# Great song but terrible music video **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 13, 2020, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-song-but-terrible-music-video/851703 "2020-04-13T16:20:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-song-but-terrible-music-video/851703/21 "2020-04-13T19:22:39Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > He was brilliant across genres. Well…he never composed classical music like Frank Zappa. But then I’m not sure anyone ever called Frank’s classical music brilliant ;). > [@](#): > > He really should have been the greatest musician of his era. I think he probably qualifies no matter what the general public thought of him( and he sold ~100 million albums, so he wasn’t exactly obscure and under-appreciated ). Musicianship has nothing to do with appearances. Showmanship might I suppose, but I I’m not sure anyone ever accused Prince of putting on a bad show :). He was a prodigy and immensely popular, rightfully so. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-song-but-terrible-music-video/851703/22 "2020-04-13T19:23:22Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > He _was_ the greatest musician of his era. His personality (conceit or not) only promoted his image. It didn’t detract from it at all. > > At any rate, rock stars aren’t known for dressing like the archetypal straight male. If Prince had come out on the stage wearing polo shirts and Dockers, I doubt any of us would even know his name. Ignorance fought. I will now nimbly pirouette out of here with my tail between my legs. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-song-but-terrible-music-video/851703/23 "2020-04-13T19:30:10Z")
> [@xizor](#): > > Journey - [Seperate Ways](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LatorN4P9aA) I was going to post that, so much uncomfortable eye contact. ---
**Author:** ![minlokwat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minlokwat/32/2844_2.png) [@minlokwat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minlokwat)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-song-but-terrible-music-video/851703/24 "2020-04-13T19:30:54Z")
**Hall and Oates** have a discography that’s universally acclaimed. Their videos? Oy. _Cringe-worthy_ doesn’t quite capture the essence. I’d say just about anything from their catalog would serve as a case in point, but let’s just go with…oh, let’s see…[Private Eyes](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsntlJZ9h1U) as the opener. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-song-but-terrible-music-video/851703/25 "2020-04-13T20:12:20Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > He _was_ the greatest musician of his era. His personality (conceit or not) only promoted his image. It didn’t detract from it at all. Agree 100% We were playing various 80’s music videos to our kids last night (just to show them proper music) and we played “Kiss” to them and the general consensus was along the lines of “only Prince could do that with a straight face and get away with it” And get away with it he most certainly did. His effeminacy never seemed like a conceit to me, it was just Prince being Prince and not giving a shit either way, that is a huge part of what made him cool. Well, that and the musical genius. (among other videos we watched were “I want to break free” by Queen, “Rio” by Duran Duran and “True Faith” by New Order, all classics of their time) ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-song-but-terrible-music-video/851703/26 "2020-04-13T20:21:53Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > I was going to post that, so much uncomfortable eye contact. So much uncomfortable air instrument playing. ---
**Author:** ![vonespy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vonespy/32/6204_2.png) [@vonespy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vonespy)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-song-but-terrible-music-video/851703/27 "2020-04-13T21:08:30Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > Rush - “Time Stand Still” > [https://youtu.be/dMSFqXGZ5TQ](https://youtu.be/dMSFqXGZ5TQ) I’m a big Rush fan and yeah, Time Stand Still is just terrible. The new technology IS the content, and that never really works out well. The mid-80s saw a bunch of videos using green screen effects ([The Cars - You Might Think](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dOx510kyOs) and [Honeymoon Suite - Feel It Again](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZZcR9R5CjY) come to mind) but with arguably better production values. Not that many videos had much of a story to them (or too much story - see the Pat Benetar video mentioned earlier), but at least there was something other than random backgrounds and the members of Rush looking like refugees from a failed video game ([Journey the video game](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdj8APyqvqw) anybody?) ---
**Author:** ![vonespy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vonespy/32/6204_2.png) [@vonespy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vonespy)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-song-but-terrible-music-video/851703/28 "2020-04-13T21:14:58Z")
Regarding Journey - Separate Ways. It’s not just eye contact. That seemed to be the norm with a lot of half-baked music videos (pretty much all of them in the 80s besides Michael Jackson and Weird Al). What really bothers me about Separate Ways is how none of them seem to know what to do with their hands if there isn’t an instrument (air or real) in their hands. The Journey videos from that era as all pretty terrible. It’s like someone in the back office decided that $1K was as much as they could spend on a video, and that was it. I mean, c’mon. [A Flock of Seagulls](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIpfWORQWhU) put together a much more engaging video with a few mirrors and lights, some mylar and a whole lot of heavy duty mousse. Considering they probably couldn’t return the mousse or the mylar, that video probably cost $1K to make. And it’s a lot better and less creepy than Separate Ways. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-song-but-terrible-music-video/851703/29 "2020-04-13T21:52:01Z")
> [@Yodalicious](#): > > I came here to say 98% of Rush’s videos. “Tom Sawyer” is one of the most famous songs of its time, made by a band that were all millionaires already, and the video looks like it was shot on a home video recorder by a guy who was paid ten dollars to do it. Another Canadian treasure, The Tragically Hip, have a lot of mediocre videos and some pretty cheap ones for great songs. Going back to the 80s, though, my recollection is that most of them were bad, and many were really bad, even if the song was good. It wasn’t just Journey, it was all of them. We tend to remember Michael Jackson videos and “Take on Me” and stuff, but most were shitty and appallingly cheap, as if the record company still wasn’t entirely convinced this “music video” thing would take. And in fairness they were kind of making it up as they went along; that’s why some, like “Love is a Battlefield,” have way more story than they need, and some appear to have been produced at gunpoint. All of this was over really quickly; by the early 90s, videos didn’t look nearly as cheap. They could still be ill advised and bad, but at least it appeared they were TRYING. ---
**Author:** ![vonespy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vonespy/32/6204_2.png) [@vonespy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vonespy)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-song-but-terrible-music-video/851703/30 "2020-04-13T22:25:13Z")
I have to wonder if the visual cheapness of Rush videos isn’t somehow related to the reclusive nature of Peart. He was pretty famous for wanting to avoid the limelight, preferring instead to spend his free time on tour driving his BMW motorcycle or auto to various landmarks. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-song-but-terrible-music-video/851703/31 "2020-04-13T22:43:30Z")
I like Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin’.” Never cared for the video. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/1lWJXDG2i0A/maxresdefault.jpg "Tom Petty - Free Fallin'") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lWJXDG2i0A) ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-song-but-terrible-music-video/851703/32 "2020-04-13T23:01:56Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > I really dont disagree with what you said but **his unusual fashion sense took away from the enormous amount of talent he had; a talent** that sans fashion would transcend basically any time and place. **I was speaking as a straight male.** You’re not the first straight (gonna also assume white) male who not only universalizes their personal opinion about Prince’s style but also conflates this opinion with fact, seemingly oblivious or indifferent to the millions who loved his work over several decades and found his aesthetic uniquely appealing. If his fashion sense detracted from his talent, I’m having a hard time envisioning how he could’ve presented himself to be more successful than he was. “Blues Travelers is a great band, but John Popper’s weight and baggy wardrobe detracts from his enormous talent. I am speaking as a straight woman.” Says no straight women ever. Gee, why is this? Truly, this baffles me ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-song-but-terrible-music-video/851703/33 "2020-04-13T23:04:55Z")
[quote=“madsircool, post:2, topic:851703”] The decent song but embarrassing video by Billy Squier that ruined his career. [/QUOTE] It was a mercy killing. Did Mystery Science Theater ever feature music videos? Because that video would be an awesome candidate. Finally, who did it better, Billy Squier or [Elaine Benis](https://youtu.be/HQu_NLRvULM)? I give it to Billy by a margin of ten thousand flailing arms. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2020, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-song-but-terrible-music-video/851703/34 "2020-04-14T00:43:36Z")
> [@you\_with\_the\_face](#): > > You’re not the first straight (gonna also assume white) male who not only universalizes their personal opinion about Prince’s style but also conflates this opinion with fact, seemingly oblivious or indifferent to the millions who loved his work over several decades and found his aesthetic uniquely appealing. If his fashion sense detracted from his talent, I’m having a hard time envisioning how he could’ve presented himself to be more successful than he was. > > “Blues Travelers is a great band, but John Popper’s weight and baggy wardrobe detracts from his enormous talent. I am speaking as a straight woman.” I think a better analogy would be something like this. “I think K.D Lang is a great musician. But speaking as a straight woman, the whole butch thing detracts from her talent. She looks so goofy in those tailored suits.” ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2020, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-song-but-terrible-music-video/851703/35 "2020-04-14T01:02:29Z")
> [@you\_with\_the\_face](#): > > You’re not the first straight (gonna also assume white) male who not only universalizes their personal opinion about Prince’s style but also conflates this opinion with fact, seemingly oblivious or indifferent to the millions who loved his work over several decades and found his aesthetic uniquely appealing. If his fashion sense detracted from his talent, I’m having a hard time envisioning how he could’ve presented himself to be more successful than he was. > > “Blues Travelers is a great band, but John Popper’s weight and baggy wardrobe detracts from his enormous talent. I am speaking as a straight woman.” > > Says no straight women ever. Gee, why is this? > > Truly, this baffles me That is quite a lot to extract from my opinion of a single video. And do you understand the difference between criticizing an outfit and saying that his fashion sense detracted from his talent? I never said that I couldnt love Princes music because of an unusual outfit. But I do think that it distracts from the music. His music is brilliant all on its own without the glitz. The advent of video has shifted the focus from pure musical talent to appearance/attractiveness. Ever heard of Martha Walsh? Christopher Cross? The first video MTV played was Video Killed the Radio Star. It was a taste of things to come. ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2020, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-song-but-terrible-music-video/851703/36 "2020-04-14T01:22:43Z")
“Accidentally In Love” - [video](https://youtu.be/QUypt2nvorM) The comments kind of say it all. Great song though. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2020, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-song-but-terrible-music-video/851703/37 "2020-04-14T01:53:13Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > Agree 100% > > We were playing various 80’s music videos to our kids last night (just to show them proper music) and we played “Kiss” to them and the general consensus was along the lines of “only Prince could do that with a straight face and get away with it” Here’s the version by Tom Jones and Art of Noise. and Age of Chance. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/XEVB4dAw6jk/maxresdefault.jpg "Age Of Chance - Kiss") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEVB4dAw6jk) ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2020, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-song-but-terrible-music-video/851703/38 "2020-04-14T02:37:29Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > I think a better analogy would be something like this. > > “I think K.D Lang is a great musician. But speaking as a straight woman, the whole butch thing detracts from her talent. She looks so goofy in those tailored suits.” This is also apt in some ways, but the point of my comparison is a bit different that what you’re hitting on.There very well could be women that can’t get into K.D Lang because of her butch style, but I doubt they would be present their opinion about her style ) as a matter-of fact statement about her talent or 2) her appeal in general. But it seems to be something men do a lot of with Prince. There’s a certain “He would have been good if only he had made his style confirm to what straight men like.” I used Blues Travelers in my comparison because it’s an example of a group who doesn’t feature a lead singer who embodies rock star charisma or sexual desirability or anything like that and probably doesn’t particularly attract a passionate female following (like Prince did). Probably not the clearest analogy in the world, but the point I was trying to make is that this band appeals to people who can appreciate its talent _and_ it’s unpretentious style, and it would be obnoxious for a woman (straight or otherwise) to basically ignore this reality because of their own personal thoughts about John Popper’s image. ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2020, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-song-but-terrible-music-video/851703/39 "2020-04-14T02:45:51Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > That is quite a lot to extract from my opinion of a single video. And do you understand the difference between criticizing an outfit and saying that his fashion sense detracted from his talent? I never said that I couldnt love Princes music because of an unusual outfit. But I do think that it distracts from the music. His music is brilliant all on its own without the glitz. The advent of video has shifted the focus from pure musical talent to appearance/attractiveness. Ever heard of Martha Walsh? Christopher Cross? The first video MTV played was Video Killed the Radio Star. It was a taste of things to come. I don’t understand how an artist’s clothes detract from his/her music. Songs are an auditory medium.You don’t have to watch videos to enjoy music. If you’re saying it’s hard to enjoy a video when you are put off by the artist’s appearance, I get that. But I read your statement as being about Prince’s talent in general. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2020, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-song-but-terrible-music-video/851703/40 "2020-04-14T02:45:57Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > I nominate [“Don’t Look Any Further”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CH3rx8LhrQo) by Dennis Edwards featuring Sideah Garrett. > > I really love the song. But the video reminds me of those low-budget videos you could get made at the typical 1980s mall. Don’t front like you don’t know what I’m talking about! You know good and well at one time you were willing to pay $19.99 so you and your friends could be recorded play-acting like you were in a band, big hair and all. I know I’m not the only one that remembers that being a thing. Every time I see the video to “Don’t Look Any Further”, I’m transported to that acid-washed, Jheri curl activator-scented era of Americana. It was an innocent time, when people weren’t afraid to be cringy. > > I actually love the video, not gonna lie. But it is really bad! > > What are some other picks? Now that I actually watched that video, I have a feeling that the low-budget feel was the whole idea. As for it being an 80s video, that’s what it was, because the song came out in 1984. A decade later, Stone Temple Pilots did this. Not a bad song either. RIP Scott Weiland. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/G0gAxuvo5rc/hqdefault.jpg "Stone Temple Pilots - Big Bang Baby (Official Music Video)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0gAxuvo5rc) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-song-but-terrible-music-video/851703.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-song-but-terrible-music-video/851703.md?page=3)