"Were members of Duran Duran on opposite sides of the Cold War?"
August 22, 2023 3:37 PM Subscribe
Worst to Best: Music Videos Set in Movie Worlds (SLThe Reveal, a Substack that's mostly about movies)
The extended version of this Back to the Future hit’s video opens with Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd) pulling up outside a club, desperate, for some reason, to attend a Huey Lewis and the News concert.
Isn't it obvious? He was there to tell the judge to say Marty's band was "too loud" and cut their audition short, then Marty would have free time to document the experiment.
posted by credulous at 3:44 PM on August 22, 2023 [2 favorites]
Isn't it obvious? He was there to tell the judge to say Marty's band was "too loud" and cut their audition short, then Marty would have free time to document the experiment.
posted by credulous at 3:44 PM on August 22, 2023 [2 favorites]
I was surprised 'Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now' wasn't on the list, though upon recent viewing I'm not really 100% sure it takes place in the world of Mannequin, a movie I don't remember ever seeing.
posted by box at 3:51 PM on August 22, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by box at 3:51 PM on August 22, 2023 [3 favorites]
We are all living in the world of Mannequin, although some of us are more aware of it than others.
posted by phooky at 4:09 PM on August 22, 2023 [10 favorites]
posted by phooky at 4:09 PM on August 22, 2023 [10 favorites]
Cannot be understated how often Harold Faltermeyer in the Axel F video looks completely the wrong scale.
posted by Artw at 4:09 PM on August 22, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by Artw at 4:09 PM on August 22, 2023 [3 favorites]
Clicked over looking for "Goonies R Good Enough", was not disappointed, although I did find and fix a typo:
"it’sfar from Lauper’s finest moment musically"
posted by gurple at 4:40 PM on August 22, 2023 [8 favorites]
"it’s
posted by gurple at 4:40 PM on August 22, 2023 [8 favorites]
MUNA (feat. Phoebe Bridgers) - "Silk Chiffon"
posted by The Tensor at 4:41 PM on August 22, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by The Tensor at 4:41 PM on August 22, 2023 [3 favorites]
Multiple mentions of the Elm Street franchise and no entry for this gem???
posted by praemunire at 4:42 PM on August 22, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by praemunire at 4:42 PM on August 22, 2023 [1 favorite]
Every one of these things is awesome and I don't appreciate the "Worst To Best" framing.
posted by Phobos the Space Potato at 4:43 PM on August 22, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by Phobos the Space Potato at 4:43 PM on August 22, 2023 [3 favorites]
Very happy to see "Bat Dance" on that list - truly surreal video, an amazing song.
posted by davidmsc at 5:33 PM on August 22, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by davidmsc at 5:33 PM on August 22, 2023 [4 favorites]
I have traumatized younger nerdy friends with "Bat Dance" and zero regrets. They deserve to know about it.
(I believe I have a 12-inch single of "Bat Dance" but then again, I would.)
I do miss the days of movies having very specific "theme" songs. I know movie soundtracks aren't so much a thing anymore but I still like the concept (you know, when the "soundtrack" would be like 3 songs actually in the movie and then 8 other songs that were just sort of vaguely curated as an experience or whatever).
I like Lemmy playing poker with Pinhead, though.
I think the song and video for U2's "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me" is awesome and no apologies.
I know there's a listing of Bond themes but "A View To a Kill" is a pretty great one.
posted by edencosmic at 6:04 PM on August 22, 2023 [5 favorites]
(I believe I have a 12-inch single of "Bat Dance" but then again, I would.)
I do miss the days of movies having very specific "theme" songs. I know movie soundtracks aren't so much a thing anymore but I still like the concept (you know, when the "soundtrack" would be like 3 songs actually in the movie and then 8 other songs that were just sort of vaguely curated as an experience or whatever).
I like Lemmy playing poker with Pinhead, though.
I think the song and video for U2's "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me" is awesome and no apologies.
I know there's a listing of Bond themes but "A View To a Kill" is a pretty great one.
posted by edencosmic at 6:04 PM on August 22, 2023 [5 favorites]
Guns N' Roses - You Could Be Mine from Terminator 2?
posted by glonous keming at 6:07 PM on August 22, 2023
posted by glonous keming at 6:07 PM on August 22, 2023
City of Crime from Dragnet, 1987
posted by ivan ivanych samovar at 6:56 PM on August 22, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by ivan ivanych samovar at 6:56 PM on August 22, 2023 [2 favorites]
They forgot to mention Billy Idol's "Shock to the System", which is clearly set in the world of Tetsuo: The Iron Man.
posted by FatherDagon at 8:34 PM on August 22, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by FatherDagon at 8:34 PM on August 22, 2023 [2 favorites]
You could also add..
MC Hammer - Adamms Groove
El DeBarge - Who's Johnny
Queen - Princes of the Universe
Thomas Dolby and The Cherry Bombs - Howard The Duck (i wouldn't say i missed it, Bob...)
posted by credulous at 8:52 PM on August 22, 2023 [2 favorites]
MC Hammer - Adamms Groove
El DeBarge - Who's Johnny
Queen - Princes of the Universe
Thomas Dolby and The Cherry Bombs - Howard The Duck (i wouldn't say i missed it, Bob...)
posted by credulous at 8:52 PM on August 22, 2023 [2 favorites]
(oh n/m, I think that Howard the Duck video is a fan edit)
posted by credulous at 9:14 PM on August 22, 2023
posted by credulous at 9:14 PM on August 22, 2023
also bobby brown - on our own (ghostbusters 2)
ALL the 1989 nyc celebrity cameos! (including tfg, but ignore him)
posted by Clowder of bats at 9:34 PM on August 22, 2023
ALL the 1989 nyc celebrity cameos! (including tfg, but ignore him)
posted by Clowder of bats at 9:34 PM on August 22, 2023
How the hell did they leave out "Deepest Bluest" from Deep Blue Sea?
posted by brundlefly at 10:15 PM on August 22, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by brundlefly at 10:15 PM on August 22, 2023 [5 favorites]
It's entirely footage from the movie, but the music was aleatoric, so I think it still counts... I Still Believe!
posted by kaibutsu at 11:08 PM on August 22, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by kaibutsu at 11:08 PM on August 22, 2023 [2 favorites]
Now I kinda wanna see Thompson Twins in a video for "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World"
posted by credulous at 11:19 PM on August 22, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by credulous at 11:19 PM on August 22, 2023 [2 favorites]
Clearly Dokken's Dream Warriors title track is the ultimate merging of Nightmare on Elm Street movie and video; the band is on the set, edited to appear that Patricia Arquette is reacting to them, and a Robert Englund cameo!
Got You Where I Want You was featured in the 1998 horror flick Disturbing Behavior, featuring brainwashed high schoolers. The video features Katie Holmes and James Marsden acting like they're in the movie, and is very, very 1998. Note -- video features teens artistically plummeting off a cliff into the ocean.
Metafilter favorite from 2006 - Bring It! (Snakes On A Plane) by supergroup Cobra Starship. The video features a Samuel L. Jackson audio sample of the movie's key line and a cameo.
posted by JDC8 at 11:20 PM on August 22, 2023 [1 favorite]
Got You Where I Want You was featured in the 1998 horror flick Disturbing Behavior, featuring brainwashed high schoolers. The video features Katie Holmes and James Marsden acting like they're in the movie, and is very, very 1998. Note -- video features teens artistically plummeting off a cliff into the ocean.
Metafilter favorite from 2006 - Bring It! (Snakes On A Plane) by supergroup Cobra Starship. The video features a Samuel L. Jackson audio sample of the movie's key line and a cameo.
posted by JDC8 at 11:20 PM on August 22, 2023 [1 favorite]
It took 19 comments before brundlefly brought the realness. That should have been comment #1. His hat is like a shark's fin, guys... his HAT is like a SHARK'S fin.
posted by Molesome at 2:41 AM on August 23, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by Molesome at 2:41 AM on August 23, 2023 [2 favorites]
That line is kind of stupid, but it's also a callback to a line from 'I'm Bad.'
Kind of like when he did a GAP commercial and not only wore a Fubu cap but also said 'For us, by us, on the low' in his freestyle, LL has a way of sneaking hip-hop into even his most crossover-y moments.
posted by box at 4:37 AM on August 23, 2023
Kind of like when he did a GAP commercial and not only wore a Fubu cap but also said 'For us, by us, on the low' in his freestyle, LL has a way of sneaking hip-hop into even his most crossover-y moments.
posted by box at 4:37 AM on August 23, 2023
The the second half of the video for Together in Electric Dreams is basically the end of the movie except for the presence of Phil Oakley. The movie was a flop but the song was a hit so maybe Phil should have been in the movie too.
posted by LostInUbe at 7:08 AM on August 23, 2023
posted by LostInUbe at 7:08 AM on August 23, 2023
My memory was that the video for Vanilla Ice's Ninja Rap was set in the world of TMNT 2: The Secret Of The Ooze but on review it seems instead to have been set in our world with the ninja turtles present - but - philosophical question: at that point how do you really tell the difference between the world of TMNT 2: The Secret Of The Ooze and our reality?
posted by Pickman's Next Top Model at 7:20 AM on August 23, 2023
posted by Pickman's Next Top Model at 7:20 AM on August 23, 2023
In the world of TMNT 2, Vanilla Ice is a very popular and highly credible rapper.
posted by box at 7:30 AM on August 23, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by box at 7:30 AM on August 23, 2023 [1 favorite]
We could sit here all day and do the star shows up in the video thing. Are they in character? Are they just friends with the singer?
One that sticks out for me is John Parr's St. Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion) because he's not just doing the watch the characters through a magic window, he seems to be actively stalking them outside St. Elmo's when not performing for the characters in St. Elmo's. And then he meets them all at the end.
Tina Turner (and the sax guy, you know who he is) is performing We Don't Need Another Hero as her character in the movie.
Not a movie but Jan Hammer, via clips, goes up against Crockett and Tubbs in the music video for the Miami Vice theme song.
posted by LostInUbe at 8:09 AM on August 23, 2023 [3 favorites]
One that sticks out for me is John Parr's St. Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion) because he's not just doing the watch the characters through a magic window, he seems to be actively stalking them outside St. Elmo's when not performing for the characters in St. Elmo's. And then he meets them all at the end.
Tina Turner (and the sax guy, you know who he is) is performing We Don't Need Another Hero as her character in the movie.
Not a movie but Jan Hammer, via clips, goes up against Crockett and Tubbs in the music video for the Miami Vice theme song.
posted by LostInUbe at 8:09 AM on August 23, 2023 [3 favorites]
INXS - Listen Like Thieves exists in a Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome world where people bring machine guns to watch rock bands perform (so 2023 I guess?), but also features some shadow puppetry because why not. It doesn't have any official connection to the movie nor are any of the major characters represented.
If if you remember it vaguely fondly from 1985, it's something you should rewatch in 2023 because there is a lot of 'stuff' going on in the background that was probably missed/just really blurry on a 1985 tv. Talk about a visual artist way ahead of technology.
They also did a video for a for a movie called Strikebound, which was about Australian coal miners fighting to form a union. It mostly features footage from the movie, interspersed with them singing, but they did sort of make them look a bit coal-dirty to blend in. If we are ranking this one would be near the bottom, but the overall concept of 'inserting bands into movies' is kinda fun and why not add in the stinkers too to make the list definitive?
posted by The_Vegetables at 8:57 AM on August 23, 2023 [3 favorites]
If if you remember it vaguely fondly from 1985, it's something you should rewatch in 2023 because there is a lot of 'stuff' going on in the background that was probably missed/just really blurry on a 1985 tv. Talk about a visual artist way ahead of technology.
They also did a video for a for a movie called Strikebound, which was about Australian coal miners fighting to form a union. It mostly features footage from the movie, interspersed with them singing, but they did sort of make them look a bit coal-dirty to blend in. If we are ranking this one would be near the bottom, but the overall concept of 'inserting bands into movies' is kinda fun and why not add in the stinkers too to make the list definitive?
posted by The_Vegetables at 8:57 AM on August 23, 2023 [3 favorites]
What, no love for Devo's Dr. Detroit? Metafilter, I am saddened.
posted by halliburtron at 8:59 AM on August 23, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by halliburtron at 8:59 AM on August 23, 2023 [2 favorites]
One of my favorite "movie concept albums" is Until the End of the World. It's not exactly "music videos set in the film", the idea is more "music from the film's universe" -- in 1990 Director Wim Wenders asked the various musicians to create music for the next decade to go along with the 1999 near-future scifi setting of the film, and everyone knocked it out of the park. "Sax and Violins" video is amazing and really feels futuristic today. The computer interface in Summer Kisses, Winter Tears is such a retrofuture masterpiece. U2's Until the end of the world is also a solid banger, too.
Now I want to track down an actual high-def transfer of the film. It's been years since I've watched it... Maybe the Bounty Bear can help me find it here or there or anywhere.
posted by autopilot at 9:07 AM on August 23, 2023 [5 favorites]
Now I want to track down an actual high-def transfer of the film. It's been years since I've watched it... Maybe the Bounty Bear can help me find it here or there or anywhere.
posted by autopilot at 9:07 AM on August 23, 2023 [5 favorites]
Speaking of INXS, Michael Hutchence sings and dances in the swell under-rated 1986 Australian punk/new-wave film 'Dogs in Space'. More authentic than the usual punk film of that era. Hard to find these days.
posted by ovvl at 9:12 AM on August 23, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by ovvl at 9:12 AM on August 23, 2023 [4 favorites]
Now I really want to make fan videos for movies of the 1970s -- currently searching the 1972 charts for which songs pair with The Godfather, thinking "Alone Again (Naturally)" might be a contender.
posted by credulous at 9:30 AM on August 23, 2023
posted by credulous at 9:30 AM on August 23, 2023
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Hmm. This list sucks.
posted by phunniemee at 3:39 PM on August 22, 2023 [8 favorites]