The 2013 VMA’s are airing tomorrow night, Sunday, August 25, and instead of working on the fool’s errand of predicting the winners, I will be going through all of the past Video of the Year winners and determining if the appropriate choice was made or if the Moonman should have gone to another nominee. There have been some deserving Video of the Year winners, but not every year. But in general, there has been at least one good nominee. Here we go:
1984: WINNER: The Cars – “You Might Think”/SHOULD HAVE BEEN: Michael Jackson – “Thriller” – Giant Ric Ocasek is plenty amusing, but it’s not the best music video of all time.
1985: WINNER: Don Henley – “The Boys of Summer”/SHOULD HAVE BEEN: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – “Don’t Come Around Here No More” – Alice in Wonderland homages are a dime a dozen, but they don’t often come much more memorable than Tom Petty as the Mad Hatter.
1986: WINNER: Dire Straits – “Money for Nothing”/SHOULD HAVE BEEN: “Money for Nothing” – Tough competition from “Take on Me” and “Addicted to Love,” but MTV was thankfully willing to reward MTV-targeted satire.
1987: WINNER: Peter Gabriel – “Sledgehammer”/SHOULD HAVE BEEN: “Sledgehammer” – Quite possibly my choice for best music video of all time, “Sledgehammer” is the apotheosis of visual wit and imagination.
1988: WINNER: INXS – “Need You Tonight/Mediate”/SHOULD HAVE BEEN: “Need You Tonight/Mediate” – Michael Hutchence delivered sex appeal and a Bob Dylan homage that was even better than the original.
1989: WINNER: Neil Young – “This Note’s for You”/SHOULD HAVE BEEN: Fine Young Cannibals – “She Drives Me Crazy” – I love Neil Young, but “This Note’s for You” has not had the legacy of one of the great minimalist clips of all time.
1990: WINNER: Sinéad O’Connor – “Nothing Compares 2 U”/SHOULD HAVE BEEN: “Nothing Compares 2 U” – Emotionally, understatedly wrenching. Totally manipulative, but in an absolutely lovely way.
1991: WINNER: R.E.M. – “Losing My Religion”/SHOULD HAVE BEEN: Deee-Lite – “Groove is in the Heart” – Tough call, here. (“Wicked Game” was also a worthy contender.) I feel like “Losing My Religion” is a better song than video, but perhaps I am a bit blinded by all the colors of Deee-Lite.
1992: WINNER: van Halen – “Right Now”/SHOULD HAVE BEEN: Nirvana – “Smells Like Teen Spirit” – “Right Now” is quite clever and sometimes just plain old silly, which is to say, it has a spot among great videos, but it’s no “Smells Like Teen Spirit.”
1993: WINNER: Pearl Jam – “Jeremy”/SHOULD HAVE BEEN: “Jeremy” – The music video may be the best visual art form for social commentary with an artsy sensibility.
1994: WINNER: Aerosmith – “Cryin'”/SHOULD HAVE BEEN: Beastie Boys – “Sabotage” – We enjoyed the Thelma & Louise-style adventures of Liv Tyler and Alicia Silverstone, but not as much as the 70’s cop show adventures of Mike D, Ad-Rock, and MCA.
1995: WINNER: TLC – “Waterfalls”/SHOULD HAVE BEEN: Weezer – “Buddy Holly” – “Waterfalls” had some cool FX, but no Fonzie.
1996: WINNER: The Smashing Pumpkns – “Tonight, Tonight”/SHOULD HAVE BEEN: Bone Thugs-n-Harmony – “Tha Crossroads” – A mostly unmemorable year. At least “Tha Crossroads” had some directorial style.
1997: WINNER: Jamiroquai – “Virtual Insanity”/SHOULD HAVE BEEN: “Virtual Insanity” – Neat camera tricks make for some weirdly cool dance moves.
1998: WINNER: Madonna – “Ray of Light”/SHOULD HAVE BEEN: “Ray of Light” – A batch of good, but not great, nominees, with “Ray of Light” winning points for bringing visuals with an EDM sensibility to a mainstream video.
1999: WINNER: Lauryn Hill – “Doo Wop (That Thing)”/SHOULD HAVE BEEN:Korn – “Freak on a Leash” – There once was a time when the viewpoint of a bullet was “in,” and kind of deservedly so.
2000: WINNER: Eminem – “The Real Slim Shady”/SHOULD HAVE BEEN:D’Angelo – “Untitled (How Does It Feel)” – Marshall Mather’s videos are often funny, but they don’t have closeups of a naked man’s ear.
2001: WINNER: Christina Aguilera, Lil’ Kim, Mýa, and P!nk – “Lady Marmalade”/SHOULD HAVE BEEN: Fatboy Slim – “Weapon of Choice” – It may have been surprising 12 years ago, but it is no longer a shock that it is more fun to watch Christopher Walken’s dancing than those four ladies’.
2002: WINNER: Eminem – “Without Me”/SHOULD HAVE BEEN: The White Stripes – “Fell in Love with a Girl” – The attention to detail in the craft of an all-LEGO video cannot be ignored.
2003: WINNER: Missy Elliott – “Work It”/SHOULD HAVE BEEN: “Work It” – One of Missy’s wild yet technically impressive dance clips had to be awarded at some point.
2004: WINNER: OutKast – “Hey Ya!”/SHOULD HAVE BEEN: “Hey Ya!” or Jay-Z – “99 Problems” – “Hey Ya” is more fun and accessible, but the expressionistic “99 Problems” really sticks with you.
2005: WINNER: Green Day – “Boulevard of Broken Dreams”/SHOULD HAVE BEEN: Snoop Dogg ft. Pharrell – “Drop It Like It’s Hot” or Kanye West – “Jesus Walks” – Tough call. Snoop’s B&W clip might be the best minimalist video of all time, but “Jesus Walks” was the start of some incredible ambition.
2006: WINNER: Panic! at the Disco – “I Write Sins Not Tragedies”/SHOULD HAVE BEEN: Red Hot Chili Peppers – “Dani California” A fun homage to RHCP’s influences should have edged out P!atD’s colorful cast of characters.
2007: WINNER: Rihanna ft Jay-Z – “Umbrella”/SHOULD HAVE BEEN: Justice – “D.A.N.C.E.” – RiRi left us with quite a striking image, but Justice’s chameleonic T-shirts were the most original idea of the year.
2008: WINNER: Britney Spears – “Piece of Me”/SHOULD HAVE BEEN: The Ting-Tings – “Shut Up and Let Me Go” – Awarding Britney for one of her lesser videos is the biggest VMA embarrassment in recent history. But it was slim pickings among what was nominated. The Ting-Tings stick out with their kaleidoscopic mix of colorful backgrounds and finger triangles.
2009: WINNER:Beyoncé – “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)”/SHOULD HAVE BEEN: Kanye West – “Love Lockdown” – Sorry, Kanye, but Beyoncé actually had one of the most overrated videos of the decade. Your own video was much better.
2010: WINNER: Lady GaGa – “Bad Romance”/SHOULD HAVE BEEN: Lady GaGa ft. Beyoncé – “Telephone” – How can you not go with the more insane GaGa clip?
2011: WINNER: Katy Perry – “Firework”/SHOULD HAVE BEEN: Tyler, the Creator – “Yonkers” – The fact that Tyler’s mini-horror movie was even nominated (and won for Best New Artist) is enough of an accomplishment. Too bad the actual winner went to the boring “Firework” from the otherwise entertaining Katy Perry.
2012: WINNER: Rihanna ft. Calvin Harris – “We Found Love”/SHOULD HAVE BEEN: Gotye ft. Kimbra – “Somebody That I Used to Know” – A solid video was guaranteed to win in one of the best groups of nominees in VMA history, but that still doesn’t excuse the fact that Gotye was not THE winner.
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