Friday Faves #1 - Favorite music videos

I hadn't realized just how much this had turned into a book review blog so I'm going to try and mix things up a bit. I used to enjoy the Friday Fives or media mixes on this and previous blogs I kept. So I'm going to start my own here. If you'd like to contribute your responses or suggest future versions in the comments, please do so.

A few weeks back I had been thinking about music videos so I'll start with my five favorite music videos. Early caveat: I haven't seen a televised video in many, many years. I'm also disqualifying OK Go because I view them as makers of videos first, band second. Love their videos, don't much care for their music. And these are favorites, not necessarily "best".

#5 We'll Be Together - Sting. There is a serious dearth of black and white music videos. Why is that? I can name at least five such videos involving Sting (this one, Fortress Around Your Heart, Every Breath You Take, Be Still My Beating Heart, Englishman in New York, and Russians) but can think of only two by other artists: Welcome to the Black Parade by My Chemical Romance (more on them later), and it's partly colorized, and Chris Isaak's Wicked Game.



#4 Islands - The XX. The group is in purgatory. Neat concept. Plus, the song is pleasantly simple.



#3 Her Morning Elegance - Oren Lavie. I'm a sucker for redheads and Shir Shomron is quite the looker. I also like Lavie's voice and the general cleverness of the sleepwalking.



#2 Dance With Me - Old 97's. Just a fun video. Awesome nerd/geek dream.



#1 Helena - My Chemical Romance. People think I'm crazy but I think this is a beautiful video. The black/white/red combo is fantastic. The overdone makeup on Gerard Way (the lead vocalist) and "Helena". The choreography. The red and black umbrellas at the end. I think it's a work of art.

Thanks, Warner Brothers, for not allowing embedding. I'm sure you did it so people could be kept in suspense until they clicked the link.

Also meriting consideration:
Weapon of Choice by Fatboy Slim - if it were anyone other than Christopher Walken starring in it, it wouldn't be considered.

Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own by U2 - another artistic video (with some black and white elements). I always liked how the song crescendoed as the curtain went up on the theater.

Pictures of You by The Cure. There's nothing really special about this video. Just your typical band video but I always remember it. The home movie feel, the fake palm trees in the snow. It's probably the video I remember the most from my teen years. And it's The Cure.