As Halloween is only a day away, I thought it was time to seek out more videos that embody the spirit of the holiday. Below are some clips that are creepy, eerie, or just plain strange (which there seemed to be no shortage of in the eighties).
A Flock of Seagulls’ video for “Nightmares” has adults dealing with severe mommy issues. The video contains an abundance of creepy dolls and a descent into madness, all of which go well with the eeriness of the song. The song is off the group’s second album, Listen, released in 1983.
The video for The Cure’s “Lullaby” finds Robert Smith as a victim of a man/spider hybrid, played by Smith. The rest of the band appear as cob-webbed, ghostly figures haunting Smith. The video ends with Smith being swallowed by a giant spider. Released in 1989, the video went on to win the Best British Video award in 1990.
“Why Me” from Planet P Project is a cross between a ‘60s B-movie and a Twilight Zone episode. The video features a woman driving at night with some unwanted visitors in the backseat, and an astronaut on a failed mission. Formed by musician Toney Carey in the early eighties, Planet P Project was an outlet for Carey’s love of prog/space rock. Watch for the Scanners-like ending of the video.
Erasure is currently on tour in support of their new album, The Violet Flame. Having never seen them in concert, I decided to check out the show. I was expecting something over the top from the duo and I wasn’t disappointed. Andy Bell dominated the stage with slithery dance moves and lively interaction with the audience, while Vince Clarke took his stance out of the spotlight. Although a bit older and not able to keep the energy going through the entire show, Andy can still belt out a song, rarely missing a note. They led the concert off with “Oh L’amour,” the third single off their 1986 debut album, Wonderland. At the time, the song only reached #85 on the UK charts and the album was a commercial failure. A 2003 remix of the song, used to promote their best of album Hits!, would go on to break the top 20. It’s now considered to be one of their signature songs.
I’ve been a fan of the Eurythmics since their 1983 album Sweet Dreams(Are Made of This), which I had mistakenly thought was their debut album. Little did I know that they had actually released their first album, In the Garden, two years prior. I came across the album in yet another search for overlooked new wave music. It turns out the album had very little chart success and had faded into obscurity. It was considered too experimental and didn’t quite find an audience at the time. Not released in the US until 2005, anyone who has an appreciation for electropop music from the early eighties will find this album well worth listening to.
Co-produced by electronic music pioneer Conny Plank, the album is a mix of brooding electronic and psychedelic sounds. The duo had worked with Plank in their previous band, The Tourists, which they left to form the Eurythmics in 1980. Feeling that a fixed band line-up was stifling them creatively, they wanted to form a project that would allow for more experimentation with “electronics and the avant-garde.” They determined that they would be the only permanent members of the group and would collaborate with others musicians based on how compatible they were with their musical vision.
“Never Gonna Cry Again” was the first single from the album, and the first video by the Eurythmics. It’s a moody song with what is described as a reggae-style baseline, which new wave artists were experimenting with at time. The song also features a rare performance on flute by Annie Lennox.
Considered one of the album’s more accessible songs, “Belinda” was a commercial failure. It’s one of my favorites from the album and is included regularly on my playlists.
This week marks the 30th anniversary of the release of Alphaville’s debut album “Forever Young.” With an estimated 2,000,000 copies sold, it was the German group’s most successful album. Besides producing the single of the same name, it also yielded the hit “Big in Japan.” Although quite successful in Europe, the album had little chart success in the US, peaking at #180. The single “Forever Young,” which has gone on to achieve pop culture status, only reached #65 on the US charts. Despite this, numerous artists have covered the song and it’s been used prominently in movies, commercials, and television throughout the years. The video for the song was filmed in a sanatorium in Surrey, England. If features the group performing before a ragtag audience of young and old, and sporting matching jumpsuits, which were quite popular at the time.
The Abecedarians are another great find I came across in my late-night internet searches. They have the distinction of being the only American band to have recorded under the legendary Factory Records label, the company that produced records for such artists as Joy Division, New Order, Happy Mondays, and Orchestral Maneuverers in the Dark. Having a haunting-like quality to their music that reminded me of the new wave bands from England of the time, I was surprised to discover that the trio hail from Los Angeles. They also have a big sound, which belies the fact that there are only three members in the group.
Forming in 1983, the Abecedarians released their first single, “Smiling Monarchs,” under the Factory label in 1985. It was mixed by New Order’s Bernard Sumner and is a pounding, synth-heavy track. After leaving Factory, their music moved to more of a dark, atmospheric sound. It was the work off of their 1986 mini LP Eureka that captured my attention, and made me wonder how I could have missed them back in the day.
“Beneath the City of Hedonistic Bohemians” is a single off the mini LP Eureka. It’s an energetic, drum-driven track with pleasing guitar work throughout. It’s the song that first piqued my interest in the group and feel it’s one of their best tracks.
Having a darker but more melodic sound, “Misery of Cities” is another single off the Eureka LP.
I recently went to see the Duran Duran concert film, Duran Duran: Unstaged. The film was released on September 10th, showing for one night only at over 300 theaters across the U.S. Directed by David Lynch, it captures the band in concert at the Mayan Theatre in Los Angeles in 2011. In light of this event, I’ve decided to highlight Duran Duran’s “Planet Earth” as the first in a series of classic videos.
“Planet Earth,” released in 1981, was the band’s first single and quickly became a hit in the UK and Australia. It was included on their self-titled album released later that year. This was the first collaboration with director Russell Mulcahy, who would go on to direct several more videos for the group. The band is costumed in full “New Romantic” frilly fashion. The video also features some of their club friends prancing around barefoot in some pretty outrageous outfits. This is one of my favorites from the group and still has heavy rotation on my playlists.
There were some bands I unjustly dismissed in the eighties. One of those bands was Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD). This was mostly due to the fact that I had little affection for the song “If You Leave” from the 1986 Pretty in Pink soundtrack. The whining vocals and the slow melody just didn’t resonate with me. After doing some research, I discovered that this was not the original song OMD picked for the John Hughes flick. After receiving negative feedback from test audiences on the ending of the movie (which had Andie choosing Duckie over Blane) and the song (“Goddess of Love”), they were asked to come up with a song for the new ending landing Andie with Blane. The new ending explains the bad wig Andrew McCarthy sported in the prom scene. They came up with “If You Leave” within 24 hours. The song reached No. 4 on the U.S. charts, their greatest U.S. success, and was pretty much all I knew of OMD until I came across their earlier material in a late night internet search for best synth-pop songs of the eighties.
In my quest for the ultimate synth-pop songs, I kept coming across OMD and their highly lauded first album. Surely this couldn’t be the same band I so easily rejected in the mid-eighties. I decided to give the album a listen and was glad I did. The self-titled album, released in 1980, was not what I expected and made me understand why they were hailed as synth-pop pioneers, influencing artists such as Erasure, Howard Jones, the Pet Shop Boys, Nine Inch Nails, and more recently bands such as Radiohead, The Killers, Glasvegas, and LCD Soundsystem. OMD formed in England in 1978 and founding members Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys were referred to as the Lennon-McCartney of synth-pop. They were considered experimental and intellectual, which didn’t fare well in the mainstream. Retrospectively, the band has received critical praise for their melodic and innovative sound.
“Electricity” was the first single off of the self-titled album released in 1980. It was originally recorded in 1979 but was included on the 1980 release. It’s a frantic swirl of synth-pop inspiration, and led one critic to call it the “perfect electro-pop number.”
My favorite song off the debut album is “Messages.” It features a prominent rhythm, emotional lyrics, and a great melody. This is the song that really grabbed my attention and made me eager to explore the rest of their catalog.
I’m also a fan of their later work, especially the single “(Forever) Live and Die.” It was the first single released from their 1986 album, The Pacific Age, and peaked at #19 on the U.S. charts. It’s a slower-paced song with a notable bassline, and harmonies that mesh so well with the lovely synth backdrop.
Living In Oblivion 