Where did old videos of rock groups come from?

[Ivan Seeking]

I have often been surprised to find music videos from the late 60s and early 70s, of people and groups like David Bowie, and The Guess Who. This surprises me because the first music videos I remember came along with MTV in the 80s. And I have often heard it discussed that MTV rushed in a new era and changed the face of music. Many of these songs were favorites of mine but I only saw the videos for them since You Tube came along.

So why do we have videos like this? For whom were they made?

 

[DrGreg]

Well, in the UK, the weekly TV show Top of the Pops featured artists performing*, in the TV studio, songs that were rising in the singles chart. An appearance on the show more or less guaranteed increased sales next week, so all the record companies wanted their acts on the show. Occassionally, acts couldn't (or wouldn't) make it to the BBC studios on the day of recording, so they made a film or video and sent that instead. This particularly applied to songs at number one in the charts, because that song was always shown every week regardless.

*Usually miming

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Well, in the UK, the weekly TV show Top of the Pops featured artists performing*, in the TV studio, songs that were rising in the singles chart. An appearance on the show more or less guaranteed increased sales next week, so all the record companies wanted their acts on the show. Occassionally, acts couldn't (or wouldn't) make it to the BBC studios on the day of recording, so they made a film or video and sent that instead. This particularly applied to songs at number one in the charts, because that song was always shown every week regardless.

*Usually miming

I remember seeing music videos from time to time before MTV but very rarely. It may have been on shows like American Bandstand but I can't remember for sure.


This is the one that really surprised me.

 

[Vanadium 50]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scopitone

 

[jack action]

So why do we have videos like this? For whom were they made?

The posters of the Youtube videos you shared with us literally answer these questions:

The Guess Who video:

From the TV show "Something Else" hosted by John Byner.

David Bowie video:

Original music video for the David Bowie song Space Oddity from Bowie's promotional film, 'Love You Till Tuesday', originally released in 1969

 

[rsk]

Fairly recently (though now I come to think of it, pre-Covid) I watched a Bowie special on TV and saw that Space Oddity video either for the first time, or the first time in many many years. I had lived my entire life thinking that what happened to Major Tom was a tragedy and suddenly realize he WANTED it to happen.

 

[Klystron]

Many live music concerts from the1960's and 70's featured visual artists creating light shows, originally borrowing A/V equipment from local schools to create their ephemeral tapestries. The promoters, bands and A/V artists often recorded and filmed concerts to make a record of the performance and provide feedback to the visual artists.

 

[PeroK]

What about these videos of The Who, which were filmed last year judging by the quality:

 

[PeroK]

And no one writes songs like these any more:





How on Earth can anyone write a song like that when they are only 23 years old?

 

[jack action]

What about these videos of The Who, which were filmed last year judging by the quality:

Again from the Youtube poster:

The Who’s iconic anthem from 1971’s Who’s Next album performed here on B-Stage at Shepperton Studios on 25 May 1978 Filmed by Jeff Stein for the closing sequence of The Kids Are Alright.

Filmed on B-Stage at Shepperton Studios on 25 May 1978 in front of an invited audience including members of The Pretenders, Generation X, the Rich Kids and the Sex Pistols and included in Jeff Stein’s documentary The Kids Are Alright.

 

[Klystron]

Rock legend and origin stories out of Southern California have Ray Manserak and Jim Morrison of The Doors first meeting at college in film studies classes. Morrison created a b&w avant garde student film that I watched as a short during a1990 San Francisco film festival sponsored by Industrial Light & Magic. Weird symbolism, but not bad for a student effort.

Manserak supposedly wrote concerning difficulties filming and then reproducing rock music performances on television broadcasts, particularly those with synchronized light shows and other special effects. If true, I have not read his ideas though Oliver Stone alludes to several problems broadcasting rock music acts on television in his eponymous movie "The Doors".