a brief history of music videos

1. THE HISTORY OF MUSIC VIDEOS
BY EVIE LITTLEWOOD

2. • 1926 was where it all began; the introduction of ‘Talkies’. These were musical short films, usually featuring many bands, dancers and
vocalists.
• The earl 30’s saw the rise of cartoons featuring famous musicians performing their hit songs which invited audiences to sing along
with them.
• Bessie Smith, a blues singer, featured in two real short films named St. Louis Blues.
• 1940-1947 the production of ’Soundies’- musical films that usually included dance sequences.
• 1956 Tony Bennett was filmed walking in Hyde Park, London while his song ‘Stranger in Paradise’ played in the back ground. The
results were then distributed and played in the UK and US on TV stations. Bennett claimed he had created the first music video.
• Late 1950s the Scopitone, a visual jukebox, was invented in France. French artists came to the conclusion that they now needed
visuals to go along side their music, therefore created short films.
• 1964 The Beatles created the first major motion picture to their song ‘A Hard Day’s Night’. This created a ripple effect influencing
pop, rock and contemporary artists to additionally create music videos. They then began to bring techniques from films into their
music vides to add more depth and narrative into later videos.
• 1964 the creation of the Top of the Pops, this aired and promoted artists and created competition between them all to fight for that
number one spot at the top of the Top of the Pops.
• Queens ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ created a whole new era; using music videos as promos (advertisement).
• 1980s MTV is launched (Music Television). This was a channel specifically created for music videos. The first video to be aired being
Buggles ‘Video Killed the Radio Star’.
• 2005- the creation of YouTube. Music videos were now able to be accessed over the internet and viewed how ever many times
necessary.
• RECENT- the technology era. Music videos are now highly accessible due to the developments in video tapes and DVD. Visuals
have additionally bettered due to, again, the development in cameras and other pieces of technology. Music video can be accessed