Right Now by Van Halen.
I just now watched the video again for the first time in many years. That song came out in 1992…and almost everything in it is still true.
Going back to early MTV (1981-82), two songs come to mind. Both are musically rather boring (if well-crafted) light pop, but as a kid I thought the videos were creative and other-worldly, and so I ended up liking the songs more than I would have otherwise:
“Harden My Heart”, by Quarterflash
“Really Wanna Know You”, by Gary Wright
(Hey, musically, at least Harden My Heart has a medium-fast shuffle beat, which links it to the Stones’ “Midnight Rambler,” of all things…)
Breaking Elbows did a two part mini-action movie for “The Stampede” and “Bad Motherfucker” (spoilered due to the violence, profanity and semi-nudity)
[spoiler]Biting Elbows - The Stampede (Official Music Video) - YouTube
Biting Elbows - 'Bad Motherfucker' Official Music Video - YouTube
“Just” by Radiohead.
Think I read it was adapted from a French short film. Regardless, it’s clever.
Everlast - White Trash Beautiful the video tells a compelling story and draws me in. One of my favorite Everlast songs.
Sabotage by the Beastie Boys. Before I saw the video, it wasn’t my type of music. After I saw the video, I can’t help smiling when hearing it.
Walk Off The Earth’s cover of Madonna’s “Material Girl.” You never know what instrument you’ll see next in the video.
The Avalanches “Frontier psychiatrist”. Crazy as a coconut…
Another one from The Avalanches, “Since I Left You”.
I think OK Go make music to accompany their videos rather than the other way round. Very entertaining though…
“Here It Goes Again”.
“This Too Shall Pass”, great stuff. very Heath-Robinson. (and obviously not the first take!)
I was so-so about OK Go until I started watching their videos. For example:
I’m still not a huge fan of their music, but I end up listening to all their songs because of the creativity in their videos.
If live performance videos count, then I’d add:
Jeff Buckley Lilac Wine- I was absolutely hypnotized watching him sing.
Most of Lady Gaga’s song fall into this category for me: If I’ve seen the videos, I enjoy the songs. If not, not so much.
Just had to watch that again…
I remember seeing it at the time and being absolutely gobsmacked by it. Nearly thirty years later it still stands out.
Good call.
ETA: I got tired of the song on the radio, but the video just shows people who appear the most joyous they’ve ever been. It’s hard to find fault with it now.
At 24 Hours of Happy there are 360 videos of the song that play back to back starting at your local time (although you can specify a time). The main video is a mix from all those other videos.
I remember seeing a video on YouTube for this song about how much fun it is to be a dickhead. Very lively little number. After having enjoyed countless plays for free, I thought I might just go ahead and buy a copy so as to reward the creator with whatever fraction of a penny that would put in his coffers. But I decided to see if I still liked the song without the accompanying visuals before buying it, and I kinda didn’t. The visuals aren’t THAT funny, but the song just didn’t grab me all by itself.