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