Top 10 Strangest Music Videos

Music Videos are a big part of the music industry now and some bands are essentially expected to include multiple music videos for every album they put out. The modern music video is generally made as a kind of marketing device for promotion of the album itself, although now profits can be made from the music videos directly with the recent ability to purchase them through services such as iTunes.

These videos may use animation, live action, documentary, abstract, or countless other styles of filmmaking. Occasionally these clips may tell a story or act out the lyrics line by line. But sometimes these music videos have nothing to do with the actual content of the song or are so bizarre that it would take a psychologist to even attempt to link the lyrics to the actual scenes in the videos!

These are a few of the more absurd professional music videos:

10. David Hasselhoff – “Hooked on a Feeling”

This song is popular but the video has enough absurdities in it to be popular too. Every scene in this music video is filmed in front of a green screen. And despite it being painfully obvious, Hasselhoff acts like he is actually on location in most of the scenes, making the video even more bizarre halfway through when he starts flying and doing summersaults through the air. If you can watch this without laughing, then kudos to you.

9. Barnes and Barnes – “Fish Heads”

“Fish Heads” from 1979 is one of those videos that you feel sick after watching, but you won’t be able to put your finger on why. Maybe it’s the fact that the song is about fish heads. Or maybe it has to do with the heads being dressed up in clothing and makeup. Or maybe it has to do with the unsettling pitch of the singers. No matter what it is, this video is undeniably strange. You’ll notice a young Bill Paxton in the video. He directed the video, and graced it with his presence.

8. Ilkka Lipsanen and Armi Aavikko – “I Wanna Love You Tender”

This Finnish music video is from 1974 and contains a song that you might recognize. However, the video destroys anything good you have to say about the song itself. The entire video is set in space for no apparent reason, with backup dancers that look like they are in some kind of creepy trance while they hop around in the background throughout the clip. Sort of a precursor to aerobics classes?

7. Tommy Sparks – “She’s Got Me Dancing”

This music video starts off with a woman that looks like Xena: Warrior Princess blasting all the backup dancers into moving by shooting them with laser blasts from her eyes. The rest of the video does not disappoint either, complete with beams shooting out of a man’s nipples while he stands on the woman’s head.

6. Zladko “Zlad” Vladcik – “Elektronik Supersonik”

“Elektronik Supersonik” by Zladko “Zlad” Vladcik is a strangely catchy pop song that was released in 2004 but looks like it was made in the 80s. It includes such “ingenious” lyrics as “Fly away my space rocket. You no need put money in my pocket” and “5…4…3…1…Off blast!” The entire video consists of Zlad and his partner standing in front of a green screen while rocking out to his own song. At least now we know where Lady Gaga got her look. Or at least, one of them.

5. Tool – “Parabola”

Tool is a progressive metal band from LA which is known for strange music videos. In fact, the band’s very first music video consists of the band members wearing parental advisory stickers over their genitalia. So when we say that this video is stranger, understand the full implications of this statement. It is so bizarre that saying anything more would spoil its strangeness.

4. Dead or Alive – “You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)”

This video is from Dead or Alive’s 1984 hit “You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)” and it is still popular enough to this day that anyone will recognize the repetitive lyrics: “You spin me right round, baby, right round… like a record, baby…” But you may not have seen the music video. It consists of a series of awkward close-ups and zoom-outs while men wrapped in ribbons stand in place and do the occasional hand gesture. Around the middle of the video, eerie arms and hands appear from behind the singer, and after a close-up of the long nails on these hands, the video cuts to a man twirling a flag.

Oh, and did I mention that the main singer wears an eye patch almost the whole time?

3. Harry Enfield – “Loadsamoney”

“Loadsamoney” is a music video from 1988 by Harry Enfield. Enfield is a British comedian who accidentally created a hit single from this comedy song. The song itself starts out with the singer spelling out “L-o-d-s o-f e-m-o-n-e… what does that spell? Loads of money! Probably.” The video itself consists of the singer wearing brightly colored jackets and jumping around and yelling in front of a green screen while holding big bundles of cash. There are also constant cuts to irrelevant clips that Enfield then interrupts, to remind the audience that he has “loads of money.”

The music is terrible and the video is too, but you won’t be able to stop watching it.

2. The Darkness – “I Believe in a Thing Called Love”

This hit by The Darkness is used constantly in films even today, but its music video is absurdity upon absurdity. To summarize: The band uses their guitars and music to fight a giant space-octopus. It’s like Star Trek gone wrong, but the video is entertaining the whole way through.

1. Aphex Twin – “Windowlicker”

“Windowlicker” is an electronic music video from 1999. The song is catchy although even the song itself contains oddities, like the artist’s girlfriend saying “’aime faire des croquettes au chien,” which translates to “I like to make Croquettes with the dog.” The first twenty seconds of this video are an endless stretch limo driving by, but this is just a taste of what is to come for the rest of the music video. Aphex Twin then dances in a puddle with an umbrella, which turns heads and gets him the ladies. This turns what would be a normal hip-hop video into a series of creepy scenes that you can’t take your eyes away from because of its absurdity.

The video in its entirety is not meant to be taken seriously and is a parody of modern American hip-hop music videos, but unlike the majority of parody songs out there, it is undoubtedly a parody done well. But if you’re offended by creepy videos with people writhing in slow motion a lot, you probably shouldn’t watch it.

by Steven Morgan

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