Brian Bailey lists his Top 10 albums of all time today.
I thought I’d do something slightly different, and list my Top 10 Music Videos (as of today and that are accessible on Launchcast.com. Because what good is me telling you they’re my favorites if you can’t watch them too?
So here they are. My Top 10 Favorite Music Videos (that are available on Launchcast.com):
10. Taylor – Jack Johnson
Ben Stiller is great in this video. And its just a fun Jack Johnson song.
9. Walk On – U2
The video itself doesn’t particularly wow me. But it is U2. And the song itself wows me. And the song will always remind me of my sister Amy. The night before she died, I sent her a text message from this song, “I know it aches and your heart it breaks. You can only take so much – But Walk On”
8. November Rain – Guns N Roses
A defining video of my early teen years. Brings back lots of lost memories. But the video’s not on Launchcast – so I give you, “Patience” – a song All Natural loved to cover back in the day. Anyone remember if we played this song live or just “in the studio?” I do remember Jake busting out with the Axl Rose dance on several occasions.
7. Buddy Holly – Weezer
Awesome. Just awesome. It was cool enough to come as an extra on every Windows 95 CD-Rom disk. Remember that? “Oh and please, try the fish.”
6. Smells Like Teen Spirit – Nirvana
MTV and VH1 has this video at the top of all their video lists, but it only makes #6 for me. There’s nothing amazing about this video, but it impacted my generation and was part of an amazing rock album that changed music drastically in the early 1990’s.
5. Hurt – Johnny Cash
I doubt anyone would have guessed this would be Cash’s last video or single before his death, but its a great re-make of the Alice and Chains song. I love the House of Cash Museum sign as well.
4. If God Would Send His Angels – U2
A great looking video. Something totally different, with Bono recording his part of the song (vocals) at half speed, with everyone else filmed at a normal speed. And by the way, if you watch. After the firemen walk out, you can see Bono pass by the window in the lower half of the screen and then the upper half.
3. Sitting, Waiting – Jack Johnson
Super creative, great sound, great song. And for those wondering, Johnson recorded the entire video in one take and was mouthing the words to the track played backwards. Then they just simply played the video backward and the track forward on the final verson. If that makes any sense what-so-ever.
2. Numb – U2
Surprised? Another U2 video? I’ve always loved this video, and its one of several great videos from the Zooropa album. Maybe I should have just done a Top 10 U2 Videos list.
1. It’s a tie!
Stuck in a Momement You Can’t Get Out Of – U2
Sunday Bloody Sunday (live) – U2
Stuck in a Moment was Amy’s favorite U2 song and just a great “Hey you’re down, but not out” song. The video is great with all the U2 references. And as a bit of trivia, the entire football game sequence was filmed at the Astrodome in Houston with a police and fireman football league playing the roll of the football teams. The shots with the band and fans were all filmed in Germany.
Sunday is the quenisential U2 anthem. I wasn’t a fan until Achtung Baby came out, but once I got a tast of the band and heard the songs that made them, Sunday Bloody Sunday has always been a favorite. And I’ve never been disappointed seeing a live performance of it. Red Rock, Rattle and Hum or this version at Live Aid.
So what are you favorite videos? Let me know – and no, you don’t have to include links to each of them.
Aaron,
All are so good. Good picks. I might have to replace my list with yours. Although you did grow up more in the 80’s than I did so you have a little bit of an unfair advantage in that regards.
10. I Ran- Flock of Seagulls= the coolest video that I never saw. I would see clips of it on tv when I was a kid but never caught it in its entirity until I was older. By then it wasn’t so cool, but when it came out it was cutting edge.
9. Hungry Like the Wolf- Duran Duran- Even to this day the video is still one of the cool. As well as the music
8. All I Want is You- U2- any video with a midget is cool
7. Me, Myself, and I- De la Soul- Awesome stuff. What was cool about De La Soul was hip hops first reaction, which was, they didn’t know what to do with the group. Meanwhile, people less concerned with labels enjoyed them.
6. Sabotage- Beastie Boys- Defining video for the Beasties. And still very funny
5. Safety Dance-Men Without Hats- See #8
4. Mama Said Knock you Out- LL Cool J (MTV unplugged)- This live, acoustic rap songs raw performance out did almost every live rock act at the time. Brought it home that rap doesn’t need to just samples and probably paved the way (for better or worse) the hybrid rock/rap groups of the 90s. Still LL did it his way and his style. I have yet to see someone top the electric performace of this video.
3. Beat it- Michael Jackson- this video helped put solidify black artists on MTV (MTV at first refused to play black artists because they were not ‘rock’). This video was memorized by millions and dance moves still imitated today.
2. Every breath You Take- The Police- Ok. Whats the big deal about this video? Its in black in white. Whats the big deal about black and white? Well, I don’t know. But this was the 1st black and white music video on MTV and it caused a big stir. Silly thing it will be controversial. Today videos with guys french kissing are controversial. Who knows what our grandchildren will be shocked with in videos in 20+ years?
1. Buddy Holly- Weezer- This video did everything right. Nerds rule.