The Entertainer

I'm in rock mode at the moment, so please forgive the rantings and ravings of a rock tragic!

I go in phases though, I wonder if anyone else does, or if it's just my crazy personality?
I mean, I can go for a couple of weeks without listening to anything more than what's on the radio (my station of choice? Triple J. Not necessarily because the music is better - though they don't tend to play the really annoying top 40 stuff - but because they have more music than chatter. That's what a radio's for, dammit!). Then, something will come over me and I'll have to listen to music all day and most of the night.

I'm in one of those 'music all the time' phases, so yesterday, as we pottered, we watched a count down of 100 'Most memorable Videos'.
I love music videos. And I have ever since I can remember. I used to fight with my brother every Saturday morning over control of the TV: he wanted cartoons, I wanted Video Hits, or Rage or whatever else was on.

There were a few years that I obsessively taped them too. I built up hours of carefully cued and time videos; sometimes taping whole shows, then going over the ones I didn't like, other times cuing up a spot on the tape and then waiting for that moment to press record. Sad, I know, especially to those of you that haven't known the wonder that is tape. it's so easy to just watch the video on YouTube now!

Anyway, I digress (how unlike me!).

I really think that to make a good video, you have to be an entertainer. You have to be able to ham it up if necessary. There are a few bands that do that really well, so I thought I'd point a couple out.

Queen

One of the videos in yesterday's countdown was 'I want to break free' by Queen:


It's not my favourite Queen song of all time, but it's a corker of a video!

In the years of music videos where most were bands jumping up and down on stage, Queen came up with some great stuff.
This video borders on obscene in places, and is very bizarre, but they pull it off because they just know how to play their parts.
I love how Freddy Mercury keeps his moustache while he's in drag, but has shaved it off for another part of the clip. Gold. He's got pretty nice legs too!

Red Hot Chili Peppers

There are any number of videos I could choose for these guys. Californication is one of the coolest videos ever, and I also love Dani California and Can't Stop, which all totally demonstrate the whole 'entertainer' thing. I've decided to share 'Give it away', which is an older chili song, but a goody:



Again, possibly bordering on obscene in places (hmm...what does this say about me??), but showcasing some true entertainers!

Fat Boy Slim

Ok, I know this one technically doesn't count, because he doesn't actually appear in any of his videos, but he manages to get people doing very cool things in them. Like Weapon of Choice (sorry, they wouldn't let me embed this one). If you like Christopher Walken, you'll love this.

And of course, the Foo Fighters

I know what you're thinking; she just put them in because of that insane fan thing. But no, the Foo Fighters make truly awesome videos. it's because they are fabulous musicians that understand the value of a good video, but it's also because they're quite good at hamming it up.

Everlong is a very cool video (if you've ever seen Evil Dead, you might see a couple of familiar scenes), and coincidentally one of my all-time favourite songs. Long Road to Ruin is a very funny clip, and there are many more that are just awesome. Learn to Fly is one of my favourite videos, just because everyone's hamming it up (once again, embedding disabled, you'll have to go to the site if you want to see them). Oh, and dressing in drag. Is that a right of rock passage or what?

Just wanted to add: Oliver and I were just watching some Green Day videos on Channel V, and it reminded me of Sam. Every time American Idiot came on he'd say 'mum, check this out: one of them is moving at normal speed and the others are moving in slow motion!'

It didn't matter that I'd seen the video many times, or that he'd said it to me every time it was on, he still pointed it out! So cute!

I could go on for hours! What are some of your favourite videos?