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so i guess that that was a good topic to touch on, huh...?
was hopin' that we'd get more lists, but here's how i'll start 'em...
putting michael jackson's "thriller" (and "beat it" and billie jean" and etc...) and madonna's always controversial videos on the shelf--those are great, but back then i was drawn more toward the new wave bands and the lower budget, inexpensive, innovative videos--i'm gonna go in bursts here.
i hafta echo brian and say that, in my book, the top video of the 80's--and probably of all time--should be "take on me" by a ha. it's just all that 80's look and attitude and sound all wrapped up in a cool, creative, unique video that still rocks it hard. it's beautiful to watch and it just never gets old. love it!
and yes, that was one of the clip pics on the blog.
another was tears for fears "everybody wants to rule the world", not a bad video in its own right, but easily my pic for best song of the 80's. it captured so much of the sound and the attitude of the time and every time i hear those opening notes, i'm immediately transported back to that time and energy.
another cool video from about that time was "wouldn't it be good" by nik kershaw. cutting edge graphics again, but used really well. i'd like to see an updated version of that or that effect used in something else; the suit-as-screen thing. it's a great device.
now here's a bunch that i've recently looked up and just thought were cool for one reason or another. maybe they were stylish, maybe i'm just getting a heavy sentimental vibe offa them, but here goes...
"19" by paul hardcastle. moved into my first apartment after college with my two best friends. a house, really, and we found out that we could not only afford basic cable, but that mtv came with it. i was transfixed. and this video featuring news reports and actual footage from vietnam was in heavy rotation. very powerful.
"every day i write the book" and "the only flame in town" by elvis costello. mostly 'cause i was/am a huge fan of elvis the c. prince charles and diana in 'write the book'--charles typing with boxing gloves on...
"house of fun" by madness. i got tired of "our house" very quickly, but remember this vid as being a lot of fun, after checking it on youtube, i think it's one of those cases where my memory was better than the actual clip. still fun though, and it's got that carnival beat!
"whisper to a scream" by icicle works and "when loves breaks down" by prefab sprout were both just bands-standing videos, but i dug these songs and so dug the vids.
thomas dolby's "she blinded me with science". this was a video that kinda promised where tech and music and video were all gonna merge. dolby is a great showman too!
"aeiou and sometimes y" by ebn ozn. i remember seeing this on friday night videos (before i got cable and mtv) and thinking that it was just...i dunno. but there was something memorable about it--the way the guy says the word "cavalier"?
the early computer animated "money for nothin'" by dire straits. incredible! groundbreaking! i loved it! (kinda passe now...)
"stand by" by roman holiday--not as great as i remember, but a fun song!
there were SO MANY other videos that had cool visuals or even just moments of memorable fun. cyndi lauper and captain lou albano dancing in her mother's kitchen singing about the fun girls wanted to have. the drummer hitting that last drum in j. giels' "centerfold". the way the angel's eyes glowed in bonnie tyler's "total eclipse of the heart". years before michael did "black and white", godley and creme (of 10cc fame) did a song/video called "cry". eddie grant stepping off the couch into the floor on "electric avenue". EVERYTHING that weird al did!!! (beat it/eat it! bad/fat! genius!!) colin hay's lazy eye in men at work's "down under". suzanna hoffs super sexy eyes in the bangles' "walk like an egyptian" (how many chick rock stars did i fall in love with because of music videos...?) aimee mann standing up defiantly in the theater in 'til tuesday's "voices carry. bruce "dancing in the dark" with courtney cox! mick and david bowie "dancin' in the streets".
oh, and for everyone still wondering what the song was that prompted all of this, the song that, though i've listened to it a buncha times on youtube, is STILL rambling through my head, painting pictures in my mind...
it's "waiting for a star to fall" by boy meets girl.
soft, glowy, romantic.
makes you wish that you were in love.
or glad that you are.
can't. get. it. out. of. my. head.
wanna check out some cool newer vids?
check out lazlo bane covering men at work's "overkill".
or the gorillaz "feel good inc".
or weezer's "keep fishin'"--i dare ya!
and if you've never seen them--what rock have you been living under--DON'T MISS "a million ways" and "here it goes" by ok go!
and yes, i know...but jessica simpson's "public affair" is both an homage to madonna's early "holiday" stuff and to the nights you spent whirling around and around at the roller rink hoping for an excuse just to hold a cute girl or guys hand. don't tell me you didn't.
any more entries?
smell ya later!
todd
15 comments:
I'd love to keep up with the listing on this topic, but:
1) Even though I was old enough, I don't remember much of the 80's(Not due to drugs though, I was too young for that haha)
2) I didn't watch much MTV, we didn't really have cable, and if when did finally get it, the 'rents got to watch it first.
3) When I did watch MTV it was only when Headbangers Ball was on.
And even now, I don't watch it as there's not many videos, to watch. But they did bring back the Ball and I do watch that. There's a new video from Megadeth that's kind of neat. And then there a re a few other bands of which I'm sure NOBODY has heard of! hahahaha!
*EDITED TO FIX A FEW THINGS
I've had White Lion's "When the Children Cry" stuck in my head for a week... Everyone else is getting off easy... :P
I'm sure someone has already pointed this out but I just watched the "Take On Me" video on YouTube and was struck by how much the hallway scene reminds me of ALTERED STATES starring William Hurt. Am I crazy? Or just realizing something everyone's known for years?
The only other decent video I remember (excluding Madonna and MJ) was "One" by Metallica. They took all that footage from the film JOHNNY GOT HIS GUN and intercut it with shots of the band. Pretty creepy stuff if I remember correctly.
"Voices Carry," now there was a video that had a big impact on me.
As for Aimee Mann, she not only is "take your breath away beautiful" in real life, but she had a cameo on "Buffy" where she got to say one of my favorite lines from the show. While walking off the stage at the Bronze after Buffy had a little dust up with a couple of vamps, she turns to one of the members of her band and says, "I hate playing these vampire towns."
Matt,
You are not crazy and thanks for reminding me as I was trying to remember where I had seen the hallway scene before. "Altered States" was a heck of a movie and both it and Blair Brown made a big impression on me.
"Waiting for a Star to Fall" is somehow forever linked in my brain to "Shattered Dreams" by Johnny Hates Jazz and When in Rome's "The Promise," so I end up with all three stuck in my head (an unholy 80's trinity)on, like...rotation.
So I guess it's not so bad.
And let's not forget Jami Gertz from the video...How totally 80's is she?
actually, cooper--
while it looks a lot like jamie gertz (and yeah--she was all kindsa 80's hot!), that's the 'girl' of "boy meets girl"--shannon rubican (who is also very pretty and my then girlfriend wanted to look like, dress like) the guy's name was george merrill. after this one, they did another album or two and then split up. i've learned all this in the past two days from people e-mailing me with all kinds of information about it.
also, i went to curt smith (of tears for fears') wedding.
WOW! the 80's! I dunno, there are a few quinessential songs that always put me back there...
"Cruel Summer" by Bananarama
"Borderline" by Madonna
"Round and Round" by Ratt
"Little Red Corvette" by Prince
and I agree with Todd...
"Everybody Wants to Rule the World" by Tears for Fears...
If we're talking 80's we cannot leave out "You Spin Me Round," by Dead or Alive.
The lyrics to that song we're used by Mira Sorvino's character on an episode of "Will and Grace" as a profession of her love for the very gay Will Truman with whom she had a one night stand in college. The ernestness with which she delivered the line made me laugh out loud.
Aimee Mann - WOW
Forget "Till Tuesday" , I would've waited till next Friday for her.
Was not a big fan of MJ, but a great version of Thriller is none other than Electra herself, Jennifer Garner in "13 going on 30" , which I pretty much watched just cause she was in it.
Here's something that popped in my head, how about that wacky ass video The Safety Dance from Men Without Hats? Now that was some crazy 80's stuff. And yes, Brian the Dead Or Alive one was definately one to remember.(As I think more on this things are slowly creeping back) I also remember the Take On Me video as well.
That really wasn't Gertz?! Hunh! Even IMDB says it was, under "Other Work," although I suppose IMDB is sometimes as reliable as Wikipedia.
Curt's wedding. Wow, cool. Whenever I think of "Everybody Wants to Rule the World," I think of the ending of "Real Genius" and how badly I wanted to play in a giant pile of popcorn. "It's a moral imperative."
Oh. And I also want to slap people who are really into "Donnie Darko" but don't realize that Tears for Fears did "Mad World" before Gary Jules did...
cooper~
oh, yeah.
mad world and change--those early tears for fears were so cool too. moody, haunting.
if you watch the regular boy meets girl video (of "waiting for a star to fall") and then check out the top of the pops "live" performance, both on youtube, you can really see that they're two different girls.
Emilio,
The lovely Ms. Garner leading the gang in Thriller not only was a great movie moment, but it apparently sparked a trend as a while back I saw a thing on one of the morning shows about how bridal parties and similar groups were learning "Thriller" to do at functions.
As for musical movie moments, I loved the scene in "My Best Friend's Wedding" where everyone at the rehersal dinner starts singing "I say a little pray for you."
Riding in the car with my mom listening to Dionne Warwick sing Burt Bacharach was one of my favorite childhood memories and those folks on screen breaking into that song brought a hugh smile to my face.
brian and emilio--
if you youtube "michael jackson's thriller" you'll see that, not only is it becoming a trend at weddings, ut prisons as well. there's a clip of all the prisoners in a filipino prison re-enacting thriller in the yard.
also, there's a clip of thriller re-enacted with legos.
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