In my mind, the top 10 music videos of all time

For some reason, despite all that they've become, Much Music is on a lot in my house. No, my roommate and I don't watch it for all the latest top 40 hits or any of Much's 'brilliant' original programming (ok Video On Trial might be a guilty pleasure), but there are a lot of good reruns that play in primetime hours like The Simpsons, The Cleveland Show and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. However there are lots of times that we just have the TV on in the background and those shows will end, giving way to an overenthusiastic VJ and an uninspired top 10 list.

A couple of months ago this was the case but being around the New Year it was an extended countdown show and on this occasion they were revealing their list of the top 50 music videos of all time, at least in their eyes. This list was more or less an abomination, and I'm not saying mine will be much better, but their top five consisted of a couple of Lady Gaga videos, an Adam Lambert video and a recent Katy Perry video. I didn't stick around to see who topped the list.

(#1) Here It Goes Again by OK Go (2006)

In the list that inspired this countdown of my own, this video by OK Go came in at 21 and that was the instant that I knew I was going to have to make my own list at some point. The band has been known for making awesome, low-budget music videos, but their best and most famous is probably the first one they produced in 2006 for their single Here It Goes Again.

One camera, eight treadmills and a lot of choreography is all they needed for this masterpiece, which at the time was a bit of a revolutionary music video, racking up over 50 million views during the early days of Youtube. It's hard not to watch this one start to finish as they keep pulling new tricks off and making you want to get back on a treadmill for the first time since 2004 (it's been that long for everyone right?)

(#2) The Suburbs by Arcade Fire (2010)

It's not often you get a music video directed by Spike Jonze but that's the case for this one and it's just the six minute video for The Suburbs. Jonze and Arcade Fire teamed up to release a 30 minute short film called Scenes From The Suburbs (which is well worth the watch especially if you are a fan of the band or this video) and snipped it up into an even shorter film to serve as the music video for one of the album's major single.

I won't give away the big message or theme of the short film in case you decide to watch it yourself, but the music video follows a group of kids having a typical teenage summer in the midst of some sort of war. Despite the suburban neighbourhoods, nice houses and fancy cars the town looks like a third world country with soldiers, checkpoints and barb-wired fences everywhere. It gets really dark towards the end of the video as something has seemingly torn one of the friends apart from the group leading to a physical altercation between two former best buds.

(#3) Thriller by Michael Jackson (1983)

So I suppose I easily could have had this one on top of my list as I'm sure a lot of people do. If you were to randomly poll people on the street about music videos, this is gonna be the one that most people know of, even if they aren't big music fans. Over 30 years old and it's still constantly referenced in pop culture, living on strong even though the King of Pop is not. The link I provided doesn't include the pre or post song addition to the video but if you search on Youtube or Vevo you can find an extended 13 minute Thriller video with a full story. 

However, the video is more than enough to tell the story as Michael Jackson is walking this pretty lady home after a scary movie. At first he's almost teasing her by singing the scary Thriller lyrics while skipping through the dark, ominous park they probably didn't have to go through to get home. Soon enough MJ is in a full blown choreographed dance with a group of zombies while the video flashes back to the scary movie they had just watched. This continues throughout their walk home and despite the simple (almost corny) idea, this is still one of the most famous music videos of all-time.

(#4) In Too Deep - Sum 41 (2001)

I might be a bit biased having this one so high but this was my favourite music growing up and I think a lot of kids born in the early 90s will feel that way as well. In an age where punk rock reigned supreme, Sum 41 was one of the biggest names out there and they did not disappoint with the video for their single In Too Deep. This video is just a party from start to finish but it's no ordinary shindig, it's a diving competition made fun. 

The guys from Sum 41 take on the 'bad guys' donning the tight red speedos and despite their skill the band is keeping the competition pretty close with some innovative dives. First a back handspring, then the slip and slide into an insane guitar solo, and even the combo 'tackle' dive have the two teams neck and neck going into the final dive. That's when the final speedo diver is blinded by a reflection and falls into the pool before Sum 41 drummer Steve Jocz blows the metaphorical roof off the place with a dive that utilizes every board in the complex.

(#5) I Write Sins Not Tragedies - Panic! At the Disco (2006)

As you would kind of expect from Panic! At the Disco, there is a lot going on in this video, a lot of weird stuff. The song itself is fairly blunt, talking about adultery and all the naughty sins that are taking place behind the scenes at a wedding. The video pretty much tells the story of the song but how it must play out in their heads as everything has a weird or whacky touch that keeps you watching. 

The wedding seems pretty normal before right on cue with the lyrics, lead man Brendon Urie busts through the door with his entourage that looks straight out of an abandoned circus. Quickly enough the wedding turns into absolute chaos as Urie and his gang of misfits take over the entire room. However, it calms down for a short time as one of the strange characters blows some pocket pixie dust over the congregation and as we've seen in a couple of these videos already, everyone breaks into choreographed dance. As the video ends we find out that Urie is the grooms alter-ego and that the groom's bride is indeed a whore.

(#6) Hey Ya - Outkast (2003)

Even though I was only 12 years old, I remember when this video came out very well because I was in Australia with my family at the time and despite not much TV access we saw this video multiple times a day. Whether it was in a clothing store, the local Starbucks or during the small time we were relaxing in the hotel room, Hey Ya was always playing and the video getting almost as much air time as the song. This is another pretty simple video but it's a play on The Beatles first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show and it encompasses this song pretty well. 

It starts with a little pep talk from who we can only presume is the group's manager to Andre 3000 (who in this video plays all eight members of the group), before the group hits the stage for their 'first live performance in London'. As they start to play the girls in the crowd go crazy just like they did for The Beatles and even though the band and stage is littered with colour, predominantly green, there's yet another hint at the Ed Sullivan Show comparison. Half way through the video it cuts to a few scenes of families from the 1960s watching the Hey Ya video in black and white on small TVs, just like they would have been watching the Beatles back in 1963.

(#7) Shiver Shiver - Walk The Moon (2012)

Unlike a lot of videos on this list, most people probably haven't seen this video and there's a good chance they haven't even heard of this band. Well look them up, they're awesome and they've made a bunch of videos like this as part of their 7in7 music video series where they use one camera, no crew and no money to film seven music videos in seven days while on tour. There are a couple absolute gems but this is my favourite and it's probably the simplest music video of any of these on the list.

It starts with a close up of the band's manager donning a backwards hat, sweet shades and a sketchy beard and as the music starts he breaks into dance. It's not fine art by any means but he gets those hips moving and his footwork is flawless, but my favourite part is his hat flips. At the 48 second mark he does it for the first time before pulling off the savvy little stunt again at 1:26, before finally disposing the hat in mysterious fashion two minutes in. Shortly after he tosses the hat he's joined by the band's lead man Nicholas Petricca for a great little duet dance before the grand finale, where the rest of the group, as well as my favourite band Of Monsters and Men, join the fun for a little dance party.

(#8) Same Love - Macklemore (2013)

Macklemore and Ryan Lewis are constantly putting out great videos with cinematic production value so I knew I had to put one of their works on the list. As much as I wanted to choose the video for Otherside or even the crazy video for And We Danced, it's hard not to pick Same Love as one of the standout songs and videos of the last few years. In a time where LGBT rights and gay marriage is such a prevalent issues, Macklemore and Lewis used their superstar status to send a message that has gotten 112 million views on Youtube alone. 

There's nothing crazy or deep behind this video, but that doesn't take anything away from the message it sends. It starts with the birth of a little boy and it starts fast forwarding through his very normal childhood. It continues through some awkward and tough high school years before it becomes obvious that the main character is gay, showing an awkward coming out dinner with his parents along with many happy scenes with his significant other and even their engagement. Then it's their wedding, with dozens of happy friends and the once hesitant parents having come around to support their union, before displaying their love on last time as our main character lies on his deathbed.

(#9) Take On Me - a-ha (1985)

Take On Me by the Norwegian pop band a-Ha is still a very popular tune almost 30 years after its release and in those three decades the video for the song has made almost as big an impact. An instant hit, the cutting edge comic-stripped inspired video won six awards at the 1986 MTV Video Music Awards include Video of the Year. It's been spoofed and parodied a lot, but the most famous one is probably this scene, from an episode released over 20 years after the original video.

It starts with a montage of pencil animation sketches portraying a motorcycle sidecar race where the hero is being pursued by two men. It then cuts to a cafe in real life where a young woman is reading that same comic before the hero winks at her and pulls her into his world. They're seemingly just getting to know each other before the two opponents re-appear, and after a short chase the couple is cornered. The hero quickly rips a hole in the wall for the woman to escape back to reality by crashing into the back room where the waitress angrily threw out her comic book after thinking she dined and dashed. The woman frantically grabs the comic and runs home to see what happens next, and just when she thinks the hero's dead he jumps up, breaks through the walls of the comic himself and joins her in real life. We can only assume they lived happily ever after, in Norway.

(#10) ...Baby One More Time - Britney Spears (1998)

Remember when she looked like this? It seems like a long time ago (and I guess it was now), but in 1998 not a lot of women on the planet could compete with Britney Spears in the looks department. At the time she also had as much influence as almost anyone on the planet and that helped her put out one of the most influential videos in the history of pop music. The video for ...Baby One More Time also sees Britney sporting one of her most iconic outfits, the skimpy catholic school girl number she rocks for the first half of the video, which is now on display at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

The video starts in the classroom as the camera zooms in on a clearly bored Britney hitting the desk with her foot, tapping her pencil and staring at the clock. The bell rings loud, the song starts and she leads the parade of the best looking students ever into the hallways, thus beginning a much expected choreographed dance. They continue to dance as Britney eyes her crush from afar before the group migrates outside (not before changing out of their uniforms!) to some sort of courtyard area to continue the dancing. As more and more guys approach Britney to dance she is still only focused on her crush and as the slow part of the song starts their basically alone in the gym. However, instead of making a move she joins another dance routine before it's revealed that the whole thing was a daydream and she's still stuck in class.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

Strange Girl by The Zolas
Like A Rolling Stone by Bob Dylan
Subterranean Homesick Blues by Bob Dylan
Call On Me by Eric Prydz
Can't Stop by The Red Hot Chili Peppers