January 2011
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WatchOutkast - “Ms. Jackson” (2001)
Couldn’t bring myself to leave this out of the best of the noughties series. This is just so good that it belongs in every best of collection. First off, never ever has a video captured better the oddity that Outkast represents in the musical panorama. Their music is undeniably hip hop, never lost its street cred anywhere, yet it is also so devoid...
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WatchD’Angelo - “Untitled (How Does It Feel)” (2000)
For this Prince-inspired ballad about lovemaking, D’Angelo starred, in a quite appropriate video, naked and buff. Directed by Paul Hunter and Dominique Trenier in one single continuous shot, the clip caused quite a controversy. Still, it makes your monitor a bit steamy, isn’t it?
December 2009
4 posts
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WatchRun D.M.C. - “Christmas In Hollis” (1987)
This is really the heaviest christmas themed beat ever released, hands down. If there ever was an Emmy for this category, and i think there might been at some point in time, this would win every year. And it will never be topped again, i’m afraid. The video is equally a classic, that evil elf is really creepy and that shot of the band...
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November 2009
5 posts
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Watch“Blackstreet - No Diggity” (1996)
Friday is a day for the jams, you know it, I know it, everybody does, and what better jam than this? Unparalleled funkyness, yeah, i made that up, i know, but it’s undeniable. The clip was directed by Hype Williams, and it’s pretty standard fare for 90s r&b, but there are a couple of oddball moments.
First and foremost there’s...
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WatchTina Turner - “What’s Love Got to Do with It” (1984)
Embodying sexyfierceness from the sixties to the oughties. Can you believe this woman is 70 today?
Singer, actress and true soul survivor (and I won’t re-tell her lifestory, you can watch the energetic biopic with Angela Bassett instead), she came back triumphally in the 80s with this mellow but infectious single. The...
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Watch“Whitesnake - Here I Go Again” (1987)
Originally recorded in a much more conservative way in 1982, this ‘87 glam power metal version is just the right song to play to if you ever need to ride alone into the sunset, it will put that spring in your step even if you’re sad. The clip is equally amazing, and while the intro is all keyboards and brooding silhouetted band members...
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WatchRun DMC & Aerosmith - Walk This Way (1986)
The best musical duel of all time. Aerosmith vs Run DMC. Rock vs Rap. It was a tie, I guess. Everybody wins. Still in the aftermath of Steven Tyler leaving the group after 20 years (maybe, or maybe it’s just rehab time. Poor Steven), I look back at this ‘rock marrying rap’ - often replicated, never quite recaptured - and I’m...
October 2009
6 posts
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WatchMartika - “Toy Soldiers” (1989) This is the power ballad that made Martika famous for a while. Heavy in subject - an older boyfriend who is drug dealer/heroine addict (he eventually dies) - it was really easy on the ears and a huge success. Some years later Eminem sampled a large part of it for one of his “comeback” singles.
I really liked Martika’s bob and her nice...
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August 2009
7 posts
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WatchThe Cure - “The Lovecats” (1983)
The epic battle between sharks and cats is finally coming to an end. If you still haven’t pledged your allegiance to either side, let us entice you with this humble offering. It’s an 1983 clip from the Cure, featuring a lot of cats and a lot of sickness-inducing cat-pov handheld shots. Yeah, it may not sound all that, but it’s good,...
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WatchTears For Fears - “Mad World” (1982)
I can’t believe we haven’t posted Tears For Fears yet! Who doesn’t love a little TFF in his life? Mildly socially conscious/always very glum lyrics set to a new wave sound? Soo UK 80s. Some argue that the song’s cover by Gary Jules & Michael Andrews is much better than the original. I dunno, but the new video by Michel...
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WatchDuran Duran - “Rio” (1982)
Shot by the usual Russell Mulcahy in Antigua, this video is the epitome of the 80s ideal fantasy escape. Tropical island - check, exotic beauty - check, yacht and expensive clothes - check, fluo colours - check, of course.
Also a girl named Rio plays tricks on the boys and teases them, all in a skimpy swimming suit or just bodypaint. Duran Duran later said...
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WatchThe New Radicals - “You Get What You Give” (1998)
Summer is made for one hit wonders, can’t deny it. The sun is shining high and bright and it’s time for you to stop with the jeff buckleys for a couple of weeks of high-fructose, disposable pop music. Like this classic from the new radicals. I mean, they really were radicals. A mall video with teenagers angsting all over...
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WatchIce Cube - “It Was A Good Day” (1993)
Leave it to Ice Cube to come up with the definitive chill-out, feel-good hip hop anthem of the 90s. I know right? Shocking. But you see, Cube is a man of the streets with a refined taste, he loves mugging hard while playing ball, banging chicks in seedy motel rooms, watching classic ninja movies on tv and eating mama’s nutritious breakfast...
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WatchBananarama - “Cruel Summer” (1983)
A big hit both in the UK and the US, the song depicts perfectly a summer in the city: as Bananarama’s Sara Dallin said, it “played on the darker side: it looked at the oppressive heat, the misery of wanting to be with someone as the summer ticked by. We’ve all been there”. Indeed. Still the video is so funny/silly to watch...
July 2009
5 posts
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WatchMarcy Playground - “Sex And Candy” (1997)
Straight off the last True Blood episode here comes this depressively sexy heroin junkie jam, a real minor 90s classic for sure. The video veers on the slightly creepy, with a sickly green tint washed all over, and actually looks like somebody re-opened the Losing My Religion set ten years later and found it all moldy with huge spiders. Huge...
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June 2009
4 posts
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WatchMichael Jackson - “Liberian Girl” (1989)
Sad, tragic news. The King of pop is no longer with us. A lot of videos would probably seem a better choice here, sure he had bigger hits and better clips, I’m not going to argue over it. But I haven’t seen anybody post this, and I thought that, in a way, it perfectly fits the occasion. This is just a parade of Michael’s...
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WatchJody Watley - “Looking for a New Love” (1987)
Who could remember that a whole 5 years before Arnold did, someone else uttered the infamous “Hasta la vista baby”?
In this video Jody is the quintessential of funky fierce. Cheated on by her lover, she becomes a sexy maneater and we could bet he was really sorry at this point.
And bless a lady who could wear trendy 80s...
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WatchDepeche Mode - “Never Let Me Down Again” (1987)
Depeche Mode produced so many beautiful songs it’s hard to choose. But I have a sort of special affection for this tune, surely one of their finest, as it comes with a gorgeous b/n Corbijn video.
On a more personal note, as I’m writing this, a huge DM concert is happening in a stadium near my house, I can hear it from my...
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May 2009
6 posts
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WatchDivinyls - “I Touch Myself” (1991)
It was so straightforward and unsubtle that I was very puzzled when I heard it on the radio for the first time: “does she really say that?” Yes she does, masturbation had his hymn too.
Also, much to the joy of adolescent boys (or girls) everywhere, singer Christina Amphlett (quite a name) writhed around in the video standing up/laying...
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WatchBeck - “Sexx Laws” (1999)
Directed by Beck himself and starring, among others, a young Jack Black, Sexx Laws is, if not the best ever, at least in the top five best videos of all time. Bold claim, i know, but no other clip i remember has got the insane amount of things happening at once. Literally every time i rewatch this i see some weird new stuff i hadn’t previously noticed....
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WatchSuzanne Vega - “Marlene On The Wall” (1985)
Suzanne was the first female singer songwriter I loved. She had everything I was looking for without knowing it: clever, articulate lyrics, catchy folkish choruses, she looked nice and friendly, a person one could hang out with, unlike most of 80s sexy bimbos.
I really don’t know if this song references the famous 30s “Lili...
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WatchLenny Kravitz - “Are You Gonna Go My Way” (1993)
I’m posting this because i love it, and there i said it. I know, the video is probably not all that, but it’s still a Mark Romanek joint, and still looks cool as hell after all these years. Thinking about it, i guess this is the ultimate ‘looking cool’ band clip, i mean, just look at the hair on Lenny and the...
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April 2009
8 posts
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WatchCyndi Lauper - “Time After Time” (1984)
One may argue that this is the most emotional ballad ever. Sure Cyndi’s heartfelt vocals (maybe her best) could touch a heart of stone. As sometimes miraculously happens in the history of music, this was the very last song to be written and recorded for her debut album “She’s So Unusual”, when the recording sessions were...
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WatchCrowded House - “Better Be Home Soon” (1988)
Some say that Neil Finn is New Zealand’s Paul McCartney. Maybe that’s an exaggeration, but surely in the late eighties/early nineties, Crowded House produced very beautiful, slightly beatlesque songs. This is one of them, my favourite. Neil’s emotional voice sounds heavy with late night resolutions and tears. A simple and nice video...
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WatchPlacebo - “Pure Morning” (1998)
Brian Molko of Placebo stands atop a building threatening to jump off, and policemen, fire fighters, tv reporters and pretty much everybody is all no Brian, don’t do it, we know the world is mean and nobody understands you and all, but friends in need are friends indeed and things will start to look up, we promise! I think it’s funny that...
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WatchCorey Hart - “Sunglasses At Night” (1983)
I believe Corey Hart here is directly responsible for validating the supreme act of douchebaggery in question, and that is not a thing that can be taken lightly, i mean, history will not remember this song fondly, if at all. But it should, because Corey had better intentions. In the clip he’s probably the only one that doesn’t rock...
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March 2009
11 posts
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WatchMariah Carey - “Honey” (1997)
Honoring Mariah’s birthday, here’s the video that changed her public persona forever. Before “Honey” it was early 90s girl next door Mariah, singing Christmas carols, dressing conservatively and all things proper, then - after her divorce - it was all naughty Mimi from the block, Sasha Fierce Mariah, wearing just bikinis and heels,...