Mariah Carey "I'll Be There"

My Grandfather had an unusual reaction upon seeing Mariah Carey's music video to "I'll Be There" on VH-1. Since my parents didn't have cable, I caught up on MTV and VH-1 while visiting Grandma and Grandpa. The music video for "I'll Be There" was quite vanilla -- it merely contained footage from Mariah's MTV Unplugged special. Since I was a teenager at the time, all my Grandpa's questions about teenagers went directly to me as I apparently was some sort of unofficial spokesperson. About halfway through the video, Grandpa questioned why the folks in the audience of Mariah's video waved their arms side-to-side in the air during the chorus. I explained to him the crowd was just dancing along to the song. Somehow this was Grandpa's tipping point. He turned his swivel chair toward me and exclaimed, "Your generation is fucked." My Dad, who was also in the room at the time, looked to me and said, "Don't worry -- he said the same thing about my generation."

Los del Rio "The Macarena"

Speaking of songs that should be banned at wedding receptions, Los del Rio stormed every mainstream radio station, sporting event, wedding reception, and soccer mom's minivan during the summer of 1996. That same year, my mom finally sprung for cable television, and I was treated to the video to "The Macarena" when it first aired on MTV and VH-1.

Soon afterwards, my friends picked me up and we drove around Northwest Indiana listening to the radio when (go figure) "The Macarena" played. I said, "I love this song is sung by two old Mexicans." My friend Matt immediately turned around and excitedly said, "That's the name of the band?!?" After I explained that the video featured two older Mexican guys singing, Matt was quite upset and claimed that Two Old Mexicans is a great name for a band.

Enigma "Return to Innocence"

While most teenagers spent their high school Spring break getting drunk on the beaches of south Florida, I spent my high school Spring breaks staying with my grandparents in Bradenton, Florida. Bradenton is about an hour south of Tampa and neighbors the city of Sarasota.  Since my parents didn't have cable at home during my high school years, I got my fill of music videos from MTV and VH-1 during Spring break in between countless trips to the pool and The Outback Steakhouse. One of my many memories from Spring Break 1994 featured "Return to Innocence" from the New Age band Enigma on heavy rotation at VH-1. The relaxing tune seemed destined to be the soundtrack at massage parlors, but instead managed to receive heavy radio airplay across multiple formats. The ear worm turned into a hit song in over a dozen countries.

Toni Braxton "Another Sad Love Song"

"Another Sad Love Song" played that March morning in 1998 when Toni Braxton walked onto the set of The Oprah Winfrey Show.  Braxton was on the show to discuss, among other things, her bankruptcy.  Having sold more than 20 million albums, no one could comprehend Braxton's money woes...including Oprah.  Oprah questioned Braxton's spending habits and accountability (Oprah couldn't comprehend why Braxton needed Gucci silverware).  During Braxton's Behind the Music episode on VH-1, Braxton discussed her interview with Oprah and claimed Oprah was "so frickin' mean" to her and the interview caused people to look down on her.  If you have a spare 18 minutes, take a look and see if Oprah was "so frickin' mean" or just showing her some tough love.  I'm gonna side with Oprah on this one...

Spice Girls - "Too Much"

One of my college roommates was named Brian.  For as long as I lived with Brian, he was a wealth of comedy at his own expense.  He thrived on putting in the bare minimum effort to get by whether it be his health, appearance, or schoolwork.  Brian drove a filthy Oldsmobile Achieva (which he referred to as an "under-achieva") littered with empty cans, bottles, and fast food wrappers.  He attended class on the first day to get the class syllabus and then never returned until there were assignments due.  He showered once or twice a week...instead choosing to bathe in cologne.  Brian's room was a garage that was converted into a bedroom.  Instead of living life, Brian passed the day by laying on the couch and watching lots and lots of TV.  At one point, another roommate pointed out that our couch had an outline of Brian thanks to the oil and grease from his skin.  The Spice Girls' popularity was at its peak during this time and Brian often watched their videos on mute on VH-1 (when they actually played music videos).  Brian described the Spice Girls as "mute-TV"--a process of muting the audio while still watching the video.  He claimed that the girls' hotness far exceeded the audio.

OK Go - "Here It Goes Again"

Whereas MTV and VH-1 has mostly abandoned music videos, the alternative rock group OK Go has capitalized on the power of the music video.  Their 2007 "Here It Goes Again" was a hit thanks largely in part to a video that featured treadmills.  In 2016, the group re-surfaced in the YouTube-o-sphere with another video for the song "Upside Down & Inside Out".  The video was shot in zero-gravity and went viral.

Crash Test Dummies - "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm"

Spring break 1994.

Grandma's house in Bradenton, Florida.

Since we didn't have cable at my house, I was always parked in front of my grandparent's TV watching VH-1 all night (much like MTV, VH-1 used to play videos).  That April of 1994, Crash Test Dummies' "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" was in heavy rotation--much to my Grandpa's chagrin.  He talked about how bad the song was at the pool one afternoon while other fellow senior citizens shared their own "teenagers are weird" tales.  My brother later pointed out to me that by the end of our week, he caught my my Grandpa at the pool whistling "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm".

Richard Marx - "Hazard"

In 1992 you could find three different versions of a Richard Marx video airing on VH-1. Each video gave different clues to the whodunnit mystery of "who killed Mary" in a song called "Hazard". The formula sounds more like something out of a modern day social media campaign than from 1992, so props to Marx and his record label. Like Elton John and Billy Joel music, good luck hearing a Richard Marx song on an Adult Contemporary station today.