Video, schmideo. Blame MTV or ridiculously pretentious art school students, but one thing's for sure, and that is they just don't make them like they used to - as in the promo for Strawberry Fields. There was a movement a few years back to try to elevate the rock/pop video to the status of "art", which lasted less than 15 minutes, and with record companies now substantially cutting back on their budgets for what is a mere promotional device, the state of the video is in perilous shape.
You don't have to gaze at any of the endless video-driven music programmes to realise how tragic the situation is, although if you put in enough hours you will realise that along the way, a few have fallen through the cracks and are worthy of consideration as "stand alone" objets d'popular art.
Next month, in a most interesting move, London's National Film Theatre (so it must be posh) is hosting a season of events called Music On Screen - Three Decades Of The Music Video, which will feature some of the most era-defining videos of their time. Throw in a few interviews with producers, directors, etc, and a special "Top Ten" countdown and you're looking at something potentially very interesting - in all its inter-textuality (as we say around here).
The curators are currently sifting through a shortlist of about 25 to whittle down, and flicking through the list it's evident that there's some really good stuff out there - it just tends to get buried amid so much Aqua videos.
Heading up the list is Massive Attack's memorable video for Unfinished Sympathy, a single camera-angle shot of a woman walking down a street. In fact, so memorable was it that The Verve lifted the whole idea lock, stock and camera angle to come up with their video for Bittersweet Symphony, a song which itself lifted a Rolling Stones orchestral sample.
Also in there is the brilliant Beastie Boys pastiche of 1970s cop shows (Sabotage) as well as Bjork's one for It's Oh So Quiet, which again was a pastiche of a 1930s musical. Are you beginning to detect a pattern here?
Stupid people have it that Peter Gabriel's Sledgehammer is the ne plus ultra of the field, which is fair enough if you think bits of fruit revolving around a man's head is something special. It may have looked a bit groovy on its release all those years ago, but now it looks like something that Group Cert students could run up on a budget of £15. Or something.
Don't laugh, but the Michael and Janet Jackson Scream video is also near the top of the list. The song may be instantly forgettable but the video really is something else. Very sci-fi, well put together and featuring great performances from the odd couple, it's as state-of-the-art as you get these days. I'm just going to move on from Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody laughable effort (no matter how strongly it features in the list) because, simply put, it's as bad visually as the pomp-rockers were musically. It makes A-Ha's Take On Me video (which also features) look like The Aphex Twin.
Speaking of whom, the techno-weirdo features heavily with two entries: Come To Daddy and Windowlicker. The former, as if it needs stating, is quite possibly the best music video ever made. Featuring an old lady in a block of council flats who finds herself in the midst of loads of miniature Aphex Twins, it's a bit scary also. Windowlicker is another brilliant effort and is remarkable in its own way for the fact that it was nominated as one of the videos of the year at last year's (spit) MTV awards - even though the station banned it.
Staggeringly, Blur's recent Coffee @ TV work, featuring the walking milk carton, also features, even though it's really rather silly - although the video for the Whoo-Hoo song (with the band bouncing off walls) was pretty nifty. And what The Jackson Five are doing in there with Can You Feel It is anybody's guess. Ditto Fatboy Slim's Praise You video. And I'm sorry, but I can't bring myself to even mention the person who had a video called Virtual Insanity.
There is hope, though, with the inclusion of Air's All I Need, The Prodigy's Breathe (although Firestarter doesn't get a look in) and Portishead's Only You. Naturally, a lot of people here would be clamouring for Phil Lynott's Old Town video to be included, although I'd settle for A House's Endless Art myself. Or even the one where The Frank And Walters are messing around on The Alps (probably a few hills in Tipperary, in actuality).
More on this as the final Top Ten is revealed. Meanwhile, feel free to argue among yourselves.
