The song may be unremarkable but this Mr. Mister video has to be one of the most 80's-ish things ever created. There are so many observations about the styles of the era that are seen here - almost every frame and and pretty much every bit of the of costuming fits with some fashion of that decade. I mean sure there are things that much more fully encapsulate a certain bit of the 1980's (say, "Doctor Doctor" for example) but bits of the hair make-up etc. in this reflect or predict everything from the fallout of Adam Ant and Boy George to the rise of the Miami Vice look.
And speaking of the 80's - why wasn't "The Sun Always Shines on TV" a bigger hit? I mean given the tastes of the day, well, you'd have thought something this synth-heavy, featuring serious cheekbones and a cathedral filled with mannequins would have found a more receptive audience.
Posted by armand at December 17, 2006 08:39 PM | TrackBack | Posted to MusicWhen I see "Is this love?" all I can think about is Whitesnake. Unfortunately.
Posted by: binky at December 18, 2006 01:24 AM | PERMALINKditto, whitesnake. but a few random thoughts (since i usually skip the 80's music posts, i ought to make this one count):
part of why i skip the 80s music posts is that i find so little worth remembering in the mainstream stuff i apparently favored back then. in hindsight it's all so utterly fatuous. i mean, from "is it love," this brilliant lyric: "i'm underwater -- in overdrive." and thing is, that's not an uncommon degree of hackery for the period. the lyrics on all three of your selections here leave about as much to be desired.
i want to say i love "doctor doctor," and certainly among the three cited bands the only one i might ever buy a whole CD of would be Thompson Twins (my dad owns that album on vinyl) (a-ha i might iTunes a song or two; Mr. Mister not even that much, though i seem to recall liking them when they were current), but even that's disappointing to hear for the first time in quite a while.
all three of these, however, are vivid exempla of the music video form in its incipience, though. all of the tropes are there: bad sets, lots of melodrama quite literally on the run, horrible mock playing and lip syncing, embarrassing "supporting" performances from would-be starlets, and so on.
come to think of it, i may have to check out more of these links as you post them. there's a certain head-shaking campy pleasure in remembering.
Posted by: moon at December 18, 2006 08:53 PM | PERMALINKall of the tropes are there: bad sets, lots of melodrama quite literally on the run, horrible mock playing and lip syncing, embarrassing "supporting" performances from would-be starlets,
And this has changed how? :p
Posted by: binky at December 18, 2006 10:42 PM | PERMALINKHey, don't be picking on Whitesnake. I'd still take the Sykes/Murray/Powell-era band (aka the lineup that got fired immediately before they finally hit it big in the US, but that wrote and recorded their best stuff) over most of the hard rock acts working today.
*waits for Baltar's head to explode*
Posted by: jacflash at December 19, 2006 10:30 PM | PERMALINK