Awesome 80s Video #6: Stevie Nicks, Talk to Me

I am going to go this entire post without making a cocaine reference. I am going to go this entire post without making a cocaine reference.

 

 

Stevie Nicks, “Talk to Me” is my favorite of all of her solo songs. It is not as heralded as other hits like "Edge of Seventeen" or "Stand Back," but it is as quintessentially 1980s as just about any female-fronted rock song of the era. Whoa, is there some 1980s-style production on this track. It almost sounds like a sister song/companion to "Voices Carry."

 

All this, plus a video to match!  It's Stevie in her full [comment redacted] days, twirling all over the place and also doing some kind of choreography with some dudes…and it all takes place in one of those 1980s houses with insanely large and empty rooms!

 

If this isn't 1980s enough for you through the first verse and chorus or so, check out the awesome sax break in the middle.

 

Why, oh, why has no one tried to go "viral" with a wedding party dance copying the routine in this vid? I am normally against any such contrived effort to do such a thing, but I would make an exception in this case.

 

 

Awesome 80s Video #5: Kylie Minogue, "It's No Secret"

Yes, I am resurrecting this short-running series because there is no shortage of awesome videos from that great decade. Today it's a little Christmas cheer...only it has nothing at all to do with Christmas.

Let's go back to 1988 and revisit Kylie Minogue's "It's No Secret."

Her breakthrough “The Locomotion,” which I never liked (not even the original, not even the Grand Funk version), is pretty well remembered today. Not so much her follow-up single, “It’s No Secret.” Somehow this just popped into my head, and I had totally forgotten the video.

It’s cool that it starts with ACTING, including "Locomotion" playing in the bar where we see the characters! Who says meta wasn't cool in the 1980s? I guess the makers of this clip really wanted us to know she was Australian. “Not AGIN!” Hey, Crocodile Dundee was big in 1988.

There are some imperfect things about this—the lyrics are lame, most of the music is unexceptional, Kylie’s hat is almost as big as she is. But the chorus is catchy as hell. Overall this really sounds to me like something that could have come from one of those R&B-ish pop girl groups of the day, like Expose. Is that a compliment? Judge for yourself.

My extensive research (i.e., reading the comments on this video) reveals that the song makes Minogue cringe now, but as I said, it’s a nice dose of frothy pop as we ease into the holidays. Incidentally, I’m undecided on whether her jeans outfit in this video is adorable or abominable.

Awesome 80's Video #4: "She's Right on Time" by Billy Joel

It's time for a special CHRISTMAS edition of the Awesome 80's video, and today I spotlight a song which, were it not for the clip, I wouldn't associate with the holidays at all. But, oh, what a Christmas video it is! From "The Nylon Curtain" LP, I give you...

She’s Right on Time

Yes, it's the Long Island Lover himself, Billy Joel, in this 1982 clip, which offers a very Joelian melody and certainly features Billyian—nah, I prefer Joelian—singing throughout. I don’t think I ever heard this on the radio, though, and the video never seems to make it into those holiday video blocks you see despite the first line talking about turning on all the Christmas lights because baby’s coming home tonight. He doesn’t sing about jingle bells in the song, but the video shows him trimming the tree, so that’s more than enough to make it a holiday video in my book. Or at least on my blog.

Actually, Joel or whoever conceived this video (probably not Joel) decided not to sentimentalize the love song, but rather to go the other way and make a farce. Here the regular guy appeal of Joel works like a charm. He’s primping and looks well groomed and has a bunch of photos in his pad that suggest he gets around, but lest you think he’s trying to play some macho stud, look at what happens in the video. While his woman makes her way over, he readies his place with disastrous results. I mean, one goofy thing after another happens. Stuff falls, crashes, sparks literally fly, the place is a mess, there is kind of a false end to the song, then an even bigger accident happens, and all the while Joel—not exactly the master thespian—provides just enough of a nonchalant but mildly concerned deadpan to carry it along. At least, I think he’s underplaying. The important thing is this video just gives us a good series of funny mishaps. And did I mention this video BREAKS STUFF? In the span of 4 minutes, Joel somehow does even more damage here than he has in almost 50 years of getting behind the wheel.

If this weren’t enough, his ladyfriend experiences her own calamities while walking to Billy’s apartment, though breaking a heel doesn’t exactly compare to nearly setting a good chunk of Manhattan ablaze. Still, she shows up at the door as weary as Joel is, and they finally get together. Here we notice something remarkable: Joel’s girlfriend is African-American. She actually has that classic 1984/1985 young black woman look, in hairstyle, makeup, even skin tone, which is pretty remarkable considering it’s 1982. They don’t make a big deal out of it, or any deal out of it, and maybe I should feel embarrassed for doing so myself, but, hey, you got to respect this video’s cultural relevance considering that the finale features the first interracial kiss on television.

NOTE: Don’t let the fact that Kirk and Uhura kissed 15 years earlier make that last sentence any less relevant. Also, ignore the fact that they don’t actually kiss at the end but just gently kind of nuzzle their heads together. Hey, forget it, I’m on a roll. Besides, it is actually a sweet ending. After all, as Billy himself sang, “Leave a Tender Moment Alone.”

Awesome 80's Video #3: "Overkill" by Men at Work

I told Colin my favorite Men at Work song is "Overkill," and he said, 'That's the thinking man's favorite Men at Work song." Thank you--that's me. 
I did have my difficulties dealing with Colin's lazy eye. That goddamn eyeball.
--Mark Goodman in "VJ"

If you think about it, isn’t Men at Work one of the weirdest breakout acts of the 1980s? They had the exotic Aussie thing going as a band, but they weren’t exactly a bunch of Mel Gibsons. They “blew up” with "Who Can It Be Now?", a song I still enjoy today, and really that whole “Business as Usual” album was huge. So how do they follow it up? With a re-release of what became their biggest and most enduring hit, “Down Under.” But even that was pretty damn close to a novelty song (though rhyming “my language” with “vegemite sandwich” was just great regardless), and the video was played for laughs. Still, they were a big deal at the eighties-ish peak of the eighties.

The album “Cargo” comes next, and then things get really interesting if you track the videos. How does Men at Work perpetuate the hit machine? With “Overkill,” the offbeat, moody subject of this post, followed by “It’s a Mistake,” an anti-war song with a spoofy video, and a horror parody called “Dr. Hekyll and Mr. Jive.” Yeah, these guys didn’t exactly aim for U2-like “meaning” in their music.

But they are quite entertaining, and I love “Overkill.” For a while, the VEVO version wasn't available, and the only copy on YouTube was a bootleg-looking clip with time code on the screen. Somehow that only  enhanced the oddball feel of the video, and I kind of regret the superior "official" version supplanting it (I don't want to link to VEVO stuff, but it's easy enough to find if you want to see this for yourself).

In "Overkill," the dark (but dappled with neon) 1980s-style visuals and night scenes blend with the insomniac lyrics to suggest paranoia and anxiety. Numerous close-ups emphasize Colin Hay’s funky eye thing, either to heighten the tension or to mess with Mark Goodman.. It all adds up to what I consider one of the most atmospheric songs/videos of the eighties and an underrated gem. I love the patented Men at Work sax riffs and the cool guitar break before the last verse. After the rush of that exhilarating final verse, though, the song ends quietly on an unsettling note. Ghosts appear and fade away…

BUT I have to confess something: This video is never as moody and atmospheric as I want it to be. Take another look at that last shot. The song is unsettling—at least to me—but it looks like daylight has arrived and things are gonna be OK. It looks like...peace…contentment, even. Boo!

There aren't quite as many of those “roaming at night” shots as I had remembered seeing as a kid, and one of the better ones is weakened somewhat by the fact that Hay is looking at a storefront that promises souvlaki. Souvlaki? Nothing against the dish, but it’s not the most noirish of foods.

Worse, there’s a shot of Hay sitting at his pad, alone, watching telly on his couch…in socks. Really, going barefoot would have been better because those socks he’s wearing are about s UN-rock and roll as you can get. The only way this scene can be redeemed is if he is watching “Faces of Death III” on that TV set.

Then there’s that last verse, the intense one I love so much, when Hay kicks his vocals up a notch or two. Well, he also starts literalizing the lyrics. "I can't get to sleep," he wails, so we see him in bed. “I’m diving in too deep,” he adds, and then he actually dives into his mattress. On one hand, this adds to that feverish, manic tension of the song. On the other hand, well, it’s goofy as hell.

So which is it? Is “Overkill” classic eighties MTV noir? Or is it another borderline comedy piece? I do wish it were more the former. You know what, though? I seriously wonder if the comedy value of their videos (and this one really isn’t that funny, nor is it supposed to be, I presume, even though I'm poking a little fun at it) diminished the respect they received as musicians.

Awesome 80's Video EXTRA--check this out

I got a cool shout-out on Twitter the other day, and since I am still inept and inactive there, I am acknowledging it here. Plus I want to call your attention to it because I think if you are enjoying the Awesome 80's Video posts, you will love author Marc Tyler Nobleman's ongoing interview project, "The Girl in the Video":

Marc Tyler Nobleman@MarcTNobleman    Follow     @Cultureshark Coming in round 2 of this:noblemania.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-gi…..."I Can't Hold Back."

In case the link doesn't work there--hey, I'm as inept at cutting and pasting as I am at Twitter--go here to read the set-up for these "original interviews with MTV icons." He has already tracked down some great familiar faces, and it seems we can expect an appearance from  the lovely lady who appears in this video:

http://cultureshark.blogspot.com/2013/08/awesome-80s-video-2-i-cant-hold-back-by.html

I have enjoyed Marc's blog for some time now--I'm not just saying that because he Tweeted me--and unfortunately I lost track when Google Reader evaporated, and so I had missed this. What a fantastic idea! Go to the site now, check this out, and while you're there, look at the other cool stuff he has posted. Best of luck to you on this series, Marc!

Awesome 80's Video #2: "I Can't Hold Back" by Survivor

OK, so not only does this video, the second in our series of Awesome 80's videos,  have perhaps the single greatest collective cockblock ever perpetrated on a lead singer by his scrub bandmates, it also offers, I posit, one of the greatest freeze frames in the history of the medium.

Hyperbole? No, of course not. How could there ever be hyperbole when the band in question is…SURVIVOR.

That’s right, 80s superstars Survivor are up with not Eye of the Tiger but “I Can’t Hold Back,” which was a pretty big hit for them and is still remembered today. It’s not an obscure song, but I don’t believe this great video is remembered as it should be.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaMcsKtBDwE

It starts with the band inside a bookstore (sadly, in another 5 years, this will be the most dated aspect of the video) acting like jackasses at the magazine rack, with a couple of the guys leering at a centerfold. I thought at first the band was looking at a centerfold of an electric guitar, which would be a good gag, but after multiple viewings I’m pretty sure I see the telltale sign of a “Data Sheet” on the back of it, an indication that it is indeed a Playboy centerfold…or so I’m told. Ahem.

The lead singer goes over and picks out a big picture book of trains, possibly because, well, you know what trains going through tunnels represent, but just as possibly because he like when the big choo choo go choo choo! Right about now he sees his object of desire, a gorgeous blonde with a quintessential Totally 80s look (and who is damned familiar—if anyone knows who she is, let me know) who we see coming down a ladder. Ladies and gents, it’s our first butt shot of the video, and it will not be the last. It confirms that while the woman is smart enough to be looking at a book (OK, it’s a book about Elvis, but that still counts), the lead singer of Survivor and the video’s director are most interested in other assets.

(Incidentally, Is it standard operating procedure to let customers scale ladders to get books off the top shelves? Or are certain customers encouraged to go up those ladders so rock bands who happen to be in the store can look up at them and watch them come down?)

Lead Singer makes eye contact with her and starts SMOLDERING. At some point the band starts making fun of him, flashing “OK” signs and giggling like they’re in third grade and, hey, look, he’s talking to A GIRL.

“How old are you, Beavis?”
--Butt-head

The guy that stands out, if only because he’s tall and has distinctive specs, is the Ray Manzarek wanna-be. In the performance clips, we see him playing his keyboards and gazing admiringly at the singer, but in these scenes, he seems determined to wedge the singer and the girl apart. I mean, it’s almost as if he doesn’t want him to—ohhhh, wait, I think I just figured out what’s going on here.

Anyway, the Totally 80s babe returns a smoldering gaze and transforms into an 80s video babe, wearing a skirt now and strutting like she means business, as fog makes its inevitable appearance and the band is playing on stage. Again, the message is clear: Yeah, it’s nice the girl is in the bookstore and all, but wouldn’t it be great if she were a GROUPIE? YEAH!

The singer (I really should have looked up his name, huh?) is wearing a way-too-tight reddish ensemble that he probably stopped being able to fit into about 5 minutes after he gave up cocaine. It’s touch and go as it is.

Back in the bookstore, the singer is still trying to give sexy looks, and I think he accidentally gives a choo choo a sexy look because we are transported to a subway scene, with the Totally 80s babe now in leather, the singer wearing a ridiculous but still cool tie, and the band members in various guises as passengers who watch the two leads meet and make out. One dude is dressed as a nun, and Ray Manzarek Wannbe is an uptight businessman.

The train fantasy plays out in PG-rated fashion, and we get back to the bookstore, where our couple is making good eye contact when—what the hell—the band literally drags the singer away. It’s like, “Hey, he’s doing pretty well with her. Let’s get him out of here!” I would expect the singer to say, “Hey, losers, you’d better shut up unless you want to have to scour the Near East for another guy to sing Eye of the Tiger,” but he meekly accepts his fate until they get outside and the band turns the corner. So the singer slinks back and heads back towards the babe, who is going away in the other direction (cue more butt shots), only it’s too late and she gets on…o cruel fate…a train as he stands helplessly on the platform. She gets the train, he gets the shaft, and we get the best freeze frame ever.

Awesome!

Awesome 80's Video #1: "No Way Out" by Starship

(Full disclosure: This post springs from an e-mail I wrote to a few friends. Personal references and in-jokes may have been deleted. Awesomeness is hopefully retained)

Welcome tp yet another new recurring feature here at the blog, a periodic look at the best music videos of THE decade for music videos, the 1980s. This week, let’s look at Jefferson Starship’s "No Way Out," a song from the album that was reportedly so cheesy that Paul Kantner finally said, “I’ve had it,” and left the band, leading directly to the formation of the Starship we all know and love that Built [insert your city here] on Rock and Roll and made “Mannequin” a hit.

I will spare you a blow-by-blow of this video and will instead highlight some of the features that make you wonder how much blow was consumed during the shoot. Besides, I can’t really explain what’s going on here except in broad strokes. It’s a concept video that combines mad scientists, Catholic confessionals, geisha imagery, and Mickey Thomas’ ill-suited mustache, yet it doesn’t all come together very well. In fact, in this upload of the video I link to, the clip actually freezes for a second—surely the result of a flaw in the recording, but it seems as if the video itself is saying, “Wait a minute, let’s take a timeout and figure what the hell is going on here.”

First, let’s talk about the song, which is actually not bad and, one has to admit, is catchy as all get-out. It starts with a very 1980s-sounding keyboard hook, then goes into some funky time shifts and some guitar solos to complement that constant keyboard sound. In other words, yep, it’s the eighties.

And of course, it being Mickey Thomas, he’s gonna sing his ass off. I only wish in this case he sang his ‘stache off, because it just bugs me for some reason. Is he trying to pull off an Oates look? Because, sir, I know John Oates. I rocked out to John Oates. I recently bought a vintage Rolling Stone with John Oates featured on the cover. And you, Mickey Thomas, are no John Oates.

We start with Mickey and his gal going to the castle/lab/whatever, and we get one of those great non-musical intros that used to make videos look so pretentious—I mean, cool. They’re greeted at the door by Grace Slick, who has little to do in this entire clip except make ghastly faces. What did I say about cocaine earlier?
Then Mickey is led up to a confessional booth. See, the song is about his woman not buying the story he came up with as to where he was last night. So we get a confessional/lie detector thing going with some exaggerated effects and noises (the sound design cracks me up in this video—watch this clip and notice how ridiculously noisy all the sound effects are) and oh, yeah, SPECIAL GUEST STAR Father Guido Sarducci. Well, he is a priest, so he fits here, but really all he does is smoke and sit around with no discernible purpose...yes, pretty much like every Father Guido Sarducci appearance ever.

There is some weird stuff going down in the laboratory part, and Grace Slick is still being creepy, but the most bizarre sequences are when Sarducci starts watching some scene play out in front of him. It’s a dude who I am pretty sure is the drummer being entertained by a geisha-like woman trying to be “mysterious.” He digs it, though, so the drummer, who looks like either an eighties porn star or an eighties pro wrestler—wait, is there a difference?—watches her get out of bed and start swaying, so his reaction is to pick up a nearby dumbbell (back then, all swingin’ singles kept one on the nightstand) and start doing bicep curls while she “performs.”

Well, it’s better than watching Mickey Thomas do it. At least this guy’s moustache suits him.

From this point on, it’s more creepy bedroom scenes, more special effects, several re-used shots, footage of Mickey Thomas out on the town with a bevy of beauties, and a weird exchange of cash between Grace and Mickey’s video girlfriend that I can almost certainly assure you is not a drug deal.

I could go on, but please, experience this for yourself.