While some people have called the music videos on MTV the birth of the genre, fourty years before that - in the 1940s - "Soundies" had been produced.
Being called "The Soundies: A Musical History," PBS will air the two-hour special during its March pledge drive. It will feature entertainers like Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Nat "King" Cole, Louis Armstrong and Cab Calloway.
Originally the videos could be viewed on what was called a "Panoram" machine, basically a jukebox for videos, rather than audio alone. The price back then was a dime for each video watched.
The videos first came out in 1941; and by the end of the second world war, there were over 1,800 of them in existence.
As far as the PBS special goes, they will follow the history of the Soundies and the Panoram, which were integral in starting the careers of many of the entertainers of that day.
The best of it all though will be some of the original Soundies that were restored to almost perfect condition and quality. Some of them which will be able to be seen are Duke Ellington and his orchestra performing "Hot Chocolate" with Arthur White's Lindy Hoppers dance troupe, Calloway and his orchestra performing "Blowtop Blues," Merle Travis and Carolina Cotton teaming on "Why'd I Fall for Abner," and Paul playing "Baby Don't Cry" with a new commentary track.
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