The 60’s and 70’s was a time when multimedia objects contained vibrant colors, the mixture of cartoons with reality, yet also contained the beginnings of music video elements that progressed over time. This was the psychedelic era, and in historical context, was influenced by what was going on in American culture, politics, and social contexts.
During the late 60’s to the early 70’s, psychedelia inspired music video genres such as pop, progressive rock, electronic rock, heavy metal, and funk, while influencing artist’s music such as The Beatles, David Bowie, Pink Floyd, Janis Joplin, and Jimi Hendrix.
Here we can see psychedelia with the use of imagination, randomized props, and animation,beginning to manifest in the music videos of that time:
(1969) – David Bowie- Space Oddity
(1979) – Pink Floyd – Another Brick In The Wall, Part Two
In the 80’s, neo-psychedelic was the temporary revival of the psychedelic era, and contained similar elements of music video styles that once appeared in the late 60’s and early 70’s, yet changed as far as technological capabilities.
An example of these elements all coming together, is Peter Gabriel’s Sledgehammer, which features stop motion, animations, and the mixture of reality with different lighting visuals:
(1986) – Peter Gabriel – Sledgehammer
Finally, as for the progression of this style, here is how MTV kept up with the times from the 80’s to the 90’s, where you can see this influence emerging in their brand commercials:
The Multimedia Spectrum 