On August 1st, 1981, a certain little channel called MTV broadcast their first music video. A quick question of pop trivia, can you name that music video? (answer revealed below)

Since then music videos have been a burgeoning form of media, and have become so much more than a mere visual accompaniment to an artist’s track. They have the ability to escalate the popularity of a song to stratospheric heights, through being played on music channels or being shared on the internet.

By ‘going viral’, music videos can be accessed by everyone with an internet connection. Take the recent pop sensation ‘Gangnam Style’ (530 million views at time of writing). As a song it is distinctly average, a generic pop song, another skid mark on the underpants of our music charts. However, give it a quirky music video and a stupid (albeit entertaining) dance routine, and you have yourself a major hit. Even Boris Johnson admitted during the Conservative Conference that he and the Prime Minister enjoyed getting down and shaking their booties to the Korean ballad.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand. Some music videos contain a narrative that is so compelling that you feel it’s unjustified to condense them down to a 4 or 5 minute clip. Whether these are a visual representation of the songwriter’s lyrics, or the inspired creation of the director, these videos are bursting with ideas that are just itching to be translated to the big screen.

Here are 10 music videos that could prove great successes should a movie adaptation fortuitously come their way.

 

(The first music video aired on MTV was “Video Killed The Radio Star” by The Buggles.)

10. Van Halen – Pretty Woman

In this video Van Halen explore a crisis which has plagued man for years. The fair lady of a hunchback has been taken captive by a couple of extremely belligerent midgets wearing what appear to be red onesies. The midgets are inappropriately groping the damsel in distress and something needs to be done.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. The hunchback calls upon the services of an eclectic group of heroes to save the unfortunate girl. The heroes (played by the band) consist of a bushido samurai warrior, a kind of jungle soldier wearing some aviator glasses, a leather-clad cowboy (Eddie Van Halen), and an extremely camp looking Napoleon Bonaparte. Together they join forces and free the lady from her torment.

Granted, there are a couple of minor historical inaccuracies and a few plot holes. However, with the right director behind it and a carefully constructed screenplay, this fanciful idea could become a phenomenal success at the box office.

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