# Music videos before MTV **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 8, 2018, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-videos-before-mtv/810215 "2018-03-08T01:14:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2018, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-videos-before-mtv/810215/1 "2018-03-08T01:14:57Z")
There were videos before MTV started in 81 but very few shows would show them in the US. Maybe they were more widely shown in Europe? How many shows in Europe showed videos? I know there was UK top of the pops. I saw a Who video in 78 on some local US show but I can’t recall other US shows that played videos. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2018, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-videos-before-mtv/810215/2 "2018-03-08T01:54:35Z")
We used to have a show in New Zealand in the 70s called _Ready To Roll_, which in the 80s rebranded to _RTR_, then later to _RTR Countdown_ when it became a co-production with Australia’s show _Countdown_ (which was more like UK’s _Top Of The Pops_ with live performances). Anyway, in the 70s there were some pre-recorded clips of a music video persuasion, but it was mostly live stage performances or concert recordings. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2018, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-videos-before-mtv/810215/3 "2018-03-08T02:08:23Z")
IIRC, early MTV videos were usually concert footage, with a handful of what we’d now consider videos mixed it. Groups started making videos as a way for exposure, since MTV was starved for that sort of content. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2018, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-videos-before-mtv/810215/4 "2018-03-08T02:14:35Z")
Michael Nesmith’s [PopClips](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PopClips) aired on Nickleodeon a year before MTV started. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2018, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-videos-before-mtv/810215/5 "2018-03-08T02:32:03Z")
The first “music video” I recall seeing on TV was Queen doing _Bohemian Rhapsody_ on the [The Midnight Special](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0229907/?ref_=nv_sr_3), Friday nights on NBC. This would have been 1976. Mostly they showed concert footage, but Bohemian Rhapsody was definitely not a concert film. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2018, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-videos-before-mtv/810215/6 "2018-03-08T03:23:52Z")
I thought the Beatles got it going more when they stopped touring and started sending in videos of their newest songs. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2018, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-videos-before-mtv/810215/7 "2018-03-08T03:26:25Z")
The earliest video I can remember is The Beatles’ Strawberry Fields. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/8UQK-UcRezE/maxresdefault.jpg "Strawberry Fields Forever - Restored HD Video") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UQK-UcRezE) ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2018, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-videos-before-mtv/810215/8 "2018-03-08T03:45:53Z")
The Beatles did promo videos going back to at least [Help](https://youtu.be/RriSY-f6384), where they mimed and goofed off for the camera. The clips aired on various TV programs. They’re collected in the DVD from the “1” release. The Who’s management was keen on making them video stars but that plan fizzled out. Their early experiments included the slapstick [Happy Jack video](https://youtu.be/52cQeFBU2Kw). ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2018, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-videos-before-mtv/810215/9 "2018-03-08T03:48:40Z")
> [@JohnGalt](#): > > The first “music video” I recall seeing on TV was Queen doing _Bohemian Rhapsody_ on the [The Midnight Special](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0229907/?ref_=nv_sr_3), Friday nights on NBC. This would have been 1976. Mostly they showed concert footage, but Bohemian Rhapsody was definitely not a concert film. Music videos (that weren’t solely just concert footage) were apparently not uncommon for English / European bands in the pre-MTV days. Queen did a number of them, for example; I imagine that it was for shows like Top of the Pops. Examples: [Fat Bottomed Girls](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMWp4SWzspw) [We Will Rock You](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tJYN-eG1zk) And, David Bowie, with [Ashes to Ashes](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMThz7eQ6K0). ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2018, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-videos-before-mtv/810215/10 "2018-03-08T05:50:44Z")
HBO used to run music videos as filler between movies. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2018, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-videos-before-mtv/810215/11 "2018-03-08T05:54:25Z")
> [@JohnGalt](#): > > The first “music video” I recall seeing on TV was Queen doing _Bohemian Rhapsody_ on the [The Midnight Special](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0229907/?ref_=nv_sr_3), Friday nights on NBC. This would have been 1976. Mostly they showed concert footage, but Bohemian Rhapsody was definitely not a concert film. I remember seeing that video on _The Midnight Special_. Another one I remember them playing was Rod Stewart’s [“Hot Legs”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHcjjxYbgNM) which was another non-concert video. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2018, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-videos-before-mtv/810215/12 "2018-03-08T06:57:13Z")
In Aus, ABBA are credited as being the trigger for the Music video revolution. They were a studio band that didn’t really like touring, (considered necessary to promote records) so they released music videos instead. When they arrived in Australia in 1977, they found that they were already major stars (stadium concert of 20,000) on the back of their music video success. Other acts followed the model. I guess their videos would have played on Countdown (1974 ~ 1987) (which mostly did live mime with dead mikes). According to Wikipedia, music videos on Countdown made stars out of several international acts. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2018, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-videos-before-mtv/810215/13 "2018-03-08T08:03:39Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Another one I remember them playing was Rod Stewart’s [“Hot Legs”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHcjjxYbgNM) which was another non-concert video. ISTR that Stewart wound up in heavy rotation in the early days of MTV, because there just weren’t a lot of videos for them to choose from. ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2018, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-videos-before-mtv/810215/14 "2018-03-08T09:41:47Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > … I guess their videos would have played on Countdown (1974 ~ 1987) (which mostly did live mime with dead mikes). According to Wikipedia, music videos on Countdown made stars out of several international acts. There was a fantastic documentary series recently about Countdown, covering 1 year per episode, with the first being 1974-5. The first few eps dwell a bit on the transition from recorded live performance to properly produced music videos, some of which they did in-house, plus the mime thing. You can find them here - [Classic Countdown : ABC iview](http://www.abc.net.au/tv/programs/classic-countdown/). I believe they are accessible outside Australia. Countdown produced videos for AC/DC including [Jailbreak](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXXO9_3gb3o), and the classic ‘[Its a long way to the top](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sUXMzkh-jI)’ clip of them on the back of a flatbed truck tooling around Melbourne. Both filmed in 1976. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2018, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-videos-before-mtv/810215/15 "2018-03-08T11:58:22Z")
I don’t know what year this was, but [Bob Dylan’s Subterranean Homesick Blues](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGxjIBEZvx0) has to be one of the first. ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2018, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-videos-before-mtv/810215/16 "2018-03-08T13:27:39Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > HBO used to run music videos as filler between movies. Yep, also came in to mention [Video Jukebox](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgydCOxe6U8). ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2018, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-videos-before-mtv/810215/17 "2018-03-08T15:02:53Z")
Before they were shown on television, some bands used to show videos (what we’d think of as a music video, or footage of the band playing, or groovy background visuals) during performances. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2018, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-videos-before-mtv/810215/18 "2018-03-08T15:21:06Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > HBO used to run music videos as filler between movies. This is where I mostly remember pre-MTV music videos from. The big one I remember they aired was [Fish Heads](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKDtUzRIG6I). ---
**Author:** ![AllShookDown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d9b06d/32.png) [@AllShookDown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AllShookDown)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2018, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-videos-before-mtv/810215/19 "2018-03-08T17:50:48Z")
Laugh-in had a few. The first season was 1968. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rowan_%26_Martin%27s_Laugh-In) “The first season featured some of the first music videos seen on network TV, with cast members appearing in films set to the music of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, the Bee Gees, the Temptations, the Strawberry Alarm Clock, and the First Edition.” I’ve seen the NGDB, Bee Gees and First Edition ones. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2018, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-videos-before-mtv/810215/20 "2018-03-08T17:55:11Z")
I remember seeing videos both on special shows on TV and in the Ground Round. I can’t say that it was before or after MTV started though since it was around 1980 and I didn’t see MTV until 1983 or so. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-videos-before-mtv/810215.md?page=2)