Now, we all know that The Buggles’ “Video Killed the Radio Star” was the first video aired on MTV (back in those days when they actually played music). This of course begs the question: where was video shown prior to MTV? Music videos had to be around for at least long enough for a band to make a song and video about them, so MTV clearly couldn’t have announced that they would be forming, and so if all bands could please make a video or two, that’d be great.
One of my friends guessed that videos were available for purchase on VHS (or presumably Beta, this being the '80s and all), but that seems a bit sketchy. I’m sure that if I were ten years older, I’d know this, but I don’t, so can someone please enlighten me?
Ooh, excellent, a thread that will allow me to plug my favourite artist, Gary Numan. His video for the song “Cars” (1979) was the very first video ever made to sell on VHS.
Are you sure Gary Numan was first? Blondie’s Eat to the Beat video album, containing not one but twelve songs, was released on VHS in 1979, too.
AFAIK, Numan’s video album was never released.
Walloon: Were they music videos, or filmed performances?
Mr. Blue Sky: Hmmm…not sure. I’m not sure if the Cars music video was part of a video album or if it was released stand-alone.
Back in the 70s, videos were sometimes played with the previews to movies. I recall seeing Cat Stevens’ “Banapple Gas” in the theaters, as well as Tim Curry’s “Paradise Garage.”
George Harrison made two of the first fully-realized music videos in the 70s, “Crackerbox Palace” and “This Song,” both of which debuted on Saturday Night Live.
Earlier versions of music videos turned up on “Video Jukebox,” “Sonny and Cher” and “Midnight Special.” Mike Nesmith pioneered the form, but I’m not sure many of his videos ever saw the light of day.
You’ll have to explain what the difference is. But those videos from the Eat to the Beat video album are still being shown on VH1.
Not recorded on video but on film the “musical short feature” was part of the program at many movie houses. They were actually very much like todays videos though. Some where just recorded performances but many were either dramitizations of the song or even animations.
They used to have a regular feature on one of the classic movie channels called “Gramiphone Videos” that showed these. Here is a link with a more detailed description. KINO ON VIDEO