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:

Making a Case: Weird Al

By the Rock Hall’s standard, the most honored artists are those who don’t reinvent the wheel. It’s much easier to continue spinning it and spinning it.

A bevy of Rock Hall members and future Hall members are guilty of stealing the riffs that made them famous.

The most heinous con artists would be Jimmy Page, Keith Richards, and thrice-inducted Eric Clapton, whose careers began the moment they plundered the catalogs of black bluesmen before them.

Any Replacements fan knows that Goo Goo Dolls’ singer/songwriter Johnny Rzeznik owes a treasure trove of “creative royalties” to Paul Westerberg.

The kind of company rip-off artist Rzeznik (center) keeps.

And not too long ago, we pointed out how ungracefully Green Day ripped off the Kinks.

There are too many examples to chose from that I have to resort to a visual description of the history of rock and roll.

Which brings us to Weird Al Yankovic. What separates Al from his riff-raping predecessors is that Al makes no bones about it.

And he has been doing this since his 1979 debut. Think about it: Weird Al has had widespread name-recognition for 32 years. By pop culture standards, that’s at least 3 generations that know who he is and know at least a handful of his songs.

That’s both a cause and effect of this role within music: pop culture’s kingmaker. A pop artist isn’t a pop star until Al does them right.

Here’s a taste of Rock Hall inductees and future inductees that got a free career boost courtesy of Weird Al: Michael Jackson, Queen, R.E.M., Madonna, Nirvana, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Aerosmith, Billy Joel, Eminem, U2 and Green Day.

Personally, my favorite Weird Al tune his Devo parody, “Dare to Be Stupid,” – an original song penned by Al that was intended to sound exactly like Devo. I guess this makes me a first-generation Al fan.

If the Rock Hall prefers its music watered down by a bunch of one-trick white boys, wouldn’t Al fit that criterion exactly?

All joking aside, what case could the Rock Hall make against Al? I’d love to hear it. Because the case for him includes:

• 12 platinum albums and singles
• 18 gold albums and singles
• 3 Grammy Awards
• 11 Grammy nominations
• Dozens of singles and albums charting across several continents

Put that up against any artist that’s in or considered a shoe-in for the Rock Hall.

If anything, just nominating Weird Al Yankovic would make the Rock Hall look a lot less of the bad joke that it currently is.