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most successful music video of all time

Not most successful, but:
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Peter Gabriel's Sledgehammer was one the earliest "artsy" videos, but Thriller changed the game entirely. Before Thriller there were pretty stringent limits set by record companies on video production costs. This loosened them up.
 
This was an extremely important video. It helped Hip Hop become more accepted and brought back Aerosmith.

 
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definitely launched Arrowsmith's career; agree on that one
 
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How can I un-view that Journey video?
 
Videos ceased to matter much at some point in the 90s. I mean, they still mattered, but not as many people watched them because MTV quit playing videos 24-7. Since they were at their apex from about 1982 to 1992, the answer pretty much has to be in that time frame. And yes, Thriller is the obvious winner. I hate to sound old, but I wonder how many people here actually remember MJ at his apex. Thriller was THE ALBUM for about 2 years straight. He was the biggest thing since Elvis, a transcendent entertainer. His commercial was a big deal. His hair catching on fire during the commercial was a big deal. His tour, which was a reunion tour with his brothers, was a huge deal, with multiple performances at sold out football stadiums to accommodate the demand. They did three at Arrowhead (not to be confused with Arrowsmith-- Jesus H. Christ, RJ) to open the tour. Thriller was pretty much the last song from that album released as a single and the buildup for the world premiere of the video was still enormous, even though the album Thriller had been released more than a year before and everybody knew the song in and out by then. Having a long video like that was something new too, and something nobody has really pulled off since. Bowie did it with Blue Jean the next year, but it wasn't nearly as cool. Thriller wins this running away.

Sledgehammer is a good #2, but that can be debated. Money For Nothing was a big vid too. Robert Palmer's Addicted To Love. Pretty much any Madonna from Like A Virgin through Vogue (Like A Prayer was highly controversial with her seducing black Jesus). I Want Your Sex was also hugely controversial.
 
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bym051d said:
At one point, it was named the worst video of all-time.
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Every time I see that video I notice a new ridiculous quirk. I've seen it probably too many times over the years because you can't look away it's so bad.

I think Bill Simmons used to link it in his page 2 columns years ago when I was in college and actually read his stuff.
 
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