In 1961, a
Canadian programme began called Singalong
Jubilee which pre-recorded music then added film footage to it. This helped
provide bands and musicians with coverage of their music and gain attention.
For example, Jan & Dean’s song Surf
City was one of the first music video’s in the Top 40 in 1963 and then
reached number 1. Following this was the UK’s first music television programme
called Ready Steady Go on ITV in
1963. Then, in 1964 Top of the Pops began
on the BBC.
However, in
1964 the Beatles released their film A
Hard Day’s Night which coincided with their album of the same name. It was
shot in black-and-white as a documentary which included comedy, dialogue and of
course music. Also, in 1965 the Beatles filmed Help! This has a story to it with the band being followed through
different countries along with their songs included in it. The Beatles would in
1967 release TV promos for Penny Lane and
also Strawberry Fields Forever.
However, in 1966 the Monkees’ TV show began on NBC in America which also had
dialogue along with songs by the Monkees.
In December
1967, the Beatles made an hour long TV film broadcasted on Boxing Day on the
BBC called Magical Mystery Tour. The
band wrote and directed it and the sequences for songs Your Mother Should Know and I
am the Walrus were then used as actual music videos in their own right. A
year before that, Bob Dylan’s music video for Subterranean Homesick Blues which has Bob Dylan going through large
cards with writing on was released. Then in 1968, the Kink’s made one of the
first music video’s with a plot for their single Dead End Street which was like a miniature, comic film.
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