Music Videos
Most people think of music videos as being a product of the Eighties. While the Eighties is when the music video format rose to prominence, like most modern musical traditions, music videos can trace their roots back to The Beatles. The first music video to achieve broad access was created as promotion material for the June 1966 release of single for “Paperback Writer” and the connected B-side “Rain” by The Beatles. The term “music video” is attributed to disk-jockey J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson in 1959.
There were three music videos that accompanied “Paperback Writer” and “Rain.” One, recorded May 20, 1966 at Chiswick House in London follows The Beatles as the sing and walk through a garden. The other two music videos were very similar. The first was a black and white soundstage performance by the band, and intended to air in the UK. The other was a color version, intended for The Ed Sullivan Show. The two performance videos were filmed on May 19, 1966. The performance videos would set the tone for music videos for a long time to come. The Kinks music video was one of the first released with a plot not connected to the lyrics along with their single “Dead End Street” in 1966, although it did not receive wide distribution. The first music video to be edited entirely on video tape was “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen. Devo released many self-produced music videos. When these were eventually released on video cassette, they represented one of the first long-form video productions.
The most famous music video of all time, however, may be “Video Killed the Radio Star,” by The Buggles. This was the very first music video to air on MTV. MTV revolutionized the idea of the music video. While Night Flight premiered on the USA Network two months before MTV’s August 1, 1981 debut and played music videos, MTV was the first channel devoted entirely to music video programming. On the first day the network was on the air it played sixty-three different videos. Over the next decade MTV and its use of music videos revolutionized the music industry, the making the once rare music video a requirement for any artist hoping to achieve success. Over the next two decades, MTV remained the premiere source for music videos.
The proliferation of the internet and the rise of Napster lead to changes in the distribution method of many music videos. Many videos were exchanged through the file sharing service, however the real change in the consumption of music videos was still to be see. In 2005 the internet phenomenon YouTube was created. The site features many videos produced by the record companies and artists themselves. However, a larger portion of the videos on the site are fan reproductions of famous videos. While some are respectful of the source material, many videos feature elements of mockery. A YouTube search for “literal music video” results in almost two thousand music videos which replace the original vocal with lyrics describing exactly what is happening on screen.
