300: The Beatles - I Feel Fine

In August of 2011, nearly 30 years to the day after MTV blasted off, we started Eighties Rare Videos.  This is our 300th post since then, and we have to tell you the truth: it has been a blast.  As long time readers will know, we try to do unusual posts on our round numbers (feel free to click through for the 50th (51st in actual fact), 150th and 200th posts).

For this post, we decided to look back on the history of rock and roll music videos.  It is actually a confusing and somewhat controversial topic, as artists have been filmed for nearly as long as there has been rock and roll.  However, for the purposes of ERV, we consider it a 'true' music video if it was a clip filmed solely for the purpose of promoting a song.  This excludes appearances on TV shows, concert footage, and scenes from movies -- which significantly reduces the number of clips.

As we were exploring the topic of music videos, it occurred to us that the most important band in creating the genre was the Beatles.  It's not that the Beatles made the first music video (they didn't) but they did use the form as a way of generating visibility when they couldn't possibly be on every TV show that wanted them.  This situation worsened after the band stopped touring and became ... well, the greatest rock band ever.

This led us to wonder ... what was the first Beatles music video?  Remember the rules: no concert or TV footage, and no clips from movies.  We went looking for the first promotional video, and we think that we found them.  We believe that the first clips were the 1965 videos of "I Feel Fine."  Interestingly, the band shot two videos, both directed by Joe McGrath:

So there you have it -- the first Beatles videos; the start of a path that led years later to MTV and eventually to ERV.  We hope that you like it.

Lastly, thanks again to our readers -- we truly enjoy sharing the music with you, and we're happy to hear from you.  Please feel free to leave comments, email us, or friend us on Facebook.  And don't just keep us to yourself -- share us with your friends.

We'll be back in a few days time with more rare eighties videos.  Until then, keep the faith.