TASK 1A-1970-1980 music video

1970s and 1980s

Technological and Cultural changes

One of the most well known Cultural and technological changes that happened during the 1970-1980s period of music videos was MTV. MTV (Music Television) launched in 1981. The launch of MTV spurred the evolution of music videos in the 80s. Artists started to include narratives/stories and eye-catching visual effects in their videos. The birth of MTV also allowed Artists and musicians to create their own "Star image", A fake persona that the audience could relate to or aspire to be. MTV became a platform that paved the way for more unconventional music videos. 


1970s

Videos are started to be considered too salacious. this is because music video makes were under the impression that sex sells, this was favourable as these videos were not expensive to producer but could generate a lot of attention. This was the case for Prince - I Wanna Be Your Lover. This music video still follows conventions, with used of of lips synching , the artist performing the song with their band.






David Bowie-Life On Mars(1971)

This video is effective due to the fact that it is a basic lip sync but the shots and effective props can create conventions for example, his appearance is associated with his stage persona called "Ziggy Stardust" which was Bowie's way of showing Iconography towards his fans so they could act like him and dress like him

The Buggles: Video killed the radio star (1981)

This music video was the first ever music video to be played on MTV. The name of the song is self explanatory in the sense that music videos actually ruined the radio star, Artists werent being credited for the way their music sounded but for the way there music video looked. for example Radio was dying out and the only way to gain popularity was to create a music video and become a Movie star for your music.

Michael Jackson: Thriller (1983)

in 1983, Michael Jackson, Epic Records and Vestron Video, released the music video for thriller. The video itself, had a running time of 13 mins and was loosely based on the horror film   "An American Werewolf in London". Micheal Jackson's Thriller video was unprecedented. This was because it was the first ever music video (By a mainstream artist) to create and use the concept of a short film. The video uses conventions of a normal music video. For example there is lip syncing and the artist is performing in the video. 

The Police: Every breath you take (1983)

This music video is one of the many recognisable music videos in the 1980s.
The video was released in 1983, It has a total of 299 million views. As the lyrics sound romantic, the song is somewhat disturbing. “Every breath you take I’ll be watching you”. This song is about a hooking stalker. It is always interpreted because of the way it sounds but people do not choose to listen to the lyrics properly. The main artist in the band, Sting wrote this song after divorcing his wife. He personally things the song is “a nasty little song”, “evil” and “about jealousy and surveillance and ownership”. P Diddy sampled this song and named it as I’ll Be Missing You. He wrote this song for the late The Notorious B.I.G Wallace, who was murdered in 1997. In the music video for The Police, it is hyper-reality because the music lives within the ash tray. There are effects such as fade ins, and outs and it is in black and white. There is also lip-syncing, for the majority of the video because it is a live performance where you see the band playing instruments and one of the members, Sting singing the song.