Reasons why i <3 Youtube

Finally seeing the clip of Serge Gainsbourg telling Whitney Houston that he vants to fuck her live on French telly and watching girls blow up balloons with their arses are obviously the primary and secondary reasons why Youtube is the best site ever but it's also a fine tool for discovering videos you never knew existed for songs which you love.

Back in 1994 my folks got Sky for the football but, as someone who has listened to a steady diet of 90% American music since the abominable stench of Band Aid, i was more pleased that i'd no longer have to pay/bribe/beg people to tape me Yo! MTV Raps, 120 Minutes and Headbangers Ball anymore, but even then it was possible for videos to slip between the cracks (or to forget to set the video to tape 'em) and there was a plethora of stuff from the 80s which never made it onto European tv in the first place. Here's some favourites which i've discovered on Youtube during the past 4 or so years :

YZ - In Control Of Things



Y'know, i can never decide whether i prefer this or Freedom Of Speech by Above The Law. The one thing i am certain of is that both tunes bump. YZ's Batman Sucks tee and yellow coat are fresh but i could really do without his mate in the yellow speedos with the boom-box gettin' his Ravishing Rick Rude on in the background. R.I.P Tony D.

Bl'ast! - Surf And Destroy



What do i want from a Bl'ast! video? Clifford shaving his head and attacking the camera with a surfboard? Check. Scenes of the Santa Cruz skate team in action? Check. Stock news footage about the threat of nuclear war? Check. Mock-live scenes with the band thrashing about in a garage and Mike Neider in a Run Dmc shirt? Check. Some random chick who resembles Elke Sommers? Check.

UGK - Wood Wheel



If this ain't better than Pocket Full Of Stones remix then it's the closest one. It's a damn shame that a group who lasted from 1989 to 2007 have so few videos, with those crackers at Jive not even giving them the funds to shoot one for any song from Ridin' Dirty. Anyhoo, this was the first video they shot after Jay's Big Pimpin' gave them global exposure and any video which features Pimp and Bun riding horses and wearing cowboy hats is automatically the greatest cinematic achievement since Citizen Kane.

Handsome - Needles



Back in '93 a band consisting of members of Quicksand and Helmet was a wet dream for some of us but few years later it was a reality when both bands combined to form the short-lived but incredible Handsome. This was the solitary video they shot for their mini-album so it was nice of them to choose the best song from it as their single.

CPO & MC Ren - Ballad Of A Menace



These guys yet again. It's weird when you finally see people you're only familiar with from pictures on LP sleeves actually movin' around and stuff in videos, innit? Lil' Nation, it has to be said, is not a lil' bloke and this video is particularly notable as it features Donovan "The Dirt Biker" Sound AKA the Jake "The Snake" Roberts resembling cracker studio engineer (OMG - the gang$ta rap Rick Rubin/Paul C) who featured on pretty much every NWA/Ruthless Records related album from that era. The entire video is dripping in amazing vintage Raiders gear too.

Kyuss - One Inch Man



It was seeing the video to Green Machine which made sitting through hours of Faster Pussycat, Mordred, Ugly Kid Joe, Stone Temple Pilots and Dog Eat Dog videos and toadying,awkward interviews with the likes of Alice In Chains conducted by the braindead duo of Riki Rachtman and Vanessa Warwick on Headbangers Ball justifiable but i can't remember ever seeing any more Kyuss videos on there. Pretty much anything you'd expect from a Kyuss video (deserts, trippy effects, hair) is present and correct here.

Z-Ro & Trae - I Found Me



Hands up those of you who also used to trawl Blastro.com streaming Suga Free, Kingpin Skinny Pimp and Project Pat videos in the 2002 - 2004 pre-Youtube internet era? After discovering Z-Ro on 'Face's Snitch N*ggaz and devouring any of his catalogue i could find i was sorely disappointed that none of his videos were on Blastro. Thankfully when Youtube appeared a year or so later i was privvy to everything from videos for his classics like I Found Me to live footage of Mo City Don where the entire crowd chants every single line acapella.

The Cramps - Garbageman



Back in her prime Poison Ivy was a top 3 redhead of all time and the early records by The Cramps when they were taking trips to Memphis to record with Alex Chilton are still some of of the most deliriously fucked up scuzz-rock you'll ever hear. This is the one video they shot for their classic debut LP and, again, this is another one of those weird-seeing-people-you're-only-familiar-with-from-pictures-on-album-sleeves-moving-around-and-shit moments as, although i've seen Bryan Gregory throwin' rock god poses in grainy black & white super-8 cam footage on the supremely demented Live at Napa State mental institution dvd this is the first time i've ever seen video footage of him in colour.

Akinyele - I Luh Hur



Not only was Ak's Vagina Diner LP Large Pro's production peak but this is probably the best song about getting a bird up the duff ever made in any genre. The video captured the initial horror of getting some chickenhead pregnant and the resulting contradictory impulses of the male psyche which the song revolves around perfectly. The actual acting scenes with Ak' delivering lines with all the grace and pathos of a Channel 5 soap actor are the syrup on an already tasty cake.