The MTV era of music was by far the best and gave us thousands of great (and not so great) music videos to associate with our favorite songs on the radio. Some adjectives we can use to describe '80s music videos include weird, ground-breaking, sexy, epic, and just plain fun. I thought I'd give myself an excuse to rediscover some of these gems and pick one to breakdown on a regular basis.
Nowadays, the ones I love rediscovering are mainly those videos I vaguely remember (or don't remember at all) which display the '80s in all of its glory. Big hair, keytars, acid-washed, epic shooting locations, sexy gals/guys, saxophones, cars, bright neon color, leather, gratuitous close-ups...most (if not all) of these quintessential features are what make these videos so entertaining to watch. There is no rhyme or reason to my selections. I'll just be choosing videos as I stumble across them or as suggested by you. Here we go!
Icehouse "Electric Blue"
Peak U.S. chart position: #7
The song was co-written by John Oates of Hall & Oates
and became the highest charting song in the U.S. for the Australian band.
Check out the video and then the bodacious breakdown...
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0:05 - Doesn't take long to figure out who "Electric Blue" is. What an entrance! When do you think blue leather is gonna come back in style?
0:28 - Gratuitous lead singer close-up, check. Mullet with its own zip code, check.
0:43 - Keytar at 5 o'clock! Hey, I didn't know Gregory Hines was in this band! And is that The Edge's brother on bass?
1:00-1:12 - Can I get an epic strut across a rooftop in leather jacket while playing guitar? Bonus points to all music video directors who use rooftops as filming locations (see
U2.)
1:26 - '80s sax players had it made, didn't they? Provide a 30 second solo and an occasional rhythm riff...stalk the lead singer for the rest of the video.
2:00-2:25 - There's the sax solo we know and love from the '80s. Nice use of the sunset as well...could've used this image on a Trapper Keeper and all the kids in band would've loved it. Did you notice as we transitioned to night that you could see steam coming from the sax? Made me wonder if it was steam or if one of the other band members played a practical joke and through a lit cigarette in the saxophone before he picked it up for the solo.
2:42 - Two things girls needed to do in '80s music videos...make awkward poses that a contortionist would cringe over and look pissed off to the point of wondering when the stupid video was going to be over...
3:15 - Money shot. I guess nighttime alley dancing was a lot safer in the '80s.
3:25 - Why is the drummer smiling all the time? What's he so freakin' happy about? It can't be that bedhead of a hairdo he has or that one drum beat he holds throughout the whole video...
4:07 - Fashion check around the room: Acid-washed denim jacket with popped collar on guitar player. Sax player sporting the letterman jacket with the acid-washed jeans. Leather trenchcoat on lead singer. Red leather coat and black leather pants on drummer. Bassist has
The Edge hat with the rolled pants and Doc Martens. Keytar player has the faded brown leather coat with the black denim pants.
4:18 - OK, final shot. Gotta be a close-up of the girl doing this move...wait, what the? Oh man, didn't we get enough of the mullet? #MissedOpportunity
Girl pushes the elevator button to go up to the roof to be with the band...awww.
THE END.
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Bodacious Breakdowns on RD80s...
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