When recording artists are asked to do a song for a motion picture, often they release an accompanying promo video. This is an effective way to get people not only to see the film but also fork over even more cash to buy the soundtrack. But what happens when the film is guaranteed to suck and the artist has produced a crappy song for it? Pure magic. Watch these classic videos and see for yourself:
MC Hammer and Deion Sanders dance with Jean Claude Van Damme from Street Fighter. This features Hammer in full “gangsta” mode combined with sumo wrestlers, cage dancers, and Primetime’s awful rhyming. It’s not the best video ever made…actually it’s pretty much the worst.
This was Tupac’s music video debut with Digital Underground from the film that killed Chevy Chase’s career, Nothing but Trouble. Tupac looks a bit out of place here but it’s still a decent song. In case you were wondering, people in Oakland don’t actually dress like this.
Seal from Batman Forever. Try as I might to not like this song, I can’t help but respect Seal. The dude can sing, though I’m still trying to figure out how he wifed Heidi Klum.
MC Hammer from Addams Family. I remember back in 7th grade, this song was a huge hit among my classmates. They would even do the ridiculous dance which looked like someone trying to grab their nuts and get some dap at the same time. This proves how stupid children really are.
Vanilla Ice raps in TMNT 2. I don’t think there is a better hook than “Go Ninja Go Ninja Go”. It’s a reminder of what made Ice so damn popular for 6 months.
Bryan Adams from Prince of Thieves. Kevin Costner gave one of the all-time blandest performances in cinema history. He didn’t even attempt an English accent. Ruined the legacy of Robin Hood for me. If that’s not enough, this song makes me wonder why Bryan Adams was allowed to enter the U.S. and pollute our airwaves.
Will Smith from Men In Black. ‘Nuff Said.
Will Smith again, this time it’s Wild Wild West. Rumor has it that he turned down the role of Neo in The Matrix to do this movie. That would be like Dustin Hoffman turning down Rainman to do Weekend at Bernie’s.
Hey, the Canadian Government has apologized for Bryan Adams on numerous occasions. By the way, for the complete opposite experience you gotta go with the video for ‘You Could Be Mine’ by GnR. Axl & Arnie at the height of their respective powers. Bad-assery at its finest.
This just reminded me of Oingo Boingo’s “Weird Science.” There’s nothing like watching a New Wave Danny Elfman prance around a science warehouse. Also gotta love the big hair that hot girls had back in the 80s.
Also on the flip side is U2′s “Hold me, Kill me, Kiss me, Thrill me” video from Batman Forever, which has to be one of the coolest ever made.
Men in Black or GO NINJA GO NINJA GO. my 2 favs.
You guys should listen to Ice Cube’s Street Fighter song from the soundtrack. One of the lyrics is “I wanna kill Chuck Norris.” No joke.