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Post by Kermit The Hulk on Jul 27, 2009 15:55:55 GMT -5
62. Sinead O’Connor—“Nothing Compares 2 U” www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUiTQvT0W_0Album: I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got Label: Chrysalis Records Director: John Maybury Okay, it was 1990. In the previous decade, the music video became a staple of the entertainment industry. Not only did fans watch them for viewing pleasure, but they also became essential to the marketing of an artist’s new album. And, one of the big selling points was spectacle. Madonna, Prince, and Michael Jackson were all about the spectacle, turning their videos into mini-movies and with high productions, effects, and dance numbers. Then, came some bald Irish chick who brought everyone and everything back down to Earth. In stark contrast to the often excessive videos of its time period, Sinead O'Connor and director John Maybury's minimalist video for "Nothing Compares 2 U" proclaimed O'Connor as an iconoclast to be reckoned with. Moody images of O'Connor walking through a paganistic, gargoyle-filled park were offset with close-ups of the singer's porcelain face against a black background. Today, it’s easy to forget the power of this video, mainly because of O’Connor’s numerous controversies (from ripping up a photo of the Pope on SNL to becoming a priest). But, just one viewing is enough to remind people that this video packed just as much of a punch as its big-budgeted peers by just focusing on a woman’s face until she cried. And yes, that's a real tear.
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Post by Kermit The Hulk on Jul 27, 2009 16:11:14 GMT -5
61. R.E.M.—“Everybody Hurts”
Album: Automatic For The People Label: Warner Bros. Records Director: Jake Scott
Director Jake Scott and R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe lay it on thick in the video for the band's "Everybody Hurts," a cut from the hugely popular Automatic for the People. For the video, Scott prominently borrowed key themes and images from Joel Schumacher's underrated man-against-the-world flick “Falling Down” and Federico Fellini's “8 1/2,” the Italian auteur's epic chronicle of directorial self-indulgence. The clip's series of subtitles evokes the disaffection of people trapped in a Los Angeles traffic jam. Stipe emerges from his car, spiritually cleanses them with his song and ushers them into the next world like the Messianic high priest that we all know and love. I thought the faux news clip at the end was a little too much, but it’s just one little imperfection in an otherwise perfect. Besides, that works with the point of the song: nobody is perfect, everyone has pain, everyone suffers.
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Post by Kermit The Hulk on Jul 27, 2009 16:16:30 GMT -5
Okay, here is a recap of numbers 100-61:
100. Beastie Boys—“Fight For Your Right (To Party)” 99. ZZ Top—“Legs” 98. Daft Punk—“Around The World” 97. Godley And Creme—“Cry” 96. Lenny Kravitz—“Are You Gonna Go My Way” 95. OutKast—“Hey Ya” 94. Wyclef Jean—“Gone Till November” 93. Janet Jackson—“Rhythm Nation” 92. Fatboy Slim—“Praise You” 91. Guns N’ Roses—“November Rain” 90. Yeah Yeah Yeahs—“Maps” 89. New Order—“True Faith” 88. Robert Palmer—“Addicted To Love” 87. Peter Gabriel—“Shock The Monkey” 86. The Killers—“All These Things That I’ve Done” 85. Bonnie Tyler—“Total Eclipse Of The Heart” 84. Toni Basil—“Mickey” 83. Red Hot Chili Peppers—“Give It Away” 82. Human League—“Don’t You Want Me?” 81. U2—“Where The Streets Have No Name” 80. The Buggles—“Video Killed The Radio Star” 79. The Killers—“Mr. Brightside” 78. Faith No More—“Epic” 77. Queen And David Bowie—“Under Pressure” 76. Talking Heads—“Once In A Lifetime” 75. The Cars—“You Might Think” 74. Olivia Newton John—“Physical” 73. The Cardigans—“My Favorite Game” 72. The Cranberries—“Linger” 71. Radiohead—“Fake Plastic Trees” 70. Smashing Pumpkins—“1979” 69. Eminem—“My Name Is” 68. Soundgarden—“Black Hole Sun” 67. Depeche Mode – “Enjoy the Silence” 66. The White Stripes—“Fell In Love With A Girl” 65. Billy Joel—“We Didn’t Start The Fire” 64. Pat Benatar—“Love Is A Battlefield” 63. Blur—“Coffee And TV” 62. Sinead O’Connor—“Nothing Compares 2 U” 61. R.E.M.—“Everybody Hurts”
Tomorrow, numbers 60-56. Here are the hints:
P.M. repeated, where thunder comes from, the roof is on fire, your prefered instrument of destruction, and the first number.
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Post by Kermit The Hulk on Jul 28, 2009 15:28:45 GMT -5
Countdown time, people! LET'S DO THIS!!!! Here's number 60: 60. Smashing Pumpkins—“Tonight, Tonight” www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsZYqaSc4cUAlbum: Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness Label: Virgin Records Directors: Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Farris Inspired by the novels of Jules Verne and early Lumiere films, illusionist George Méliès dazzled the world with the release of 1902's “A Trip to the Moon.” Though his mini-epics are less structurally and thematically groundbreaking than many of D.W. Griffith's early works, his ravishing tableaus forever changed the way audiences looked at and experienced cinema. More so than any other music video, "Tonight, Tonight" displays an unmistakable love for the possibilities of cinema. Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris used period clothing (which they had a tough time getting due to “Titanic” having nearly all period costumes rented), theatre props, and old-school "special effects" to replicate the look and feel of “A Trip to the Moon.” This time, though, the journey is in color. The married directing team seamlessly incorporates the Smashing Pumpkins into the clip; the aesthetics turned out to be the perfect encapsulation of the Smashing Pumpkins’ sense of grandeur: heartfelt, fantastical, overly-ambitious yet just a bit clunky in all the right places, and, of course, Billy Corgan, sky high, in the heavens with his band playing like angels behind him. Like the smiling moon from Méliès's film, Billy Corgan & Co. become not unlike celestial bodies alive with the joys of creation. Amazingly, by going back to film’s beginnings, Dayton, Faris, and the Pumpkins ended up amazing a 1990s audience that had been use to high tech special effects. Corgan remarked that "I don't think we've ever had people react [like this]...it just seemed to touch a nerve."
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Post by Kermit The Hulk on Jul 28, 2009 15:46:24 GMT -5
59. Live—“Lightning Crashes” www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAMnjzU-6UQAlbum: Throwing Copper Label: Radioactive Records Director: Jake Scott In the post-Nirvana landscape, Live seemed poised to take the alt-rock crown. Their 1994 album, Throwing Copper, sold 8 million copies, fueled in part by the anthem "Lightning Crashes" and its striking video. A young woman dies during childbirth, leaving a baby to be watched over by a bald, female angel. Silver coins are placed over the eyes of the dead woman, a cross-cultural custom meant to protect the soul of the deceased. Years later, a second woman (the baby perhaps) gives birth without complication, the angel once again presiding over the event. Superstitions aside, its message is a visceral one: the body may cease to exist, but the spirit gets a second chance. This message is made all the more powerful by the song’s meaning: the band dedicated the song to Barbara Lewis, a 19 year-old friend of the band who was killed in 1993 by a drunk driver who was fleeing from the police after a robbery in York, Pennsylvania. Barbara had many of her organs donated including a liver to a 10 month old baby, and the song lyrics reflect how her death enabled others to continue living.
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Post by Kermit The Hulk on Jul 28, 2009 16:03:56 GMT -5
58. Talking Heads—“Burning Down The House” www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNnAvTTaJjMAlbum: Speaking In Tongues Label: Sire Records Director: Unknown (I think it’s David Byrne, but I’m not 100% sure.) While some of their music can seem too self-consciously experimental, clever, and intellectual for its own good, at their best Talking Heads represent everything good about art-school punks. This video is a good example. It is surreal and obviously has art school influences, like the band being replaced by different people (a little kid, Max Illidge, vocalist of the band 40 Below Summer, for David Byrne; an old lady for drummer Chris Frantz; a fat guy for guitarist Jerry Harrison; and a tall, muscular man for bassist Tina Weymouth), a film of fire being projected on the side of a house, and Byrne’s face projected onto a road. However, it isn’t too surreal; it doesn’t overwhelm the audience. It has the right amount of weird and accessibility that has made the Talking Heads unique yet popular over the years. And, it’s a part of pop culture: in the Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode “Soultaker,” a shot of a speeding highway causes Crow to wonder, "Where's David Byrne's head?"
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Post by Kermit The Hulk on Jul 28, 2009 16:29:28 GMT -5
57. Fatboy Slim—“Weapon Of Choice” www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7Ky5R-vxnsAlbum: Halfway Between The Stars And Gutters Label: Skint Records/Astralwerks Director: Spike Jonze The celebrity cameo is a common video trait. Many big music stars have their actor friends appear in the video to show off how famous they are now and to help up record sales by trying to lure fans of said actor. However, some video directors forget that these actors are entertainers and can be entertaining, which in turn could make the video a little more entertaining. Instead, these actors are just used as eye candy. But, there are directors who do take advantage of the celebrity. Case in point: Christopher Walken in “Weapon Of Choice.” Okay, so it’s not really a cameo since Walken is the only person in the video; but still, the clip of Walken dancing around an empty hotel is a fun 3 minutes and 52 seconds. After a brief Wikipedia venture, I was elated to find that Christopher Walken actually helped choreograph his dance moves in this Fatboy Slim video. The whole thing smacks of Gene Kelly, but Walken’s dour expression, coupled with a few choice funk-inspired moves (check out his version of “Thriller” at 2:13) make the video anything but derivative. Highlights include Walken’s “I’m-gonna-git-ya!” advance toward the camera during the line “Walk without rhythm / And you won’t attract the worm,” his foray through the hall of mirrors (with a painting of Fatboy Slim in the background), and the absurdist and majestic leap-into-flight from the second floor toward the end. Still, the thing that always sticks with me in this video is Walken’s depressing return to business-as-usual. The smile he sports during his romp is so unexpected and refreshing that the moment he sinks back into despondency, I can’t help but respond with empathy. It’s a strangely melancholic ending to such a silly video.
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Post by Kermit The Hulk on Jul 28, 2009 17:01:09 GMT -5
56. Metallica—“One” www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qzCvmUuPLcAlbum: …And Justice For All Label: Elektra Records Directors: Bill Pope and Michael Salomon In 1939, Dalton Trumbo gained notoriety with the publication of his novel Johnny Got His Gun, a pacifist treatise that tells the story of an American youth who is hit by an exploding artillery shell in WWI, which takes away his arms, legs, and face but leaves his mind functioning properly; thus making him a prisoner in his own body. In 1947, the House Un-American Activities Committee charged Trumbo of having communist affiliations. Some 25 years later, Trumbo revitalized Johnny Got His Gun when he adapted his novel for the screen during the height of the Vietnam War. When Metallica began to work on material for ...And Justice For All, former manager Cliff Bernstein introduced James Hetfield to Trumbo's book just as the frontman was writing the band's now-classic "One." Directors Bill Pope and Michael Salomon tapped into the very source that inspired the song itself, interweaving clips from the Trumbo film with shots of the band and creating what would become one of the most immediate videos ever produced. Though it's easy to fault this economical pastiche for its lack of originality, Pope and Salomon successfully whittle down Trumbo's film to its rawest and most satirical elements. In seven short minutes, Metallica arguably evoke a revolution of the soul far more devastating than that presented in the original text of Trumbo’s novel.
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Post by Kermit The Hulk on Jul 28, 2009 17:05:52 GMT -5
Tomorrow, numbers 55-51. Here are the hints:
A question that's also one of the last letters of the alphabet, the best pill, fire remains to cremation product, a polite term for a golddigger, and dark or pale.
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Post by Kermit The Hulk on Jul 29, 2009 16:22:06 GMT -5
You know, I was going to write something witty here; but I couldn't come up with any thing. Anyway, it's countdown time. Here's number 55: 55. Annie Lennox—“Why” www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wk4lCXt7JKoAlbum: Diva Label: BMG/Arista Records Director: Sophie Muller In 1992, Annie Lennox emerged with her first post-Eurythmics solo effort, the album Diva. Lennox simultaneously released a video album for Diva, directed by Sophie Muller who had worked with Lennox during her years with Eurythmics and featuring promotional videos for seven of the album's tracks (it was reissued a few months later as Totally Diva, and featured two additional promotional videos that had been made since the original release ("Walking On Broken Glass" and "Precious"); the only omissions from the video album were "Little Bird," which had not yet been made at this time, and "Stay By Me"). Of all the videos on the video album, the one for her song "Why" stands out. The no-frills video presented the image-driven diva simply and delicately echoing the solemn sentiments of the song and building gradually with it. Bereft, Lennox sits before a mirror and seemingly contemplates the complexities of life and love with aching sincerity. Like a painter, she slowly applies her make-up and redesigns herself as a diva one brush-stroke at a time. The clip strikes an arresting balance between the feminine and powerful.
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Post by Kermit The Hulk on Jul 29, 2009 16:41:49 GMT -5
54. Nine Inch Nails—“The Perfect Drug” www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0s5UOVsMDgAlbum: “Lost Highway” Soundtrack Label: Nothing Records Director: Mark Romanek Mark Romanek's million-dollar video for the Nine Inch Nails song "The Perfect Drug" is inspired in part by the late Edward Gorey's macabre illustrations. Previously, Gorey's drawings had informed the opening title sequence and stage sets of PBS's famed "Mystery!" series. Though critics have scoured for deep meaning within his works, Gorey always distanced himself from such scrutiny. (Curiously, Gorey titled one of his collections Amphigorey, a play on the word amphigory, meaning a nonsense verb or composition.) True to its inspiration, Romanek's breathtaking video is not unlike a collection of gothic tableaus. Most music videos strive to create an image memorable enough to stick with the viewer after the video finishes. This half-blue, half-green, and entirely gorgeous video created about a dozen: the shrouded feminine harbingers of death on the hillside, a caped Trent Reznor wielding a blade upon a marble platform, the stunning, cold-as-ice garden with its high hedge walls, even the sinister drip of the neon-green filtered absinthe. The closing images, with Reznor alternately lingering over a stone railing and slowly sinking beneath murky waters, reinforce the suicidal undertones of the repeating line “Take me with you.” Hard to watch only once, and hard to shake once it gets under your skin. The titular drug here is both Trent Reznor's love for his dead girlfriend and the absinthe he drinks to drown out her memory. His struggle invites endless comparisons to other gothic figureheads who turned to drugs in times of crisis: Rimbaud, Edgar Allen Poe, Vincent Van Gogh, and Jack the Ripper investigator Frederick Abberline (immortalized in the graphic novel From Hell and played in the Hughes Brothers film by none other than director Tim Burton's favorite thespian, Mr. Johnny Depp, whom that kid in the video bares a striking resemblance to).
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Post by Kermit The Hulk on Jul 29, 2009 17:22:20 GMT -5
53. David Bowie—“Ashes To Ashes” www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMThz7eQ6K0Album: Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps) Label: RCA Records Directors: David Bowie and David Mallet If you remember earlier, I compared the Talking Heads video “Once In A Lifetime” to “Raging Bull.” Well, I’m going to do the same with Bowie’s “Ashes To Ashes.” Why? Well, “Raging Bull” came out in 1980. Despite being one of the first films to come out in that decade, it’s considered one of the best of it. Again, why? Because, it wasn’t really like any movie that followed it. It stood out because it’s mesmerizing black and white visuals and beautiful score clashed with the uncompromisingly brutal and emotionally devastating look at the life of middleweight boxing champion Jake La Motta (and, of course, Robert De Niro’s performance). Much like “Raging Bull,” the "Ashes to Ashes" video came out in 1980 and is one of the most iconic of the 1980s. It incorporated scenes both in solarised color (helped by an innovative Quantel Paintbox technique) and in stark black-and-white, featuring Bowie in the gaudy Pierrot costume that became the dominant visual representation of his Scary Monsters phase. Also appearing were Steve Strange and other members of the London Blitz scene, including Judith Franklin and Darla Jane Gilroy, forerunners of (later participants in) the New Romantic movement that was heavily influenced by Bowie's music and image. Bowie described the shot of himself and the Blitz Kids marching and bowing (well, although it appears that two of the Blitz Kids bow at intervals, they were actually trying to pull their gowns away from the bulldozer in an effort to avoid them getting caught) towards the camera in front of a bulldozer as symbolizing "oncoming violence" Scenes of the singer in a space suit that suggested a hospital life-support system and others showing him locked in what appeared to be a padded room, made reference to both Major Tom and to Bowie's new, rueful interpretation of him (the song “Ashes To Ashes” is a melancholic and introspective reinterpretation of “Space Oddity” that describes Major Tom as a strung out junkie looking to get high rather than a hippie astronaut who casually slips the bonds of a crass and material world to journey beyond the stars). The clip ends with an elderly woman lecturing Bowie in his Pierrot clown make-up as they walk down the beach. By the way, contrary to popular belief, that woman was not Bowie’s real mother but Wyn Mac, the wife of comedian Jimmy Mac, who was well-known to summer season audiences at the Floral Pavilion Theatre, New Brighton, Merseyside. Even though the 1980s produced many memorable videos after Bowie’s “Ashes To Ashes,” it still stood out as one of the best and most iconic. For one, it was completely different from the typical performance videos of its day, much like his stage presence Ziggy Stardust was to other rockers a decade earlier. Plus, its cool and innovative look went on to inspire artists to do some different things with their own videos. And, it’s still remembered to this day. For the 2008 sequel to their 2006 BBC TV series Life On Mars, Matthew Graham and Ashley Pharoah decided to transplant the characters from 1973 to 1981 and chose the title Ashes to Ashes because they thought of it as "that year's big Bowie track". They also borrowed the famous Pierrot iconography from the video of the Bowie single as part of the program's visual design; a Pierrot clown haunts main character Alex Drake throughout the series.
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Post by Kermit The Hulk on Jul 29, 2009 17:37:50 GMT -5
52. Madonna—“Material Girl”
Album: Like A Virgin Label: Sire, Warner Bros. Records Director: Mary Lambert
You knew she was coming. Well, here she is! Yes, I know it took me 48 videos to finally get to Madonna. But, there’s a reason why Madonna is first appearing at 52: her videos are that damn good. "Material Girl" is the lowest ranked of Madonna’s videos on the list because it is an epithet she has never been able to live down. Hell, even today, people still call her the “Material Girl.” Madonna herself has said that if she knew this song and video would end up giving her that nickname, then she probably wouldn’t have recorded it. The video for her 1985 hit finds Madonna deconstructing femininity, sexuality, and, of course, materialism in a postmodern fashion that set the stage for much of her career. The video was an homage to Marilyn Monroe's "Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend" number from the 1953 film “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” set to the bling-bling of the Reagan Era. But Madonna's character was savvier than Monroe's Lorelei Lee, eliminating the other women from the original number and mocking her own power over men. Of course, a self-parodying Madonna was only masquerading as a gold-digger; she simply wanted some good old-fashioned love inside a pick-up truck. Irony is usually lost on the mainstream media and the average consumer. This video is definite proof of that.
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Post by Kermit The Hulk on Jul 29, 2009 18:23:03 GMT -5
51. Michael Jackson—“Black Or White” www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVoJ6OO6lR4Album: Dangerous Label: Epic Records Director: John Landis You also know he was coming. Well, here he is! Just as we reach the halfway point, Michael Jackson makes his first appearance on the list. “Black Or White” isn’t his best video, but it is pretty damn good. And, it’s a time capsule, not just because of Slash playing guitar or cameos from Macaulay Culkin and Bart and Homer Simpsons (back when the show was funny and looked a lot different than it does today). It’s a time capsule to when Michael Jackson was a megastar. At the time, Jackson had the world in the palm of his hands; and it looked like he wouldn’t be letting go anytime soon. "Black or White" was first broadcast on MTV, BET, VH1, and FOX (giving them their highest Nielsen Ratings ever) on November 14, 1991. As for the video itself, it’s actually several videos in one: a suburban goof starring Culkin, George Wendt, and Peggy Lipton; a multiethnic round-the-world trip with various ethnic groups doing their cultural dances; a kiddie-rap breakdown, an astonishing face-morphing technology (which obviously improved leaps and bounds since Godley and Crème’s “Cry” video) montage that featured cameos from Tyra Banks and Cree Summer; followed by a coda of a puma morphing into Jackson followed by him destroying a car with racial slurs spray-painted all over them, repeatedly grabbing his crotch, and dancing and yelling to no music; and finally ending with Homer telling Bart to turn off the TV and then doing so himself when Bart refuses. Like I said, Jackson had the world in the palm of his hands and didn’t look to be letting go. However, “Black Or White” was when he began to lose his grip. That crotch-grabbing coda of vandalism stirred up a whole lot of controversy. Remember, this video didn’t just air on cable; it was also on FOX, network TV. Plus, Michael had a huge fanbase of kids. Suddenly, these kids were subjected to racial slurs and Michael getting frisky with himself. Now, his heart was in the right place. I’m sure the whole point of the coda was that racism is bad, but I have no what crotch-grabbing has to do with this. Nevertheless, Jackson apologized for offending people; and subsequent airings of the video cut out the violent coda. After “Black Or White” came the child-molestation accusations, including a trial in 2003; his continuous plastic surgeries; and just general weirdness. No one would look at Jackson the same way again. But, this video is a reminder of the King Of Pop of old. Like I said, he had the world in the palm of his hands. Slight correction: The racial slurs on the car were later added digitally to make the vandalism more palatable to viewers.
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Post by Kermit The Hulk on Jul 29, 2009 18:31:37 GMT -5
Tomorrow, numbers 50-46. Here are the hints:
There's no noise, living impression, easy cash, yell, and David Duchovny's TV show (not The X-Files).
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