1. History of Pop Music Videos
Pop music is an abbreviation of the word “popular”. It is a genre that describes it as being
‘popular music’, which originated during the 1950s and 1960s, coming from rock and roll.
Pop music is labelled as being eclectic, and often borrows elements from other styles such
as urban, dance, rock, Latin, and country; however, there are core elements that define pop
music. Identifying factors of pop music include generally short to medium-length songs
written in a basic format (often the verse-chorus structure) as well as the common
employment of repeated choruses, melodic tunes, and hooks. The first “pop song” was
recorded in 1926; this came across to the public, as being a piece of music that has “popular
appeal”. In the parlours of middle class homes, unprofessional singers and pianists
performed “popular music”.
Early Pop Music
In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, people enjoyed commercial music, in the 1930s;
the influence of American Jazz led to the creation of British dance bands, who provided
communal and popular music that began to dominate social occasions and the radio
airwaves. In terms of the origins of pop music, it is a genre which includes a mix of several
different styles of music which vary from jazz to country; rock to rap or hip-hop, etc. In
addition, sheet music was a way of getting families together and hearing ‘pop music’, as it
was music which was handwritten or printed in form of music notation using musicals
symbols, and therefore, relatives and children would get together and hear the music, as
someone would play it on the piano or guitar. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the
most significant feature of the pop music industry was the commodity form of sheet music.
Moreover, Pop music is generally described as being very commercial friendly, marketable
and memorable, with vocals, lyrics, instruments, creating a chorus or verse, which makes
the song catchy and memorable, keeping the target audience, engaged into the song/music
video.
The 50s
Elvis Presley brought Rock ‘n’ Roll, producing over 32 number one hit
singles and 18 number one albums. He is known as the most iconic
music figure of the 50s till date.
Moreover, in the last 50s, the English rock music group “The Beatles”
was formed. John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo
Starr were the members of the group. Most lyrics and music were
written by Lennon and McCartney. The decade 1960-70 was
dominated by the Beatles.
In 1958, musical legends Michael Jackson and Madonna were born, up till date, these 2
remain probably the 2 most well-known people.
2. The 60s
In 1960, The English Rock band was formed, with members:
John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo
Starr. They are probably the most well-known group/band of
all time, bring given the title of “the foremost and more
influential act of the rock era”. The Beatles have a number of
chart-topping singles. Beatles hit the top spot with classics
like She Loves You, Help! and Hey Jude. In terms of awards,
The Beatles won the first ever BRIT award for best band, in
addition to this, they have seven Grammy Awards and have also been honoured by the
Queen. The Beatles have claimed to have made 600 million sales, making them the most
successful band till date.
In 1962, the English rock band “The Rolling Stones” were
formed, with the current members: Mick Jagger, Keith
Richards, Charlie Watts, and Ronnie Wood. Past members
of the rolling stone were: Brian Jones, Ian Stewart, Bill
Wyman and Mick Taylor. The band's second UK LP, ‘The
Rolling Stones No. 2’ released in January 1965, charted at
number 1 as an album. In addition, The Rolling Stone
have claimed to have made 200 million sales.
The 70s
In the 1970s, ‘Got to Be There’ was Michael Jackson’s first solo debut studio album, released
by Motown Records on January 24, 1972. It ended up becoming ‘Gold-certified’.
Moreover, in 1975-1983, popularity of disco and hip-hop lead to the popularity of pop, and
when the movie “Saturday Night Fever” was released, ‘Disco Music’ gained a lot of
popularity and admiration. Hip-Hop emerged as a blend of rock, jazz and soul with African
drumming in New York City and the debut album of Madonna called “Holiday” also became
a hit.
Abba was a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in
1972, with members Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus,
Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. ABBA became
one of the most commercially successful acts in the
history of popular music, topping the charts worldwide
from 1975 to 1982. They also won the Eurovision Song
3. Contest in 1974, making them the most successful group ever to take part in the
competition.
Another well-known group would be Queen, a British rock
band that was formed in London in 1970. Also, Queen
released their sixth studio in 1977, which contained the the
hit songs "We Will Rock You", "We Are the Champions"
and "Spread Your Wings". The album went 4x platinum in
the United States, and achieved high certifications around
the world, selling over 8 million copies.
The 80s
Madonna is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and
businesswoman, whose first album was called “Madonna”,
which was the eponymous debut studio album released on
July 27, 1983 by Sire Records. She followed it with a series
of commercially successful albums, including the Grammy
Award winner Ray of Light, which was the seventh studio
album by her.
Moreover, in 1983, Michael Jackson popularised
the ‘moonwalk’, which is a ‘backslide’ dance
technique that presents the illusion that the dancer
is stepping forward while actually moving
backwards. After two years (1985), Michael Jackson
then released “Thriller”, which became a classic,
and till date is still one of the most notable music
videos ever to have been created.
4. Moonwalking gif: http://giphy.com/gifs/michael-jackson-moonwalk-awesomeness-
3lAyb3GRq21NK
90s
Mariah Carey, an American singer, songwriter,
record producer, and actress, who released her
self-titled debut studio album in 1990, making
her rise to fame with the song "Vision of
Love". Moreover, Mariah Carey released
another number one hit song called “All I want
for Christmas” which was the lead single from
her first holiday album and fourth studio
album, Merry Christmas. This song is till date
one of the best Christmas songs ever to be
produced. Also, this song has received positive
feedback and success, to be specific, The Daily
Telegraph hailed "All I Want for Christmas Is
You" as the most popular and most played
Christmas song of the decade in the United
Kingdom. In addition, Rolling Stone ranked it fourth on its Greatest Rock and Roll Christmas
Songs list, calling it a "holiday standard.” This song has had global sales of over 14 million
copies and it remains as Mariah Carey's biggest international success and the 11th best-
selling single of all time. In general, Mariah Carey did really well in the music industry during
the 90s, with more hit songs, such as, ‘Hero’ and ‘always be my baby’.
Furthermore, another famous celebrity singer in the 90s, would
be Celine Dion, who released the album “Let’s talk about Love”
in 1997, which included the song ‘My Heart Will go on. This song
was also the main theme song to the James Cameron's
blockbuster film ‘Titanic’, and went to number 1 all over the
world, including the United States, Canada, Ireland, United
Kingdom and Australia. This song has become Celion Dion's
biggest hit, and one of the best-selling singles of all time, and
was the world's best-selling single of 1998. Moreover, Celine
Dion also released other songs that were widely recognised and
successful, such as, ‘Power of Love’ and ‘Because You Loved me’,
etc.
Likewise, Britney Spears was yet another popular singer in the 90s, who released her
debut studio album called ‘…Baby One More Time’ in 1999. It included the song ‘…Baby One
More Time’ which was titled the same as the album. This song attained global success,
reaching number one in every country it charted, including the United Kingdom, where it
earned double-platinum status and became the country's best-selling song of 1999. It also
5. received numerous certifications around the
world, and is one of the best-selling singles of all
time, with over 10 million copies sold. Another
song of Britney Spears that was successful in the
90s, was the song ‘Sometimes’ from the same
album ‘‘…Baby One More Time’. This song also
achieved worldwide success, peaking inside the
top ten in eleven countries.
2000s
The 2000s consisted of many singers and rappers
who dominated the music industry with their music.
For example, Marshall Bruce Mathers III, also known
as ‘Eminem’ was known as the best-selling artist of
the 2000s, with Rolling Stone ranking him 83rd on
their list of 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, calling
him the ‘King of Hip Hop’. Moreover, Eminem had
two albums in the top 10 during the 2000’s, one
titled “The Marshall Mathers LP”, which was at No. 4
during the 2000s and the other album titled “The
Eminem Show” at No 5 in 2002. Between these and
his other releases, Eminem has sold about 32.2m
albums, and also made him the only act to have two
albums in the decade's top 10 in the 2000s.
Another popular and known artist of the 2000s would
be ‘Coldplay’. Coldplay are a British rock band formed in
1996 by lead vocalist Chris Martin and lead guitarist
Jonny Buckland at University College London (UCL).
Moreover, they achieved worldwide fame with the
release of the single "Yellow" in 2000. Then this was
followed by their debut album titled ‘Parachutes’, which
was released the same year and was also nominated for
the Mercury Music Prize, considered for being the best
album from the United Kingdom and Ireland in the
2000s. The single ‘Yellow’ reached number four in the
UK Singles Chart, giving the band its first top-five hit in
the United Kingdom and till date remains one of the
most popular songs to be released by Coldplay.
