This document provides a timeline and overview of important music videos throughout history from 1929 to present day. It describes some of the first music videos like "St. Louis Blues" in 1929 and "Jailhouse Rock" in 1957. It then outlines how music videos evolved with the introduction of MTV in the 1980s, bringing videos like "Take On Me" in 1985 and "Thriller" in 1982. The timeline concludes with more modern examples like "I'll Be There For You" and "Up&Up".
2. ST LOUIS BLUES 1929
• St. Louis Blues is an American two reel short
film starring Bessie Smith. The film featured a
song sang by Bessie Smith and was considered
to be one of the first ever music videos.
• The video is simplistic and consists of a group
of people singing in a speakeasy. The video
resembles an early type of performance video.
3. JAILHOUSE ROCK 1957
• The classic song by Elvis Presley released in 1957 was
released with a music video. The video consisted of a
fun performance around a prison which included
dancing and singing. The characters whore dark
denim jackets with striped white and black t-shirts to
show that they were prisoners.
• The video proved to be a successful move for the
production company as the song peaked at Number
1 on the charts.
4. GO NOW 1964
• Go now was one of the first promotional clips by The Moody Blues. The video
is a mix between a conceptual style and a performance which predates Queens
later video “Bohemian Rhapsody’ which was released a decade later.
5. TAKE A CHANCE ON ME 1977
• Take a chance on me was a new style of music
video with what was stunning editing effects for the
period. The four way split screen at the beginning
of the video displays this evolution of editing. The
video also includes close ups of the women in the
group with a hazed washed effect to make them
look dreamy, this is another example of how these
videos changed.
• There was also more settings in the video than
which had been used before. For example jailhouse
rock was only in one location but take a change on
me was in at least three.
6. TAKE ON ME 1985
• The birth of MTV introduced an entirely
new market for music videos. There was
finally a platform for music videos to be
shown on. One of these videos was AHA’s
Take on me which is an incredible video
which takes editing to a new height. The
video was made by using real sketches
and were arranged in a stop motion type
arrangement. Even today there isn't a
video that enhances style and art as well
as this one.
7. THRILLER 1982
• Michael Jacksons Thriller also took
advantage of the new MTV station. The 13
minute music video wasn’t allowed to be
played before 10pm back in the 80’s
because it was inappropriate for younger
viewers, however it is now played all the
time on a variety of different music
stations. The video also includes the
famous thriller dance.
8. I’LL BE THERE FOR YOU
• The Rembrandts hit song I’ll be there for
you is the theme tune to the 90’s
television series ‘Friends’. The video
includes the characters of the TV
programme dancing and playing music
with the band. This was a way of
advertising the TV series which is
regarded as the most successful TV
sitcom of all time.
9. UP&UP
• Today music video’s are mainly orientated
around sex especially in genre like pop, rap
and hip-hop. However, sometimes a great
video is made which has nothing to do
with promiscuity. Coldplay's video for
there single UP&UP is visual masterpiece.
The video shows the best visual effects and
creates beautiful images which resemble
love and piece. The video also includes a
performance aspect from the band in a
unique way.
