There were lots of artistic and/or high-budget videos before "Thriller"--from David Bowie, Michael Sembello, ABC, Billy Joel, Talk Talk, Herbie Hancock, Art of Noise, Tracey Ullman, Culture Club, Duran Duran, Hall & Oates, ZZ Top, Men at Work, The Clash, Berlin, Stray Cats, Greg Kihn Band, Adam and the Ants, Laura Branigan, Prince, Madness, Asia, Taco, Bonnie Tyler, Cyndi Lauper, Eurythmics, The Fixx, Steve Miller Band, and Michael Jackson (Beat It and Billie Jean), among others.

The video was too long to fit into the regular song rotation. For a few weeks it was played as a program or an event--once an hour on the hour, taking up 25% of MTVs airtime. And then there was "The Making of Thriller" and "The Making of Blue Jean" (by David Bowie) and a bunch of other stuff that wasn't music. The music mix began to change at the same time as MTV began programming more music with proven mass-appeal in order to hold onto the people who tuned in just to see what the hype was about with "Thriller."

To update the scenario: Imagine there's no internet for finding new music, but there's a cool cable channel that's the epitome of hipness, where Spoon, The Dandy Warhols, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Tapes 'n Tapes, and TV on the Radio have equal footing with Nickelback and John Mayer and Linkin' Park. Then imagine there's a $5 million 14-minute video for "Sexyback." Viewership goes through the roof and Justin Timberlake is on the cover of Time and Newsweek. But you are missing out on seeing your favorite videos from Tapes 'n Tapes and The Dandy Warhols because once an hour there's the "Sexyback" video. And then suddenly there's a whole lot less Spoon and Yeah Yeah Yeahs and a whole lot more Josh Groban, Jennifer Lopez, James Blunt, Fergie, 50-Cent, and former Mouseketeers and American Idol contestants, plus a lot of programming that does not feature the playing of music. That's what it was like when the "Thriller" video came out.

Maybe it was always inevitable, but the "Thriller" video marks the exact time when MTV began to evolve from something vital into something annoying.

Personally, I seem to automatically tune out music videos unless I find them significant in some way, in which they add to the appeal of the song altogether. Some of my faves:

Nirvana - Heart Shaped Box: My all-time favorite music video. Perfectly captures of the catharsis and cryptic imagery of the song. This is the kind of music video I would make. I love surrealistic dream-like imagery.

Radiohead - Just: I love the concept for this video....it's just too cool. I love it when you see the band looking out the window at whats going on just before the song explodes.

White Stripes - Blue Orchid: Again, I love surrealism, and the Stripes are just about the perfect band for it. This video is just too cool. I love the way Jack and Meg prance and smash around to the bing-bash disco beat. Say what you want about Meg's minimalistic drumming, if you don't get it that's your problem. The drm beat to this song and "Seven Nation Army" are two examples of the power and hynosis that can stem from simple drumming.

Radiohead - There, There - All in all, the same bands make the best videos. I love the children storybook theme. Just Thom walking through the forest, which is one of my fovorite past-times, and from what I've read, his as well.

White Stripes - I love every video they've made. I love how perfect the video for "We're Going to Friends" is, even though it probably didn't cost a penny. I love the retro old bluesman singing to kids of "My doorbell" or the day on Conan and following tea party of "The Denial Twist". This band makes great videos.

Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit - The birth of a star. Gives me chills.

I apologize if my previous post about the "Thriller" video seemed overbearing. I suppose I've just been harboring a grudge for the past 24 years against MTV for making what was probably a sound business decision to broaden their appeal.

Having been part of its original target market, suburban teenagers, I was annoyed when MTV quit catering exclusively to people like me. And MTV's first decision to broaden their format was precipitated by the release of the "Thriller" video, which didn't fit the channel's format, but was irresistible because it was a high-budget production with a big-name director from the best-selling album of all time.

Actually the worst video I've ever seen, at least for a song that was a hit, was the one for Eddie Money's "Shakin'." It featured (inadvertently appropriate) shaky camera work, after-images on the videotape, and Mr. Money's unique, spastic dancing. My favorite video is for "It's My Life," by Talk Talk. This was meant to be an antidote to the sudden rash of highly-produced videos at the time. It consists mainly of scenes from nature documentaries with some animated dots in the corner of the screen that move like animals. It's serene and it gives the tune unexpected poignancy.

Regarding "Thriller," it's still not my favorite video, but it is without a doubt the most well-known video of all time. It is also perhaps the most significant, for setting a high production standard and for opening up MTV to a wider array of pop and R&B, possibly paving the way for the later success of acts as diverse as L.L. Cool J. and Tiffany.

As far as establishing the video as an art form, if any one video deserves credit for that, it would be "Elephant Parts," an album-length video by Michael Nesmith, which won the first music video grammy in 1981 and used to be shown regularly on "Night Flight" on the USA Channel. The first blockbuster video which was seen by a large audience was the video album for "Physical," by Olivia Newton-John, which was shown on CBS on Monday Night before M*A*S*H and Lou Grant in 1982.

Sorry for the 3 large posts. I just happened across this thread and didn't really intend to go on and on.

I don't know if this one has been mentioned yet, but I think the video for "Sabotage" by the Beastie Boys is a classic. Sure, there are a lot of cool music videos that look great, but that one was hilarious, which is something I don't see often in music videos.

I really have no idea what the best music video ever is. That question requires too much thought and reflection. However the worst music video ever is easy, "Never Gonna Give You Up" by Rick Austley. Duh.

Kwoon - I lived On The Moon http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5pm-UopPR4

And quite a few bjork videos are pretty good
you cant got wrong with Gondry or Cunningham as a director
Check out wanderlust in 3d
http://www.encyclopediapictura.com/wanderlust/wanderlust3d.html

I came across the Talking Heads video for "Burning Down the House" again the other day. That video is so awesome.

I think this video gets the award for both the best and worst video -

Prime Mover

Additionally, the sequel features more sexism and a dodgey martial arts sub-plot -

Backseat Education

Rumour has it that Adrian Edmonson (Vyvian in 'The Young Ones') directed both videos. Backseat Education was banned on UK television.

It's all fantastically bad.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Duncan Black,