Most overrated New Wave videos

[design_femme]

[quote][i]Originally posted by Randall Roq[/i]
<br>An example- Money For Nothing was created when computer graphics were in their infancy. "For it's time" that video was amazing. The creators weren't thinking "Hey let's create a computer animated video that will stand the test of time". That's impossible. They were doing the best with what they had at the time.[/quote]

You know, that's actually a very good point, one that I did miss out on. I remember vividly finding those videos overrated when they first aired, so I know it wasn't issue of then vs. now. However, I was rather young during that time period, so I wasn't quite mature enough to grasp the limitations of technology in our culture in those years.

Good call, Randall!

[waldnorm]

"Once In a Lifetime" is a performance art piece, and for those videos that do that, I think it's one of the best (thanks to Toni Basil's choreography)

"Cry" is probably a bit overrated, but not as much as others out there.

One overrated video I'm surprised no one has mentioned yet is the one that won bunches of awards, which left me asking "huh"? That's "You Might Think" by the Cars. Okay, it's clever and cute, but it's not one I'm anxious to look at over and over again for art--nor is it playful to self-references as many other videos of the time. And yet it kept being rated the "best" in polls at the time and kept sweeping the awards back in 1984/1985. Therefore, I consider it the most over-rated video of all time.

[waldnorm]

Oh, and while I could see the case for it being over-rated because it was played like there was no tomorrow, and it was raved about so much-- sorry-- "Sledgehammer" IS an all-time classic (the only cost is that it greatly eclipsed a now forgotten Peter Gabriel classic, "Shock The Monkey")

[design_femme]

I LOVE the "Shock the Monkey" video. THAT was really a timeless piece. Just creepy, with really great camera angles and cuts.

(I think I am biased because I prefer oddball ideas over technology.)

[ExRat]

[quote]Originally posted by design_femme

"Once In A Lifetime." I agree again, it's not great."Road To Nowhere" was far more interesting.

[/quote]

I completely agree with design_femme, "Road to Nowhere" is still a very interesting video. Always loved that one.

[Randall Roq]

[quote][i]Originally posted by XXX[/i]
<br>I didn't even read st arry's post[:D] But, yeah, OP is critiquing the actual qualities of the videos? In comparison to what? Videos were new back then, so it's not like you can look to the 70s and see something of superior quality in technology and technique. I see Human League videos as being there first, so they couldn't be over-rated. They can be over-played, but not over-rated.

Ma' is pretty smart. She caught on early that Tarantino is overrated while something like [i]The Matrix[/i] is overplayed[:D]
[/quote]

She's smarter than my Ma then.[:D]

[Randall Roq]

[quote][i]Originally posted by design_femme[/i]
<br>[quote][i]Originally posted by Randall Roq[/i]
<br>An example- Money For Nothing was created when computer graphics were in their infancy. "For it's time" that video was amazing. The creators weren't thinking "Hey let's create a computer animated video that will stand the test of time". That's impossible. They were doing the best with what they had at the time.[/quote]

You know, that's actually a very good point, one that I did miss out on. I remember vividly finding those videos overrated when they first aired, so I know it wasn't issue of then vs. now. However, I was rather young during that time period, so I wasn't quite mature enough to grasp the limitations of technology in our culture in those years.

Good call, Randall!


[/quote]

"hug"[:)]

[Randall Roq]

[quote][i]Originally posted by waldnorm[/i]
<br>
One overrated video I'm surprised no one has mentioned yet is the one that won bunches of awards, which left me asking "huh"? That's "You Might Think" by the Cars. Okay, it's clever and cute, but it's not one I'm anxious to look at over and over again for art--nor is it playful to self-references as many other videos of the time. And yet it kept being rated the "best" in polls at the time and kept sweeping the awards back in 1984/1985. Therefore, I consider it the most over-rated video of all time.
[/quote]

Again one of the reasons this one wasn't mentioned is that in it's day it WAS a highly innovative piece. In fact The Cars took a couple of risks when it came to their videos - hiring Andy Warhol and Timothy Hutton to direct for example. But this video "at that time" was an amazing piece of animation. It was a look that was immitated many times afterwards.
Being overplayed till you get sick of it is more the fault of programmers than it is the artist. If You Might Think had only been played a couple of times we'd all be here praising the long lost treasure.
But to say these videos are overrated, you may as well say the Sex Pistols were overrated. I am not a huge Sex Pistols fan but I do value their importance in the scope of things.
How many great or good songs are there in New Wave whose only fault has been that they have been played to death- I Ran anyone?

And for the record I think You Might Think was one of the best visual representations of a songs lyrics in a long time. It got the feel of the lyrics without directly referencing them. And it was fun.

And so it goes.

P.S. Now if you had picked Walking On Sunshine then I'd be forced to agree...it added nothing to the landscape.

[plagiarism]

At the time, I thought the animation for "Money for Nothing" sucked. (Obviously, now it's nothing special.) I didn't care that it was computer animated. Your basic Looney Tunes cartoon was more visually appealing. I thought the faux(?) film videos inserted inside the animation made "Money for Nothing" a great video. I thought it was like "Wizard of Oz", where the mundane world was in black and white, while Oz is in color. In "Money for Nothing", the mundane world was cheezily animated, while the land of free chicks and money was in film. If they had animated videos of "little faggots" and a woman "stickin' in the camera", I don't think the video would have worked at all.

[st arry]

Quite a hot topic [:)]

Just to clear up a few things.. As I said near the start of my first post most of the best videos imo are from the 80s and from Britain, but I was looking at those I felt were probably a bit overrated. Technology never crossed my mind in thinking about these videos. Actually over-gimmicky video techniques can be an annoying distraction. Over-familiarity didn't really cross my mind either, I haven't seen any of them tons of times really. The musical element of a music video is extremely important, it's half the experience. Yes it's my opinion on both music and video but I stand by it. I didn't dislike all the music in the list I put forward as I made clear. Cry is actually an ok song if not spectacular and I never said I disliked it - but I don't like the video. Musically I like music with melody (attitude alone isn't enough for me, nor is smooth perfect production). Video I think should be an expression of or interaction with the music with some invention.

On Peter Gabriel...his Sledgehammer and Shock The Monkey were attempts at pleasant smooth middle of the road pop imo, maybe aimed at a particular middle of the road audience within America? Now the videos may be technically clever but can that really make up for what I see as the ordinary quality of the music? Perhaps they went all out for a clever looking video because the music alone just wasn't that exciting? Now compare those to Games Without Frontiers from 1980. Here is a very strong song, very good melody as well as an interesting arrangement and rather cryptic lyrics. The video for this you might say is less technically perfect than Sledgehammer or Shock The Monkey, but when you watch it do you really care about that? The video is a real expression of the music and with this particular song it has a certain power as well.

[Randall Roq]

Well St arry I can see this is going no where fast. All I'm saying is that no matter how you feel about the videos they had an impact for whatever reasons.

You don't like Sledgehammer? Fine but so what? It was an innovative video for it's time, you're dislike of it changes nothing.

It may not stand the test of time but not many videos will that's the nature of the beast.

It's all subjective and more so with videos I would say. A song can be interpreted in as many different ways as there are people who hear it. These are the interpretations of directors brought in by the bands at the time, by no means definitive visions.

Yes, Godley and Creme is a boring video "now". But I remember when it came out everyone was blown away by it. It inspired other artists to try similar techniques and sent still more scurrying in God knows what other directions. Much of the language of music video was being formed in this period. And these videos added to that language. No, I'm not a big fan of Hungry Like The Wolf but I accept that it had a huge impact and understand why.

You say you don't like these songs, fine but understand that's your opinion.

You also seem to be trying to push some kind of Yanks vs Brits thing. That seems a little silly to me, you are after all talking about British and American groups who were using directors from all over the globe. So was there ever "British" videos and "American" videos? Can you give us a comparison list?

I get the impression you're in your late 20's or early 30's, yes? In time you'll learn it's not just about what you feel- you owe it to yourself to read various critics, get other opinions, see why people feel the way they do. It's not enough just to say something is boring- tell us why.

I have a lot of music I listen to but could never defend as being any good but at least I have the sense to recognise that fact. I know that my opinion means squat because I'm not a musician or producer or someone with the experience to know why this one is better than that one. I go with what I like and I also weigh the opinions of others I respect.

Ergo- I don't like Video X but that dosen't mean it's not an important and relevant video. You don't like Don't You Want Me, okay but you're talking about a song and video that radically changed the music industry here in the U.S. It broke New Wave into the mainstream and God knows the effect that has had in the long run. Is it overrated? What does that mean in this context? It had an impact, case closed.

[design_femme]

So are all going from different places and we got different perspectives on what appeals to us a "music video":

1) Some are drawn to its innovativeness, esp. in context of time.

2) Some see it as an inextrictable extension to the song itself.

3) Some (like me!) more are attracted to the video concept. (<---- I'll explain more in a sec)

I love that we all have different ideas of which Peter Gabriel video is stronger. We got a vote for "Sledgehammer" (based on innovation), a vote for "Games Without Frontier" (based on strength of the song connected), and a vote for "Shock the Monkey." I stand by "Shock" being the best because each frame had great composition (the shot of Peter leaning against the wall, looking surrendered; the movement of paper in the air, the fluttering effect of the running projector; the parts where the camera spins around him as he's standing outside). It gives a feeling of a film narrative, whereas the other two didn't (not that there's anything wrong with that either). It was moody as hell too. That was amazing acting on Peter's part (or on the director's part).

(you can see peter's videos here http://www.petergabriel.com/video/iframe.lasso)

Admittedly, I fall victim to loving the visual and narrative more than the groundbreaking-ness of it. And I will love a video even if I think the song is weak but that's just me. I think it's because the lame graphic designer in me is still traumatized by her design education. I'll be looking for stuff in videos that other people may not care about.

So we are all coming from different perspectives. I'm curious to what photographers or film buffs would think as the best videos from the 80s. I'm wondering how different their answers would be from, say, mine or anyone else's.

[st arry]

[quote][i]Originally posted by Randall Roq[/i]
<br>Well St arry I can see this is going no where fast. All I'm saying is that no matter how you feel about the videos they had an impact for whatever reasons.

You don't like Sledgehammer? Fine but so what? It was an innovative video for it's time, you're dislike of it changes nothing.

It may not stand the test of time but not many videos will that's the nature of the beast.

It's all subjective and more so with videos I would say. A song can be interpreted in as many different ways as there are people who hear it. These are the interpretations of directors brought in by the bands at the time, by no means definitive visions.

Yes, Godley and Creme is a boring video "now". But I remember when it came out everyone was blown away by it. It inspired other artists to try similar techniques and sent still more scurrying in God knows what other directions. Much of the language of music video was being formed in this period. And these videos added to that language. No, I'm not a big fan of Hungry Like The Wolf but I accept that it had a huge impact and understand why.

You say you don't like these songs, fine but understand that's your opinion.

You also seem to be trying to push some kind of Yanks vs Brits thing. That seems a little silly to me, you are after all talking about British and American groups who were using directors from all over the globe. So was there ever "British" videos and "American" videos? Can you give us a comparison list?

I get the impression you're in your late 20's or early 30's, yes? In time you'll learn it's not just about what you feel- you owe it to yourself to read various critics, get other opinions, see why people feel the way they do. It's not enough just to say something is boring- tell us why.

I have a lot of music I listen to but could never defend as being any good but at least I have the sense to recognise that fact. I know that my opinion means squat because I'm not a musician or producer or someone with the experience to know why this one is better than that one. I go with what I like and I also weigh the opinions of others I respect.

Ergo- I don't like Video X but that dosen't mean it's not an important and relevant video. You don't like Don't You Want Me, okay but you're talking about a song and video that radically changed the music industry here in the U.S. It broke New Wave into the mainstream and God knows the effect that has had in the long run. Is it overrated? What does that mean in this context? It had an impact, case closed.

[/quote]

Some may have had a particularly big impact at the time by chance or whatever reason, but the best things in any genre outlast the others with time. In classical music Sphor was considered a great composer in his time, now hardly anyone has heard of him. No I am not making a British v American argument specifically, but there was definitely a general difference in the production sound coming out of those countries. I like the best of both, although from 81 onwards at least I think there's more good stuff from Britain. I do look at what other people rate, but I don't believe in complete relativism where if someone says something is genius that means I have to agree that that description can be valid. And yes I can argue why I think Games Without Frontiers is better than say Sledgehammer but I think I've typed enough on this now.

[Randall Roq]

Okay it's done...for me anyway.
I know what you are saying but I don't agree with most of your examples. And as for Games vs Sledghammer I disagree. One song got considerably more airplay but I don't feel Games is necessarily any more profound. And yes I know what it means-as a kid I used to watch It's A Knockout. I get it- metaphor for war, wow.

So let's just agree to disagree on this. [:)]

[KYYX4ever]

Duran Duran (whose 1st video "album" in the 80s won a Grammy) were certainly innovators for much of their early vids. Perhaps a bit overplayed, but nobody was doing what they were at that time. Exotic locales, exotic women, narration, great-looking young guys louging around in silk suits? Oh my. It didn't get much better than that. And their earliest videos were amazing for different reasons: recall the cheesy, sleazy titillation of "Girls On Film", which got banned on MTV. Some folks were totally turned off, but it was silly, fun, and the guys were obviously enjoying themselves. And the cheesy futuristic graphics of "Planet Earth"...THAT was ground-breaking, in its way. Lots of New Romantic eye candy for the unitiated American masses.