We are bombarded by the media with money facts from the music industry, especially by pop-stars who brag around about how much they spent on their video, song, new house, etc. There are even specialized TV shows about the numbers spent by the entertainers, sort of richness-meters, that serve as rose-tinted glasses for the poor, or at least, not-so-rich. But as Frank Zappa would say, cheapness has nothing to do with the budget of the film (although it helps). There are many expensive videos made throughout history which no one remembers now while there are some legendary ones that were produced with limited or low budget (or at least, seem like that). To rephrase Zappa - greatness has nothing to do with the budget as well. Here is my choice of the best music videos made in this manner.
"You Can Call Me Al" by Paul Simon
This is one of the most entertaining simple videos made for a song. “You Can Call Me Al” had another video made, displaying Simon performing the song on “Saturday Night Live”. He disliked it, so another one was made, directed by Gary Weis, wherein the actor Chevy Chase lip-synced all of Simon's vocals in an upbeat presentation, with gestures punctuating the lyrics. The song went on to be Paul Simon’s biggest selling hit as a solo artist.
“Velouria” by Pixies
It’s one of the most ingenious ideas for a music video ever, and it is so simple that I can’t imagine anything simpler that this. Pixies already mocked the music video industry with their previous video for “Here Comes Your Man” where they open wide their mouths instead of lip-syncing. But the mockery went to the extreme with the video for Velouria, which is actually a shot of the band running down a hill in excruciatingly slow motion. That’s it!
"Velouria" is featured on their album “Bossanova,” was the first single to be released from it and was the band's first UK Top 40 hit. As "Velouria" was climbing the UK Top 40, the band was offered a spot on “Top Of The Pops.” However, a BBC rule stated that only singles with videos could be performed on the show, so they filmed twenty-three seconds of footage (the time needed for the band members to reach the camera), slowed it down and published as the official video for the song. Despite everything, they didn’t appear on Top Of The Pops.
“Praise You” by Fatboy Slim
This video, directed by Spike Jonze, was a huge critical success. It was shot outside of a California movie theatre without permission to film. It shows the fictional Torrance Community Dance Group as they perform a funny dance routine to a live audience of confused onlookers. At one point in the video, a movie theatre employee actually comes and shuts off the music, although it doesn’t stop the team from dancing on. At the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards, the unpolished clip was nominated for Best Dance Video, and also won three major awards: Breakthrough Video, Best Choreography, and Best Direction (awarded to Torrance Community Dance Group). Its production cost only $800, most of which were spent for a replacement boombox and food for the cast and crew,
“Praise You” is the third single from Fatboy Slim’s second studio album, "You've Come a Long Way, Baby," in 1999. It reached number one on the UK Singles Chart, number four in Canada, number six in the Republic of Ireland and number thirty-six in the United States.
“Nothing Compares 2U” by Sinead O’Connor
This iconic video is one of the most famous of the '90s. Other than a few mood-setting shots of a park, most of the video consists of a close-up of O'Connor's face while she sings the song. It proved to be so powerful that it went on to win the VMA for Video of the Year.
Dedicated to her mother, this is a very emotional song. It is actually a cover version of Prince’s less known original song from the 80s. The video supports the performance in every bit, with a culmination when she tears up, four minutes into the video.
The song became a worldwide hit, topping charts in O'Connor's native Ireland, Australia, Austria, Canada, Germany, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. It also became a top-five single in France and a top-20 in Denmark. The single was certified platinum in Austria and the United Kingdom, and gold in Germany and Sweden. In the United States, it spent four weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100.
“Lonely Boy” by The Black Keys
This video doesn’t strictly belong in the low-budget category. The Black Keys wanted to make a “proper” video for the song, for which they had a full script and a cast of over 40 people for it. They spent a lot of money for something they didn’t like at all when it was finished. During the process, they filmed the actor and part-time security guard Derrick T. Tuggle, who was only supposed to have a small dancing clip as an extra. When they were unhappy with the original shoot, they decided to use the clip of Tuggle as the entire music video, calling it “the most expensive single shot ever recorded.” This is probably one of the best happy accidents in music video history.
"Lonely Boy" became one of the group's most successful singles. It topped several rock radio charts, including the Alternative Songs and Rock Songs charts in the US, and the Alternative Rock and Active Rock charts in Canada. On the singles charts, "Lonely Boy" was the group's highest-charting song in several countries, peaking at number 64 on the Billboard Hot 100, number 2 on the Australian Singles Chart, and number 33 on the Canadian Hot 100. At the 55th Annual Grammy Awards, the song won awards for Best Rock Performance and Best Rock Song, while also receiving a nomination for Record of the Year.
“Subterranean Homesick Blues” by Bob Dylan.
This 1965 “promotional film clip” from Bob Dylan was the forerunner for the modern music video. As far as spectacular low-budget music videos go, “Subterranean Homesick Blues” is more than legendary. Dylan came up with the idea to write a bunch of the lyrics on cue cards and flip through them as the song plays. As the quick-worded song flies by, Dylan stands on one side of the frame and haphazardly tosses the scribbled lyrics aside. The clip was shot in an alley behind the Savoy Hotel in London, and Allen Ginsberg and Bob Neuwirth can be seen chatting in the background. Definitely, this is one of the most creative ideas for a music video ever.
“Subterranean Homesick Blues” was Dylan's first Top 40 hit in the U.S., peaking at number 39 on the Billboard Hot 100. It also entered the Top 10 on the singles chart in the United Kingdom.
