did these videos rock our world?

The only art medium that was born, then peaked and flamed out all in my lifetime is the music video.

I consider myself an expert in the field. I’ve said it a dozen times, but I’m the only 32-year-old dork on earth that has seen every VMA show live, and the only one that still holds them sacred. Thanks to my family’s need for cable TV to watch every Phillies game, I was the first one on my block with MTV, so I spent more time in front of the TV watching Yo MTV Raps, 120 Minutes and Remote Control than anyone I know.

So when music channel Fuse launched its 10 Videos that Rocked the World series, naturally, I was intrigued, just like when MTV had its 20 Lamest Videos of All Time. (Trivia time! Who were the four hosts of the Lamest show? Answer at the bottom.)

And so far, the series hasn’t let me down. Just some quick thoughts on the 10 videos Fuse picked:

10. Smells Like Teen Spirit, Nirvana. I was stuck in the 80s and too interested in Hip-Hop too long to appreciate fully the opening of the Grunge Age, even though I was the perfect age, 16, in 1991. I thought the people who liked Nirvana in high school were just weird. But looking back, no doubt this was one of the most important videos ever. Teen angst is a tricky thing to capture – especially in less than fiveminutes – but it’s safe to say nothing has ever grabbed it like this video.

9. Like a Prayer, Madonna. As a 14-year-old CCD-going Catholic, I remember watching the live premiere of this video in 1989 and wondering that the big deal was. So she’s wearing a Rosary. Big deal. Mark it down as the first of my many questions concerning the Church. But this is one of the first videos I saw as true art, trying to impress upon people a bigger picture than just a song. Didn’t like the song as much as I do now, but the video, I thought at the time, was something special. Still do. It belongs here.

8. Walk This Way, Run-DMC and Aerosmith. Couldn’t agree more. As a song, it could go down as the smartest cover ever. As a video, it’s probably what unleashed mainstream rap into the world. Look, white, suburban kids just didn’t know much – if anything – about rap in 1986. I know – I was one of them. But after seeing this video 1,000 times on Dial MTV everyday, I was convinced I needed to start wearing Adidas without shoelaces. It opened up the rap world to me, making it more accessible and appealing. For that I’ll always be grateful.

7. Here It Goes, OK Go. Never saw the video. I loved the song, I got mad when it became popular, but I never saw the video. Oops.

6. Welcome to the Jungle, Guns ‘n’ Roses. Axl Rose freaked me out back then. The long hair, the leather pants, I just never saw anyone that dressed like that in 1987. But talk about a great entrance. As Ebby Calvin LaLoosh would say, they wanted to announce their presence with authority – and they did, like maybe no one ever has before or since.

5. Hot for Teacher, Van Halen. Ah the 80s, when only two things mattered: Fun and sex. This video combines the two like maybe no other, with the scenes of Waldo getting tormented by the cool kids, then having the bikini-clad teacher dancing in class. Before this video, if you wanted to have a girl in a bikini in your video (see Duran Duran’s Rio) it had to be “tastefully done.” Not anymore. Thank you Eddie and Dave!

4. Baby One More Time, Britney Spears. Say what you want, but this video 100% belongs on this list. Bubble gum pop – one of the staples of contemporary American music – was all but dead. Grunge killed it, buried and danced gleefully all over its grave. Then came this little blond girl who had 30-year-olds watching their calendars until the day she turned 18 so they could feel better about themselves for . . . enjoying her. The song was OK, but it was the video, where Britney made the school-girl fantasy relevant again, that made her a star. On her coattails came Christina Aguilera, Pink, Mandy Moore, Hillary Duff and a boatload of other teeny-boppers who only scored a record deal because every label in the world wanted the next Britney. That’s right – Britney Spears, trailblazer.

3. Fight the Power, Public Enemy. There has never been a better marriage of song/video and movie (Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing) than this. I bought Fear of a Black Planet at Joe Nardone’s in the Keyser Oak Shopping Center in Scranton in 1990 before even seeing Do the Right Thing. But listening to the song, and watching the video, it was the first time I was legitimately both scared and embarrassed to be white. I know that was pretty silly now, but it’s one of the few times a video truly opened my eyes to what is going on outside my sheltered suburban teen-aged life.

2. You Oughta Know, Alanis Morrisette. Two things: First, it took me about two good weeks to get over the fact that this actually was Alanis from my favorite Nickelodeon show, You Can’t Do That on Television. I’m still a little shocked. Second, I still laugh about the fact that this song is about Dave Coulier of Full House. Other than that, it’s just a song and video that kicks @ss that is in the top 5 break-up songs of all time with Don’t Speak and Red Rubber Ball.

1. Fight For Your Right, Beastie Boys. I always think if the guys had it to do over again, they would want to throw this song and video out the window. They haven’t done a thing since that even remotely resembles Fight For Your Right, yet it remains an 80s anthem. But no one wanted to see white kids rapping in 1986. If the Beasties wanted to make a successful album, then something like this would have had to be their first single. But I’d still say Sabotage is their best video ever, and one that belongs on this list.

Trivia answer: Denis Leary, Jon Stewart, Janeane Garafolo and Chris Kattan.