10 Best Hard Rock Music Videos Of The 90s
9. Give It Away - Red Hot Chili Peppers (1991)
This was another example of record label execs getting things wrong. Warner Bros. supposably wanted to put the kibosh on this video, fearing it was far too artsy and weird for an MTV audience. The record label was wrong. The video received extensive play time and garnered two awards for the band.
And what did the label expect? Pairing a French arthouse and fashion photographer up with a bunch of funk obsessed Californian rockers is going to lead to some weird results.
Hot off the back of recording their breakthrough record Blood Sugar Sex Magik, the Chili Peppers needed an outrageous music video to match the sexually charged and bizarrely irresistible sound of Give It Away. The solution was to drive out to the middle of the desert, cover the band in aluminium paint and get them to dance around in that distinctly Chili Peppers fashion.
Crotch thrusting, excessive head bobbing and plenty of expressive arm movements was the way this band caught the worlds attention. This was hard rock meets rap with a futuristic glam aesthetic... , and it worked.