When MTV first went on the air in August 1981 (just a month before me, lol), they didn't have much to choose from in terms of already existing videos. In fact, I hear they played the same stuff on repeat all day. However, music videos had been around for a little while, even if it didn't have an official outlet yet.

Some scattered songs from 1979 to early '81 had them, but were there any earlier than that? I think they also filmed some from this time a couple years later once MTV fully caught on (i.e. "Whip It").

The Doors had a couple of music videos (which they considered short films).  Jim Morrison and Ray Manzarek were both film students at UCLA and used this format to promote such songs as "The Unknown Soldier" and "Wild Child".  There's also a video for "L.A. Woman", although I think this was done in the 80's.

  Hard to say.  I watched a Jimi Hendrix music video not long ago complete with, uh, a purple haze, I guess.  And the camera zooming in and out on him.  It was pretty cool...

  And I make a distinction between video set to music and stage or concert footage, which, come to think of it, can also be a music video...

  Music videos may stretch all the way back to the dawn of cinema itself...or not...

  Right now I'm thinking of Looney Tunes' "Barber of Seville", "What's Opera, Doc?" and Disney's "Fantasia"...

i remember they played the buggles video killed the radio star as the first video.

The first ever music video came in 1961 ...

In 1961, Rick Nelson's "Travelin' Man" sold over 2 million copies and went to #1. For the television show "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet", Ozzie overlaid Rick's performance of "Travelin' Man" with some footage specially shot on location, making it the first conceptual rock video in history.

i remember they played the buggles video killed the radio star as the first video.


  The first video shown on MTV, right..?

  I didn't understand the question...

"A Hard Day's Night" film from The Beatles is often considered as the first modern music video


Here's the history of music videos

   The first video shown on MTV, right..?

   I didn't understand the question...


In that case, the first video would be ...

♦ MTV (America, 1981) - "Video Killed the Radio Star" by The Buggles
♦ MuchMusic (Canada, 1984) - "The Enemy Within" by Rush
♦ VH1 (America, 1985) - "Star Spangled Banner" by Marvin Gaye
♦ MTV (UK, 1987) - "Money For Nothing" by Dire Straits

The first video made solely for a song is regarded to be Bohemian Rhapsody (1975)

I was thinking of starting a page on amIright on this subject a few months ago.  There's a lot of claims made as to what the "first" video was. It really depends on how you define the question.

I've seen Elvis referred to a lot, since his music numbers in his movies were generally capable as stand alone music performances.  If you use that criteria, he'd probably have the first ROCK music video, and several other people could probably claim the same thing from earlier movies. Esther Williams musicals are like one giant video.

There was a movie in 1964 called Pop Gear that DEFINITELY looks like music videos back to back.  The group lip syncing while performing on a stage. Example:  Animals - House of the Rising Sun.  I've seen VH-1 Classic use this particular song as a video on the channel.

The Beatles beat Queen to the punch of recording performance films for TV show appearances: http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A3404611.  I think DEVO also had a short film that could be considered a music video before the Queen video was assembled (though both were right around the same time, and the Queen video was way more popular).

Warner Brothers released plenty of sing-a-long cartoons in the 1940s with the bouncing ball.  Those were five minutes or less, focused on a single song and shown in between films.

Although not conceived as a video 'idea', the Scopitone could be thought of as the 'video jukebox' of its day...

Sadly, it never really caught on outside of Europe...

A more fitting and relevant question might be, what and when was the last video shown on MTV.  ;)

A more fitting and relevant question might be, what and when was the last video shown on MTV.  ;)
True, for everytime I view MTV it is always Hulk Hogan or those Crib programmes.

i remember they played the buggles video killed the radio star as the first video.
...and MTV headed downhill since then.

Although not conceived as a video 'idea', the Scopitone could be thought of as the 'video jukebox' of its day...

Sadly, it never really caught on outside of Europe...


I think I've seen that site before, but had forgotten totally about it.  Too bad it's broke in Firefox.  I'd say that those short films are clearly music videos as well.  Too bad they don't link to any clips, but YouTube (ugh) to the rescue:

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Scopitones&search=tag

Warner Brothers released plenty of sing-a-long cartoons in the 1940s with the bouncing ball.  Those were five minutes or less, focused on a single song and shown in between films.


Also in the 1940's was the Panoram jukebox which played filmed performances of jazz bands of the day, called "soundies".

http://www.robbiesreels.com/1940.htm

These may well be able to hold claim to "first music video".

Warner Brothers released plenty of sing-a-long cartoons in the 1940s with the bouncing ball.  Those were five minutes or less, focused on a single song and shown in between films.

actually that was Famous  studios

Though Warner Bros. & Disney did have cartoons with mostly music in the 1930s.

I know ABBA made a lot of music videos in the 70's....As did Fleetwood Mac.

The Queen video for bohemian Rhapsody came out here in the early to mid 1970's.

Also, Elton John had some music videos out in the early 70's Im pretty sure.

The Beatles made a number of music videos in the 1960's.





AN

That's true about the Beatles, and even those old soundies, it definitely was leading up to what would become full fledged music videos. I wonder what the earliest one that aired on MTV was. Like I said, I know some 1979 songs had them, but was it any earlier at all?

Despite being a few years old at the time, Video Killed The Radio Star, by the Buggles, was the first song ever played by MTVThe irony of this choice escaped few people, but rather than kill radio, MTV and other music channels have helped boost its popularity while increasing music sales and developing a new form of entertainment

Like I said, I know some 1979 songs had them, but was it any earlier at all?


As was mentioned earlier in this thread, "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen had a concept film made of it.

That was 1976.

As was mentioned earlier in this thread, "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen had a concept film made of it.

That was 1976.




After Wayne's World came out in 1992, that song got popular again, and I remember seeing the video interspersed with clips from the movie. But was it an actual uninterrupted video from before then, too? If so, that's cool because I thought it was just for the movie. :)

After Wayne's World came out in 1992, that song got popular again, and I remember seeing the video interspersed with clips from the movie. But was it an actual uninterrupted video from before then, too? If so, that's cool because I thought it was just for the movie. :)


The song was so difficult to perform 'live' that a video was made to be shown on programmes like Top of the Pops in the 70s

The song was so difficult to perform 'live' that a video was made to be shown on programmes like Top of the Pops in the 70s
A few years ago at Christmas, the BBC had a programme on the production and recording of Bohemian Rhapsody, touching on both song and video.

If you're talking about film/animation set to music, then music video goes back to the 1910s and it's impossible to identify a "first."

Prior to MTV, as others have mentioned, there were "promotional films" or "clips," there was concert footage and lip-syncing on programs such as American Bandstand all of which could be called the antecedents of "music video."  However, if we're using the term "music video," then I have to give credit to MTV.  I don't know who coined the term "music video," and it is debatable what early music video shown on MTV was produced first, but "music video" did not enter popular parlance until the summer of 1981 when MTV premiered.  Thus, I say The Buggles "Video Killed the Radio Star" was the first music video if we are to call any one music video "first" with any certainty.

Actually, you almost never heard the term "music video" in informal speech.  They were called simply "videos." 

A couple of years later when the VCR became commonplace, any feature released on video cassette was also known as a "video."

The term used before music videos came to the way we know now was pop promos.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subterranean_Homesick_Blues

another example of an early music video... pre-dating the Beatles usage anyways...

A more fitting and relevant question might be, what and when was the last video shown on MTV.  ;)
They still air Music videos, just durring the 3-7 hours.

They still air Music videos, just durring the 3-7 hours.
I am usually asleep at that time.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subterranean_Homesick_Blues

another example of an early music video... pre-dating the Beatles usage anyways...


Yes, one of my favorite Dylan songs with a great promotional film.  I posted that "video" a while back along with Weird Al's spoof "Bob.
On YouTube I have found promo films to many of my favorite sixties songs from Pink Floyd's "See Emily Play" to Left Banke's "Walk Away Renee."

I still say the first first music video is impossible to determine due to varying opinions of what shall constitute a first and what shall constitute a music video.

http://www.inthe00s.com/smile/12/dontknow.gif