Recipients
| Year | Video | Artist(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 1982 | ||
| Elephant Parts | Michael Nesmith | |
| Eat to the Beat | Blondie; John Diaz, producer; Andy Morahan, director | |
| The First National Kidisc | Bruce Seth Green | |
| One Night Stand: A Keyboard Event | Eubie Blake | |
| 1983 | ||
| Olivia Physical | Olivia Newton-John | |
| Fun and Games | Various Artists; Margaret Murphy, producer | |
| The Tales of Hoffmann | The Royal Opera; Georges Prêtre, Plácido Domingo, conductors | |
| The Tubes Video | The Tubes; Russell Mulcahy, director | |
| Visions: Elton John | Elton John; Russell Mulcahy, director |
Nominees for the 24th Grammy Awards (1982), Video of the Year included: Eubie Blake for One Night Stand: A Keyboard Event,[4] the band Blondie for Eat to the Beat, Bruce Seth Green for the participative video collection of puzzles and games known as The First National Kidisc,[5][6] and Michael Nesmith, former member of The Monkees, for the hour-long video Elephant Parts (also known as Michael Nesmith in Elephant Parts).[7][8][9] One Night Stand was a recording of a jazz program billed as "an evening of all-stars" at Carnegie Hall, with appearances by Kenny Barron, Arthur Blythe, George Duke, Herbie Hancock, Roland Hanna, Bobby Hutcherson and ten other musicians.[10] Blondie's video cassette Eat to the Beat accompanied their 1979 album of the same title.[11] The First National Kidisc, one of the first interactive and educational videodiscs, contained activities designed for children.[12][13] Without "fancy digital effects", Green's Kidisc provided five to ten hours of interactive capability within a 30-minute video through the use of dual audio tracks, freeze framing, slow motion, and other techniques. Features included plane flying, jokes, paper plane construction, music performance, and other games.[14]
The award went to Nesmith, who is known for creating one of the first companies to distribute television programs and films on home video, and for establishing the television music video format that eventually became MTV.[8][15] In 1976, Nesmith produced a video for his song "Rio", and later incorporated it into the "montage of music and gags" called Elephant Parts after starting the company Pacific Arts Video Records. In 1985, Elephant Parts was adapted into a seven-episode summer series on NBC titled Michael Nesmith in Television Parts.[16]
Nominees for the 25th Grammy Awards included: Elton John for Visions: Elton John, Olivia Newton-John for Olivia Physical, the rock band The Tubes for The Tubes Video, a recording of Jacques Offenbach's opera The Tales of Hoffmann by the Royal Opera conducted by Georges Prêtre with Plácido Domingo, and the interactive disc for children Fun and Games by various artists (produced by Margaret Murphy).[17][18] Both Visions and The Tubes Video were directed by Russell Mulcahy.[19][20] Visions consisted of "artistic" videos for all of the songs on John's 1981 album The Fox.[21] According to The Tubes' official site, the now out of print video collection contained music videos primarily for tracks that appeared on their 1981 album The Completion Backward Principle.[22] The award was presented to Newton-John (then her fourth Grammy Award) in February 1983 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.[23] Released a few years following her role in the 1978 film Grease, the aerobics video contained songs from her 1981 album Physical as well as enough sexual innuendo and provocation to generate controversy.[24][25]