We’ve come a long way since MTV aired its first music video — the Buggles’ prophetically titled “Video Killed the Radio Star” — in 1981. Since then, directors have pushed the boundaries of the format further and further, evolving as far as some of the interactive experiences we encounter online today.
This week, we spoke with OK Go about their latest music-video feat, going behind the scenes of a viral clip that proves the medium is very much alive and well. Meanwhile, when Shutterstock collaborated with Sony Music on a video for Sly and the Family Stone’s 1969 hit “Everyday People,” it showed that stock footage can be an equally versatile part of the progression.
As we continue to celebrate the ever-evolving medium that has found new life online, we take a look back at 10 of our favorite music videos that changed visual culture forever.
1. Michael Jackson, “Thriller”
1983 | John Landis
No list of innovative music videos would be complete without Michael Jackson’s seminal “Thriller.” With a 13-minute running time, groundbreaking special effects, and an A-list director, “Thriller” gave the music video instant credibility as an art form. Landis even tried to earn the video an Academy Award nomination for Best Short Film. He didn’t succeed, but “Thriller” is hardly short on accolades. In 2009, it was the first music video selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.
2. A-ha, “Take on Me”
1985 | Steve Barron
Steve Barron’s video for this Norwegian pop group’s mega-hit used an animation method called rotoscoping, in which an animator traces over live-action footage, frame by frame. Animator Mike Patterson spent 16 weeks tracing the video’s 3,000 frames. In an interview with the BBC, Patterson noted: “Rotoscoping uses live-action motion, but my drawing style anyway was very loose and sketchy — no one had really drawn anything like that style before.” The video’s visually striking aesthetic propelled the single to the top of the Billboard charts and won six 1986 MTV Video Music Awards, including Best Concept Video, Most Experimental Video, and Best Special Effects. It has also been widely imitated and parodied, including in this version from Family Guy.
3. Kanye West, “Heartless”
2008 | Hype Williams
Leave it to Kanye to have a rotoscoping video of his own that’s every bit as colorful as his outsized personality. Paying tribute to Ralph Bakshi’s animated 1981 film American Pop, “Heartless” takes the techniques from the classic A-ha video in another direction, painting broad strokes of color that pop out much more than the black-and-white pencil drawings of “Take on Me.” It’s somehow fitting that the video also gives nods to Andy Warhol and The Jetsons, two other pop-culture phenomenons that have played major roles in advancing visual media.
4. Weezer, “Buddy Holly”
1994 | Spike Jonze
Spike Jonze has authored some of the most imaginative films of our young century, but he cut his teeth directing music videos that all but reinvented the medium. Jonze seamlessly incorporated new footage of the band with existing footage from the classic sitcom Happy Days to make it appear as if Weezer actually performed at Arnold’s Drive-In. The video helped catapult Weezer to stardom, cemented Jonze as a visual artist to be reckoned with, and even made an appearance in the music exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art.
5. Arcade Fire, “We Used to Wait”
2011 | Chris Milk
An example of the interactive video. Visit thewildernessdowntown.com for the full experience.
A company as constantly innovative as Google needed an equally innovative music video to show off the capabilities of its new Chrome browser, and Chris Milk’s “The Wilderness Downtown” takes full advantage of HTML5 by delivering an interactive experience set to Arcade Fire’s “We Used to Wait.” Tapping into the extensive Google Maps feature, users enter their childhood address at the prompt, and up pops multiple browsers that show the neighborhood you grew up in.
6. Jay-Z, “Brooklyn Go Hard”
2008 | Evan Roth
Created on behalf of (RED) and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS in Africa, this video uses the letters in “Brooklyn” to create uncanny likenesses of Jay-Z and Notorious B.I.G. Roth has won many an accolade for his typographic creativity, and his work on “Brooklyn Go Hard” illustrates his talent, just as it illustrates the faces of two of Brooklyn’s finest rappers. Roth has even made his source code openly available for download.
7. Graham Coxon, “What’ll It Take”
2012 | Ninian Doff
Blur guitarist and solo artist Graham Coxon was reportedly sick of being obligated to appear in his own music videos, so he crowdsourced content for “What’ll It Take” by asking fans to record themselves dancing. The result is a seamless and fun compilation of slickly edited dance moves featuring submissions from 85 of Coxon’s biggest fans. Calling for user-generated content is yet another way to utilize the reach of modern technology, allowing the audience to participate in the creative processes of their favorite artists.
8. Peter Gabriel, “Sledgehammer”
1986 | Stephen R. Johnson
Stop-motion animation wasn’t exactly a new idea in 1986; it was, however, an excellent concept to incorporate into a medium that was still in its relative infancy, as well as an excellent excuse to introduce pixelation and claymation. The former Genesis singer spent 16 hours laying beneath a sheet of glass for this production, while director Stephen Johnson used props to match images with the song’s lyrics. The result was an exhilarating video that won nine MTV Video Music Awards in 1987 (more than any other), and was so wildly popular that it’s still the most-played music video in the history of MTV.
9. Pharrell Williams, “Happy”
2013 | Yoann Lemoine
The official cut of the video. For the “24 hour” interactive video, visit 24hoursofhappy.com.
The most ambitious video ever made? In terms of sheer length, Pharrell’s “Happy” almost certainly wins, being the self-proclaimed “world’s first 24-hour music video.” The infectious four-minute song is played on a loop — 360 times — for a full day, and features guest stars including Magic Johnson, Jamie Foxx, and Steve Carell dancing all over Los Angeles. The song was nothing short of a smash hit, hitting #1 in over 20 countries and inspiring countless cover videos. Perhaps more interactive than any other music video ever made, “Happy” also encourages the audience to find their own happy spot by replicating the video themselves.
10. Bob Dylan, “Like a Rolling Stone”
2013 | Vania Heynmann
The video teaser. Watch the full interactive video at video.bobdylan.com.
Bob Dylan’s 1965 classic proved its timelessness yet again, this time by adapting to a medium and technology that couldn’t have even been imagined when it was written. The audience is given control of a digital television with 16 channels, each of which features TV and cultural personalities lip-syncing the song’s lyrics, transitioning seamlessly no matter how aggressively you flip through the channels. A delightfully interactive piece of social commentary, it gives the song Rolling Stone called “the greatest song of all time” a video worthy of its iconic status, nearly 50 years later.
What groundbreaking videos would you add to this list? Let us know in the comments!