Mittwoch, 12. Mai 2010, 9:28

My favourite kind of music video is a fun one. I particularly like them if they include lighthearted dancing, and direct address to the camera. It's probably no-coincidence that this style and presentation of music video was big in the eighties and I like eighties music of all kinds. I don't like a lot of serious or cinematic videos, since, at heart, music videos are just commercials. Now, some of my favourite videos are also very stylised. I don't only like one type. I love "Bachelorette" by Bjork and "Da Funk" by Daft Punk, and neither fits with what I have written above.

I think a music video should grab you, show you something novel and different and give you a good enough idea about the music and musicians behind it. So, with that In mind I wanted to put up a few of Tim Pope's music videos. Some of these songs are very famous, and I am being a bit obvious, but I didn't know he did "The Safety Dance". On seeing "Why Can't I Be You?" by The Cure I quickly realised that this guy and his production team understand funny dance, and that to me is about as good as you can expect from a novel three minute commercial.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MI0a9hTh5AU
The Cure with Why Can't I Be You? (1987)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7QPBzAJ_io
Strawberry Switchblade with Since Yesterday (1984)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7movKfyTBII
Men Without Hats with The Safety Dance (1982)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaJBDyXM3TE

Vegas with She (1992), which i've included because it seems very perverse, and for me, it proves that Terry Hall is up there with Leonard Cohen and Scott Walker. And because of Tim Pope's description of making it from his website - Tim Pope.tv:

"i'd worked with coventry boy terry hall in one of his previous incarnations the colourfield and also had filmed the specials on stage when skinheads invaded. i remembered the original of this song 'she' when frenchman sharlz aznavour had written/crooned it. so i invited seventy-eight-year-old sharlz to come and be in the video but when i asked sharlz to stretch his arms around himself to give the effect of sharlz kissing someone else when viewed from behind – something he was pretty famous for – he told me he was in a car crash and his arms did not go that far round, le pauvre bugger. merde, i thought, and gave him a hotwater bottle as the drone of dawn's parisian dustbin carts grew around us. bet truffaut didn't get these problems with 'shoot the piano player' that sharlz starred in."

Bloody hell!