MUSIC VIDEO HISTORY

Who was Fischinger? What did he achieve?

(22 June 1900 – 31 January 1967) was a German-American abstract animator, filmmaker, and painter, notable for creating abstract musical animation many decades before the appearance of computer graphics and music videos. He created special effects for Fritz Lang's 1929 Woman In The Moon, one of the first sci-fi rocket movies.

3 facts about The Jazz Singer (1927)

Cost: $500,000.
Won an award: Special Oscar to Warner Bros. for producing The Jazz Singer "which revolutionized the industry," 1927–28.
silent with synchronized musical numbers

3 facts about Jailhouse Rock (1957)

The line, "Number 47 said to number 3, You're the cutest jailbird I ever did see," is a sly reference to prison sex but was not offensive enough to create any controversy over the song.
This was a massive hit. It was #1 on the US pop charts for seven weeks, and also reached #1 on the country and R&B charts. In the UK, it entered the charts at #1, becoming the first song to do so. (thanks, Bertrand - Paris, France)
Elvis was so big in 1957 that this smash wasn't even his biggest hit that year: according to Billboard, that honor went to "All Shook Up." The Top 5 that year illuminated the cultural divide between young Elvis fans and their parents, who were looking for something more subdued

3 facts about Summer Holiday (1962)

Summer Holiday is a British CinemaScope and Technicolor musical film featuring singer Cliff Richard.
The film was directed by Peter Yates (his debut), produced by Kenneth Harper.
The original screenplay was written by Peter Myers and Ronald Cass (who also wrote most of the song numbers and lyrics).

3 facts about A Hard Day’s Night (mock documentary about the Beatles made in 1964)

A Hard Day's Night is a 1964 British comedy film directed by Richard Lester and starring the Beatles—John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr—during the height of Beatlemania.
It was written by Alun Owen and originally released by United Artists.
The film portrays several days in the lives of the group.

What are ‘Soundies’?

Soundies were three-minute American musical 16mm films, produced in New York City, Chicago, and Hollywood, between 1940 and 1946, each containing a song, dance and/or band or orchestral number. The completed Soundies were generally made available for rental within a few weeks of their filming, in film collections of eight to a reel, primarily by the Soundies Distributing Corporation of America, from which the name "Soundies" was generalized to any similar film, including later, single pieces shot as "filler" for early television. The last true Soundies group was released in March 1947.

What is ‘panoram’?

Panoram was the trademark name of a visual jukebox that played music accompanied by a synched, filmed image (the effect being the equivalent of today's music videos) popular within the United States during the 1940s. The device consisted of a jukebox playing a closed-loop 16mm film reel projected onto a glass screen.

3 facts about House of the Rising Sun by the Animals.

It's about a women's prison in New Orleans called the Orleans Parish women's prison, which had an entrance gate adorned with rising sun artwork. This would explain the "ball and chain" lyrics in the song.
The melody is a traditional English ballad, but the song became popular as an African-American folk song. It was recorded by Texas Alexander in the 1920s, then by a number of other artists including Leadbelly, Woody Guthrie, Josh White and later Nina Simone.
The Animals performed this song while touring England with Chuck Berry. It went over so well that they recorded it between stops on the tour.

3 facts about Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody.

It was written by Freddie Mercury for the band's 1975 studio album A Night at the Opera.
The song consists of several sections: a ballad segment ending with a guitar solo, an operatic passage, and a hard rock section.
At the time, it was the most expensive single ever made.

3 facts about Video Killed the Radio Star by Buggles.

This was the first video to air on MTV. The network launched August 1, 1981, and this provided the first evidence that MTV was going to make it.
The song was a big hit in England in 1979, but pretty much unknown in America.
"Video Killed the Radio Star" is a song written by Trevor Horn, Geoff Downes and Bruce Woolley in 1978

3 facts about Ashes to Ashes by David Bowie.

It made No. 1 in the UK and was the first cut from the Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) album, also a No. 1 hit.
Genre -New wave art rock
The song's original title was "People Are Turning to Gold."

3 facts about The Wall by Pink Floyd.

The Wall is the eleventh studio album by the English progressive rock band Pink Floyd.
It is the last studio album released with the classic lineup of Gilmour, Waters, Wright and Mason before keyboardist Richard Wright left the band.
Released as a double album on 30 November 1979, it was supported by a tour with elaborate theatrical effects, and adapted into a 1982 feature film, Pink Floyd – The Wall.