I’m watching VH1 Classics, and the video for YES’s Leave It is playing. That has got to be the most boring video I’ve seen. If you haven’t seen it, the groups just stands still, while various special effects with their bodies go on. First their heads detach and spin around. Then their bodies start spinning around making them look like cardboard figures, then their bodies get folded in half…well, anyway, that’s pretty much it. They stand, they sing, they have special effects happen to their bodies…zzzzzzzz
Anyway, what music video have you seen that make you want to fall asleep, or change the channel, because it’s just so damn boring?
Madonna’s Love Don’t Live Here Anymore is pathetic. I expected better from Jean-Baptiste Mondino. The hardest-working person involved was probably Madonna’s daughter Lola, and all she was doing at the time was gestating.
I suppose out of context the video for “Leave It” is fairly tame, but at the time there were something like 20 different versions of the video, all done on computer, so it was groundbreaking at the time, and a nice little gimmick to keep you glued to the TV (to insure you could say “I saw ALL the versions of the YES video!”)
I always found concert videos unbearably boring. Especially the heavy metal guys who all looked the same.
Here in the UK, years ago I was watching Top Of The Pops and they played a video for a George Benson song which was nothing except a static head and shoulders shot of the man himself singing the song. I think there was a glittery backdrop behind him, but that was it. And it was definitely an actual video, not just a piece of TV footage cribbed from somewhere else.
Sorry, it was too long ago for me to be able to recall the exact song.
Ahh, I see. Well, maybe if I’ve seen all the versions, but the only version they show on TV, and even on the YES anthology video, is that particular one.
Bush’s “Glycerine” video is just Gavin Rosdale’s head and shoulders from various angles. Good song, but the video leaves something to be desired. Namely: movement, story, humor, anything at all.
I’m with you on most concert videos, although I think there are some exceptions. A dynamic band and a good director can produce a pretty exciting concert video. Personally, I enjoyed Pearl Jam’s “Even Flow” concert vid a lot.
In re the OP, I think almost any video of the past that is based around then-cutting-edge special effects is going to be a major snoozefest now. I saw a Roger Daltrey video (Daltrey solo, not with the Who) that had computer color-change effects…and not much else. Look, he’s singing! And now he’s blue! And now he’s red! Color me BORED!
The Yeah Yeah Yeahs video. I don’t know the name of the song but it goes “they don’t love you like I love you” about 6 billion times. Boring song, boring video.
Another one: I don’t remember the artists name but he’s standing naked (you see just to the top of his pubic hair) and singing in a really really high pitched voice. He’s got coffee colored skin and corn rows, IIRC.
That’s Maxwell, I think. I believe it was just called “Love Song” but I might be wrong. According to some VH1 specials, that video’s dead sexy and gets tha ladiez in the mood.
This reminds me of:
Michael Jackson - Rock With You
Michael, in a spangled, sequined jumpsuit and moon boots, sang into a microphone in a black box set while an occasional green light flashed behind him.
Laura Branigan - Gloria
This video looks like it was shot in a rented nightclub. Laura is wearing a black sequined leotard, tights and a pair of high heels (it’s a ridiculous look) and standing on a box under two completely stationary disco balls. Boring, silly and painful to watch.
The video with the naked singing man is “Untitled (How Does It Feel)” by D’Angelo. And yes, it’s sexay.
The song is called “Maps,” and it surprised me that the Yeah Yeah Yeahs chose it for a single. I haven’t heard their current album yet, but I own their EP, and all five of the songs on there are full of raw, raunchy rock and roll energy. I would have expected really wild, arty, sexy, sweaty videos from them, but I admit “Maps” leaves me a little cold.
I would mostly agree, with the notable exception going to the Dire Straits ‘money for nothing’ video, that will never get old.
As for the OP, being subjected to the small time New Zealand music industry and the even smaller video industry, I think I can safely say anything by a New Zealand artist, ever.
That particular Leaveit video is an in-joke and needs to be seen within the context of the entire Leavit video series. There were like 12 to 20 different versions
