Monday, November 24, 2008

Grandfather to the Modern Music Video?

I am including as one of the greatest music videos ever is the "Ticket to Ride" sequence from the movie Help, featuring the Beatles. Technically this is not a "music video" but it is perhaps the first that put together most of the elements of the modern color music video. Now some would argue that the sequence from "A Hard Days Night" that features the songs "I Should Have Known Better" and "Can't Buy Me Love" were music videos in the making, but the difference here was the additon of several elements of them singing the song intercut with comedic sequences. The addition of color was also a terrific bonus.

In any case, these two early Beatles films set in motion standards that were dramatically different than the typical musical up to this point. As MTV and music videos began to be displayed in the early '80s, you can see many of the whimsical elements first demonstrated here echoed in the works of others. One example of a video that may owe some heritage to "Ticket to Ride" was the "If This is It" from Huey Lewis and the News from the '80s.


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