He uses an animation interpretation of lyrics. By now it was all about who had the best video, up until the point where they spent millions.
In the late 90’s George Michael was arrested for “engaging in a lewd act” in public toilets in LA. Then in 1998 he released a song called ‘Outside’ in which he takes the mickey out of himself, referring to his own situation, turning the toilet into a disco. In the 80’s/90’s people were showing their sexuality more and so the barriers on music video’s got pushed further.
By this time music videos had meanings to them like The Beautiful South with Song For Whoever, which has a narrative but is separate to lyrical content, with aspects of performance which is self-reflexive. The video is also intertextual with the use of George Michael auditioning for the band, and the newspapers popping up at the end, as well as R.E.M. – Losing My Religion, which at the beginning shows a bottle on the window ledge representing the singers faith, the bottle then smashes on the floor connoting that him and most people don’t believe in god anymore. They are informing the audience that people now believe in something manmade, this video is very symbolic and makes use of iconography.
In 2006 Red Hot Chili Peppers released a video for their single Dani California, where they are basically performing but imitating other rock bands through the era’s such as Elvis, The Beatles, Sex Pistols and Nirvana, and then become themselves, showing they are the next best thing. And in 2010 the very unique rock band 30 Seconds To Mars released a video for Kings and Queens, which was highly relatable to the song, as they get many people involved in the video who have different beliefs, from different cultures coming together riding their bikes, as one man gets ran over, the idea of the horse running towards him (symbolising his beliefs) to save him.
Many songs these days aren’t as unique as they were in the 80’s/90’s because, they are very popular now and so no ideas are new to the audience, which means nearly all videos are the same, and like the beginning of music video, they are starting to lose their narrative, its usually more about performance again.
