The Beatles became early pioneers on promoting singles through music videos in 1967 when they premier on Top Of The Pops “Penny Lane” and “Strawberry Fields Forever”
On February 9, 1967, the band sent promotional films of their new single to be broadcast on Top of the Pops instead of actually performing it on stage
The Beatles became early pioneers on promoting singles through music videos in 1967 when they premier on Top of the Pops “Penny Lane” and “Strawberry Fields Forever”
The 1967 Double A-Side single “Penny Lane”/”Strawberry Fields Forever,” officially inaugurated The Beatles Psychedelic era, but despite the popularity both songs achieved, it was their first single since 1963 that wasn’t able to reach No.1 in the U.K, held off the top by Engelbert Humperdinck’s ballad “Release Me.” By 1967, The Beatles had stopped giving live performances and seldom appeared together to perform on TV, instead, they were sending films to promote their songs, an early marketing strategy that started what we call now music videos and, well, YouTube for that matter. Pioneers on developing that promotional strategy, on February 9, 1967, they send to the popular British TV show Top of The Pops, two promotional films (aka music videos) of “Penny Lane” and “Strawberry Fields Forever.” The new Beatles, with facial hair and looking high on LSD, were presented to the British audiences, and, a few days later, on February 12, the same films were sent to The Ed Sullivan Show to be broadcast in the US. Truly the beginning of an era.
Watch the original promotional film for “Penny Lane” by The Beatles
Watch the original promotional film for “Strawberry Fields Forever” by The Beatles
Watch more The Beatles related videos
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