You might think everything ever recorded has been on Youtube for a while, but the truth is: some gems are only now finding their official way into the Internet canon. Here’s 4 examples of classic videos that had to wait until the summer of 2019 for their official online streaming moment.
Tom Tom Club - Genius of Love
A unexpected, massive hit when it came out in 1981, a predictably massive hit for rollerblade-era Mariah Carey, but also sampled by Grand Master Flash and J Dilla along the way: it’s a mystery why the official video for this feel-good floorfiller wasn’t uploaded to Youtube before. The childlike, colourful James Rizzi artwork still hasn’t lost its freshness, even though there are four decades between its conception and the official upload just two days ago.
Zapp - Computer Love
Since its first release in 1986, this track has been sampled into infinity (by Tupac and Jay-Z to name but two), but strangely enough the official video wasn’t uploaded until July this year. Obviously the synths are some of the best ever, but Charlie Wilson is killing it on the crooner bits. The video is a delicious feast of pixellation, acres of flowing silk, filters on filters and all-out dramatic overacting.
Lush - Nothing Natural
Even though the band reportedly hated this video at the time, its over-the-top 1991 aesthetic has aged perfectly. Lush was everywhere in the mid-nineties, but seems to be kind of forgotten these days. Shame, because their particular brand of shoegaze deserves a more prominent place in music history. Check the amazing production by Cocteau Twins guitarist Robin Guthrie.
Image above: culled from a 1992 Lush Bootleg of their Glastonbury performance.
Sonic Youth - Shadow of a Doubt
From their 1986 album “EVOL”, heavy on the breathing and filled with Hitchcock-references, this moody track was a staple element in every early-nineties Indie kid’s diet. Uploaded just this June, so now is the perfect time to acquaint yourself with its dreamy grey-green footage of Kim Gordon riding on the roof of a train.
