Martha, My Dear: ILM's All-Time Video-Poll Results Thread

Made a playlist of the Top 40, for easy viewing: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLP-ajiMFDEG6R2Nmw3aYqeagS7gcoJS8y

regret not voting for "B.O.B" after seeing where it ended up :/

I should've voted for "Relax" too.

Thanks for running even though I totally forgot to vote

Pass This On by The Knife would have been my number one by a million miles

Surprised Windowlicker didn't make the top 40

Being on the boomer/Gen X cusp, and neither fully one nor the other, I lean towards the boomer-ish re. videos, preferring to visualise the music inside my own head. That said, if I'd voted, it would have included Gong "How To Stay Alive", Dry Cleaning "Scratchcard Lanyard", Billie Eilish "Hostage", Tom Jones "Talking Reality Television Blues", The Blaze "Territory", John Grant "Glacier".

Of the videos mentioned upthread which didn't make the Top 40, I'd have boosted The Knife "We Share Our Mothers Health", Johnny Cash "Hurt", Blur "Coffee & TV", Madonna "Like A Prayer", R.E.M. "Man On The Moon", David Bowie "Lazarus", Elton John "I'm Still Standing", Feist "1234", Fatboy Slim "Weapon Of Choice", Bronski Beat "Smalltown Boy".

The major reason for the absence of Thriller has only just occurred to me.

Thanks for the playlist, Roz. There must be a second video blocked in Canada besides the Bjork--I only get 38. Didn't encounter that, so either it was just blocked or it's a second version of one I could access. Anyway, that's great.

xp yeah, John Landis the murderer

Lol

I was working on something else and just belatedly discovered this. Had no idea it existed--would have voted for it for sure, not as art but as memory.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XonFZjuyc6E

Missed the rollout as well. Thanks to the poll runners. I've got lots of new things to check out as only 9 of my votes placed. My ballot was based on watching early MTV (Our Lips Are Sealed, Cruel Summer and She Blinded Me With Science were robbed!) and then kinda random videos I saw much later on youtube.

Beastie Boys - So What'cha Want
Courtney Barnett - Avant Gardener
Deee-Lite - Groove Is in the Heart
Everything but the Girl - Five Fathoms
Go-Go's - Our Lips Are Sealed
Low - Canada
Massive Attack - Protection
Modern Lovers - Roadrunner
Pulp - Common People
Slowdive - Alison

A-ha - Take on Me
Bob Dylan - Subterranean Homesick Blues
Fiona Apple - Criminal
Lauryn Hill - Doo Wop (That Thing)
Miranda Lambert - Vice
New Order - The Perfect Kiss (Jonathan Demme!)
Pet Shop Boys - West End Girls
Saint Etienne - Only Love Can Break Your Heart
Thomas Dolby - She Blinded Me with Science
Townes Van Zandt - Waitin' Around to Die

Bananarama - Cruel Summer
De La Soul - The Magic Number
Dead Milkmen - Punk Rock Girl
Hurray for the Riff Raff - St Roch's Blues
Joy Division - Transmission
Junior Senior - Move Your Feet
Lana Del Rey - Venice Bitch
Massive Attack - Unfinished Sympathy
Miranda Lambert - Mama's Broken Heart
Run-DMC & Aerosmith - Walk This Way

David Bowie - Let's Dance
Garbage - Stupid Girl
Gorillaz - Clint Eastwood
LL Cool J - Mama Said Knock You Out
Romeo Void - Never Say Never
Sinead O'Connor - The Emperor's New Clothes
Slowdive - Souvlaki Space Station
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - Don't Come Around Here No More
Weird Al Yankovic - White and Nerdy
White Stripes - Fell in Love with a Girl

The kid playing drums is the only thing I remember about "Boys of Summer." Not sure why it's eligible for "lock thread start over."

one of the positive things i can say about the list is that nothing by jonas akerlund placed

His videos are generally overrated but I do love "Paparazzi" and "I Miss You."

I hadn’t seen “Drop” in a long time and now wish I’d voted for it. Seems kinda proto-Jackass now in a way.

imo It's a huge bummer that "Bombay" and "Y Control" are not considered canon. Two of the most-impressive/least-discussed I've seen.

Young Thug "Wyclef Jean" and Thundercat "Tron Song" are also very fun and underdiscussed 2010s videos. The Grimes video is better than I thought it would be but not an especially great choice for best of the decade. It's not better than "Sticky Drama."

El Guincho - Bombay 30
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Y Control 27
Nirvana - Heart-Shaped Box 25
Smashing Pumpkins - Today 24
Pharcyde - Drop 22
Radiohead - Paranoid Android 20
Sigur Ros - Vidrar Vel Til Loftarasa 19
Young Thug - Wyclef Jean 19
Guns N' Roses - Don’t Cry 17
Thundercat - Tron Song 15
Mr. Oizo - Flat Beat 14
Wax - California 13
Busta Rhymes - Dangerous 13
Nirvana - In Bloom 13
Outkast - Bob 12
My Chemical Romance - I'm Not Okay 12
Oneohtrix Point Never - Sticky Drama 12
Notorious B.I.G. - Sky's the Limit 12
Ludacris - Get Back 11
Earl Sweatshirt - Earl 10
RMR - Rascal 9
Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Talk About the Blues 8
Talking Heads - Burning Down the House 7
Nine Inch Nails - March of the Pigs 6
Jay-Z - 99 Problems 5
Rihanna - B*tch Better Have My Money 5
Replacements - Bastards of Young 5
Yo La Tengo - Sugarcube 5
Björk - Bachelorette 5
Björk - Human Behaviour 5
Suicidal Tendencies - Institutionalized 5
Michael Jackson - Leave Me Alone 5
Beastie Boys - Sabotage 5
Rihanna - We Found Love 5
Metallica - One 5
Sex Pistols - My Way 5
Sheck Wes - Mo Bamba 5
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - Don't Come Around Here No More 5
Talking Heads - Once in a Lifetime 5
Beastie Boys - Whatcha Want 5
Pulp - This Is Hardcore 5
George Michael - Freedom! '90 5
Beach House - Wishes 5
Kylie Minogue - Come Into My World 5
CSS - Alala 5
Van Halen - Hot for Teacher 5
Squarepusher - Come On My Selector 5
Cibo Matto - Sugar Water 5
Air - All I Need 5
Ol' Dirty Bastard - Shimmy Shimmy Ya 5

Not sure why it's eligible for "lock thread start over."

Because the poster was bored, and he wanted to entertain everyone, and he did an excellent job with the joke he repeated 37 times.

"Don't Cry" >>> "November Rain" >>> "Estranged"
They're all really good but I mean come on.

I'm noticing a lot of people nominated and voted for videos where some band from the 70s or 80s performs in a nondescript setting and it just kinda looks like 1000 other videos and nothing happens and then the video ends.

Like idk even the Joy Division video. Granted they look very cool and it's mesmerizing watching them play but conceptually it might as well be "Working For The Weekend."

Idk about that vid in particular, but I’d argue that a video doesn’t have to be high-concept to be great (any more than a song does).

a nondescript setting and it just kinda looks like 1000 other videos and nothing happens and then the video ends

Guilty as charged, probably, although mine were more from the '60s. But I voted for promotional clips by Cream, Melanie, and Nico that more or less fit your description, as does the Badfinger clip I posted just above. I love these songs, and I just like the idea that there's something video-like out there for them.

Yeah, those aren’t really music videos

Was just thinking why didn’t the music video poll results start… was it ever posted in the nomination thread?

Anyway these results are not what I was expecting at all. I think only a couple of mine placed and I’ve only seen like ~ten of the top forty…

Here was my ranked ballot:

Korn - Freak on a Leash
Busta Rhymes ‎- Woo-Hah!! Got You All in Check
Radiohead - Paranoid Android
Kiesza - Hideaway
Pharcyde - Drop
Ice cube - it was a good day
Three 6 Mafia - Stay Fly (ft 8ball & MJG)
Xzibit - what u see is what you get
Caroline Polachek - So Hot You're Hurting My Feelings
My Chemical Romance - Helena
De la soul - ooohh
2pac - Smile
Fiona Apple - Criminal
Redman - ill be dat
Wu tang - click click
TLC - Aint 2 Proud 2 Beg
Missy Elliott - The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)
Naughty by nature - feel me flow
NORE - superthug
Beck - E-Pro
Master P - Make em Say Ugh
Missy Elliott - Pass That Dutch
Beastie Boys - Sabotage
Scarface - my block
Wu-Tang Clan - Triumph
Outkast - BOB
Dmx - ruff ryders anthem
Notorious B.I.G. - Mo Money Mo Problems
ZZ Top - Rough Boy
Dr. Dre - Nuthin' But a G Thang
Janet Jackson - thats the way love goes
Roots - dont say nuthin
Nine Inch Nails - Closer
Rema - dumebi
UGK - International Players Anthem (I Choose You)
Ludacris - Get Back
P.M. Dawn - Set Adrift on Memory Bliss
Jay-Z & Kanye West - Otis
Beyoncé - Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)
Health skeltah - operation lockdown
Jay rock - kings dead
Fatlip - Whats up fat lip
Rihanna - Rude Boy
Dem Franchise Boyz - Lean Wit It
Donnie Trumpet & the Social Experiment - Sunday Candy
Smashing Pumpkins - Tonight, Tonight
Juvenile - Ha
Tyler The Creator - Yonkers
Slipknot - Before I Forget
A Tribe Called Quest - Scenario

good list!!!

Thanks, apparently I completely forgot to add November rain which is a top 3 for me.

you:

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/aa/62/63/aa62635e5e738f0201b122f0386c9fab.gif

Haha yup

as for which use your illusion video is superior, i think i was put here on this earth to advocate for music videos featuring heavy cgi dolphin content

it also starts off making you believe it's a concert video! but it absolutely isn't! it just grows increasingly bizarre! and i love that

I suppose I was born to advocate for drunk Axl in the graveyard blizzard, bottle in one hand gun in the other
https://i.gifer.com/YIJx.gif

ok so i accidentally posted my ballot in the voting thread, here it is for posterity

my ballot. hastily assembled after a perusal of the noms list. obv many things i forgot, but the only one i left out that would've been in my top ten is the pharcyde's "drop."

ranked
Wu-Tang Clan - Triumph
Madonna - Vogue
Janet Jackson - When I Think Of You
David Bowie - Blackstar
Missy Elliott - The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)
Busta Rhymes ‎- Woo-Hah!! Got You All in Check
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - Don't Come Around Here No More
Hot Chip - I Feel Better
Bat for Lashes - What's a Girl to Do?
UGK - International Players Anthem (I Choose You)

unranked
2 Chainz - Birthday Song
Aphex Twin - Windowlicker
Avalanches - Frontier Psychiatrist
Beastie Boys - Sabotage
Beyoncé - Formation
Björk - Human Behaviour
Bob Dylan - Subterranean Homesick Blues
Britney Spears - ...Baby One More Time
Cardi B ft. Megan Thee Stallion - W.A.P.
Danny Brown - Grown Up
Dmx - Ruff Ryders Anthem
Donnie Trumpet & the Social Experiment - Sunday Candy
E-40 - Tell Me When to Go
Fiona Apple - Criminal
George Michael - Freedom! '90
Ice Cube - It Was a Good Day
Jay-Z - 99 Problems
Kanye West - All Falls Down
Kendrick Lamar - Alright
King Von - Took Her to the O
Lauryn Hill - Doo Wop (That Thing)
Mariah Carey - Fantasy (Remix) ft. Ol’ Dirty Bastard
Mclusky - Lightsabre Cocksucking Blues
Michael Jackson - Beat It
Nine Inch Nails - Closer
Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit
Notorious B.I.G. - Mo Money Mo Problems
Outkast - Hey Ya!
Radiohead - Just
Rolling Stones - Waiting on a Friend
Rosalía - Malamente
Sinead O'Connor - Nothing Compares 2 U
Slick Rick - Children's Story
Soul II Soul - Back to Life (However Do You Want Me)
Tears for Fears - Head Over Heels
Van Halen - Hot for Teacher
Weird Al Yankovic - White and Nerdy
White Stripes - Fell in Love with a Girl
Young Dolph - Get Paid
ZZ Top - Rough Boy

you and i def had some crossover

you picked a lot that i cut, like that ludacris video and yonkers

Unranked list

5 UNLISTED:

Kendrick Lamar - King Kunta
Madonna - Open Your Heart
Annie Lennox - Walking onBroken Glass
Madonna - Like a Prayer
Yo La Tengo - From a Motel 6

45 Main List (unranked)

2Pac + Dre - California love
A- Ha Take On Me
Avalanches - Frontier Psychiatrist
beastie Boys - sabotage
beyoncé - formation
bjork - all is full of love
blink 182- all the small things
chris sisal - wicked game
Dire Straits - Money for Nothing
Dre - nuthin but a g thang
duran duran - hungry like the wolf
Fine Young Cannibals - She Drives Me Crazy
Garbage - Queer
George Michael - Freedom! '90
George Michael - Too Funky
Ice Cube - It Was a Good Day
Jay-Z - 99 Problems
Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Talk About the Blues
Kylie Minogue - Love at First Sight
Lady Gaga - Bad Romance
Lonely Island - Ras Trent
Madonna - Vogue
Meat Loaf - I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)
Missy Elliott - The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)
Nine Inch Nails - Closer
Notorious B.I.G. - Mo Money Mo Problems
Ol' Dirty Bastard - Shimmy Shimmy Ya
Paula Abdul - Straight Up
Pavement - Range Life
Peter Gabriel - Sledgehammer
Prince & the Revolution - When Doves Cry
Replacements - Bastards of Young
Robert Palmer - Addicted to Love
Roots - Don’t Say Nuthin’
Smashing Pumpkins - 1979
Smashing Pumpkins - Tonight, Tonight
Snoop Dogg - Gin & Juice
Soundgarden - Black Hole Sun
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - Mary Jane's Last Dance
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - Don't Come Around Here No More
Tool - Sober
Van Halen - Hot for Teacher
Wax - California
Weird Al Yankovic - Fat
ZZ Top - Legs

just rewatched 2pac/scarface 'smile' and was curious who directed it.

Paul Hunter: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Hunter_(director)

forgot about usher 'my way'. also that black eyed peas 'joints and jams' was a fav of mine at that time.

paul hunter videography genuinely ridiculous

truly. we shoulda just polled him and hype williams videos.

Forgot another early one that I really enjoy: the Stones' Jumpin' Jack Flash, though there are a few variants. It got a restoration that looked awesome when I saw it at MoMA's program celebrating the Stones' 50th anniversary, but I don't think it was officially made available for home viewing outside of its usage in the so-so Crossfire Hurricane documentary. The only place I can find it online is on Facebook, though you don't need an account to view it.

My unranked ballot:

Tom Tom Club - Genius of Love
Yo La Tengo - I'll Be Around
A Tribe Called Quest - Electric Relaxation
Ann Steel - My Time
Aphex Twin - Come to Daddy
Autechre - Gantz Graf
Beck - Deadweight
Björk - Human Behaviour
Björk - Triumph of a Heart
Cabaret Voltaire - Sensoria
Carly Simon - Why
Chemical Brothers - Let Forever Be
Chemical Brothers - Star Guitar
Cibo Matto - Sugar Water
Cléo - Les Fauves
Cure - Close to Me
Daft Punk - Around the World
De La Soul - A Roller Skating Jam Named Saturdays
Deee-Lite - Groove Is in the Heart
Fall - Eat Y'Self Fitter
France Gall - Laisse tomber les filles
Kate Bush - Wuthering Heights (trees version)
Kate Bush - Wuthering Heights (trails version)
Kraftwerk - Musique Non-Stop
Kylie Minogue - Come Into My World
Lio - Sage Comme Une Image
Lucas - Lucas with the Lid Off
Madonna - Frozen
Mick Jagger - Memo from Turner
Moloko - The Flipside
Pet Shop Boys - Heart
Pet Shop Boys - West End Girls
Portishead - Only You
Roisin Murphy - Overpowered
Saint Etienne - Only Love Can Break Your Heart
Serge Gainsbourg & Jane Birkin - 69 année érotique
Serge Gainsbourg & Brigitte Bardot - Bonnie and Clyde
Siouxsie & the Banshees - Spellbound
Sparks - When Do I Get to Sing 'My Way’?
Sparks - When I'm With You
Talking Heads - Love for Sale
Tears for Fears - Head Over Heels
Todd Terje - Inspector Norse
Moloko - Fun for Me
Oneohtrix Point Never - Problem Areas
Boards of Canada - Everything You Do Is a Balloon
Trans-X - Living on Video
Ronika - Wiyoo
Stice - Ollygoshawda
Scott Walker - Epizootics!

Thanks Clemenza, Viborg, anyone else with a role, co-voters! A sign of a comprehensive and significant poll is that some people are a bit miffed with the results. (If it wasn't comprehensive they wouldn't have heard of it; if it wasn't significant they wouldn't have cared.)

I will probably go through all of the top 100 at some point in the next month. Grateful that an all time video list finally happened here, and just as I was hoping, the stuff I haven't seen yet (so far) is all really bizarre and interesting. I wouldn't call a lot of these worthy of an all time list, but for me that's not really the point.

I totally forgot about that Hot Chip video. But it also reminds me of the Beach House video with Ray Wise that I was so sure would place.

I know the song, and I figure I must have seen some of the video at some point, but the revelation of the poll for me was "Unfinished Sympathy".

I was a #1 vote for "Sabotage" btw, didn't see the email. Given that my son makes me play him that video over and over again, it definitely has legs.

I feel like I could make a separate list of "movie scenes that I wish could be music videos."

Andy Warhol's Vinyl for Martha Reeves & The Vandellas' "Nowhere to Run"

James Benning's 11 x 14 for Bob Dylan's "Black Diamond Bay" (two scenes actually)

Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets and GoodFellas for "Then He Kissed Me," "Mickey's Monkey," "What Is Life," "Jumping Jack Flash," "Atlantis" and probably many others

Kenneth Anger's Scorpio Rising for "He's a Rebel"

etc.

"Subterranean Homesick Blues" in this list is one example.
I feel like part of the attraction of scenes like that is that they're not independent works; the songs come in, blend with the movie and leave. Watching them on their own feels like it's inflating them somehow.

I've written a book on the subject (pop music in films), and my interest in the two subjects is connected I'm sure. (Another voter has also written a book on the subject...I won't link to his without checking.)

But then Kenneth Anger's use of the Paris Sisters' "Dream Lover" in Kustom Kar Kommandos strikes me as a special case because it's not an excerpt from the film, it's the entire film. I didn't vote for it bc I was trying to honor the distinction between that and videos that were made to promote a record, but I guess that is the principal difference between that and, say, Bruce Conner's film for "Mongoloid" by Devo.

the subterranean “video” has surely been seen by far more people than the entirety of don’t look back, and certainly passes the iconicity test (based on how often it’s been parodied and imitated)

it’s a bit different from scenes from narrative films that prominently use a song

To me, "Subterranean Homesick Blues" works fine as a (legitimate) standalone video. If Don't Look Back didn't exist, but MTV had existed in 1965, I could see where Dylan would have come up with exactly the same thing as his idea of what a video should look like.

(The "Like a Rolling Stone" video that I voted for, which was probably done six or seven years ago, I would love to know the extent of Dylan's involvement with that. Other than commissioning and ultimately approving it, my guess is nil--I just can't imagine him coming up with anything like what materialized.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2af69xt0VKE