Who performed these music videos?

December 31, 2012 11:13 PM

Who performed these music videos? Years ago I watched MTV in the early morning when they aired all the zany gainaxy music videos. Three of those stand out in memory for their sheer surreal nexus currency.

The first one is the easiest, in it a man with a gawking face walks into a dimly lit supermarket at night. As he walks though the place shoppers give him dirty looks. However as the video progresses everybody strips, before long they're having a full blown underwear dance party. Notably there are these two dreamy guys who dance around in scanty pink (I think) speedoes. The video snaps back to the gawking man as it was all just a fantasy.

The second one is shot in black and white and very heavily borrows from old old films like King Kong. There's something very close to the scene in that movie where a large hairy arm reaches out to grab the damsel. The music video however ends with St. Peter at the gates of heaven. (Apologies for the choppiness of that paragraph it's been years since I saw it).

The third one is unusually computer animated, like it was filmed with very slick cardboard cutouts. Also very colourful. It's set somewhere sunny in a city with palm trees. At the climax of the video an army of sentient red lips with legs march under a colossal disco ball.

Thank you very much!

posted by CyborgHag to media & arts (9 answers total)

Is the first one Been Caught Stealing by Jane's Addiction?
posted by goshling at 12:21 AM on January 1

Is #2 "You Might Think" by The Cars? It has a scene where they are at an old black and white film and then about halfway through a giant Ric Ocasek reaches through a window to grab Paulina Porizkova, King Kong style. It doesn't end with St. Peter, though.
posted by Fuego at 12:39 AM on January 1

#2 reminds me of "She Will Have Her Way" by Neil Finn, but that also doesn't end with St. Peter. There's a church near the end, though.
posted by litlnemo at 1:09 AM on January 1

#3 sounds an awful lot like The Prodigy - Girls. Not sure if it's a full match because I don't remember the sentient lips having legs, but the rest sort of fits.
posted by daikaisho at 2:01 AM on January 1

Could #2 be I Do'Wanna Know by REO Speedwagon? That definitely had St. Peter at the gates of heaven.
posted by tomboko at 8:32 AM on January 1

How long ago is "Years Ago"?

As you can see from the answers there are a lot of videos from 1981 to (say) 2005. Give us a date range and it would help narrow it down!
posted by Potomac Avenue at 11:33 AM on January 1

Is #3 the Chemical Brothers, "Let Forever Be"? No dancing lips but some really creative use of cardboard cutouts and animation. It's a long shot based on your description, but you know...memory can be weird.
posted by Fuego at 1:08 PM on January 1

Yes you're right Potomac! No 1 was definitely somewhere from the nineties, the lighting was more torquoise. I would have seen it around 8 years ago. The main protagonist had curly hair and a dour expression.

No 2 is tricky. I didn't mention it in the question but the music to it was haunting. When it was on in the living room it just froze my adhd dad in his tracks, it's that kind of song. But the description of sounds in English is so promiscuous it's probably can't help you at all. Timewise I saw it around the same time as number one, but the whole style to it eludes any decade.

And number 3 is spot on thank you so much! I'm gonna play the rubber off that apex awesome song now.

Thank you everybody for all your cool suggestions there's alot of great picks here.
posted by CyborgHag at 1:51 PM on January 1

Fake Plastic Trees sort of fits the first one. Or maybe Closer by Travis. Or Common People by Pulp. (there are a lot of bands with videos in supermarkets!)
posted by biscotti at 5:12 PM on January 1