6 West Home Video

Background

6 West Home Video was the home video division of Arista Records. The name of this company is derived from the location of Arista's former headquarters, 6 West 57th Street in New York.

1st Logo (1987-1989)

Visuals: There is a gold door to the Arista Building in New York, followed by cars on the road, beeping. The building is entered into when the door opens, revealing a crowd facing towards a wall with red and blue colors. A searchlight goes by the crowd and takes four different shots at the crowd cheering, with multiple searchlights going by the crowd whenever light shows up, covering the entire screen. Then a purple searchlight shows up & covers the entire screen while taking the fourth shot. At the fifth shot, a golden square on the red/blue background is zoomed in and opens up, reveals a blue "6" and the text "WEST" in a font similar to the Arista logo & the "W" formed from upside-down "A's", which slides to the 6 on a black background. When it gets to the 6 completely, the whole logo shines blue, revealing the text "Home Video" below. The logo shines before fading out.

Technique: Cel animation.

Audio: Car beeps at the beginning. When the door opens up, a slight cymbal crash can be heard, and a whoosh sound when the first searchlight moves. After that, a series of a crowd cheering can be heard throughout the logo. A slight sound can be heard every time a light covers up the screen. When the purple searchlight moves, a different whoosh is heard. When the golden square opens up, a Cymbal crash is heard. Another Cymbal crash is heard when the logo glows. Finally, a whoosh sound similar to the first searchlight whoosh, followed by twinkling sounds are heard when the logo shines.

Availability: Seen on VHS releases of music-related content from Arista artists from the time.

2nd Logo (1989-1998)

Visuals: On a black background, a blue number "6" spins to the center of the screen. The text "WEST", with "WEST" in the same font as last time, slides into the 6, and the text "Home Video" appears on the left side, before moving down to the bottom. The logo shines.

Technique: 2D computer animation.

Audio: A synth buzz with whooshing sounds as the 6 spins in, a lower synth buzz when the "Home Video" text appears, and shine sounds.

Availability: Also seen on VHS Tapes of music-related content from Arista Artists from the time, such as Milli Vanilli: In Motion.