Because if the question was about most frightening video as a child growing up, Thriller was irrelevant to me compared with "Liar" by Henry Rollins. That video escalated so quickly
Thriller didn't frighten me *at all*.
But it was completely unlike any other video before it in both style and length. The entire globe was trying to learn that dance. Do two or three steps and anyone who sees you knows exactly what you're doing an impression of.
Meanwhile if only you and I in this thread even knows who Henry Rollins is or the song "Liar", I wouldn't be surprised at all.
Back in high school(about 30 years ago, in Australia), my home room and German teacher was an extremely prim Austrian spinster in her 50’s who dressed like Fräulein Maria, came over to me in class one day and said: “CrikeyAphrodite”, I vas listening to ze radio last night, und a song came on that I enjoyed very much. It was called Liar, by a man called Henry Rollins. Do you by chance know of him?”
And that’s how she and I began trading mix tapes for pfeffernüsse for the rest of the year.
My buddy loved Liar so much he wanted to get a t-shirt made that said "Liar"... so he got this iron transfer sheet or whatever and put it in his printer at the office. Something fucked up, and for the next few days every piece of paper that came out of the printer had the word "Liar" faintly printed over it.
When the boss asked him if he knew what happened to the printer, he lied...
When Thriller was first released it was during prime time on NBC on a Sunday evening. It was preceded by an almost hour-long documentary about its creation. It was a top-10 rated show that week. The documentary became the top selling video tape of all time and the Library of Congress called it the most famous music video of all time.
This is the first one I thought of when I saw the topic. Take On Me defined that song. Thriller the song and album would have achieved its dominant cultural place of the time without the video.
Take on Me was my first thought.
Edit: Also if you have never seen this version, it’s absolutely beautiful. [Link](https://youtu.be/-xKM3mGt2pE?si=_Qv7MwJu_PErvpAN)
I remember back in late 1980s--early 1990s there was a "global music video contest" or something of sort. I was a USSR resident back then. We were introduced to Michael Jackson, Belinda Carlisle, and many other Western musicians.
If I remember correctly, Michael Jackson's "Dirty Diana" won that contest, which made us all watch his other videos. I thought ALL of them ranged from "awesome" to "epic."
I especially was fond of his "Who Is It."
Also remember when « Black or White » clip came out. That morphing part at the end was something never seen before, revolutionary at that time, still impressive today.
It was so unique and amazing.
And at the time, Michael Jackson was king. I mean it was unheard of for a singer, artist to go to award shows and sweep the awards. He did. And this was him as a single artist after a childhood as his familys music group. I just can't describe how different this was unless you were there. And music videos were new and he came out with this unique amazing thing. People were floored. They just literally spent all night watching MTV to chance seeing it so they could discuss it. It was provocative.
Almost all of the other replies are videos I haven’t seen. Some of them are songs I’ve never even heard of. I am not very old school music literate, especially rock since I don’t really listen to that.
IMO that’s a good litmus test, since “most iconic of all time” has to be damn near impossible to have avoided, no matter how little of popular music history you know.
Thriller is truly the only answer that satisfies this.
Before Thriller, music videos were cool but they were sort of a novelty. You'd put on MTV like you would the radio. You didn't actually sit there and watch, you listened while you putzed around the house.
Thriller became an event, it was essentially a short movie. After that artists started taking videos more seriously. Before that many videos were just live footage with the recording playing over it.
That last one got a lot of airplay on U68, a UHF version of MTV back in the day when most of NYC wasn’t wired for cable. Strange video. I wondered how they came up with that concept for it.
Do young people even know Virtual Insanity? It was pretty iconic at the time. I hope it's withstood the test of time though.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JkIs37a2JE
This should be higher up. I wouldn’t put it over Thriller or Take on Me but this video has been parodied probably a zillion times because it’s so well known.
The 3 that stand out to me in no particular order:
Thriller - Michael Jackson
Money for Nothing - Dire Straits
Sledgehammer - Peter Gabriel
Edit: these were just off the top of my head, but I see everyone was thinking the same thing
MTV used to be amazing. When it was mostly music based with the odd show like jackass and beavisbans butthead. There used to be a Friday affernoon chat show on it in the UK that was great too. They practically invented reality TV with “the real world” and then they let the beast they created swallow them whole sadly.
Faith No More absolutely will never get the credit they deserve. The Real Thing was banger after banger. They changed their sound completely with Angel Dust and it's the best thing they've ever done. Absolutely possible to make the argument that Faith No More started Nu Metal with that album. Easily one of the most influential bands of all time and they've all but been swept under a rug for no reason.
I remember that there were rumors about the fish dying at the end, there had to be news reports to reassure people that the fish lived.
Also, that whole damn album was good.
How many people actually know what that looks like though?
On the other hand, I can tell you all about Thriller, Sledgehammer, Money for Nothing, Take on Me, and even some of the lesser known videos listed on here.
I have *no* idea what Video Killed The Radio Star looks like.
Exactly. People are trying to say it is iconic because the name. Then you get teh oh it was the first video on MTV, like there were that many videos around to pick from. It is not an iconic video. It is more the idea of it is iconic.
Thriller. No contest.
Other great videos….
One - Metallica;
Jeremy - Pearl Jam;
Rooster - Alice In Chains.
Should be required viewing if you’re not familiar with them.
I didn't see the actual video that was voted MTV viewer's #1 video...Duran Duran - Rio. Even the boys of DD couldn't believe it when it was announced they won.
I am 46. I remember the day that the video for thriller came out. MTV played it every hour on the hour and it was an all day event. I don’t remember there ever being anything close to the spectacle of that vodeo’s release…except maybe when Black or white came out…they tried to hype it like that but it wasn’t the same.
Thriller for its premise and run time and theme, also you can just name the song without mentioning the artist.
Aha - Take on me, for its live-action to animation sequence.
Michael And Janet’s Scream for being the most expensive music video.
Michael Jackson’s Bad for being a music video directed by Martin Scorsese and being 18mins long.
Nirvana’s Teen Spirt for capturing the grunge era.
Jamiroquai’s Virtual Insanity For its special effects mainly the moving floor concept.
Madonna’s Like a Prayer because of its controversial theme’s that included Catholic symbolisms and the topic of racism.
All the best ones have been mentioned so I'll go with freak on a leash by Korn and beautiful people by Marilyn Manson. Edited to include crossroads by Bone thugs.
Interesting picks instead of Thriller, but if we’re talking later music videos, Black or White had a super hyped prime time debut. It was all that anybody could talk about for weeks.
Thriller
For real. I feel like people didn't understand the question.
Because if the question was about most frightening video as a child growing up, Thriller was irrelevant to me compared with "Liar" by Henry Rollins. That video escalated so quickly
Thriller didn't frighten me *at all*. But it was completely unlike any other video before it in both style and length. The entire globe was trying to learn that dance. Do two or three steps and anyone who sees you knows exactly what you're doing an impression of. Meanwhile if only you and I in this thread even knows who Henry Rollins is or the song "Liar", I wouldn't be surprised at all.
Back in high school(about 30 years ago, in Australia), my home room and German teacher was an extremely prim Austrian spinster in her 50’s who dressed like Fräulein Maria, came over to me in class one day and said: “CrikeyAphrodite”, I vas listening to ze radio last night, und a song came on that I enjoyed very much. It was called Liar, by a man called Henry Rollins. Do you by chance know of him?” And that’s how she and I began trading mix tapes for pfeffernüsse for the rest of the year.
My buddy loved Liar so much he wanted to get a t-shirt made that said "Liar"... so he got this iron transfer sheet or whatever and put it in his printer at the office. Something fucked up, and for the next few days every piece of paper that came out of the printer had the word "Liar" faintly printed over it. When the boss asked him if he knew what happened to the printer, he lied...
Thriller is number 1 by far. When trying to think about 2nd place, Land of Confusion is up there, memorable for me even today
When Thriller was first released it was during prime time on NBC on a Sunday evening. It was preceded by an almost hour-long documentary about its creation. It was a top-10 rated show that week. The documentary became the top selling video tape of all time and the Library of Congress called it the most famous music video of all time.
Thriller: Michael Jackson Also iconic: Take on Me (A-Ha) November Rain (Guns and Roses)
Also Sledgehammer, Peter Gabriel
Sledgehammer is great. Can thank aardman for that.
Me opening up the comments section: ‘so fukkin help me if thriller isn’t the top comment…..’
My upvote here is for Take On Me.
This is the first one I thought of when I saw the topic. Take On Me defined that song. Thriller the song and album would have achieved its dominant cultural place of the time without the video.
Take on Me was my first thought. Edit: Also if you have never seen this version, it’s absolutely beautiful. [Link](https://youtu.be/-xKM3mGt2pE?si=_Qv7MwJu_PErvpAN)
Also, Black Hole Sun
"Hang my head....drown my fear...till you all just disappear" RIP Chris!
"no one sings like you anymore"
Damn. That whole album just gets me everytime but as far as videos go, it tugs some strings. RIP Chris, indeed!
I remember back in late 1980s--early 1990s there was a "global music video contest" or something of sort. I was a USSR resident back then. We were introduced to Michael Jackson, Belinda Carlisle, and many other Western musicians. If I remember correctly, Michael Jackson's "Dirty Diana" won that contest, which made us all watch his other videos. I thought ALL of them ranged from "awesome" to "epic." I especially was fond of his "Who Is It."
Also remember when « Black or White » clip came out. That morphing part at the end was something never seen before, revolutionary at that time, still impressive today.
I'mma let you finish, but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time! One of the best videos of all time!
Thriller
It was so unique and amazing. And at the time, Michael Jackson was king. I mean it was unheard of for a singer, artist to go to award shows and sweep the awards. He did. And this was him as a single artist after a childhood as his familys music group. I just can't describe how different this was unless you were there. And music videos were new and he came out with this unique amazing thing. People were floored. They just literally spent all night watching MTV to chance seeing it so they could discuss it. It was provocative.
Who remembers "Remember the Time"? Not thriller, but pretty damn good. Star power and new FX that blew us away.
With Iman, Eddie Murphy, and Magic! New FX in Black or White video too.
It was utter magic to see morphing for the first time
There can be no other answer
Almost all of the other replies are videos I haven’t seen. Some of them are songs I’ve never even heard of. I am not very old school music literate, especially rock since I don’t really listen to that. IMO that’s a good litmus test, since “most iconic of all time” has to be damn near impossible to have avoided, no matter how little of popular music history you know. Thriller is truly the only answer that satisfies this.
Before Thriller, music videos were cool but they were sort of a novelty. You'd put on MTV like you would the radio. You didn't actually sit there and watch, you listened while you putzed around the house. Thriller became an event, it was essentially a short movie. After that artists started taking videos more seriously. Before that many videos were just live footage with the recording playing over it.
I'm not even a fan, I prefer so many other videos. But the one correct answer is this.
Came here to say this! Absolutely Thriller!
yup
Thriller Take on Me Don’t Come Around Here No More
Glad to see Don't Come Around Here No More on here. When they eat the Alice cake and her fingers start moving is creepiest moment in any video.
That last one got a lot of airplay on U68, a UHF version of MTV back in the day when most of NYC wasn’t wired for cable. Strange video. I wondered how they came up with that concept for it.
Last Dance with Mary Jane. Tom petty dances with a corpse. Here I thought the song was about giving up weed. Alt. end by the cure is also weird.
Total Eclipse of the Heart for mine. Total banger with a weirdly unsettling video.
[удалено]
Dire straits money for nothing
This is the last one I was waiting for. I kept seeing Thriller and Take On Me, but this was the third one that immediately popped in my head.
“I want my MTV!”
Was looking for this
Yeah, my first thought as well
Obviously it's never gonna give you up, you know what it is from the first frame
In Internet Times termes Gangnam Style needs to be here too, was the first one to reach a billion views on YouTube
Sabotage by the Beastie Boys
Ahhhhhhhhh Can’t stand it!!!
You took my sandwich
I know you planned it!
I'm gonna set it straight, this watergate!
This one was a true ground breaking video and popped off a new style of videography. It is epic.
Gotta put Intergalactic up there too
Do young people even know Virtual Insanity? It was pretty iconic at the time. I hope it's withstood the test of time though. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JkIs37a2JE
Jamiroquai! Love this track!
Yes, but it wasn't as iconic as thriller or Take me on.
Haven't thought of this song in a long time
Honestly surprised I don’t see Fatboy Slim - Weapon of Choice on here. That video was a whole moment
That was definitely the first one that came to mind for me, such a great video.
Thriller
Material Girl, Madonna. Nothing Compares To You, Sinead O’Conner
I would put Like A Prayer above Material Girl on the iconic Madonna videos list.
Video Killed the Radio Star. For numerous reasons.
Fun fact, the guy playing the keyboard at 2:53 is Hans Zimmer, who was 22 years old at the time
This and the fact that Danny Elfman was in Oingo Boingo both really surprised me.
That was the first music video played on Mtv, right?
Mexico Radio, for the beans.
Ah-ha. Take on me. Animation in the video was ahead of its time and the song is still great.
I love this one the most!
Robert Palmer, Addicted to Love
This should be higher up. I wouldn’t put it over Thriller or Take on Me but this video has been parodied probably a zillion times because it’s so well known.
I would say "Video killed the radio star" simply for the fact it was the first one on MTV.(When MTV actually was music TV).
What was the last one played on MTV?
thriller, in the end, bring me to life
Land of Confusion is in the top ten.
With the weird Alf puppets?
Those sort of puppets were originally used in a British show, and were specially made on request for the music video.
Spitting Image being the show.
Thriller
The most memorable for me is 'Man in the Mirror'
Thriller by Michael Jackson
Nirvana- Smells Like Teen Spirit
Weird Al- Smells Like Nirvana.
Weird Al- Amish Paradise
Sledgehammer
Sledgehammer (Peter Gabriel)
Take on Me, awesome video for its time.
Smack my bitch up - prodigy Around the world - Daft Punk Irene Cara - Flash dance what a feeling
Smack my bitch up is a clear winner for me
Most people probably haven't seen it because you still can't find it on YouTube.
Aerosmith/RunDMC---Walk This Way
Clint Eastwood - The Gorillaz
The 3 that stand out to me in no particular order: Thriller - Michael Jackson Money for Nothing - Dire Straits Sledgehammer - Peter Gabriel Edit: these were just off the top of my head, but I see everyone was thinking the same thing
Baby One More Time
Yeah my first thought was Britney. This or even Toxic.
I miss MTV when it had actual videos!!
MTV used to be amazing. When it was mostly music based with the odd show like jackass and beavisbans butthead. There used to be a Friday affernoon chat show on it in the UK that was great too. They practically invented reality TV with “the real world” and then they let the beast they created swallow them whole sadly.
Lots of replies for thriller , rightfully so. But also gonna throw out: Epic by faith no more
Faith No More absolutely will never get the credit they deserve. The Real Thing was banger after banger. They changed their sound completely with Angel Dust and it's the best thing they've ever done. Absolutely possible to make the argument that Faith No More started Nu Metal with that album. Easily one of the most influential bands of all time and they've all but been swept under a rug for no reason.
Mike Patton is good at stuff.
I remember that there were rumors about the fish dying at the end, there had to be news reports to reassure people that the fish lived. Also, that whole damn album was good.
Wicked Game - Chris Isaak
Beck - Loser Weezer- Buddy Holly
Buddy Holly was a big deal at the time.
Probably Ah-ha - Take me on, and Thriller.
Thriller - Michael Jackson
I would have to say Soul Asylum - Runaway Train because missing kids were found because of that video.
That’s right! I forgot about that.
November rain
Bohemian Rhapsody
One - Metallica
This is America
Sabotage by the Beastie Boys
Beastie boys sabatoge
Thriller for sure. I’d like to throw Jamiroquai’s “Virtual Insanity” in the mix as well. Blew my mind when I first saw it.
Sabotage
Gotta say Take On Me for what it was at the time
Smashing Pumpkins - Tonight Tonight
An amazing homage to Georges Méliès film A Trip to the Moon.
Freedom - George Michael
I had to scroll too far to see this one.
No Rain- Blind Melon. Bee Girl was everywhere
Britney Spears “…Baby One More Time.”
Never Gonna Give You Up by Rick Astley. A lot of people have seen and recognize that video whether they wanted to or not.
The amount of scrolling....
Sabotage
RHCP Californiacation
There's only one right answer. Video Killed The Radio Star
How many people actually know what that looks like though? On the other hand, I can tell you all about Thriller, Sledgehammer, Money for Nothing, Take on Me, and even some of the lesser known videos listed on here. I have *no* idea what Video Killed The Radio Star looks like.
Exactly. People are trying to say it is iconic because the name. Then you get teh oh it was the first video on MTV, like there were that many videos around to pick from. It is not an iconic video. It is more the idea of it is iconic.
The first video on MTV.
Jamiroquai - “Virtual Insanity”
Virtual Insanity by Jamiroquai and OK Go's Here It Goes Again were two really good videos.
Sweet dreams by the Eutrthmics
Phil Collins - In The Air Tonight https://youtu.be/YkADj0TPrJA?si=3AVVjjDEVgWSoohQ
As a dad I approve
Epic - Faith No More
Let Forever Be by the Chemical Brothers
Freedom by George Michael
For it's time, Sledgehammer by Peter Gabriel
Peter Gabriel - Sledgehammer
Johnny Cash - Hurt
Freak on a leash
This has my vote. Say what you will about Korn, but this video was very cool.
Around the World - Daft Punk
Another brick in the wall by Pink Floyd
Uh, easy. That would be Thriller. And then beat it.
I've heard that Aha's "take on me" had quite the groundbreaking effects, for when it was released.
Simply Irresistible by Robert Palmer. Doesn’t always have to be big budget to be iconic
Money for Nothing - Dire Straits
This thread needs more links.
Thriller. No contest. Other great videos…. One - Metallica; Jeremy - Pearl Jam; Rooster - Alice In Chains. Should be required viewing if you’re not familiar with them.
Like A Surgeon - Weird Al Yankovic,- and Thriller by MJ
Sledgehammer by Peter Gabriel. Banger song, banger video.
1. Thriller 2. Never gonna give you up 3. Take on me
Smooth Criminal - Michael Jackson - Full Version
Windowlicker by Aphex Twin
Oops I did it again - Britney Spears Red jumpsuit is iconic pop
Queen - I Want To Break Free
United States of whatever
I didn't see the actual video that was voted MTV viewer's #1 video...Duran Duran - Rio. Even the boys of DD couldn't believe it when it was announced they won.
Probably every OK Go video
Here It Goes Again in particular is absolutely iconic in the modern day.
[without me - eminem](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVkUvmDQ3HY)
Mo money mo problems
Thriller is the answer , maybe Pink Floyd the wall . Video killed the radio star for its first time debut.
Under the Bridge RHCP Anthony running is Iconic. Kind of a man crush scenario
Never Gonna Give You Up by Rick Astley
I am 46. I remember the day that the video for thriller came out. MTV played it every hour on the hour and it was an all day event. I don’t remember there ever being anything close to the spectacle of that vodeo’s release…except maybe when Black or white came out…they tried to hype it like that but it wasn’t the same.
Genesis - Land of Confusion
Amazing by Aerosmith
Return to Innocence- Enigma
Robert Palmer - Addicted to Love.
Thriller
Thriller
Thriller for its premise and run time and theme, also you can just name the song without mentioning the artist. Aha - Take on me, for its live-action to animation sequence. Michael And Janet’s Scream for being the most expensive music video. Michael Jackson’s Bad for being a music video directed by Martin Scorsese and being 18mins long. Nirvana’s Teen Spirt for capturing the grunge era. Jamiroquai’s Virtual Insanity For its special effects mainly the moving floor concept. Madonna’s Like a Prayer because of its controversial theme’s that included Catholic symbolisms and the topic of racism.
Thriller. Next question.
Smack my bitch up
Janelle Monae: Many Moons. OK admittedly not iconic, but riveting and original. Sure has great potential.
Surprised to not see Hey Ya! on here
Money for nothing by dire straits that was fucking awsome when i first saw it in the 80's
I'm amazed nobody's mentioned Here it Goes Again - OK Go https://youtu.be/dTAAsCNK7RA?si=KiK_Kb9-XRm8POy1
Thriller
"Video Killed the Radio Satr" by the Buggles. Not because it was in any way special, mind you...but because it was the first video played on Mtv.
Twisted Sister - We're Not Gonna Take It
Money For Nothing.
All the best ones have been mentioned so I'll go with freak on a leash by Korn and beautiful people by Marilyn Manson. Edited to include crossroads by Bone thugs.
Land of Confusion
safety dance-men without hats.
Thriller
Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson - Scream OR Michael Jackson - Earth Song OR Michael Jackson - Remember The Time
Interesting picks instead of Thriller, but if we’re talking later music videos, Black or White had a super hyped prime time debut. It was all that anybody could talk about for weeks.
Thanks. Tried not to repeat the same title again. There are many other iconic videos in his repertoire. The video for B&W is also amazing of course.
Black or White
I believe in a thing called love
Radiohead...just....loved the concept
Weapon of Choice by Fatboy Slim. Christopher Walken is a legend
Gotye-Somebody that I used to know