The lineup: David Beadle, Thom Powers, Aaron Short, Jesse Wood, Alisa Xayalith. Background: The Naked and Famous have
slipped into the market, since they committed
commercial hara-kiri earlier this year. The five-piece from New Zealand, began as an electro duo in
2008 after the two members, Thom Powers and Alisa Xayalith,
met at music school. They have taken the sound indie rock and turned it into a their own style of electric rock. That's have found a gap in the market and are
filling it with a commercialised version of a successful, cool American
band's most popular tracks.
The New Zealand post-punk revival band from Auckland formed in 2008 when Thom Powers and Alisa Xayalith recorded two
EPs with engineer Aaron Short, a fellow student at Auckland's MAINZ
music college. The EPs were subsequently released on a local independent
label and Powers and Xayalith began performing live with Ben Knapp
(bass) and Jordan Clark (drums).
In 2009, the group recorded the single "All of This". Aaron Short
became a performing member of the group and Jesse Wood (drums) and David
Beadle (bass) joined the band as full-time members.
The band were involved in NME's rising stars for 2011 and did an interview. There is a clip from that interview below.
The group then set about recording the single "Young Blood" and their
debut album, recording mostly at home and at Auckland studio, The Lab.
"Young Blood" debuted on the New Zealand chart at number one on 14 June
2010 – the first New Zealand artist in three years to do so. The Naked
and Famous released their debut studio album, Passive Me, Aggressive
You, on 6 September 2010 on their own label, Somewhat Damaged. The album
was produced by Thom Powers and Aaron Short and mixed by Billy Bush.
Above you can see a timeline sowing the advancement in music videos from the early 1900's to 2010.
Music Videos have seen significant change over the years, with the breakthrough, firstly of film and then color playing huge roles and then more recently the accessibility of music channels and the Internet with programs such as YouTube being available as rocketed the profitability of Videos sky high. However in my opinion the most influential aspects to the rise in music videos from the 50s are the artists who have revolutionized them, with people such as 'Elvis', 'Michael Jackson' and 'Madonna' all playing huge roles.
Elvis Presley
Elvis 'The King of Rock' along with the Beatles revolutionized music and he was the first to start using videos in order to sell his music. To the right you can see the video for the song 'Jailhouse Rock', one of his famous tracks. You can see that it is very energetic and that there is a lot of dancing involved. this was completely new at this time as before there had only been people like Dean Martin and Bing Crosby who would stand and sing. and looking on from this period almost all videos have been influenced by this breakthrough by Elvis. The Beatles
Like I said the Beatles were one of the main artists behind the music we hear today, (popular music or pop). They produced hit after hit with songs such as 'Hey Jude', 'Let it be' and 'Yesterday', with hey Jude being played at the recent London Olympics opening ceremony a full 44 years after it was released. Along with Elvis they were the first to add humor to there lyrics and videos with 'Yellow submarine' being a good example of this.
Television The TV played a huge part in promoting music videos with the early programs such as top of the pops being some of the most popular programmes on television. Now there are a wide variety of music channels playing songs by different artists and genres. which allows the viewer/customer to have a wide range to choose from therefor being able to watch the videos they want.
Michael Jackson
Jackson is one of the most iconic artist of all time compared to people such as 'Elvis' and 'The Beatles' and probably has made the greatest collection of music videos of all time. Some of these iconic music videos are, 'Bad', 'Thriller', 'Beat it', 'Earth song' and many more. He always uses his great talent at dancing in his videos. He has created some of the most famous dance moves including 'the moonwalk' and 'the anti-gravity lean'
"Smooth Criminal" is the seventh single from Jackson's 1987 Bad album. The song contains a fast-paced beat intertwined with Jackson's lyrics about a woman named Annie, who has been attacked in her apartment by a "smooth" assailant.
The Album 'Bad is the only album ever to have had 12 singles released. Jackson made videos for all of these and many are still watched today.
'Thriller' Jackson's master piece and considered by many the greatest music video of all time has had 119,776,275 views on you tube. and considering that it was made in 1983 is remarkable as many of his fans would not be regular users of you tube.
Jackson's video for scream which cost $7 million to produce is the most expensive music video of all time.
Madonna
Madonna often referred to as 'The Queen of Pop' had her hay day in the late 80s and 90s however she is still producing songs now which are extremely popular with her huge fan base. She was one of the first artists to use sex appeal in order to promote herself. And although often controversial the videos she creates are the main way she portrays this. To the left you can see the video for her song 'Sorry'. there are clear sexual innuendos in this and this style has influenced almost all artists since with them either presenting themselves in this way or surrounding themselves with good looking people. Artists such as 'Cherly Cole' and 'Kylie Minogue' showing these influences in there music videos.
You Tube In recent years YouTube has probably been the most significant advancement in music videos as it has made them so much more accessible for people to see that there views has risen significantly. Its power over the music industry has become so great now with most videos popularity being judged not on the amount sold but instead by how many views they have. It has also become a platform to launch new stars, for example the now megastar, Justin Bieber being found on YouTube and his new single 'Boyfriend' receiving 160,516,186 views on you tube. Other artists who have used YouTube as a promotional toll are Leona Lewis and Beyonce who's song 'Single Ladies' received 314 million views. Another Internet sensation brought about by YouTube was the Britain's Got Talent success of Susan Boyle who's audition received 286 million views.
I believe that anything weather its is a music video, a song or a film can only be considered Iconic if is has sanded the test of time. Below are a few videos that in my opinion are Iconic and a short paragraph explaining why they got this status.
This is a link to the NME website where they show their list of the top 100 iconic Videos. http://www.nme.com/list/100-greatest-music-videos/217342/page/9
Johnny Cash - Hurt
This emotional song sung just before he died shows brilliantly Johnny looking back over his life. The montage of shots of Cash served a poignant purpose at the time;
after Johnny’s death seven months later it became even more powerful. A
fitting audiovisual epitaph.
Elvis Presley - Jailhouse Rock
This Video although old truly has stranded the test of time, and with Elvis changing the face of music this vidio brought a whole new side to it showing a fun video with dancers. Elvis stared music as we know it all acts since have been influenced by him even Videos as now all you see is the lead singer singing and dancing. i was a revolutionary Video.
Michael Jackson - Thriller
An important factor in making a great music video is a great Artist and the fact that Michael Jackson is rated along with acts such as Elvis and The Beatles proves they don't come much bigger. This video is probably the most iconic of all time due to Jackson's preforming skills and the perfectly timed background dancers. All this makes this video a timeless classic.
Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody
The most important part of a music Video is of course the music, without a good song you cant have a good video . With this in mind the fact that Bohemian Rhapsody is, by many, considered the greatest son of all time certainly helps make this an iconic video. However it is not only a great song but the Video portrays the Freddie Mercury's unbelievable live presence. it was also the first and best Video that approached it with the idea to keep it simple.
Amy Winehouse - Back to Black
When an singer dies young they seem to always become a sort of legend as you will never know how far they would have gone. but in Amy Winehouses case her legendary status is also backed up with an amazing voice. This music Video arguably her most famous song is my opinion considered i conic due to the way in which the video is produced the editing and filming is top class.
