The Music Video Mini-List

[ando]

Precisely this.

Ando, I'm still perplexed at how you can argue otherwise or that she "didn't change shit", but I'd love to see you make that case.

Oh no, you made the ridiculous claim about Madonna changing perceptions of women, gayness and blackness. YOU do the work.

Ridiculous??? Really dude??? She was one of the first A list popstars to include LGBT performers. One of the first to speak up for LGBT rights at a time where doing so was considered to be a great risk. The video for Like a Prayer which had her and Leon in an interracial tryst was hugely controversial, also at a time where an interracial kiss was rarely if ever allowed on tv and her contribution to female empowerment is obvious. It's beginning to feel like you just don't like Madonna because I don't see how you can deny these things.

She did nothing that real pioneers on the street, in Congress, on picket lines and in neighborhoods did not do first. To my mind she's not a social activist or cultural shifter by any stretch of the imagination. I'm not a woman so I can't speak for her contribution (which is not obvious; she merely took stereotypical/outmoded views of women and exploited their use). But she did zilch for changing the way Black people were/are perceived in music or anywhere else. Kissing a black man in a video was neither novel, dynamic or socially galvanizing. For whatever that gesture that was worth Sidney Poitier was ahead of her by 20 years. If you said that about Paul Robeson I would readily concur. But a white pop singer who profited off the music which traditionally derived from the Black community is a long damned way from being anything close to changing the perception of blackness. Let's drop it. The subject is becoming ludicrous (it's long past insulting).

[Black Hat]

wow that's one helluva hot take skip

[zedz]

Jackson was also doing videos before and without MTV. It's important to remember they wouldn't show his videos, probably also why he lost, because his music wasn't 'rock' i.e. white.

MTV wasn't the only market in the world. Videos by black artists were shown all the time on music shows in other countries. Ready to Roll (New Zealand's Top of the Pops) screened all of the videos from Off the Wall. I used to wish they'd stop playing the video for 'She's Out of My Life', because pre-teen me found it so boring, but looking at it now it has a kind of minimalist nobility compared to everything that came afterwards.
She's Out of My Life

Actually, 'Rock with You' is similarly basic and pretty cool (if you're not an epileptic),
Rock With You

Ready to Roll even played the video for 'The Message' (a number 2 hit here), and that couldn't even make the Top 40 in the US. It's rather quaint.
The Message

That roll call of MTV Awards nominees brought back a lot of bad memories. I know all those clips like they're part of my DNA, and I wasn't the only one who thought they were lame at the time.

'Sledgehammer' was great, and still holds up, thanks to all the genuine talent that was involved. Here's a recent video for John Grant's 'He's Got His Mother's Hips' that's in the same anijam vein:
He's Got His Mother's Hips

The launch of 'Thriller' was a big deal at the time, a slot in primetime cleared for its premiere. It's a solid, well-executed video, but I've never been especially fond of it. It looked pretty much exactly what you'd expect a music video of the time to look like if you threw millions of dollars at it (i.e. it was a lot longer, with more pretensions to being a film film, and had glossy production values). I think most of my favourite actual movies of the 1980s cost less than this video, so I can't really call it money well spent. It was big, but not especially surprising. 'Beat It' had had similar narrative pretensions, only with less preamble. Still, good dancing made both of those better viewing experiences than most 80s videos, which were often little more than a jumble of attention-getting gimmicks with a slug of pretension thrown in.

However, I still dearly love Cabaret Voltaire's 'Sensoria' video, which is exactly that.
Short (7") version
That signature parabolic movement was achieved by

SpoilerShow

fixing two long poles together, attaching the camera to the apex, and manually swinging the poles and camera over the action.

Meanwhile, I was being knocked upside the head by things like Chris Knox's homemade video for Tall Dwarfs' 'Turning Brown and Torn in Two (1983). If you look carefully, you can spot the actual budget.
Turning Brown and Torn in Two

The latter two will definitely be making my list.

[Feego]

Elton John released a trio of videos in the early 2000s that were pretty much connected by the concept of "celebrity lip syncs Elton John song."

The first, I Want Love, is the simplest, composed of a single take of Robert Downey Jr. walking through an empty house while miming the song. This was just after Downey had come out of rehab and before his acting career was revived, so his own publicly known personal demons were a good emotional match for the lyrics.

The second and most famous of the three videos is This Train Don't Stop There Anymore, starring Justin Timberlake as a young Elton John preparing for a concert and making a dreamlike trek through various memories of his 70s experience. Paul Reubens also appears as John's manager.

My favorite of the bunch is Original Sin, a companion piece to This Train directed by the same director, David LaChapelle. Both videos are shot in slow motion and present garishly colored, bleary-eyed remembrances of the 70s. Here, Mandy Moore plays a nerdy teenager who finds solace and expression in Elton John's music, taking a trip down the yellow brick road to a star-studded concert. Her parents are played by John himself and, in the weirdest cameo ever, Elizabeth Taylor.

[domino harvey]

I’d never seen or heard Original Sin before, but it’s quite a bland song so no wonder! I did find it amusing that like in every She’s All That-type makeover movie, there’s literally no way to make Mandy Moore not look gorgeous (greasy skin not withstanding). I also personally think it’d be kind of terrifying to be whisked to a fake 70s land populated entirely by celeb imitators, but hey, it’s not my fantasy

[flyonthewall2983]

The video for "This Train" made me wonder if it was some kind of sketch for a movie of Elton's life to come later, even before the Rocketman movie was in it's inception. I seem to think the one for "I Want Love" had more attention to it because of Downey's comeback, underlined by some of the stuff he was doing on Ally McBeal including his own musical moments.

[colinr0380]

Here are two 'walking' music videos that are amusing to pair together: Massive Attack's Unfinished Sympathy followed by The Verve''s Bitter Sweet Symphony, in which the proud striding down the street bustling with life of the first gets turned into bluntly letting nothing get in the way of your defiant march through life, no matter who you have to push aside!

[Black Hat]

Next on the list of "batshit crazy I can't believe this exists" videos, that time Boy George took us back to the era of reconstruction saying "if they're not bringing the plantation to Mardi Gras I'll bring Mardi Gras to the plantation." Down by the bayou this ain't.

[colinr0380]

Another travelling video - Happiness by Goldfrapp which gets around voting for isolated sequences from musical films by being a version of Bobby Van's Take Me To Broadway sequence from the 50s version of Small Town Girl.

[thirtyframesasecond]

I'd expect that many will be voting for more recent videos that are better-conceived and less dated looking than most of what came out of the '80s (before video making "went corporate" and people were still generally making things up as they went along, often with shopworn concepts and a small budget).

I've actually got a few 80s videos in mind already, but two in particular that could probably be described as "dated looking" and "just making things up as they went along" are:

"Eyes Without a Face" by Billy Idol

"All the Things She Said" by Simple Minds

There's seemingly just a lot of random stuff going on in both of these that has little if anything to do with the actual songs. They are more like tests for 80s video effects than artistic representations of the lyrics. But the Idol video has just a touch of perversity in it, with his arm being tightly strapped as if being prepared for a shot, a group of hooded figures popping up for no apparent reason, and a woman on the receiving end of a massive explosion of fluid. Not to mention that trio of Flock of Seagull-esque girls miming the chorus. I only just saw the Simple Minds video a few years ago on VH1 Classic and was mesmerized by it. With its sparkly night sky, exotic birds, and splashes of bubblegum pink, it reeks 80s fantasy aesthetic to the point that you almost expect a unicorn to go galloping by. But the care taken to film the three group members multiple times, performing the same verse and similar action but with the camera passing by just a tad later is highly effective.

You could easily include a few Zbigniew Rybczyński music videos in this list (Candy by Cameo for example).

[thirtyframesasecond]

Godley and Creme have had a few mentions and they undeniably made some of the more inventive music videos of the 80s. One I do love (and I like the song despite probably having a bit of a naff reputation) is Everybody Have Fun Tonight by Wang Chung. Watch this without feeling sick!

https://imvdb.com/video/wang-chung/ever ... un-tonight

[BenoitRouilly]

WILLIAM SHELLER – Excalibur (1990) / director : Philippe Druillet

Far from John Boorman's Excalibur or anything to do with the Round Table, this black and white music video set in a retro-future (Steam-punk?) castle designed by graphic-novelist Philippe Druillet (also director of this video) is a wonder of the French nineties inspired by Sergei Eisenstein. But the main influence of this Father-Son (megalomaniac King-emancipated Prince) conflict seems to be Fritz Lang's Metropolis. The aesthetic of the universe instead borrows from some (Protanzanov's) Aelita and German Expressionism lighting, and comes from the graphic novels of Druillet. Little touches of colour give out a Tron-like Sci-Fi. Especially for the extraneous language invented by Druillet, subtitled with incomprehensible orange letters. Make-up, costumes, masks, weapons, bionic prosthetics, choreography, set design, all is rather unique. Rudimentary CGI are introduced for the bookend parts. The singer, William Sheller, plays the king himself. Even if the lyrics spell out a lyrical storytelling, the video itself plays out as a silent film and can be understood with visual cues alone.

[thirtyframesasecond]

One of the best non-video videos is Bastards of Young by The Replacements. Their displeasure with the art form summed up in an almost complete close up of a music speaker blasting out the song. It only pulls back to reveal the knee of a kid listening whilst smoking and drinking.

https://youtu.be/fl9KQ1Mub6Q

[Gregory]

They also shot extremely similar ones for "Left of the Dial" and "Hold My Life" at the same time in the director's apartment. Somehow the budget for these was $10,000.

Warner's creative director came up with the original concept, and it even involved the person shown smoking dropping his cigarette on the rug and causing a fire, but MTV wouldn't allow it. Another example of what I was referring to earlier about preferential standards and practices on the network, as something like "99 Luftballons" could feature multiple (potentially dangerous) fires and explosions and MTV had no problem with it, yet the Replacements' video couldn't even show a small rug catching fire.

[Swift]

Here are two 'walking' music videos that are amusing to pair together: Massive Attack's Unfinished Sympathy followed by The Verve''s Bitter Sweet Symphony, in which the proud striding down the street bustling with life of the first gets turned into bluntly letting nothing get in the way of your defiant march through life, no matter who you have to push aside!

The latter was then parodied in the boisterous and odd Vindaloo by Fat Les. I do like the top comment on that video that the expectation of England is a Downton Abbey type land whereas the reality is closer to that video.

A few random favourites...

Various Artists - Perfect Day - The BBC created this video to advertise the variety of musical tastes catered to through their television and radio output. It aired randomly between some programmes as filler (they don't show adverts) and it was genuinely goosebump inducing for me anytime I happened to catch the full version. It became so popular that they eventually released it as a charity single which spent a few weeks at Number 1. Not a great video or anything, but it's fun to see a whole bunch of musicians from different genres come together.

George Michael & Mary J. Blige - As - An astoundingly crafted video set in a club solely populated by multiple singing, dancing versions of the two stars.

U2 - Numb (EBN Video Remix) - Zoo TV era U2 is my favourite incarnation of them and I love this collaboration with the Emergency Broadcast Network.

Daft Punk - Around the World - Might be my favourite Gondry music video.

I don't pay much attention to music these days but I sometimes become obsessed with certain videos and watch them non-stop. There's no gimmicks here, just catchy, memorable performances.

Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars - Uptown Funk - At 3.6 billion views, you all know this one already. Harkening back to 1980s Michael Jackson, it's the video of the decade for me.

Azealia Banks ft. Lazy Jay - 212 - I watched this over and over and over when it came out. A very charismatic presence, though I understand she's kind of thrown her career down the toilet since then by being an outspoken idiot.

Kendrick Lamar - King Kunta

Wiley ft. Sean Paul, Stefflon Don & Idris Elba - Boasty - My favourite video this year. Just a fun video. I guess I can't get enough of kids lip syncing to songs because my other favourite video was Fontaines D.C.'s Big.

[Saturnome]

One of the best non-video videos is Bastards of Young by The Replacements. Their displeasure with the art form summed up in an almost complete close up of a music speaker blasting out the song. It only pulls back to reveal the knee of a kid listening whilst smoking and drinking.

https://youtu.be/fl9KQ1Mub6Q

I've been looking for this video for years !!! Thank you.

[Mr Sausage]

The Beastie Boys Video Anthology is the discussion topic over at the Film Club. It'd be great if you could stop by to share your thoughts on it.

[thirtyframesasecond]

Mylene Farmer has some great videos at the turn of the 90s, mostly directed by Laurent Boutonnat. Caution: be careful where you watch these.

Desenchantee is her signature track and has an epic video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkiyW0vqat8

Beyond My Control is based on Dangerous Liaisons (the line itself is spoken by John Malkovich) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENZL4Dz1md4

Je T'aime Mélancolie is great too - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1xudU08wQ8

Que Mon Coeur Lache is directed by Luc Besson and pays homage to La Femme Nikita - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zc-vx5E2Unk

Abel Ferrera directs California - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAS2XAvINtc

[BenoitRouilly]

Mylene Farmer has some great videos at the turn of the 90s, mostly directed by Laurent Boutonnat. Caution: be careful where you watch these.

Desenchantee is her signature track and has an epic video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkiyW0vqat8

Beyond My Control is based on Dangerous Liaisons (the line itself is spoken by John Malkovich) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENZL4Dz1md4

Je T'aime Mélancolie is great too - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1xudU08wQ8

Que Mon Coeur Lache is directed by Luc Besson and pays homage to La Femme Nikita - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zc-vx5E2Unk

Abel Ferrera directs California - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAS2XAvINtc

I second that! And my favourite :

MYLENE FARMER – Pourvu qu’elles soient douces (1988) / Laurent Boutonnat (NSFW)

It is over 17min of an XVIIIth century English-French war directed by Laurent Boutonnat

[zedz]

I decided to look up Gary Sullivan's video for Dimmer's 'Seed', as I recalled it being pretty unusual at the time. it's still conceptually interesting, but the CGI has aged ungracefully, almost to the point where it's back to being cool again.
Seed
This video only has five comments, but two of them are from Anton Newcombe and Kevin Shields!

The king of virtual train journey music videos remains the Chemical Brother's 'Star Guitar':
Star Guitar
It doesn't take too long to figure out what's happening here. It's a simple idea, perfectly executed. Another sherbert burst of Gondry genius.

Can anybody think of any really great Prince videos? There are a number of cool ones, and some great performance ones, but I can't think of any that are great as films.

At the time the video for 'Sign 'o' the Times' was arresting - and that's the first one I thought of - but now it just looks like an antique screen saver.
Sign 'o' the Times

I still like it a lot, but there were already better text-based videos around, like R.E.M.'s 'Fall on Me':
Fall on Me

I think this has held up a lot better, because the text delivery is simpler and the rest of the visual material more intriguing. On release, it gained a lot from its context, as the band famously refused to lipsync for their videos (and continued to do so for many years), didn't print their lyrics, and Michael Stipe was notorious for rendering a lot of his lyrics incomprehensible, so this video was both a breakthrough and an elaborate hedge.

I guess this is another music video 'family tree', stretching back to Dylan's 'Subterranean Homesick Blues' (which I'd definitely be including if I thought it were eligible).
Subterranean Homesick Blues

Any other favourite videos where the lyrics are literally the star?

[zedz]

You could easily include a few Zbigniew Rybczyński music videos in this list (Candy by Cameo for example).

That reminds me. . .

It's hardly her best song, but there's a great Rybczyński video for Yoko Ono's 'Hell in Paradise':
Hell in Paradise

[zedz]

Godley and Creme have had a few mentions and they undeniably made some of the more inventive music videos of the 80s. One I do love (and I like the song despite probably having a bit of a naff reputation) is Everybody Have Fun Tonight by Wang Chung. Watch this without feeling sick!

https://imvdb.com/video/wang-chung/ever ... un-tonight

Listening to it without feeling sick would be enough of a challenge for me!

[colinr0380]

Any other favourite videos where the lyrics are literally the star?

The main one that is coming to mind right now is that Not Safe For Work Cee Lo Green song! Was that the first video that used that method of words coming up in tandem with narration that eventually got rather overplayed in lots of other contexts?

Would Overpowered by Face Tomorrow, directed by Peter Greenaway with footage from The Tulse Luper Suitcases count?

[thirtyframesasecond]

I like it when Hollywood directors make music videos, seemingly out of nowhere.

William Friedkin directed the video for Self Control by Laura Branigan. God knows what's going on here but it's weird. Has an amazing guitar intro at about 0.20 seconds in though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZFUns38D_Q

[thirtyframesasecond]

You could easily include a few Zbigniew Rybczyński music videos in this list (Candy by Cameo for example).

That reminds me. . .

It's hardly her best song, but there's a great Rybczyński video for Yoko Ono's 'Hell in Paradise':
Hell in Paradise

It is great. And that's Mickey from Seinfeld if I'm not mistaken.