So, this afternoon I had the pleasure of giving my girlfriend a tour of the ’80s via YouTube. We went through white screens, bizarre experiments in contrast, several videos that were twice as long as the song they contained (I’m looking at you, Ms. Lauper), and more leotards than I really feel comfortable discussing. One curious result: Because she’s from Luxembourg, my girlfriend is actually more familiar with “deep cuts” from Falco’s catalog than she is with Duran Duran or The Cure. The things we learn, eh? (And no, no buck teeth on her.)
Anyway, I’ve always found it fascinating to look back at the years after music videos first came into being – and now, with Youtube, I can waste countless hours doing it! There’s so much experimentation – music videos with plots, really stupid plots, humor, sequels, space age effects, white screens, tour footage, high concept art, the Robert Palmer Girls… it’s all there. And it’s great to see just how far everything goes before becoming more rigid and formulaic in the 90s. Of course, it’s also amazingly embarrassing to sit through a lot of this stuff – but perhaps that’s part of the fun. In thinking about all this, I was reminded of the now-defunct Friday Night Videos.
Now, we had MTV from the beginning. Cable has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. But for some reason, my father and I would be up late to watch reruns of Friday Night Videos (usually after a lengthy session of Night Stalker on my Intellivision). From that time, I think The Police’s “Every Breath You Take” and Phil Collins’ “In the Air Tonight” are the two most memorable video-watching experiences for me. So, whilst giving a tour from the Buggles through to Guns n’ Roses, I thought it might be fun to share with you some of the “gems” that turned up. You know, have our own little Friday Night Videos revival…
Of course, some of them weren’t embeddable, and you’ll have to visit my playlist to see everything. Just leave your irony-filter set to on, and click here. Press play all, and you’re good to go! And if you can think of anything I should’ve put on the list… let me know! I’m sure this won’t be the last time…
Here are three of the most cringe-inducing videos I found while making this list…
I can’t tell you how sad I get when he says: “Heading for the nineties…”
Oh, just wait… it gets worse!
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And one unsung hero…
Yeah, some of the just aren’t ’80s videos. I know that, but they are bonded in spirit, I think, if not decade…