Less cowbell, more sledgehammer

May 18, 2018 5:42 AM

Can you help me find more music videos similar to Peter Gabriel's Sledgehammer video?

Toddler Toddles saw the video for Sledgehammer for the first time and is obsessed. I'd love to find other music videos like it that are toddler appropriate. Suggestions?

posted by Toddles to Media & Arts (13 answers total)

Bet you'd both like OK Go, "This Too Shall Pass."
posted by dywypi at 5:48 AM on May 18, 2018 [2 favorites]

What is it that Toddler Toddles like about it? If it's the animated-style aspect, "stop motion people" is a pretty good Google search to find similar things.
posted by AzraelBrown at 6:14 AM on May 18, 2018

Not quite the same as a music video but you might want to show them The Wizard of Speed and Time. Watch it yourself first to make sure there won't be anything scary.

What exactly is it about the video that you're trying to recreate? The animation style? Neil Young's I'm Wondering has a similar choppy feel to it, though it's done by removing frames from the film, not by animation.

I'll second Ok Go videos. Just about any of them.
posted by bondcliff at 6:16 AM on May 18, 2018

Gabriel's Sledgehammer and Big Time videos were both directed by Stephen R. Johnson, who also did the Road To Nowhere video for Talking Heads.
posted by flabdablet at 7:16 AM on May 18, 2018 [4 favorites]

Maybe Fell In Love With A Girl by the White Stripes, directed by Michel Gondry. A lot of Gondry's other music videos might also fit the bill.
posted by newmoistness at 7:38 AM on May 18, 2018 [2 favorites]

My daughters are both fans of Sledgehammer and Big Time, and in maybe a similar vein also really like Firelight by Hundred Waters and Genius of Love by Tom Tom Club.
posted by saladin at 8:53 AM on May 18, 2018 [1 favorite]

Maybe Michael Jackson Leave Me Alone? It's similar in that there are several, seemingly disconnected things going on, in that kind of "cutout" style. It mystified baby aquanet.
posted by aquanet at 10:25 AM on May 18, 2018

I'm at work, so I can't google to see if this is kid appropriate or not, but when I was a kid, I remember being fascinated by Michael Jackson's Billie Jean video, where the animated sidewalk tiles light up under him as he dances. Also maybe Paula Abdul's Opposite's Attract, where she dances with the cartoon cat?
posted by backwards compatible at 10:29 AM on May 18, 2018

I'd try Herbie Hancock's 'Rockit.'

Looking at some of MTV's Video of the Year nominees, and some categories like e.g. Most Experimental Video, Best Art Direction, and Best Visual Effects would probably turn up some more good possibilities.
posted by box at 2:37 PM on May 18, 2018

Talking Heads Road to Nowhere.
posted by oneirodynia at 4:05 PM on May 18, 2018

Oh, already posted by flabdablet, how did I miss that?
posted by oneirodynia at 4:06 PM on May 18, 2018

She Drives Me Crazy by Fine Young Cannibals?
The B-52s?
Devo?
posted by thebrokedown at 7:15 AM on May 19, 2018

Utada Hikaru - Traveling

There's a section of claymation towards the end, plus lots of brightly colored costumes dancing to super catchy JPop throughout.
posted by somanyamys at 12:35 PM on May 21, 2018