What did Music Videos Look Like in the '30s?

[joermnyc]

Fantasia also pushed film sound technology: it was the first stereo sound film.

[Courtjstr]

Everyone knows the first music video was syncing Dark Side to the Wizard of Oz

[OuterGalaxyLounge]

I saw most of the Astaire-Rogers films on the big screen at arthouse theaters when we still had those back in the 1970s-1990s, when those films were still considered must-see works for serious film fans and students. Don't let these greats fade into obscurity. Thanks for discussing them, Polyphonic.

[domdomdomdom]

I LOVE LUCY gave Desi what was basically a platform for proto-music vids too.

[BlameThande]

Fun fact: Hewlett-Packard had their first success when Disney hired them (when they were two guys called Packard and Hewlett in a garage in California) to build sound controllers for synching the music for Fantasia in travelling shows.

[angelagokool]

I think it's safe to say that Fred Astaire's scene in Royal Wedding where he danced on the ceiling would've inspired Lionel Richie's music video for "Dancing on the Ceiling." I'm surprised it wasn't mentioned in this video.

[jeremydove]

Old hollywood and music are two of my favorite things 😊😊 glad that Polyphonic talked about old hollywood and it's connection to the music video it's crazy when you think about it. Movie musicals were huge in the golden age of Hollywood and Fred Astaire, Busby Berkeley and later Gene Kelly were true innovators of that genre of film

[ssaaddiiee]

Wow, I’m obsessed with this period and wasn’t aware of “Soundies”! Incredible video as always!

[essjayess]

You make great videos, and I’m looking forward to the rest of this series. However, as a huge Ginger Rogers fan, I have to point out that the actress at 0:57 is actually Una Merkel, who also appeared in 42nd Street.

[nicholassheffo]

For the reference of all, though silent movies were silent and even then, those films got various musical accompaniment and still are to date, the sing-a-long with a bouncing ball often over printed lyrics at the bottom of the screen were a big deal then and as a precursor to Music Video, Mary Pickford's LITTLE ANNIE ROONEY (1925) has this and is a whole film built around that song. The song (which I also like) was so popular, it remained a favorite for decades ands that film did not hurt that one bit. Thank you for another excellent video!

[celestialnubian]

The fact that The Nicholas Brothers are not mentioned might be considered an omission.

[ruthspanos]

Admittedly I was never exactly an Elvis fan.

I remember hearing how his lower half was too controversial to be shown to the youth. Looking at it now, it seems extremely tame.

Then I remember white guys I know being baffled when learning to dance in any way that involved their hips.

Maybe it was just jealousy?

[MarcTamlyn]

Having this drop and a new Sungazer record on the same day does make me think how awesome a Polyphonic-directed Sungazer music video would be. I feel like the style would really fit. Nebula super-collab please!

[CameronMcKee]

This might be the best video I've seen you make! And I've been watching for now. Awesome job, can't wait to see the rest :)

[Reionder]

The interesting thing about the Panoram for me is that it is basically what Thomas Edison envisioned when he originally kickstarted the development of moving picture technologies. He wanted a machine that could reproduce moving images along with recorded songs in his phonograms, and the person would view it through a lens inside a little box, much like a proto-Panoram. The project was called Kinetophonograph, but at the time his technicians were unable to properly construct it. The idea of moving images that could be viewed in a box was then adapted into the Kinetoscope, which is considered by some as the birth of cinema

[SteveDCM]

You know it’s a good day when Payioaonci does

[ChristChickAutistic]

My pick for the film that was the grandfather of music videos is Footlight Parade, a 1933 Busby Berkeley film with James Cagney and Ruby Keeler. There's one song and dance sequence called Shanghai Lil that wouldn't be out of place in modern videos. Plus, it's Pre Code, so it's very daring for it's day. It's set in a Chinese brothel with an interracial clientele drinking and smoking opium, and Shanghai Lil is a prostitute that a sailor falls for and he ends up smuggling her out of the country, so add trafficking as well. The dancing of Cagney and Keeler is next level, especially when they're trading off footwork on top of the brothel's bar. Watch it, it's on YT. That one sequence has always reminded me of a music video.

[creatinotionchannel]

I think that is a close up of Una Merkel in 42nd Street and not Ginger Rogers. But great video as always.

[yrmucem]

I hope in the next video you will talk about Hello Skinny and the other films by The Residents. The Museum of Modern Art even calls it the first music video.

[TheMerseySound]

4:30 the scopitone onscreen is Vince Taylor And The Playboys ‘Shakin All Over’