Notes on history of pop video:

Notes on history of pop video:

To prepare myself for creating a Pop music video I have decided to research into the historical background of pop music videos. Doing this research will help me understand key conventions and indicators for creating a believable and promotable music video.

The history of the pop video arguably began with the band Queen’s song ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ which was filmed using videotapes. It was not the ‘first’ music video, but was the first to be aired. Queen’s music video success can be seen as inspiration for other artists to follow in creating videos.

Top of the pops was a British television show which aired in 1964 and broadcast UK chart music. Music videos were played on the show when the artist was unable to make the performance. It was a major success for the BBC, however it is MTV that is famed for the major ‘discovery’ of pop music videos.

The launching of MTV in 1891 (then under the acronym MT) was a catalyst for the rise of pop music video production and promotion. The first music video aired on MTV was ‘Video Killed the Radio Star’ by The Buggles, the second was Pat Benatar’s ‘You Better Run’. After broadcasting their first music video, it then became apparent how popular it was, and MTV soon realised that they needed more videos to fill their airtime; and so the reputation and creation of pop music videos began. MTV wanted to stream music videos 24 / 7 and it soon became possible when the pop music video craze hit.

‘Sweet Dreams’ by the Eurythmics was one of the first 200 music videos to be aired in the first MTV 24 hour launch.

As the popularity of music videos increased, so did the concepts behind music video concepts. The music videos became less about the artist and more about the artistic statement made by the visuals, as is demonstrated in The Cure’s music video ‘Lullaby’. David Byrne, writer for American band ‘Talking Heads’, described music videos as “art for everyone”.

Music videos then took another drastic turn as the desire and development of more sophisticated visual effects, costume, make-up; storyline and plot. Michael Jackson was a catalyst for this movement. ‘MJ’ created music videos that followed a beginning, middle and end; his first music video to do this was ‘Billie Jean’, directed by Steve Barron, and then, more notably in ‘Beat it’, directed by Bob Giraldi, which followed a ‘West Side Story’ esque narrative. In 1984 Michael Jackson released his music video ‘Thriller’ which was aired as a short film as it begins with a scene at the beginning in which a couple are on a date and Michael Jackson transforms into a grim monster. The audiences of the era were shocked by this video and it terrified many for years as its effects were cutting edge at the time.

However, with Michael Jackson’s creation of ‘Thriller’ followed a new craze: to create music videos that are so shocking / disturbing that they get banned, which inadvertently causes more hype and desire to find the video. The first glimpse of this publicity act is seen by Duran Duran’s music video for ‘Girls on film’ and The Sex Pistols ‘God Save The Queen’.