The terms "trailer" and "cover"

[CurtC]

In the last two or three years, I have become aware of the terms “trailer” and “cover” when talking about movies and songs, respectively. I’m well over 40, so I went a good 40 years without ever hearing/noticing these terms used for these purposes. We used to call them “previews” and “remakes.” Now I hear the terms very frequently.

I’m lumping them together because to me they appeared about the same time, have to do with popular art, and neither term makes sense in that context.

When did these terms appear, and how did they get these particular (seemingly random) names?

[RealityChuck]

“Movie trailer” goes back long before you were born: The OED dates it back to 1928:

1928 N.Y. Times 11 Mar. VIII. 6 A trailer, a few hundred feet of film announcing a forthcoming picture. 1930 Dancing Times July 360/2 In a ‘trailer’ advertising the film, it is announced that the producers have aimed more at entertainment than historical accuracy.

“Preview” are just a synonym, though originally there was a difference: a preview was an advance showing of a film, whereas a trailer was an advertisement for an upcoming film, so named because they originally “trailed” the showing of the regular film.

“Cover” as in “cover version” is someone newer, dating from 1966.

1966 Melody Maker 23 July 12/2 This is a cover version of the new Beach Boys single from some friends and admirers, the Castaways. 1968 Listener 7 Nov. 622/3 The jackal thinking behind cover versions, which are near copies of original recordings, is predicated on the belief that so much money is showered in the general direction of hit records that any performance of the song will collect if sufficiently adjacent. Ibid., It’s a popular misconception that the original version of a song must be better than a cover.

I recall talking about Joe Cocker’s cover versions of “A Little Help From My Friends” in 1969.

[robby]

I’ll second the OP. I’m about the same age, and also always used the terms “previews” and “remakes.”

[RealityChuck]

Like the OED says: the terms “trailer” and “cover” are older. I’m older than both of you, and heard “trailer,” “cover version” and “cover band” back in the 60s. They are not new terms.

[CookingWithGas]

I’m 48 and when I was 15 I played in a cover band, although at that time the term was more of musician’s jargon than mainstream. I think it has become more mainstream as more famous artists have done more and more covers.