The History of the Music Video

1. A Brief History of the Music Video
1. What is considered to be the first official music video and why is it different from what came
before?
- Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody (1975) was the first song to receive a music video, it is
considered the first official music video as it wasn’t just a promotional video for the music,
it was a video deliberately made to accompany the music. It is also considered a big step
for advanced use of visual effects, it was the stepping stone for future music videos as
many after this decided to follow a similar format.
2. Before the ‘first music video’ television shows existed that showed bands and artists
performing their songs; name a UK and a US one and say why they existed (for the audience)
- Top of the Pops was a British television show that showed chart music artists/bands live so
that the audiences could essentially see a live performance from the comfort of their own
homes. Hullabaloo is an American musical variety show aired on the
12th January 1965, it is essentially an American Version of Top of the
Pops. MTV (Music Television) 1st August 1981 was a US based channel
that was considered the first 24-hour music channel, this meaning
there were non-stop music videos so that people could watch and
enjoy at any time. These types of shows were a good opportunity for
viewers to see their favourite bands and artists perform live as you
would usually have to pay quite a lot of money.
3. David Bowie released a music video in 1980, it used ground-breaking
special effects – what was the song and what, do you think, is the song and video about?
- David Bowie’s ‘Ashes to Ashes’ was the first music video to use solarised
colour and stark black-and-white. It had some really interesting visual
effects that were used to symbolise the effects of drugs on the mind. It
was inspired by ‘The Wizard of Oz’ as Bowie was a big fan of the films, this
would explain why in certain areas there are black and white and other
areas that were more jovial were far brighter. The song seems as if it is
talking about not messing with drugs, as one of the main lyrics is ‘My
mother said to get things done, you’d better not mess with Major Tom.’
4. What massive event took place in 1981? Hint, it relates to the exhibition of music videos!
- The massive event that took place in
1981 was the launch of MTV (Music
Television) on the 1st of August as it
was the first 24-hour music video
channel. It launched with the pop hit
song by the Buggles ‘Video Killed the
Radio Star’.

2. A Brief History of the Music Video
5. In 1984, a female artist released a song that a certain TV channel refused to play. What was
the song and why, do you think, they refused to play it?
- In 1984, MTV refused to broadcast a music video called ‘Self
Control’ produced by WilliamFriedkin and performed by Laura
Branigan it was seen as a song about a women who was
wandering around what seems like a party, MTV felt that it was
a bad decision to broadcast as the connotations such as the
masked man whom basically stalks the woman and eventually
takes control of her which they felt wouldn’t be something they
should show their viewers as it was pretty lacy and rude.
6. Also in 1984, Michael Jackson released, what would become, one of the most iconic music
videos of all time; what was it, why was it so unusual for the time and what is so special about
the VHS sales?
- Michael Jackson released the music video for the song ‘Thriller’
which was released alongside the behind the scenes short film
‘Making of Thriller’ both released on VHS which was unusual as it
was the first ever VHS showing how the music video was made.
7. In 1985, aha released the song Take on Me but what animation effect is used and how is it
achieved / created?
- A-ha released the song ‘Take on me’ in 1985 which
combined not only live-action footage but footage that
included a rotoscope which is where filmed footage is
traced over frame by frame to create realistic looking
animation and for this it is still one of the greatest
music videos to be created.
8. Who released the video for Sledgehammer in 1986 and why do you think it was so popular?
- Peter Gabriel released the stop motion music video for
Sledgehammer, made popular because of it insanely creative
use of the unique animation technique which integrated
many different models and props that made the image
interesting. Gabriel was said to have laid under a sheet of
glass for approximately 16 hours as the film as shot one
frame at a time.
9. In 1995, two famous siblings released a duet which, at the time, was the most
expensive MV to date. Who were they and what was the video?
- Both Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson released the song ‘scream’ which is still the
most expensive music video that has ever been created costing around $7,000,000. The
music video used many different sets such as a space ship, it won many awards
including a Grammy award.

3. A Brief History of the Music Video
10. Why is Missy Elliott’s 2008 single Ching-a-ling so important in the MV timeline?
- It was the first video to utilise 3D technology, this song was
created by Missy Elliot and produced by Dave Meyers, it
premiered on her own website and also MySpace, it is
important as it was the first to try out a completely new
technology within a music video and it could’ve been a very
risky decision.
11.Which female artist reached 1 billion views in 2010 and for which song?
- ‘Poker Face’ by Lady Gaga was the song to reach 1 million views worldwide, it
topped the charts in more than 15 different countries and it also won awards
such as MTV’s best new artist.
12. Also in 2010, which artist released Coming to
Get Me, in collaboration with Doritos and why
was it such a ‘big deal’?
- ‘Coming to get me’ released by Professor Green
in partnership with Doritos, it was considered a
‘big deal’ as it used the 360 degree camera
known as the Point Grey Ladybug 3.
13. Whose 10 year anniversary was in 2015? Hint, over 300 hours of
video content is uploaded to it every minute!
The mass-media outlet YouTube – owned by Google – had its ten-year
anniversary in 2015, to celebrate it released a short A-Z video which
showed many iconic things that had happened on the platform since 2005
in alphabetical order.
14. What is a ‘Panoram Soundie’ and why is it important to consider it when
thinking about music videos?
- A Panoram Soundie was a visual jukebox that could showed music
accompanied by a moving image, these were widely popular during the
1940/50s, each video was around 3-minutes long where it could be played
to the public, it is important to consider it as it was essentially the first form
of music video.