THE HISTORY OF THE

MUSIC VIDEO

By Abbie-Rose Booth MBE

GEORGE THOMAS

American electrician/photographer

was the first to “marry” images to

music in 1894, as he projected his

own images onto a screen whilst

an orchestra played. He called this

the “illustrated song” and created

“The Little Lost Child”, which was

a huge hit.

WARNER BROS

Between 1930 and 1931, Warner

Bros created a series of five

musical shorts, of which “Spooney

Melodies” was the first. These

were short films that combined

animation and live-action footage

and the popular tunes of the day.

They lasted around 6 minutes, a

similar length to some music

videos of today.

THE SCOPITONE

In the late 1950’s, a French

company called Cameca produced

a juke box that incorporated a

16mm film component. It became

ridiculously popular in the States

in the 60’s, as shown by the poster

to the left.

THE BEATLES

The Beatles are thought to have

popularized music videos to the

extent we see today. Their first

was “I Feel Fine” in 1965, directed

by Joe McGrath, who produced 5

videos in ‘65 with the band.

QUEEN

In 1975, Queen released

“Bohemian Rhapsody”, which

became, arguably the most

recognizable music video of all

time. It took only 4 hours to film

and cost £400,000 to produce.

THE BUGGLES

In 1979, The Buggles became the

first band to have a music video

broadcasted on MTV, with “Video

Killed the Radio Star”. The song

was at number one in the charts of

sixteen countries at the time.

MICHAEL JACKSON

In 1983, Michael Jackson released

his video for “Thriller”, directed by

John Landis. Contrary to popular

belief that production of the video

cost $800,000, Landis reported it

cost $500,000 and marked history

for ethnic artists. Many of artists,

including Lady Gaga have been

inspired by Thriller.

MOST EXPENSIVE

Speaking of Jackson, his video

“Scream”, with sister Janet, is

considered the most expensive

music video of all time. It cost

$7,000,000 to produce.

MY TOP 3 MUSIC

VIDEOS

3. “IN BLOOM”- NIRVANA

This parody of early variety shows

implies that fans didn’t quite “get

the message” that Nirvana were

trying to give out initially,

confirmed by Cobain’s lyrics and

costume changes throughout the

video. The band start in suits and

change to dresses. Courtney

Love’s, according to Cobain. It’s a

classic.

2. “THE GHOST OF YOU” -

MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE

“The Ghost of You” tells the

shockingly true story of war and is

a desperate protest against it. The

video, filmed partly on a beach,

references Saving Private Ryan

and is based on the events of

WW2. It’s infamous amongst the

band’s fans for being shocking,

especially when bassist Mikey

dies.

1. “NOVEMBER RAIN” -

GUNS N’ ROSES

This theatrical 10-minute classic from

Guns N’ Roses references one of Axl

Rose’s favourite stories, in which a

woman marries a musician, feels

unloved due to him caring more

about his music than her. In the short

story, she kills herself listening to his

music, which is also referenced

throughout the video. In my opinion,

it’s the best song/video ever.