Lionel Richie said it on a MTV special about Purple Rain.

no, elvis did it 28 times, abba, the village people, slade, neil diamond, all did it before him too, and some band called the beatles did it 3 times

prince didn't create an album then make a movie of it, he made the music as the soundtrack to the movie, like other artists have done. pink floyds the wall was an album then movie in that sense, and that was before prince

Yeah, the Beatles definitely did it (What was the 3rd? HDN, Help and... ?)

4Eternity said:

Yellow Submarine.

4Eternity said:

let it be/get back

the yellow submarine cartoon used music written and recorded from around that time, it wasn't a specific album made into a movie. it was more like moonwalker where there was new (or at least unreleased) material mixed with slightly older stuff

let it be/get back was filmed over 29 days with the beatles turning up 9 to 5 to rehearse and write songs, and then ended with the famous rooftop concert. i have all of the recorded footage from those rehearsals, approximately 90 hours worth, with all the talking and arguing in between

The first was the Beatles with Hard Days Night.

LilCub said:

if you ignore the 16 movies elvis did before that came out you would still be wrong

unique said:

I think "rock around the clock" trumps them all

the Bee Gees (John Travolta -Saturday Night Fever)

Madonna (Who's That Girl)?
[Edited 7/31/09 6:12am]

wait, doesn't it depend on weather those movies you guys mentioned came before or after the film? I mean, wasn't the movie 'purple rain' introduced to P b4 him & the revolution started recording?

If he's trying to say that the music came first then the movie and that all the Elvis/Beatles movies were movies first then music added and that Let it Be/Get Back is a documentary and discount concert films, this is still probably wrong see Pink Floyd The Wall

unique said:

You could argue that Magical Mystery Tour should be included as a Beatles film

Tommy - The Who

muirdo said:

yeah, but it wasn't a motion picture as per the OP, and was never intended, nor released as one. it was originally broadcast in black and white on tv, thus negating the psychedelic nature of the film

saturday nite fever was a movie based on a book, and the bee gees were just one of the acts asked to record music for the soundtrack, the soundtrack didn't come first and has no real ties with the movie, apart from the last minute change of movie title

piku said:

the idea from Purple Rain originated from a concert film Prince wanted to do during/4 the Controversy album/era

Prince actually had the idea and it was called Dreams

mostbeautifulboy said:

Rock around the clock was just a song from the movie "Blackboard jungle".

That was Elvis's movie career.....

OldFriends4Sale said:

this is wrong. The BeeGees did not make Saturday Night Fever from their album.

I was also thinking Pink Floyd's "The Wall" was made from the album.

the music kinda came after

Looks like there are going to be so many variables and differing opinions as to what constitutes "Making a motion picture out of an album".

The simple fact is that Lionel Richie was wrong by decades, if he indeed said that Prince was the first to do so.

djdaffy1227 said:

Yes, but the movie "Rock around the clock" came out soon after. It was a rock n roll movie, before Elvis. (Elvis did have a film out before this, but it wasnt a musical)

unique said: