Believe it or not, I wasn't allowed to watch them growing up. Nor was I allowed to listen pop radio until 5th grade. This means I will grow up to be the only member of my generation who cares about popular music yet never got into Third Eye Blind...
I would watch TRL at my friends' houses in 6th grade, but mainly we were trying to imitate the cool kids.
This progressed to me watching TRL ever afternoon. And Rap City. And 106 & Park. And VH1; unhealthy amounts of VH1. So imagine 11 year old, VH1 junkie Dom hearing about VH1's 100 Greatest Videos Special.
WHAT
THE
FUCK
This went down as the moment I became obsessed with music. I watched the entire special. I saw art forms unfold in front of me: Losing My Religion, Jeremy, Beat It, When Doves Cry, Sabotage, Smells Like Teen Spirit, Virtual Insanity, Sledgehammer.
Barely into the throws of puberty, I watched Maddona's "Justify my Love".
Ladies and gentlemen I watched all of Thriller on TV.
And honestly there's been sort of a hole in my life as they no longer run that special. All I ask is that they make a new 100 Greatest Videos, updated with the best of recent videos.
I ask this, but did I know what it means? What has the past decade given us in music videos that can truly go down as Greatest?
I can at least think of 10.
10- Gnarls Barkley: "Crazy"
Of all of the mega-hits of the 00s, Crazy was the most unique. A strange hip-hop/soul orchestral pop gem sung by a man with tiny hands a high voice, not to mention a blue vibe and moody lyrics. The video captures the ennui of the song, as moving Rorschach ink blots reveal both Cee Lo and Danger Mouse, as well as subliminal messages. You watch it, wondering if you actually saw half the things swore you did, thinking "maybe I'm crazy".
9- Weezer: "Island in the Sun (Second Version)"
Like always with my blog, here's an obscure piece of trivia:
Weezer shot a video for "Island in the Sun". It was...awkward.
I have never understood why Weezer was at a Mexican wedding.
MTV told them (back when this mattered) that is wasn't catching on with veiwers. But Rivers Cuomo knew this deserved to be a hit. So they called Spike Jonze and said film us a video.
Problem was their bassist just had a mental breakdown and left the band.
So now Spike needs a great video that won't put too much focus on the band members themselves.
He gave them baby animals.
And this time, it was a classic. And every time I watch it, it makes me feel so fine I can't control my brain.
8- Outkast: "Hey Ya"
Speakerboxxx/The Love Below was Outkast's joint solo project. One double album, one disc of pure Big Boi, one of only Andre. Andre's first video was to declare that this was a whole lotta Andre, meaning a faux Ed Sullivan Beatles appearance with a band comprised of 8 Andres:
Possum Jenkins
Dookie
Johnny Vulture
Benjamin Andre
The Love Haters (x3)
and Andre Ice Cold 3000
EVERYONE I WOULD LIKE TO PAUSE TO TELL YOU I JUST RECITED THAT FROM MEMORY!!!!!
Besides getting Andre overload, we got to see his own style fleshed out for itself. Every member of the band flashes Andre's infectious smile. And to this day, you can't put this song on without A) a spontaneous dance party erupting and B) the dancers imitating the Love Haters.
Listen to this without trying to wiggle your fingers. I dare you.
7- Justice: "D.A.N.C.E."
It's odd for a music video to actually influence consumer fashion. Yes, artists create fashion statements in videos, but how many people went out and bought a Michael Jackson glove? Not only is the concept and execution of Justice's video excellent and mesmerizing, but their art direction on the video influenced T-Shirt design for the second half of the last decade and beyond.
6- Beyonce: "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)"
Apparently, winning best female video at the VMAs does not automatically disqualify all other females in the Best Video category. I assumed if you had lost best **your-gender-here** video, therefore you couldn't win all around video. And so did Kanye.
Beyonce made one of the greatest videos of all-time (of all-time) by keeping it simple: black and white and fine tuned choreography. The image of Beyonce with two girls on either side of her is now iconic. Hell, when ever three people, male or female are in leotards, the Single Ladies dance is requested. That's what makes you one of the greatest of all time
5- Lady Gaga: "Bad Romance"
With one epic video, Lady Gaga went from that pop singer who didn't wear pants and bluffed with her muffin to a mad genius pop culture icon. This video gave us her new German sythny Goth direction, the Monster aesthetic, and just some great moves. Lagaga understands that dancing in music videos must be on a grand, spectacular scale. Every fucking pop starlet who farts out prepackaged pop is a dancer, but only one dances blind while exiting a sex cocoon in a video that looks like the filmography of Stanley Kubric at once. The stunning, dystopian images are forcibly burned into your minds eye. In the entire sequence of her sci-fi succubus piece, she can go from being sexy
...to wounded yet beautiful
4- R. Kelly: "Trapped in the Closet (Parts 1-12)"
Surely R. Kelly must realize how ridiculous this is. An urban R&B soap opera...opera. R.Kelly plays all the parts. Some of it is genuinely suspenseful (the preacher's boyfriend, Taj being shot, the original cliffhanger about OPENING THE CLOSET! CLOSET! CLOSET!) and some things just make me double take (singing a police siren, nosy Rosie with a spatula, the midget shitting himself), but through it all, these songs exist with and for the videos themselves. If R. Kelly had just released the tracks for trapped in the closet, then maybe we would remember this in a more negative, sarcastic light. But the genius of trapped in the closet is that he created a serialized music video event, where (admit it) we couldn't wait to see the next installment. The precursor to VEVO video premieres, the installments of Trapped in the Closet proved that music videos could still be an event in the internet age.
REAL TALK!
3- Fatboy Slim: "Weapon of Choice"
"What are we going to for the 'Weapon of Choice' video?"
"Let's have Christopher Walken dance in an empty hotel!"
"What?"
But just like that, it's the happiest video of the decade. And it's just Christopher Walken. Dancing (and sometimes flying). In a hotel. You can't help but smile.
2- The White Stripes: "Fell in Love with a Girl"
All of us have played with Legos. None of us are this good. Director Michel Gondry shot Jack and Meg running up stairs, swimming and playing their instruments. Then he spent two months re-shooting the video frame by frame using stop motion animation...with Legos. The result is the Lego labor of love that broke the White Stripes. I get a sense of awe watching this video; you can see every piece as a piece, but the beauty is seeing the Legos when they comprise a whole. You almost forget that they're Legos.
1- OK Go: "Here it Goes Again"
OK GO. ON TREADMILLS.
Ok Go was a little known band with the penchant for DIY videos. In 2006, YouTube was just beginning to be a force on the internet, consolidating all videos from numerous sites into a single, user friendly site.
At the same time, one-take videos were going viral, including Daft Hands, Daft Bodies, and Connected Ventures Flagpole Sittah.
Lip Dub - Flagpole Sitta by Harvey Danger from amandalynferri on Vimeo.
Ok Go decided to shoot a one take internet single for their next single. They took 12 takes dancing on treadmills. This became their signature song, and one of the first staples of YouTube.
And beyond that, it moved the balance of power in music videos. Thanks to the Treadmill Dance, YouTube became the new norm for music videos. It changed the way we viewed videos in the 00s. Therefore, it's the one to aspire to for this decade.
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