MUSIC VIDEO
Impact
The music video, in which short performances accompany and illustrate songs, appeared out of nowhere in the early 1980s to become the most influential—and the only new—art form of the decade. As advertisements for new recordings and as self-promotion for the artist, music videos captured the capitalist spirit of 1980s art. Artistically these videos were a mixed lot, ranging from electrifying to turgid. Most fell somewhere between these extremes—a typical video was a quirky, dreamlike montage of images (a "minimovie") designed to illustrate fantasies or approximate the live performances of the artist or band. In their cultural impact videos accomplished much more than advertising, making arguments about their overt commercialism of small consequence. The music video single-handedly revitalized the slumping recording industry, revolutionized television, expanded radio formatting, ignited the careers of dozens of unknown music performers, breathed new life into dance and choreography, and opened avenues of potential in the movie industry. It also changed marketing and audience demographics by creating a new inter-connection and interdependence among television, movies, and music.
Pioneers
The earliest videos were primitive but often vital exercises for their creators and, in the long run, for the entire industry. Many pioneering videos were simply concert clips, but several artists, particularly in Europe, were experimenting with surrealistic and narrative forms by the late 1970s. In Europe the shortage of radio stations motivated many young musicians to seek alternative types of exposure. Their promotional videotapes were played at discos and on television. In England David Bowie became a forerunner in the new form with his energetic promo video for his song "DJ" (1979) and his Fellini-esque fantasy "Ashes to Ashes" (1980), in which a stone-faced Bowie, dressed as a harlequin, walks along a postapocalyptic beach while being lectured by an old
woman. New-wave bands of the late 1970s and early 1980s embraced the video form, even on nonexistent budgets. Devo and The Residents mixed camp with alienation in their clips, while The Pretenders contributed cinematic style with "Brass in Pocket" (1980). By late 1980 videos were appearing frequently on late-night music programs and in urban dance clubs, which began alternating the promos with avant-garde movie clips and old television footage. Viewers were soon flocking around video screens at clubs such as Hurrah and Danceteria in New York and Lucky Number and Neo in Chicago, The music industry began to take notice.
MTV
The true catalyst of the 1980s video explosion was Music Television (MTV), which began broadcasting in August 1981. MTV was the brainchild of former radio-program director Robert Pittman. With the financial backing of Warner Communications and American Express, Pittman created the cable network to reach what he called "the TV babies," post-baby-boom teenagers and young adults who had grown up with television and rock music. "The set is part of our lives," he said. "We want it to respond to our every need and desire." MTV showed twenty-four hours of nonstop music videos every day, with breaks for rock news, "veejay" chitchat, commercials, and occasional special programming. Record companies supplied their artists' videos for free in return for free airplay. Pittman's market surveying produced demographics that were extremely appealing to advertisers: 85 percent of the viewers were between ages twelve and thirty-four, and 63 percent were under twenty-five. The MTV network vice president in charge of advertising sales noted, "MTV was the most researched channel in television history." After starting with a relatively small playlist—a few hundred clips, mostly rock—and an equally small operating budget, MTV grew rapidly, from 18 advertisers in 1981 to more than 125 by early 1983. By 1983 the company had not yet turned a profit, but its reach was impressive: from 300 cable outlets capable of reaching 2.5 million homes in 1981, it had grown to include 2,000 affiliates received by 17.5 million homes in 1983. John Lack, executive vice president at Warner Amex, summed up the market position of MTV: "We are a company that believes in specialized entertainment, and if you are Budweiser or Kawasaki or Pepsi-Cola, you want our audience." Their audience wanted video; Pittman's new slogan for the burgeoning network was "I want my MTV."
The British Invasion
During the peak years of British punk, the synthesizer had all but disappeared as a rock-band instrument; its artifice was anathema to punk purists. Yet in the late 1970s portable synthesizers became relatively inexpensive, selling for as little as $100. Since they were also easy to master—and provided a full range of sound at the touch of a fìnger—would-be musicians in Britain began snapping them up. Synthesizer artists such as Gary Numan, excited by David Bowie's early experiments, began cranking out videos for play in British dance clubs. Programmers at MTV began importing boatloads of these stylish electro-pop videos, whose performers largely shunned live shows in favor of studio productions and sported a carefully crafted "look." The slick electronic sound hit a responsive chord in Americans, whose lives in the early 1980s were already becoming inundated with video games, personal computers, and the synthesized beats of hits such as M's "Pop Muzik" (1980) and Lipps Inc's "Funkytown" (1980). As MTV embraced the British "New Romantics," American viewers who would never otherwise have heard, much less seen, these bands were treated to the moody visuals and fashion-plate looks of Soft Cell, Depeche Mode, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (O.M.D.), Adam and the Ants, Classix Nouveau, ABC, Haircut 100, Thomas Dolby, A Flock of Seagulls, Teardrop Explodes, The Fixx, Talk Talk, The Soft Boys, and others. The high gloss and style-over-substance of these bands was appealing to fashion-conscious America in the early 1980s, and their arty, often quirky, sound was adopted by the new-wave crowd. Not surprising, the "British" look and sound were adopted by American bands such as The Romantics, Oingo Boingo, Romeo Void, and 'Til Tuesday and by the Australian import Men at Work.
The New Romantics
The American chart success of the New Romantics skyrocketed between 1982 and 1987, Howard Jones, Thompson Twins, Simple Minds, Tears for Fears, General Public, Simply Red, and Cutting Crew were among the hit makers. In summer 1982 Human League's "Don't You Want Me" became the first electro-pop song to reach number one in America. Its success was largely the result of the heavy MTV exposure of the accompanying video. Human League's clips, complete with pouty makeup, big spiky hairdos, and complicated fashions, set the standard for video style in the 1980s. Duran Duran raised that standard. In 1983 MTV began playing the highly cinematic videos from Duran Durants 1982 album Rio; it went platinum almost overnight. Nick Rhodes, keyboardist for the band, noted, "Videos are incredibly important for us." A vice president at Warner Communications was perhaps more accurate: "I think Duran Duran owes its life to MTV." By the end of 1985 thousands of adoring teenage girls were packing American stadiums to see Duran Duran, which had racked up nine Top 20 hits, including "Hungry Like the Wolf" (1983). Their success was aided immeasurably by their photogenic good looks, high-tech clothes, and the impeccable coifs of Rhodes and lead singer Simon LeBon. A mock-concert video, "The Reflex" (1984), set Duran Duran's slick 1980s image in stone, from designer jackets, boots, gloves, and "parachute" pants to eyeliner and giant, gelled hairstyles. At the climax of the video a giant wave of water engulfs the enraptured audience.
Instant "Movies."
For New Romantic performers one of the appeals of making a music video was the chance to star in an instant "movie." Their video appearances—carefully lit, choreographed, and edited—also enhanced their looks and made them fashion trendsetters. In 1983 and 1984 the American media swarmed over the camera-friendly singer Annie Lennox of the Eurythmies and Culture Club front man Boy George. Both singers were heavily influenced by American soul styles, and both enjoyed tweaking traditional gender roles. George caused a stir with his coy drag look and his surprisingly soulful voice on seven consecutive hits, beginning with the provocative "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me" (1983). Annie Lennox enjoyed playing with traditional images of female beauty and sexuality; she startled many with her androgyny and her powerful vocals in early Eurythmies videos such as "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" (1983) and "Here Comes the Rain Again" (1984). The popularity of Lennox and George only increased after their appearances at the 1984 Grammy Awards. Lennox dressed in Elvis-inspired drag to present an award, while George, accepting the award for Best New Artist, told the American public that "you know a good drag queen when you see one." The gender-bending of these singers dovetailed with an American cinematic preoccupation with the same subject in the 1982 movies Toot sie and Victor/Victoria. Indeed, the heavy makeup, perfectly styled hair, and pretty-boy looks of many New Romantics, from Soft Cell and O.M.D. to Human League and Duran Duran, hinted at a gay sensibility that was more fully explored by other emerging British video bands during the decade. After the highly visible Boy George, Frankie Goes to Hollywood and Bronski Beat were among the first openly gay artists. Later in the decade Pet Shop Boys, Erasure, and Dead or Alive contributed their own gay-friendly anthems. Yet what seemed liberating and fun to some seemed like mere posturing to others, and there was a predictable backlash against what increasingly came to be called "haircut bands."
New Wave
As the 1980s began, new-wave music, which had been primarily an underground movement during the late 1970s, finally broke through to main-stream America—largely thanks to MTV. Groups such as The Cars, Blondie, Talking Heads, and The Knack had already posted Top 40 hits, and with English electro-pop finding legions of fans through video exposure, quirky new-wave bands suddenly found a ready and willing American audience in the same way. Devo made the charts in 1981 with "Whip It," while The Go-Go's, a smiley Los Angeles girl group, had a string of sunny hits in 1982, including "Our Lips Are Sealed" and "We Got the Beat." "Blondie scored three number-one hits in the early 1980s—"Call Me" (1980), "The Tide Is High" (1981), and the early white rap song "Rapture" (1981)—before singer Debbie Harry left the group for a solo career. Joan Jett, an original member of the all-girl teenage punk band The Runaways in the late 1970s, went to number one in 1982 with the street-smart anthem "I Love Rock 'n' Roll." Joining Patty Smyth, Sheena Easton, and a small brigade of other spiky-haired would-be punkers who favored striped leotards and red leather, rocker Pat Benatar scored a string of hits with songs such as "Heartbreaker" (1980), "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" (1981), "Love Is a Battlefield" (1984), and "We Belong" (1985). The videos of these artists tended to be, like many during the early 1980s, fairly primitive exercises. Perhaps the wittiest was "Vacation," which posed the members of The Go-Go's as if they were waterskiing in perfect stacked formation. The Cars moved on to make several influential videos in 1984. The jittery "You Might Think" was animation at its most fun (or most annoying, depending on your viewpoint). "Drive," featuring singer Ric Ocasek's then-girlfriend Paulina Porizkova, was one of the first videos to spotlight a top fashion model.
Demand
MTV created a staggering demand for new music products, video or otherwise. In late 1982 a Billboard survey revealed that sales in record stores were increasing by 15-20 percent for acts shown on MTV, especially new acts. "Its impact is phenomenal," commented Bob Krasnow, chairman of Electra/Asylum records. Many artists traditionally unable to get airplay on radio, such as new-wave acts, found new popularity through MTV. The record-breaking sales of Michael Jackson's Thriller album (1982) were largely the result of the high visibility of his videos. Sales of the album tripled in late 1983, after only five days of airplay of the single "Thriller." Also in 1982 the rockabilly band Stray Cats watched sales of their debut album mushroom to 2 million after their stylish videos appeared on MTV. Men at Work owed their Best New Artist Grammy to their videos on MTV, and Oingo Boingo began selling out club dates only after regular rotation on MTV. As Les Garland, an MTV vice president, noted, "Groups are chalking up huge sales on songs that have never been played on the radio."
Expansion
Other cable networks quickly jumped on the music broadcast bandwagon. Because MTV largely excluded videos by black artists during its first two years, Black Entertainment Television filled the demand for videos by black artists, while the USA Network show Night Flight featured videos by black and white musicians. The Nashville Network featured country videos, and a host of local network stations soon added late-night video programs to their schedules. Radio stations began to feel the influence of video; as ratings for traditional programming sagged, stations started adding to their playlists artists and songs already popular on video programs. In response record companies stepped up production, adding big-budget video departments, hiring directors, and signing new acts largely on their video potential. Electra Records, which made only fifteen videos in 1982, produced forty-three in 1983. Companies also began marketing other video forms, from video jukebox singles to entire video albums. The average amount spent
on producing a single video quickly rose from an early range of $6,000 to $10,000 to an average of $35,000 to $45,000 by 1983. Some productions rivaled low-budget movies: Billy Joel's "Allentown" video (1983) cost more than $100,000, and David Bowie's "Let's Dance" (1983) exceeded $150,000. Michael Jackson set a new record and a new industry standard with his high-tech, special-effects-laden video for "Thriller" (1984), which cost more than $1 million for seven minutes of footage.
Clout
The success of Jackson's innovative, cinematic videos heralded the true arrival of video as an art form. His flashy choreography created a new demand for dance in videos, which was heightened by the huge success of Madonna as a video artist in 1984. Several video directors earned reputations for quality work. One of these was Bob Giraldi, who directed "Beat It" (1983) and "Say Say Say" (1984) for Michael Jackson, "Love Is a Battlefield" (1984) for Pat Benatar, and "Running with the Night" (1984) and "Hello" (1984) for Lionel Richie. The new prestige of video directors caught the attention of respected movie directors, such as John Landis and Bob Rafelson, who suddenly wanted to make music videos. In 1984 Bruce Springsteen's "Dancing in the Dark" was directed by Brian De Palma, and the following year John Sayles filmed Springsteen's "I'm on Fire" and "Glory Days." Later in the decade Martin Scorsese gave video a try with Michael Jackson's "Bad" (1987). In turn, successful video directors began graduating to big-budget feature films. Adrian Lyne, who started as a video director, broke through in Hollywood with Flashdance (1983), a $100 million smash. The visual style of Flashdance evoked rock video, and Jennifer Beak's Danskins, torn jeans, and ripped sweatshirts touched off a fashion craze. The huge success of the soundtrack ($47 million in sales) and its hit singles released a flood of slick, video-inspired, music-oriented movies in 1984, including Purple Rain, Footloose, Streets of Fire, and Reckless. Other blockbuster films, including the 1984 hits Beverly Hills Cop and Ghostbusters, were peddled via high-profile videos featuring songs from their soundtrack albums. Video had become the marketing tool of the decade.
Dominance
During the mid 1980s the A. C. Nielsen ratings company estimated that at any one time television sets in some 130,000 homes were tuned to MTV. As Len Epand of Polygram Records noted, "If the video is in power rotation, that's 1.3 million people hearing the record." After several years in the red, MTV earned $8.1 million in profits during the first half of 1984. Two years later Viacom International bought the network from Warner Amex, and that year grossed $111 million and boasted profits of $47 million. By 1986 it tied USA Network and CNN in cable-television ratings. In 1989 it was carried by more than five thousand cable outlets and was seen by more than 46 million viewers. By the end of the decade videos dominated the music industry. With the majority of teens and preteens growing up with MTV, it was hard to imagine American life without music videos and harder still to believe that fewer than ten years earlier the form had barely existed.
Sources:
Fred Bronson, The Billboard Book of Number One Hits (New York: Billboard Publications, 1988);
"MTV's Super Market," Film Comment, 19 (July/August 1983): 48-50;
"Rock Music Goes Hollywood," Newsweek 105 (11 March 1985): 78;
"Rock V Video," Film Comment, 18 (May/June 1982): 39-41;
"Rocking Video," Newsweek, 101 (18 April 1983): 96-98;
"Sing a Song of Seeing," Time, 122 (26 December 1983): 54-64;
David P. Szatmary, Rockiri in Time: A Social History of Rock and Roll (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1987);
Joel Whitburn, The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits (New York: Billboard Publications, 1991);
Whitburn, Billboard Hot 100 Charts: The Eighties (Menomonee Falls, Wis.: Record Research, Inc., 1991).
