NEW YORK - Michael Jackson's ''Thriller,'' a mini-movie that was more of a pop culture event than a mere music video, topped VH1's list of the 100 Greatest Videos, which the cable music channel released Tuesday.

Clocking in at 17 minutes and directed by John Landis, ''Thriller,'' was much hyped before its 1983 premiere on VH1's precursor and sister channel, MTV, and it helped catapult Jackson's album of the same name to the top of the all-time best-seller list.

The video features Jackson turning into a werewolf after going on a date to a scary movie, then performing one of his signature dance routines with a gaggle of ghouls behind him.

Coming in second was Madonna's ''Like a Prayer,'' which caused a stir for depicting the pop diva kissing a black Jesus figure.

Madonna had six videos on the list, more than any other artist. Her ''Justify My Love,'' which MTV refused to air in 1990 because of its kinky sexual images, came in seventh.

Jackson had the second-highest number of videos on the list with five. The high-tech, black-and-white video for ''Scream,'' a duet with his sister, Janet, was No. 9.

Several animated videos made the list. Peter Gabriel's colorful, stop-action extravaganza, ''Sledgehammer,'' came in third overall. The video for the Norwegian trio A-ha's ''Take on Me,'' which combined live action and comic book-style pencil drawings, was No. 8.

Rounding out the top 10 were Nirvana's ''Smells Like Teen Spirit,'' the first hit from the pioneering Seattle grunge band, at No. 4; the dramatic ''November Rain'' by Guns N' Roses at No. 5; Pearl Jam's ''Jeremy,'' with its images of school violence, at No. 6; and Herbie Hancock's mechanical ''Rockit'' at No. 10.

More than half the videos - 53, to be exact - first appeared in the 1980s, the decade when the music video explosion occurred. The oldest video, Bob Dylan's ''Subterranean Homesick Blues,'' was made in 1967. It's No. 28.

Three of the videos first appeared in 2000: Red Hot Chili Peppers' ''Californication'' at No. 35; Creed's ''With Arms Wide Open'' at No. 92; and Bon Jovi's ''It's My Life'' at No. 97.

And the first video MTV aired when it began life in 1981, The Buggles' ''Video Killed the Radio Star,'' only reached No. 79 on the list.

A panel of music experts at the channel ranked the videos.


To learn more about VH1, visit www.vh1.com.
hello there & you too