Three Cheers For Music Videos!
The Super Bowl is this weekend, as we're sure most of you know. And while many of you will be tuning in for the big game itself, or for Bruce Springsteen's halftime show, or for the multimillion-dollar commercials, we're sure others among you (particularly the males) will be watching for another reason: the cheerleaders. Admit it.
And so, with that in mind, we're getting you all pumped up for Super Bowl Sunday with the super-est cheerleader-themed videos of all time. Come shake your pom-poms to these!
TONI BASIL - "MICKEY"
There is no better video with which to begin this list than "Mickey," by esteemed choreographer, actress, and one-hit wonder Toni Basil. Sure, the early-'80s production values may seem laughable now, but back when MTV first sent out its broadcast signal, viewers thought this ra-ra video was so fine, so fine it blew their minds:
GWEN STEFANI - "HOLLABACK GIRL"
Gwen sure does look foxy in a drum majorette uniform and marching boots. But it's her wickedly-styled Harajuku Girls that really rally the crowds here. Everybody, now: B-A-N-A-N-A-S!:
NIRVANA - "SMELLS LIKE TEEN SPIRIT"
Apparently high school in the alt-rock '90s was ALL about adolescent angst. So "Smells Like Teen Spirit," one of the classic videos of the grunge era, depicts a high school pep rally that's actually not so peppy at all. All rock fans who saw this video in 1991--with its tattooed, facial-pierced, dreadheaded, black-clad drill team girls--still have that iconic imagery seared into their brains 18 years later:
NADA SURF - "POPULAR"
Another three or so minutes of '90s high school angst, the hilarious lyrics to this song are from an actual home-ec guide to teen etiquette published in the '50s. Meanwhile, the video itself depicts a cheerleader and high school quarterback behaving badly. It's still a totally subversive classic:
MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE - "TEENAGERS"
Apparently adolescent ennui is not just a '90s thing. Emo kings MCR have carried that tradition into the new millennium with angst anthems like "The Black Parade" and "I'm Not Okay," and with this disturbing video starring a flock of oddly gas-masked cheerleaders:
ASH - "BURN BABY BURN"
This bouncy clip from one of Ireland's finest powerpop squads understandably made FHM's top 100 list of the Sexiest Music Videos Of All Time, landing at #66 right in between Shakira "Whenever, Wherever" and 50 Cent's "Candy Shop." Now that's something to high-kick about:
JC CHASEZ - "SHE'S BLOWING ME UP WITH HER LOVE"
A former *NSYNC-star-turned-reality-TV-judge, a serious mullet that would shock even Billy Ray Cyrus, a Tara Reid cameo, and practically the entire cast of Drumline. What isn't there to rally behind when it comes to this video?:
BROOKE HOGAN - "EVERYTHING TO ME"
Hulk's doted-upon daughter first publicly shook her pom-poms (so to speak) in this, her debut pop video. The music world did not exactly cheer. But Brooke got the last laugh when reality television made her a household name a few years later:
SUM 41 - "UNDERCLASS HERO"
Bonfires and pep rallies aren't very punk rock, you know. But Sum 41 look like they're having too much fun here to care about punk cred. And some of the girls dancing around the football field look like extras from "Smells Like Teen Spirit," so it's all good:
ROBBIE WILLIAMS - "RADIO"
Apparently cheerleading isn't an entirely all-American phenomenon. British pop stud Robbie Williams also gets in the spirit here with a pack of sexy, Zorro-masked cadets, even if "football" means something entirely different across the pond:
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Actually, if we define Emo as more expressive Hardcore Punk, then I guess they WOULD qualify.
Though Post-Emo seems like a more fitting title.
Post-Emo: A number of bands who combined the Catharsis of Emotive Hardcore with more commercial minds, and usually incorporate metallic tendencies.
This sounds more like (early) MCR. And a bunch of "screamo" bands like BFMV qualify better as Post-Emo than the "screamo" tag.
Finally, I find football boooring.
Watch soccer instead.
Which means I'll be watching these music vid with the sound muted, lol
As Gerard has said- “I think emo is f***ing garbage, it's bull****. I think there's bands that unfortunately [we] get lumped in with that are considered emo.."
So, the next time My Chem is included in one of these lists, Yahoo, please don't call the emo.
2) Liza- How did you misspell "miss spelled"?
3) Yes, I'm old enough to remember Toni Basil...
MCR CAN, I repeat, CAN be qualified as Emo. Just because a band denys their label doesn't mean that they don't fit its characteristics.
I'm sorry, but MCR DOES have Hardcore influences, more expressive lyrics (YES my friends, they are VERY expressive).
Like stated before, they are NOT pure emo, but they do have elements of Emo, as they are a more dynamic form of Hardcore. Geez, you guys get YOUR facts straight.