Most overrated New Wave videos

[SomebodySomewhere]

The Police's videos were never anything special -- even by 1983. "Synchronicity II" was the only one that even tried to fit in on MTV.

One video that I remember winning some major award at the MTV Video Awards where I just went, "Huh?," was Neil Young's "This Note's for You." But then I think everybody was surprised at that one.

[Frau_Blucher]

Are there cases of bands you really love, but the videos for them are universally atrocious? I've gotta go with The Cure here. Ahem, British 80s videos BTW [;)]. But they're all just performance videos of Old Bob singing, albeit with some sort of differently themed backdrop. There's not even good syncing to them sometime, or the camera will just be panning, not even on Bob during key vocal moments that you'd think would be the focus of performance-type videos. So I guess it may be somewhat rare like St Array says to have a good video without a good song, but it seems all too common to have bad videos to great songs, in some cases, for an artist's entire catalog!!!

(please correct me if I'm wrong and I've forgotten some good vids)

[Randall Roq]

Well an example of a song I loved at the time...In A Big Country. Being six thousand miles from my birthplace I really related to this song.

I remember seeing the video for the first time and having this big WTF moment. A treasure map?! ATVs?!? White chicks with cornrows in diving suits...WTF?!?!

It's a great song with an absolutely atrocious video...unwatchable. You could never say overrated though...LOL...since everyone hated it.

[DayGloJo]

[quote]Originally posted by st arry
[br]
Police - Every Breath You Take. Good song again, but basically standing around playing a cello is too much of it.

[/quote]

Watching Sting standing around doing nothing can't be overrated!!! Yum!!! [:X]

[quote][i]
Peter Gabriel - Sledgehammer.
Ditto for Gabriel.

[/quote]

Ditto for Gabriel.[:X]

[Decemberist7]

One that hasnt been listed but i always got a kick out of was Flock of SeagulLs I Ran....Even back then it was cheesy....

Producer 1: Hmmm, lets make a video...
Producer 2: OK!
Producer 1: WHat do we got aside from the camera and some hairspray....
Producer 2: Hmmmmm.....I have a roll of tinfoil and look some old mirrors in the dumpster over there?
Producer 1: fin!

[DayGloJo]

[quote][i]Originally posted by Decemberist7[/i]
<br>One that hasnt been listed but i always got a kick out of was Flock of SeagulLs I Ran....Even back then it was cheesy....

[/quote]

FOTFL!!!! You're right, too funny.[:D]

DayGloJo

[Bitter Almonds]

You have not seen "bad" and "cheezy" until you've seen Laura Branigan's videos. THOSE would be overrated, if people weren't smart enough to pick up on its badness[8D]

[DayGloJo]

I just read the title of another thread on this forum asking about "Men at Work" sites, which reminded me of "Who Can It Be Now?" I loved the song but that video and the one for "Down Under" looked like they had a combined production budget of $500.

The lighting in "Who Can It Be Now?" reminded me of a bad, cheap, porno flick. It was definitely the band's whacked out humor that saved that one.

DayGloJo

[ghosty]

I recently purchased Peter Gabriel's "Play" DVD with most of his videos. I agree that "Sledgehammer" looks horribly dated now, but only because it's so indicative of the era and technology has moved on. I actually like that track for what it is, ersatz Motown-inspired Pop, along the same lines as the blue-eyed soul of Bowie's "Young Anericans".

The best video on it is the recent "Father To Son" with footage of Gabriel and his Dad, very moving. Peter really ought to lay off the candy bars though, he's nearly as big as Orson Welles these days.[}:)]

[geoffolehane]

I think the determining factor of what makes a video great is (to steal a catch phrase) in the eye of the beholder. I have to agree with bpdp3 and Randall Roq's comments that the said videos were important at the time...but now they've become passe.

There are a few videos from the era that I still love to watch over and over and I never grow tired of them. I think the approach to "Don't You Want Me" is actually kind of clever with its sort of PI-gumshoe imagery and Susan Sulley's serious face staring at us she walks our way in anger. I actually never liked the "Money For Nothing" video because I never really liked the song. Certainly it's incredibly archaic now...but at the time everyone called it the future of music videos and it is one of those videos that helped sell millions of copies of the album (which after all is the purpose of a music video anyway).

I'm surprised no one mentioned A-Ha's "Take On Me." Even after 20 years and about 200 viewings, I think that video is extremely innovative and a pleasure to watch.

When I judge a video, I judge it on its creativity and pertinence to the song be it simple or creative. The Church's "Under the Milky Way" immitates a 60's psychedelic trip with the guys just playing their instruments and the screen stretching back and forth. But that worked with that particular song and I always like to see it.

Buggles - "Video Killed the Radio Star" looks almost like an Ed Wood movie but I always like to watch it...with that little girl staring at the screen and that futuristic woman sliding up and down the glass tube. But it fit perfect with the song (and the production budget) at the time.

[Randall Roq]

[quote][i]Originally posted by geoffolehane[/i]
<br>I think the determining factor of what makes a video great is (to steal a catch phrase) in the eye of the beholder. I have to agree with bpdp3 and Randall Roq's comments that the said videos were important at the time...but now they've become passe.

There are a few videos from the era that I still love to watch over and over and I never grow tired of them. I think the approach to "Don't You Want Me" is actually kind of clever with its sort of PI-gumshoe imagery and Susan Sulley's serious face staring at us she walks our way in anger. I actually never liked the "Money For Nothing" video because I never really liked the song. Certainly it's incredibly archaic now...but at the time everyone called it the future of music videos and it is one of those videos that helped sell millions of copies of the album (which after all is the purpose of a music video anyway).

I'm surprised no one mentioned A-Ha's "Take On Me." Even after 20 years and about 200 viewings, I think that video is extremely innovative and a pleasure to watch.

When I judge a video, I judge it on its creativity and pertinence to the song be it simple or creative. The Church's "Under the Milky Way" immitates a 60's psychedelic trip with the guys just playing their instruments and the screen stretching back and forth. But that worked with that particular song and I always like to see it.

Buggles - "Video Killed the Radio Star" looks almost like an Ed Wood movie but I always like to watch it...with that little girl staring at the screen and that futuristic woman sliding up and down the glass tube. But it fit perfect with the song (and the production budget) at the time.


[/quote]

I totally agree, especially with the Aha video- it holds up after all these years even though ironically it's a very easy effect to pull off these days. I'm not a fan of the song but I can watch this vid over and over.

[dcs84]

I had to dive in on this, as this is my thing. I'm attracted to 80's music videos like a raver to glow sticks. This thread is certainly approaching the subject along a different tangent though. Overrated is hard to interpret as reviews on video were few and far between at the best of times. Secondly even if there were copious wads of reviews it is such a subjective deconstruction.

I really dug the "Boys of Summer" clip, the kid on the drums was amazingly intense, and the looking back to the past motif, wow. I think the Cure clips were also lambasted here, yet I for one enjoyed the claustraphobia of "Close to me", and cliff top shenanigans of "Kiss me, Kiss me, Kiss me" (is that right?).

As for overrated the clip, as an artform, has in many cases so little to do with the artist and so much to do with the director, Russell Mulcahy is a case in point. Having said all this though,I think, and I diverge from NW here, that "Thriller" is a little overrated.

[2Nu]

I'll approach this one from the standpoint of someone who was particularly taken by the sonic interpretation of a song but was EXTREMELY dissappointed by the resultant or accompanying video. Particularly, the complete and utter lack of bombast and theatrical ambience that permeated the original studio recording.
Case in Point: FGTH's 'Welcome To The Pleasuredome'
I mean c'mon, Holly lipsynching while riding shotgon in a Bell 206 while the boys 'steal' a car and head off to a carnival in the middle of nowhere. Throw in some nocturnal aerial and terrestrial car chase footage and it has all the cheesy trappings and allure of lesser period tv action series.((Yawn))
The director (Benard Rose) could have at least have derived some timely thematic and visual cues from 'Miami Vice'!
Totally lame and uninspired compared to the visually stark yet evocative laser infused (original) video for 'Relax'

<IMG SRC="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v395/richp62/Icons%20Avatars/inot.gif">

[Frau_Blucher]

[quote][i]Originally posted by 2Nu[/i]
<br>Case in Point: FGTH's 'Welcome To The Pleasuredome'
[/quote]
Yup.

But they sure make up for it with their "Relax" appearance in the classic 80s thriller "Body Double" which acts almost like a second video...it's freaking hilarious! Plus the iconic 80s cheese of "Two Tribes" with the Gorby and Ronnie fight club. They get a total pass from me for these two brilliant moments.

[Berserker]

[quote][i]Originally posted by Blir[/i]
<br>[quote][i]Originally posted by 2Nu[/i]
<br>Case in Point: FGTH's 'Welcome To The Pleasuredome'
[/quote]
Plus the iconic 80s cheese of "Two Tribes" with the Gorby and Ronnie fight club. [/quote]I believe that is Russian President Chernenko.