100 Greatest Music Videos

[Kermit The Hulk]

Yes, I'm back with another countdown. This one will be a little different. For one, unlike the other countdowns I did, I was working at the time, forcing me to do 2 a day but making up for it with 4 on the weekend. Now, that I'm not and added with the fact that it will be shorter to compile these than the movies and TV show countdowns, I'm going to unveil 5 videos a day. So, let's get this party started! And, SPEAKING OF parties:

100. Beastie Boys—“Fight For Your Right (To Party)”

www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NdAUnnU9Ac

Album: Licensed To Ill
Label: The Island Def Jam Music Group
Director(s): Ric Menello and Adam Dubin

The song “Fight For Your Right (To Party)” has been embraced as one of the great party songs. However, the Boys wrote it as a parody of party and attitude songs, such as "Smokin' In the Boys Room" and "I Wanna Rock." Needless to say, the irony was lost on most listeners. Mike D commented that, "The only thing that upsets me is that we might have reinforced certain values of some people in our audience when our own values were actually totally different. There were tons of guys singing along to 'Fight for Your Right' who were oblivious to the fact it was a total goof on them." Though, it’s not that surprising. Just look at the video. That 4 minutes epitomizes The Beastie Boys early days as the Three Idiots who made a masterpiece with Licensed To Ill. They look like they’re having the time of their lives. Yes, I know the video is just as much of a satire as the song. But, the Boys are so good at it that people can’t help but take them seriously, much like when people thought Jonathan Swift was serious in wanting poor Irish people to sell their babies as food for rich people in his essay “A Modest Proposal.” They were just too good. Nevertheless, it has gone on to be the group's most famous song, despite the Beastie Boys expressed distaste for it. In The Sounds of Science liner notes, MCA jokingly says the song "sucks," though they did not feel the album would be complete without it. The group has not performed the song live since 1987.

[Kermit The Hulk]

99. ZZ Top—“Legs”



Album: Eliminator
Label: Warner Bros. Records
Director: Tim Newman

From the King Of The Hill episode “Hank Gets Dusted,” in which we learn that Hank’s cousin is Dusty Hill, the bassist of ZZ Top:

Kahn: How could you not tell me that your cousin is one of the pioneers of the story-driven music video.
Hank: You just answered your own question.

Yes, ZZ Top were one of the first to bring plot into a forum that mainly featured bands just playing their tunes. Not only did they have some big influence on music videos, they also used it to boost their popularity. With the advent of MTV, ZZ Top readily embraced the phenomenon of the music video and boosted itself to new popularity with video releases of "Gimme All Your Lovin'", "Legs," and "Sharp Dressed Man", each featuring the band's new icon: a cherry-red 1933 Ford Coupe hot rod nicknamed The Eliminator. The comical videos featured a trio of mysterious, sexy women who roam around and rescue people from seemingly dire situations, along with an iconic Billy, Dusty, and Frank, who seem to appear out of nowhere and grinningly proffer keys to the Eliminator. So, why “Legs”? Well, it has the most interesting plot: a Cinderella-like story of a girl getting picked and then later gets a make over and drives off in the Eliminator to live happily ever after with her man. What makes this plot so interesting is the people who pick on the poor heroine of the story. These people are just cruel bastards to the poor girl. It’s like the only pleasure they can feel comes from this girl’s misery. Also, the twist on the Cinderella story with the girl getting a makeover into a skank helps. Yes, it’s not exactly a feminist ideal, but sex sells. It’s not the raunchiest thing to filmed to music, but it worked for that little band from La Grange, Texas.

[Kermit The Hulk]

98. Daft Punk—“Around The World”

www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9MszVE7aR4

Album: Homework
Label: Virgin Records
Director: Michel Gondry

A group of Cold War aliens, 50s-style swimmers, skeletons, mummified women, and statuesque ravers (tall athletes as described by Gondry) circle each other onstage in this demented clip for Daft Punk's "Around The World." The video is meant to be a visual representation of the song; each element in the video represents a different instrument. According to Director Michel Gondry's notes, the androids represent the singing robot voice; the physicality and small-minded rapidity of the athletes symbolizes the ascending/descending bass guitar; the femininity of the disco girls represents the high-pitched keyboard; the "itchy" skeletons serve for the guitars; the mummies represent the drum machine. Gondry keeps things simple via a series of effortless zooms and overheads timed to the circular choreography, he evokes dance music's appeal as an ageless global phenomenon. It was Gondry's first attempt at bringing organized dancing to his music videos: "I was sick to see choreography being mistreated in videos like filler with fast cutting and fast editing, really shallow. I don't think choreography should be shot in close-ups." The sequence, initially developed by Gondry, was further expanded and streamlined by choreographer Blanca Li. Costumes for the video were designed by Florence Fontaine, the mother of Gondry's son. The flashing lights were operated by the director's brother, Olivier "Twist" Gondry. As Gondry stated, "It all came down to a family affair."

[Kermit The Hulk]

97. Godley And Creme—“Cry”

www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdKJBxWZdoI

Album: The History Mix Volume 1
Label: Polydor
Directors: Godley and Creme

Kevin Godley and Lol Creme met in the late 1950s and have played in several bands since, such as 10cc, Hotlegs, Doctor Father, and The Magic Lanterns. In the 1980s, they embarked on another career: music videos directors. They’ve directed some of the most memorable videos of the decade, such as The Police’s “Every Breath You Take,” Duran Duran’s “Girls On Film,” and Herbie Hancock’s “Rockit.” However, they saved one of the best for themselves: “Cry.” The groundbreaking and very popular 1985 video featured faces blended into each other using analog cross-fading, anticipating the digital effect of morphing. The technique would later be used in a very similar way in Michael Jackson's 1991 video, "Black or White." Morphing technology has gotten a lot better since Godley and Crème first used it. But, the beautiful black and white lighting and the strikingly somber faces that appeared in the video has helped it to hold up even today. In fact, the video was memorable enough that in 1993 it was shown in an episode of MTV's Beavis and Butt-head.

[Kermit The Hulk]

96. Lenny Kravitz—“Are You Gonna Go My Way”

www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5PZQMwL7iE

Album: Are You Gonna Go My Way
Label: Virgin Records
Director: Mark Romanek

Simple can be boring, and a simple music video mainly involves the band playing the song. However, in the hands of a skilled director, simple can be exciting. Luckily for Lenny Kravitz, he had one in Mark Romanek. The music video simply consisted of Kravitz and his band playing, surrounded by people dancing. What makes it stand out is the opening shot of the video showing Lenny with his arms open, looking towards the heavens, before the scenery is filled with light. And, of course, there is the lights going on and off to the beat of the song; it helps that the song rocks, making the light show more memorable. The background scenography consists of a futuristic and architectonical place, something not unusual on Romanek's videos. Also, Kravitz gives off this Jesus-like feel. It’s almost as if he’s preaching to his flock, choosing to use a rock song as his sermon. Though, a lot that most likely has to do with the Christ connotations in the song. Nevertheless, the video shows that simple doesn’t have to be boring.

[Kermit The Hulk]

Okay, that's all for today. Tomorrow, numbers 95-91. Here are the hints:

Shake it like a polaroid pitcure, leaving until the 11th month, beat country, paying tribute, and precipitation on Thanksgiving.

[Kermit The Hulk]

It's countdown time again, people. Here's number 95:

95. OutKast—“Hey Ya”

www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvIw5ZqC1ms

Album: Speakerboxxx/The Love Below
Label: Arista Records, Inc.
Director: Bryan Barber

I’m a little sorry for putting this one on the list. The reason is this is without a doubt the catchiest song of the list. Once you hear it, it ain’t leaving your head until a just as annoyingly catchy song kicks it out. But, I couldn’t ignore how good the video is. Based on the Beatles’s legendary appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, the video features André 3000 playing eight members of the fictional band The Love Below: keyboardist Benjamin Andre, bassist Possum Jenkins, vocalist Andre “Ice Cold” 3000, drummer Dookie Blasingame, three backing vocalists The Love Haters, and guitarist Johnny Vulture. The video opens with the band's manager Antwan, played by OutKast’s other member Big Boi, talking to Ice Cold 3000 and Dookie Blasingame backstage. Meanwhile, the television presenter, portrayed by Ryan Phillippe, tries to calm a crowd of screaming girls on a show being broadcast live in black-and-white. The band performs while the girls in the audience scream loudly; one girl is carried off by security after rushing the stage, and another faints. Once it hit MTV, the video became widely popular. However, it wasn’t almost wasn’t made. “Hey Ya” getting a single release was a last minute decision. Also because of this, André had to improvise his dance moves because there was little time to learn choreography. Each of André 3000's parts was shot several times from different angles, and he performed the song 23 times during the course of filming. Ice Cold 3000's sequences were the first filmed, resulting in the character's energetic performance, and Johnny Vulture's were the last, so André, exhausted from the previous takes, sat on a stool for those sequences. Though, the hard work paid off. It’s not hard to see why the video was so popular. André 3000's energy and charisma really translates well on screen. He’s flat-out delirious, in his Leprechaun-like get up swaying those chicken legs like “Sex Machine”-era James Brown or a Greyhound over a fire hydrant. Yes, it’s too meta and cute for its own good, but that’s part of it’s charm. It’s fun and original. Okay, it’s not that original; Paul McCartney did the “playing every member of a band” thing in his “Coming Up” video decades earlier. But, that doesn’t really matter; people have been copying ideas from other people since, well, the beginning of time. Besides, the video is different from all the typical hip hop videos that mainly focused on bitches and hoes drowning in all the Chrystal being poured on them. In fact, it’s more pop than hip hop. And, who doesn’t like pop?

[Kermit The Hulk]

94. Wyclef Jean—“Gone Till November”

www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBHHtpTwJeM

Album: The Carnival
Label: Columbia Records
Director: Unknown (I couldn’t find out)

Sometimes when a music video is made, the “video” part gets more focus than the “music.” People get too caught up in the visual that they aren’t thinking about the song. This can cause the video to overwhelm the song or vice versa. But, every once in a while, the video will perfectly showcase the mood and theme of its song. “Gone Till November” is a perfect example. The plot, Wyclef leaving on a plane with a woman chasing after him, fits with the title. The somber mood blends well with Wyclef’s soft angelic voice. The people in the airport suddenly playing violins when the string parts start is a great visual and helps to make the video stand out. The old man and the little boy singing is a nice touch, showing how relatable the song can be. And, the Bob Dylan cameo is just cool. The song and video and the video just blend so well together to make it memorable. This is just a good reason to not ignore the song when it comes to making a video: it can help.

[Kermit The Hulk]

93. Janet Jackson—“Rhythm Nation”



Album: Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation 1814
Label: A&M Records
Director: Dominic Sena

This famous black-and-white video was the finale in the Rhythm Nation 1814 Film. Culled from that long-form video (the mini-musical also included "Miss You Much" and the rarely-seen "The Knowledge") which told the morality tale of two shoeshine boys who discover the Rhythm Nation, the unity-themed "Rhythm Nation" clip stands on its own as one of the most intricately and powerfully choreographed music videos of all time. The military-inspired dancing in the video helped it to stand out from choreographing in previous music videos, and it still stands out to this day. The solidarity of Janet Jackson's multi-racial Rhythm Nation dancers is evoked with hyper-synchronized movements while their individuality is expressed via their separate, distinct dances. It so distinct yet uniformed that the viewers get lost in the video and begin believing these dancers actually are an army that plans to go dancing around the world spreading a message of peace and unity.

[Kermit The Hulk]

92. Fatboy Slim—“Praise You”



Album: You’ve Come A Long Way, Baby
Label: Skint (U.K.), Astralwerks (U.S.)
Director: Spike Jonze

Who needs high production values, special effects, and well choreographed professional dancers to make a music video? Hell, you can get a good one on the cheap with non-professional dancers and choreography. In his memorable home video clip for Fatboy Slim's "Praise You," Spike Jonze appears as Richard Koufey, choreographer for the fictional Torrence Community Dance group. With the video, Jonze is going against the music video norm. It’s cheap, and it features the video’s director in the forefront while Slim is no where to be seen. And, no doubt hoping to incite controversy, Jonze & Co. put on a show before a line of people about to enter a movie theater. The theater's manager greets the performance with unscripted rage, angrily turning off the boombox which blares Fatboy's anthem. It is here that "Praise You" takes on a life of its own, questioning our refusal to tolerate street art that does not conform to elitist expectations. The only irony here may be that Jonze’s “Being John Malkovich” isn't featured on the marquee.

Edit: Slight correction. Fatboy Slim is in the video but briefly. Around the 5:30 mark, that very conspicuous looking man walking by in the background attempting to get on camera is him. But still, the director is at the forefront and the artist is not.

[Kermit The Hulk]

91. Guns N’ Roses—“November Rain”

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bwu7ixmQk0c

Album: Use Your Illusion
Label: Geffen
Director: Andy Morahan

Based on the short story "Without You" by Del James, available in James' 1995 book The Language of Fear (That short story would have an obvious appeal to Axl Rose, as it describes the misery of a former multi-platinum blues-influenced rock star, who reminisces over an on-and-off-again relationship ending with the woman's suicide via gunshot. However, in the short story, there is no mention of a wedding or marriage of the couple.), the middle section in Guns N’ Roses’ epic Use Your Illusions trilogy, “November Rain” manages to keep at least one toe on the ground (that is to say, no one disappears into the wall and there’s not a dolphin in sight; don’t ask, just watch the “Don’t Cry” and “Estranged” videos if you’re curious), but it still manages to pack a wedding ceremony, a funeral, and at least two Slash 360-degree cliff solos in its nine-minute running time. The difference between this video and other famously epic videos like Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” or Puff Daddy’s “Victory” is that “November Rain” features no additional dialogue or mid-song breaks to augment its running time or theatricality. “November Rain” the song simply demanded such a large-scale video, and Axl and director Andy Morahan were more than happy to comply with a large budget (about $1.5 million, including a dress worn by Stephanie Seymour worth $8,000) and stunning cinematography, making it the 13th most expensive music video ever. Now that Chinese Democracy has finally be released after all these year, I would like to see a sequel video explaining all the lose ends: How did Stephanie Seymour die? How does such a small church have such a large interior? And, what happens to the guy who jumps into the wedding cake?

[Kermit The Hulk]

That's all for tonight. Tomorrow, numbers 90-86. Here are the hints:

geographical charts, real belief, a compulsion to passion, it sounds like a euphemism for masterbation, and a murderous tribute to Russ Meyer.

[Kermit The Hulk]

Countdown time again. Here's number 90:

90. Yeah Yeah Yeahs—“Maps”

www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYJjHCZN46U

Album: Fever To Tell
Label: Interscope
Director: Patrick Daughters

It’s worth nothing that “Maps” was the third single released off Fever to Tell, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ 2003 full-length debut, and by that point the band had been all but written off as a textbook case of critical praise and music geek hype failing to translate into airplay and sales. “Maps,” and specifically its accompanying video, saved, if not the group’s career then certainly its blip on the cultural radar screen. The catch with this video is that there is no catch. The premise is simple: the band playing in an audition in a high school gymnasium, with different light filters changing the color of the room. That’s all. No gimmicks, no bells and whistles, no superfluous, state-of-the-art bullshit. Just a gal, two guys, and a single, indelible teardrop. It is pretty much your basic band playing the song video, but it is made memorable by the song. It perfectly fits the somber, heartbreaking mood of the song. Rarely has a clip so beautifully complemented the strengths and sentiments of the song it’s promoting.

[Kermit The Hulk]

89. New Order—“True Faith”



Album: Substance
Label: Factory Records
Director: Philippe Decouflé

Beautifully random and impeccably synchronized to the music, “True Faith” intercuts performance footage of the band with a weird netherworld where brightly attired clowns jump backwards, bizarrely attired clowns slap each other to the beat, and a girl in dark green makeup emerges from an upside down boxer's speed bag and signs the words to the song (or possibly just gibberish, but properly timed gibberish), clad in a rotating, round ensemble that resembles one of those inflatable punching clowns. Like all the best non-sequitur videos, all the fighting and jumping and dancing begins to seem fitting almost immediately, until the beginning of the song instantly brings to mind that odd featureless room stocked with jesters. For a song and a band so concerned with the mundaneness of human emotion, it's a masterstroke to marry that tone with the garish acrobatics and puzzling conflict on display in the “True Faith” video. Not only is it eye-catching, it stays with you.

[Kermit The Hulk]

88. Robert Palmer—“Addicted To Love”

www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0U5JfGYx4c

Album: Riptide
Label: Island Records
Director: Terence Donovan

I’ve always been puzzled to see "Addicted to Love" consistently included on Greatest Videos of All-Time lists. Yet, here I am including it and wondering why. It’s just Palmer singing his song with a backing band of pale skinned, heavy make-uped, dark haired and seductively looking models who all resemble the women in Patrick Nagel paintings. The video itself contains slightly more motion than a still picture: the sexless "sexy" mannequins scissor their legs and bop in place slightly, Palmer looks like he's thinking about a latte or his doctor's appointment, and the camera "work" consists of focusing in on small details of the non-event. Occasionally, the girls will look like they actually are playing their instruments: "Hey, look her fingers are really touching those bass strings." Yes, now if only the thing were plugged into the amp. Hell, all it’s pretty much good for is being parodied: Beyoncé's 2007 video for "Green Light" shares many of the same elements. Shania Twain's 1999 video for "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!" has Palmer's women substituted for men dancing in the same way. "Weird Al" Yankovic parodied the song with "Addicted to Spuds" in 1986 and "UHF" in 1989. It was also used in Mr Blobby's 1993 music video for "Mr Blobby". Further parodies include Tone Lōc's 1988 "Wild Thing", Bowling for Soup's video for "1985" released in 2004, a dream sequence of Dr. Joel Fleischman the 1990 TV series Northern Exposure, and film parodies including the 1990 comedy "horror" film “Repossessed” with Leslie Nielsen's character Father Jebedaiah Mayii and the 2003 romantic comedy “Love Actually” with Bill Nighy's character, Billy Mack. Not only that but in 1985, people found it offensive. Today it's just vapid and lacking in any kind of eroticism. But, therein lies its greatness. It’s iconic, fully representing the decade it came from. Well, mostly the negative aspects. Any time someone feels like indulging in character-destroying nostalgia for the era, all he or she needs to do is see this video to quickly remember everything awful about the 80's. Consider it medication for 1980’s addiction. Though, much like prescription pills, it can be just as addictive.