Illustrated song

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Many magic lantern slides featured "dissolving view" effects, like this pair from "The Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane"
Della Fox was one of many performers whose singing and/or playing was part of illustrated songs.

An illustrated song is a type of performance art that combines either live or recorded music with projected images. It was a popular form of entertainment in the early 20th century in the United States.[1][2]

Live performers were commonly a vocalist with a pianist accompanying. Music recordings were used by different venues:

projectors or machines that combined projection of both slides, or displayed moving pictures.[3] Illustrated songs often preceded silent films and/or took place during reel changes, but some venues relied principally on illustrated songs alone. At least ten thousand small theaters nationwide featured illustrated songs.[4] Illustrated songs were seen as a valuable promotional tool for marketing sheet music. Audience participation was encouraged, and repeat performances also helped encourage sheet music sales.[1]

Several film stars began their careers as models who illustrated lyrics through a series of song slides. These stars included Roscoe Arbuckle, Fanny Brice, Eddie Cantor, George Jessel, Alice Joyce, Florence Lawrence, and Norma Talmadge.[5]

The first illustrated song was "The Little Lost Child" in 1894.[6] The song went on to become a nationwide hit selling more than two million copies of its sheet music, its success credited mainly to illustrated song performances which have been termed the first "music video."[4][7][8][9]

Development of the music video

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 0-253-33988-X
    .
  2. ^ John W. Ripley (1959). "All Join in the Chorus". American Heritage Magazine. 10 (4). Archived from the original on 2010-01-16. Retrieved 2009-12-19.
  3. ISBN 978-0-520-24742-0
    .
  4. ^ a b "Music Video 1900 Style". PBS. 2004. Archived from the original on 2010-01-04. Retrieved 2009-12-19.
  5. ^ Kally Mavromatis (1997). "Norma Talmadge - Silent Star of November, 1997". Monash University. Archived from the original on 2008-12-27.
  6. ISBN 978-0231116633
    .
  7. ISBN 0-7355-1447-X
    .
  8. ^ Marks, Edward B.; A.J. Liebling (1934). They All Sang: from Tony Pastor to Rudy Vallee. The Viking Press. p. 321. Archived from the original on 2009-04-20.

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