The first time I ever saw “Motown 25” was in 1987 as a four year old, and I sat with my dad to watch a VHS recording of the 1983 broadcast. The memory of the time and place are fuzzy, but all I remember is watching through the tape entertained, and then being genuinely in awe of Michael Jackson’s performance of “Billie Jean” as he declared that he was his own entertainer now. He did so with a brilliant performance and the introduction of the moon walk.
Tag Archives: Michael Jackson
Moonwalker: A Superstar’s Burden
When I was a kid, “Moonwalker” was on constant rotation on our VCR and for ninety minutes, it kept me and my brother quiet and out of my mom’s hair. As brothers prone to fighting and bickering, movies are what usually kept us shut, especially since we couldn’t even afford basic cable back then. Around the time “Moonwalker” came to VHS, we knew perfectly clear that the movie itself was nothing but a promotional tool for Michael Jackson.
Back then, Jackson ruled the world and was considered the most iconic person on the face of the Earth. He was pretty much a God, so we didn’t care that the VHS was just nothing but a commercial for Jackson’s incredible abilities, we just wanted Michael Jackson. Pretty much in the same way we didn’t care “Kriss Kross: Jump” or “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Making of the Coming Out of Their Shells Tour” were just tapes intent on promoting a product, we didn’t care” Moonwalker” was just for Michael Jackson’s publicity team. It was our fix of the popular Jackson, and we loved it.
Our 25 Favorite Music Videos Of All Time
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5. Take on Me
Ah-Ha
This innovative music video which paved the way for videos from Incubus’ “Drive”, and Shakira’s “Temptation Tango” features a story within a song about a woman who falls in love with a comic character and is sucked into his world where he attempts to save her from villains. This bittersweet video is set to Ah-Ha’s incredible song “Take on Me” and became one of the best music videos ever made as we watch the hero of the comic book battling the villains, racing and falling love with her panel by panel. Watch for the homage to “Altered States” as the lead singer bounces against the walls of the video heroine’s apartment struggling to remain whole as he switches from drawn to human over and over. Still one of the coolest videos to date.
Our 25 Favorite Music Videos Of All Time
15. Smashing Pumpkins
Tonight, Tonight
The Smashing Pumpkins were one of the best alternative rock bands to come out of the nineties and couldn’t be lumped in with everyone else simply for their sheer originality and odd appearance, but their music was great from songs like “1979” to “Bullets with Butterfly Wings”, no two songs ever really sounded alike, especially when talking about “Tonight, tonight”. This impressive rock song backed with an orchestra and sometimes sounding like Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmir”, about growing up and losing your precious youth recalls the classic silent films “From the Earth to the Moon” shot by shot with the young couple being marooned on the moon with aliens as the husband kills the aliens with his umbrella, meanwhile they fall into the sea and are greeted by Poseidon and his mermaids. Meanwhile, Billy Corgan and his band sing atop clouds like angelic ghosts. “Tonight, Tonight” is their best video and an ode to classic silent films with a bittersweet but memorable song.
Our 25 Favorite Music Videos Of All Time
The best made music videos, The best songs, the coolest of the cream of the crop. Music videos are a tool, a tool that can be used to improve a song, and many times it doesn’t help matters for the artist. These are videos so chaotic, so beautiful, so cool, so original, so conceptual, and so innovative. This is the best of the best.