The 1990s featured some strange and fantastic music videos. People often found themselves glued to the television, waiting to see what might pop up next on TV channels like MTV and VH1. And that’s just what we wanted to highlight below. We wanted to explore three bands from back in the day whose videos still impress us. Indeed, these are three one-hit wonders from the 1990s with addictive music videos we forgot existed.
“No Rain” by Blind Melon from ‘Blind Melon’ (1992)
Those who grew up in the 1990s remember—but for the rest of us, the memory might not be so crystal clear. Indeed, not only was “No Rain” by Blind Melon an incredible song, but its music video was addictive in the early part of the decade. And it all began with that chubby-cheeked tap dancing bee girl. As soon as she came on the screen of your living room TV, you couldn’t turn away. She got up there on stage and danced her heart out only to hear ridicule. But then Blind Melon came on and made it all better. It was cinema.
“Barbie Girl” by Aqua from ‘Aquarium’ (1997)
A few years ago, the Barbie movie was all the rage. Fans of the toy got to enjoy all things pink and plastic as the famed doll got her moment in the sun. But in all the hubbub from that film, it seemed that many forgot that the band Aqua created a Barbie fantasy world several decades before in their colorful music video for the subversive 1997 track, “Barbie Girl”. The band’s offering was like a magnet for our eyes back in the day. It was like a musical toy store had come to life!
“Tubthumping” by Chumbawamba from ‘Tubthumper’ (1997)
All things considered, this might be the strangest song of the 1990s—and certainly of the late 1990s. What exactly is this band singing about? That is, besides bottles of alcohol and using the bathroom. But lyrical content aside, we can’t turn away from this track’s music video. It’s energetic, propulsive, sticky, and magnetic. The video moves quickly and shows a number of characters and memorable settings. There’s even a glistening trumpet that sounds supremely triumphant. If you want to know what the late 1990s was like, this video shows it impeccably.
Photo by Mick Hutson/Redferns
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