Good for a chatter. Good for a giggle. Excellent for a wrangle.
‘Best of’ lists are all those things. I say ‘giggle’ because every time I spy a favorites list that attaches the grandiose words ‘OF ALL TIME’ to it’s title, I wanna go the felt marker and add (UP TO THIS POINT IN TIME) in crazy, explanatory brackets. Wordy I know. But maybe ‘point’ made.
Rolling Stone Magazine released a 100 GREATEST MUSIC VIDEOS list the other week. (HERE) Given there’s by now no less than forty years worth of 3-minute clips to choose from, narrowing it down to just 100 would have been quite the feat.
Old school tastes were well represented. And so they should have been! These five classics – at the very least – DEMANDED inclusion –
BEYONCE claimed the top spot with four and a bit minutes of gyrating shenanigans titled FORMATION. She put that one together back in 2016. Interesting video. Maybe not so great a song.
So here’s a question: how many music videos do you think the world has seen since MTV first put to air their very first offering, the Buggles VIDEO KILLED THE RADIO STAR, forty years ago this month?
A hundred thousand? Five hundred thousand? Maybe a million? Whatever the number, in amongst all the cataloging, researching, eliminating and shortlisting, the good folks at ROLLING STONE somehow forgot about these personality-packed little gems, buried admittedly deep somewhere amongst the 80 story’s-high bowl of M&M’s they had to go impossibly fossicking through.
That’s ok. I found them for them.
2005
2003
1985
1981
1980
DEVO did make it into the list at number 48 with BEAUTIFUL WORLD (a clip made up mostly of B &W historical film footage). But I reckon WHIP IT easily outdoes it in the all-important fun and whack departments.
Scenic Writer's Shack 
I remember so many of these! Sledgehammer, Lonely Heart, Addicted to Love.
I could not STAND Whip It. Hated it so much, haha.
But I’ve got a good one that was super creative (I think) that you left out:
A-ha “Take Me On”
A voice that rivals Steve Perry’s…and an inventive video!
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So many lost forever . . . until You Tube. I can’t get over the how many of the deeper MTV and Much Music vids are on there. The even had “Dog Police” by Dog Police on YT from “The Basement Tapes” days. Good times, wastin’ my brain cells with rock vids. I’ll always remember Y&T’s “Meanstreak” via a “Video Jukebox” in an arcade. All of us gathered around watching vids on it. The other cut on it was “Runaway” from Bon Jovi.
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Funny you mention that song and video by Norwegian group A-HA.
My 11 year old daughter downloads songs onto a USB and plays them in the family car. The other week she acquired a couple of dozen new ones – all of the latest toons I’m predictably unfamiliar with – but there smack bang in the middle of the playlist was the song from A-HA.
I asked her how she came upon it but she couldn’t answer. I know it’s the backing music to a couple of tv ads over here at present so I’m guessing that’s where she’s heard it. Their song has certainly transcended the generations – big time.
And (kind of) fun fact…a documentary about the group has just been made.
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That’s awesome. I love it when the youngins discover the old stuff. Of course, You Tube makes it so easy these days. The rabbit holes!
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Well, there you go!
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It’s got to be Björk’s “All is Full of Love”, Glen. Beyoncé’s booty is something, but mating robots is on a whole other level.
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Dropping this Bjork video in here for the eye-candy benefit of others.
‘Whole other level’ indeed!
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