Time After Time

This week we take a look at one of the most important videos of the 1980s.  Does it hold up after all this time?

This video has many hallmarks of the 1980s.  During this time many artists tried to expand the medium in different ways.  Making a video a vehicle for storytelling was a common choice, though few do as well as this.  While the execution might be a bit campy at points, it also seems strikingly honest and even personal.  Of course, a lot of credit goes to the wonderful song being featured, a classic that's been covered by dozens of other artists and well appreciated even today. 

But the real gem of this video is Ms. Lauper herself.  Her rebellious style shattered all notions of what a vocal diva should look, act, and sound like.  She never used sex to sell her image, and she altered the songs she was supposed to sing to fit her own views and ideals.  Her music became some of the best remembered anthems of the 80s, and instead of becoming an ego monster, she crafted a career splitting her time between singing, acting, and an assortment of charitable causes.

Now here's where it gets weird.

Apparently Cyndi was good friends with actor, wrestler, and mushroom-stomping plumber "Captain" Lou Albano.  That's right.  She knew Super Mario before he was popular.  Lou played Cyndi's father in her first video, can be seen behind the diner counter in Time After Time, and continued to pop up in Cyndi's proximity for many years.  And sometimes he brought his WWF friends.

At the same time, director Steven Spielberg (an 80's mogul in his own right) correctly identified Ms. Lauper's talent, and put her in charge of the music for a small project called The Goonies.  These associations resulted in a convergence, a 1980s perfect storm, if you will, resulting in today's bonus two-part video, which might not be comprehensible, or even bearable, unless you were a kid in the 80s.  And even then you might wince.

And then Part 2:

What can I say?  That video is more 80s than a boombox that transforms into a care bear wearing legwarmers.  No video in contemporary times has ever ended with Andre the Giant chasing off "Rowdy" Roddy Piper.  None ever will.

Enough of that.  Back to the video in review.  This one is a classic, and I would be stupid to say otherwise, so I won't.  Here's my breakdown:

Style: 3
Execution:3
Nostalgia: 6
Lauperocity:  4

FINAL SCORE (not an average):  4.5

NEXT WEEK:  Debbie Gibson

Video Killed the Radio Star

I'm going to start off by breaking one of my own unwritten rules for this blog, by posting a music video that predates the 1980's.  But there's a reason I'm doing this, and I'm sure many of you will know why.  Without any more delay, here is today's video:

This is the video for the Buggles' 1979 non-hit single, Video Killed the Radio Star.  Sure, some folks in Europe thought it was pretty groovy, hitting number 1 in the UK, but it never got higher than number 40 on the US top 40.  In other words, they aren't worth writing about.  Or they wouldn't be, except for one small fact:  This was the first video ever played on Music Television.  Yes, my droogies, this is the song that gave birth to Mtv.

You'll have to forgive them.  Back then, on August 1st, 1981, not even Music Television knew what the 1980s was destined to become.  Instead of setting the bar musically or visually, they chose their first song according to message: VIDEOS HAVE ARRIVED.

So what were we supposed to learn from this video?  I'll summarize:

1)  Get used to bad video effects.
2)  Sportsjackets shall henceforth be shiny.
3)  You can't have enough keyboards.
4)  Objects can and will explode for no reason.

Most of these points turned out to be true throughout the 80s.  Especially number four.  So I guess you can call this rough, proto-video a success.  So what went wrong?  Why wasn't there a Buggles 2: Revenge of the Radio Star?  What was keeping these two young men from taking the world by storm?

Well they did what any couple blokes with a mildly successful single would do:  They joined 1970s supergroup Yes.  No, I'm not making this up.  Already famous from 1970s mega hits like "Roundabout" Yes was recording next door, and just happened to be looking for a keyboard player and a guy with sunglasses.  After it finally became clear that Elton John wasn't looking to collaborate, Yes absorbed The Buggles like Crosby Stills and Nash absorbed Young.  This unnatural union caused Yes to immediately implode, suffering damage that would take years to recover.  Once again, not making this up.  After that, one member became a successful music producer, and the other became a member of 1980s supergroup Asia.

So here's your bonus 1980's video, this time actually from the 1980s this time:

So back to the video in question.  It's rough, no question.  Low-budget, too.  Fortunately, it also has it's own sense of new-age glam style worthy of the 1980s.  Even better, the song itself, in all it's synth-laden glory, was a fitting harbinger of the decade to come.  So here's my breakdown:

Style: 4
Execution: 2
Nostalgia: 2
Historicity:  5

FINAL SCORE (not an average):  3

NEXT WEEK:  Debbie Gibson