Music Video Through History

Thomas Edison

Apr 5, 1900

Edison invents the gramophone in the USA: first shift from music as a solely live and audiovisual experience to record audio on various forms of disc

Oskar Fischinger

Oct 23, 1920

Fischinger experiments with sound/vision synchronisation on film

Alan Crosland

Mar 3, 1927

First sound film, The Jazz Singer (Alan Crosland, USA)

Soundies

Sep 30, 1930

Creation of the ‘soundies’

Panarom

Feb 15, 1939

Introduction of the Panarom, this was a massive projector

MGM

May 19, 1940

Peak period of MGM Hollywood musical

Elvis Presley

Aug 23, 1954

Elvis Presley records That’s All Right (Mama)

Jukebox

Jul 24, 1960

The Scopitone, which is a type of jukebox, was introduced in France

Ready Steady Go

Oct 20, 1963

UK’s first music TV programme, Ready Steady Go (ITV)

Top Of The Pops

Jan 1, 1964

Top of the Pops TV programme begins (BBC)

A Hard Day's Night

Jul 9, 1964

The Beatles release the film and album, A Hard Day’s Night (Richard Lester, UK)

The Monkees'

Oct 19, 1966

The Monkees’ TV show starts on NBC in the USA

Penny Lane And Strawberry Fields Forever

Jan 5, 1967

The Beatles release TV promos for Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields Forever

Bohemian Rhapsody

Jun 2, 1975

Queen: Bohemian Rhapsody (Bruce Gowers)

Saturday Night Fever

Sep 1, 1977

Saturday Night Fever (John Badham, USA)

Video Killed The Radio Star

Jul 25, 1979

Buggles: Video Killed the Radio Star (Russell Mulcahy)

Ashes To Ashes

Aug 9, 1980

David Bowie: Ashes to Ashes (David Mallet and David Bowie)

Nickelodeon

Feb 23, 1981

Pop Clips on Nickelodeon, here we see tapping into the consumer audience, targeting a younger generation

MTV

Jul 17, 1981

MTV starts

Girls On Film

Nov 15, 1981

Duran Duran: Girls on Film (Kevin Godley and Lol Creme)

Thriller

Sep 26, 1983

Michael Jackson: Thriller (john Landis)

Country Music Television

Nov 1, 1983

Beginning of Country Music Television (CMT), expanding to wider genres

Music Box

Mar 21, 1984

Music Box starts in Europe

MTV Video Music Awards

Sep 16, 1984

MTV Video Music Awards launched

VH1

Feb 2, 1985

VH1 begins; the focus starts to become more on the video instead of the music, more money is being put into the industry

Viacom

Apr 10, 1985

MTV taken over by Viacom

Live Aid

Jul 18, 1985

Live Aid

Money For Nothing

Mar 20, 1986

Dire Straits: Money for Nothing (Steve Barron) is top video

MTV-Europe

Jan 13, 1987

MTV-Europe (MTV-E) launched, broadcasting to 1.6 million homes

Sledgehammer

Jun 29, 1987

Peter Gabriel: Sledgehammer (Stephen Johnson), wins best director award

MTV-Europe

Aug 24, 1988

MTV-Europe achieves 3.5 million subscribers

MTV-Europe

Apr 11, 1989

MTV-Europe reaches 6.7 million homes

Moscow Peace Festival

Jun 30, 1989

Live broadcast from Moscow Peace Festival

Express Yourself

Dec 23, 1989

Madonna: Express Yourself (David Fincher), wins best director award

Vogue

Jan 31, 1990

Madonna: Vogue (David Fincher), wins best director award

MTV-Unplugged

May 19, 1990

Launch of MTV-Unplugged

Justify My Love

Jun 4, 1991

Madonna: Justify My Love (Jean-Baptiste Mondino)

Everybody Hurts

May 15, 1994

REM: Everybody Hurts (Jake Scott), wins best director award

VH1 In UK

Jul 7, 1994

Launch of VH1 in UK

MTV-Europe Music Awards

Oct 2, 1994

Launch of MTV-Europe Music Awards

MTV UK And Ireland

Feb 11, 1997

MTV UK and Ireland launches as stand-alone channel

Praise You

May 3, 1999

Fatboy Slim: Praise you (Spike Jonze), wins best director award