Music Videos: Bookmarks of Our Generation
Funny how certain music videos have come to represent milestones of a generation. With our attention span (mine especially) just lasting a good three to five minutes at best, the combination of video and song stands the best chance of hitting me in a special place that reminds me of a period in my personal history-a happy moment or otherwise. Some videos are bigger than me, I feel, because it represents an era, or begins or ends one.
So I’ve picked some music videos that I can call my favorites, ranging from old school ones to new ones.
My first choice has got to be Rob Base & DJ EZ Rock, “It Takes Two”. I know you’re probably thinking that this is as old school as old school can get, but that song, that dance step, has the vibe that could get any party started-and check out the cool track suits! It’s not the greatest video quality out there especially if you compare it to contemporary ones but it worked for me. I admit, it still works for me now.
But when we talk music videos, Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” is never to be missed. This has to be, hands down, on everybody’s list of videos. How can it not be? He was way ahead of his time. Did you know that it was the first video to merge filmmaking and music videos? No wonder it is often considered the greatest music videos of all time. It still is and forever will be on my list.
Another video that caught my eye recently and landed on my list has to be from Kanye West, “Runaway”. I think he took the “Thriller” style to another level because he created a show. The full length is 34 minutes and 32 seconds long. The song isn’t as long but he also gives you previews of his other songs off the album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. When he dropped the video it just took forever to load but it was worth it. For some reason, when I see the part with the actual song “Runaway”, it reminds me of Black Swan-must be the ballerina thing.
One new video on the list has to be Train’s “Marry Me” because everyone in love can relate, too. I’m not in that boat yet but I can see it now in a lot of future wedding videos, along with “Lucky” by Jason Mraz.
Of course it wouldn’t be a favorite video list if I didn’t add the video of Guru Shivaker’s “Shawarma”. For the obvious reason that we are in it and it’s off our album from MCA Music. If you still haven’t bought a copy, go buy one in any record store like Odyssey. It’s close to our hearts because we actually worked hard to write that song and help conceptualize the video with Director Ace. The whole process of making the video was pretty fun and the results were more than I expected.
So my question to you is, what’s your favorite music video of all time and what does it remind you of?
I’m sure you have heard of this crazy trio, forefront wits are Sam YG, Tony Toni and Slick Rick. They’ve got spontaneous humor, lively programming, manly stuff, impeccable jokes, and good choice of playlists in their show. They are a celebrity blogger at .
