Most underrated moments in Music Video History, Vol. 3: I love rock and roll, so eff off

A little birdie.

Most people know Joan Jett’s vintage 1981 single and video "I Love Rock and Roll" as one of the early heavy rotation clips in MTV history.

Most people also probably know Britney Spears delivered a version of the tune in 2002, and while the single is pretty lame, the video ain't too shabby. 

And geeks everywhere will remember Weird Al Yankovic's amazing parody in 1983, during his wheelhouse era.

But not too many people know that the tune is actually a cover of the song that was originally recorded and released by the band Arrows in 1975 - and, as you might have guessed, that version of the song is far lamer than Jett's cover (and a lot creepier, written and sung from a dude's perspective).

And we here at Cleveland Does Not Rock are betting that almost no one ever noticed that Joan flips the bird in this gritty clip watched by bazillions of little kids throughout the ’80s, entering it as Vol. 3 in our vault of Underrated Moments in Music Video History.

By the way, what the hell is up with this guy?

No wonder scientists in Peru recently discovered that the middle fingers of both males and females between the ages of 35 and 45 are .8 inches longer than those outside that range (I completely made that up but it might be true.

I happened upon this moment, which occurs around 1:23, while “researching” old ‘80s clips during a DVR-ed chunk of VH1 Classic (You’ll notice, however, that this video was taken from MTV2, which I think now houses a continuous loop of the show “I Am 16 and I Have Babies And You Love Watching This Show To Feel Better About Yourself”). Maybe I noticed it now, as an adult, because I'm aware of the fact that Jett, as of the recording of that video, had already cemented her status as a badass during her time in The Runaways.

Still swarthy after all these years.

Not only does this moment make me love this song 50 times more, it also makes me hate Faith Hill’s awful bastardization of Jett’s 1988 hit, “I Hate Myself For Loving You,” which is used as the theme for “Sunday Night Football,” featuring the equally awful bastardization of sports announcing known as Al Michaels.

Much fun: During the chorus of “I Hate Myself,” start singing some variation of the rotating “SNF” theme. 

And, now, we present the full-length video of the most incredible "I Love Rock and Roll: