Unintentionally funny music videos

The modern concept of the music video really began in 1964 with the Beatles' "feature film" A Hard Day's Night but began to appear in different forms throughout the 1970s with full length movies (like Tommy and The Wall) and various others. Music videos cemented their standing in popular culture with the launch of MTV in 1981and the iconic Thriller video a little over two years later. Thriller single handedly revolutionized the way music videos were thought of both by artists and by the general public. The video became more iconic than the song itself and videos became a new way to market and position songs for artist.

Music videos can be a very personal undertaking for an artist or it can be a slapped together product by a record company. Thriller cost half a million dollars in 1983, while some videos today appear to be shot on the Zapruder camera. Some have stood the test of time, while others come across as completely dated. But allowing musicians artistic freedom to produce a video, something nearly all are entirely unqualified to do, has left some relics of unintentional comedy over the years. Videos that appear to be nearly satirical now, but at the time weren't made in jest at all. Videos that probably were bad when made, and have come full circle to simply humorous now. 

Top 5 unintentionally funny videos

5. Tommy Seebach - Apache

 

Tough to beat the 22 second mark in this one. I had to search to make sure this wasn't meant to be as funny as it is. Tommy Seebach was in fact Danish which nearly disqualified him for the unintentionally funny category but was ultimately allowed to hang around because of the sheer absurdity of the video

4. Culture Club - Karma Chameleon

The video opens letting you know that this is Mississippi in 1870. It proceeds to show Boy George sitting on a mount of some sort wearing Rag Doll material in his hair surrounded by a host of dancing Mississippians.

3. 50 Cent feat. Justin Timberlake - Ayo Technology

 

Justin Timberlake and 50 Cent are in some futuristic world with spying technology fixed in on different girls. It proceeds to alternate between a night vision and a black room with Timberlake and 50 Cent dancing. They have some future technology that allows the protagonists to be 'with' the girls without being with them. It then pans to Timbaland doing his best Minority Report presentation, shifting screens around and shows blurred out images of naked women. Not sure who thought this was a good idea for a music video but the budget was clearly high, and was clearly wasted.

2. Johnny Cougar Mellencamp - Hurt So Good

It just needs to be watched. Mellencamp at his best

1. DMX - Ruff Ryders' Anthem

 

Dogs chained to tires. Shirtless lifting. The bar is set pretty high when the first shot is a motorcycle wheelie but DMX and the rest of Ruff Ryders are able to keep it going for the entirety of the video.