Re: Video history

[Richard Bensam <rabensam@earthlink.net>]

len wrote:

>According to Dave Clark of the Dave Clark Five, the first
>music vid was created for one of DCVs early hits.  Oddly,
>the idea for an all video cable network was reputed to
>have originated with Michael Nesmith of the Monkees.  He
>became an independent film producer after the band. For
>a really funny example of his work, troll around the
>vid shop for a release called "TapeHeads".   King Cotton's
>"Roscoe's Rap" is awfully funny.

Not to impugn the word of Dave Clark -- I have nothing against the man,
honest! -- but musical shorts were a regular part of a night out at the
cinema back in the 1930s, alongside cartoons and newsreels.  These short
films were usually what we might consider performance clips, except that
they were not films of actual performances, but bands "acting" like they
were performing, miming over a prerecorded track just like the videos of
today.

Occasionally they were more than just footage of the band, employing highly
stylized visuals; there was one short jazz film -- I forget the name, if I
ever knew it -- which served as the basis for the video of "Every Breath
You Take" by the Police.

One of my all-time favorite promo clips is for "The House I Live In" by
Frank Sinatra, which dates back to 1942 or 1943 -- pretty much a full-blown
music video as we know them today.  (Actually, it's closer to being a
proper short subject with a plot and dialogue...but no more so than, say,
the typical Michael Jackson video.)

These films served the same function as music videos today, combining sound
and visuals to promote a song in the most popular visual mass medium of the
time.  The cable channel AMC occasionally uses musical shorts as filler
between classic films, and if you have access to that channel in your area
they are well worth checking out.  (Besides, they air The President's
Analyst, Kiss Them For Me, and A Matter Of Life And Death virtually every
other week.  How can you go wrong?)


RAB

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