’80s Music Video Thursday
I thought it’d be fun to mix things up for this Thursday afternoon and post a few music videos from the ’80s. These videos are awesome. Also terrible. Awesomely terrible. But again, mostly regular terrible.
Feel free to post more incredibly bad music videos in the comments, and I’ll pick the best for next week.
“Let’s Groove” by Earth Wind and Fire
In space, no one can hear you groove. All night.
“Abracadabra” by Steve Miller
In case you missed it, there’s a magic theme going on here.
“I Wanna Love You Tender” by Armi and Danny
These dance moves aren’t going to make Beyonce jealous. But seriously, worst choreography ever?
“lets groove tonight- boogie down alright”
80’s music Poupon your face
I won’t boogie again in my life
It seems to be a mix of “Oh Mickey” (ala Toni Basi), Xanadu, “Grease” and my 11th grade aerobics class.
that is Toni BASIL (I swear this thing eats letters)!
The SMB: Abracadabra!!! Always loved the song, never seen the videwo… apparently they were bit on running the video backwards. NOw the Earth Wind and Fire one… TTTTRRRRRIIIIIIPPPPPYYYYYY!
Love the song!
That third video looks like they had a budget of five dollars and blew it on cheap hookers. There’s enough dance talent there to fill a shot glass and have room left ver.
Word
There was one music video by some girl in the 80’s that had a set that consisted of a disco ball, and two ‘door ways’ made out of black electric tape. Does anyone know what song that was?
Also can I request Rockit by Herbie Hancock next week?
That video is so win.
Eh, t-t-t-t-t-triple post!
Link in my name.
#3 is really terrible omfg
I have to think about this — some dozen dancers had to humiliate themselves for money, and be caught forever on this video. What some people will have to do for money.
whoever said “white people cant dance” must feel pretty dumb after watching “I Wanna Love You Tender” that has to be the best danceing EVA!!!
Abracadabra was my favorite song as a kid…it almost forgives the terrible video…almost…
Wow. I dunno if that’s the worst coreography ever, but they’re certainly doing what they can. They’re even off sync in the beginning.
Search for “Living On Video” by Trans-X. The video is worse than the song… yet I still have it on my iPod.
NOOOOO!!! I just searched YouTube for that video to link to, and it’s gone!
Oh well.
Did a video search on Google for “Living on Video” and the one on YouTube by Trans-X was there…first on the list, actually, followed closely by a all but lyric-less techno remix (?) of the same name by Pakito. Rest assured that computer animation has done nothing to improve the quality of the “dancing”…the most entertaining part was the ad for a pico projector (under the video) with the line “How will you swivel” popping onto the screen as the women in the vid are gyrating…
Well, that first one is a live TV apperance. I’m talking about this one:
http://www.veoh.com/collection/s377032/watch/e126476wXQFFS6h
…I think. I’m getting really choppy playback on this ancient computer, but the frames that are showing up look right. I had it in my Favorites on YT, and also buried deep within my bookmarks, but that link is now dead.
The EW&F video wasn’t really that bad – for its time.
Now, if you want a bad video for that time period, how about “Rock with you” by Michael Jackson?
“Stay the Night” by Chicago
“Do you believe in love?” or “Stuck with you” by Huey Lewis & the News
Of course a video I’d actually like to see again would be “Wishing” by A Flock of Seagulls…
(yes, I’m a child of the late 70s/early 80s, and grew up listening to this stuff – “Abracadabra”, “Let it Whip” by the Dazz Band, and “She Blinded me with Science” by Thomas Dolby were the first three 45s I bought with my own money…
Bad videos…
You Spin Me Round (Like a Record) – Dead or Alive
Never Gonna Give You Up – Rick Astley
Nothing’s Gonna Change My Love For you – Glenn Medeiros
Mickey – Tony Basil
Great songs, terrible videos.
Say what you will about the EW&F video, for as bad as it is, the song is freakin great.
Was that Meatloaf introducing video #3?
Can’t be. This is from a TV-show in Finland and that guy is most probably Mikko Alatalo (don’t ask). The video is *sigh* also made by Finns and Danny and Armi were very popular here in 1970’s.
*Moves to Sweden*
*Comes back, kidnaps Nightwish and smuggles them to Sweden as well*
Here’s the original Finnish version in Live.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3g8n-8CGMw
Fortunately this one doesn’t have any choreography at all. I’m not sure if it makes it any better though.
to all you little whippersnappers who make your little “high tech” digital videos and what not nowadays….
YOU’RE WELCOME.
Steve Miller songs had the worst rhymes:
Abracadabra = reach out and grab ya
El Paso = great big hassle
SCTV, straight from Melonville!
(for the last video – Armi and Danny)
I know of an equally bad, if not worse, music video from the 80s. It has the same kind of space theme. Look up “Fred vom Jupiter” on YouTube.
This looks like something that a dance teacher for kids 8 and under would choreograph…
Video #3 is like Lawrence Welk trying to do disco!
I’m sorry, but the ULTIMATE bad video award has got to go to the Buggles for ‘Video Killed the Radio Star.’ Yeah, it may have been the first music vid aired on MTV (Back when it could actually be called ‘Music Television.’ Now I’m guessing the ‘M’ stands for ‘Mediocre.’) but nothing could be as awesomely terrible as that one. A close second would be ‘Pop Musik’ by M.
Video #3 is generally considered one of the most poorly-made music videos of all time. @Nick ‘Video Killed the Radio Star’ has an awesome music video, I have no idea what you’re talking about XD.
My husband gave the all-time best review of the Steve Miller Band once.
He said “The Boston Strangler had more chords in his repertoire than those wankers!”
On that last one, when the melody started, for a second I thought it was a Dschinghis Khan song. Oh, how disappointed I was.
“Abracadabra” was a fricking awful song from a largely mediocre, occasionally fricking awful rock and roller who started out in the late 60s playing behind Chuck Berry. That video. Is an insult. To television. Let’s go over that thought again, shall we? Turn the sound off. Play the video again. Look at the stupid, rank-amateur f/x. Look at the plain-jane model who’d probably look like someone behind the counter at the post office if she didn’t have $900 worth of hair, makeup and underwear on. LOOK at the STUPID IMAGERY. The baby suddenly appearing the the girl’s arms. This video was directed by a f*cking moron who thought everyone watching it would be a moron. It is quite possibly the stupidest three minutes of anything ever shown on television.
What the hell are they doing is space??!!
Ah, the hair. The glorious hair!
WOW. That’s really all I can say. I just love how uncoordinated all of the dancers are in the beginning number. Was that supposed to distract from Danny’s horrible hair? I laughed. I cried. I wet myself. Fabulous.
Man Petting a Squirrel
EW&F: Great song…but I kept waiting for the Seseme Street thing to happen. You know, when the head on the left says the first part of the word, the right head says the second sound of the word, then they say the word together..
C…….at………Cat! or would it be
Gr……..ooove……….Groove!
A finnish version of YMCA. Bad dancing galore!
OMG the letters are not even the same !! why? WHY???
My guess would be that the Finnish language and alphabet are different from ours…just a hunch, mind you, but I noticed that the last 2 letters are not pronounced “kay” or “why” but rather something similar to “koe” and a really warped “eee.”
I find it more disturbing that their motorcycle cops, Indian chiefs, construction workers, bikers, cowboys, and sailors all dress in gym clothes that made what I had to wear in high school gym class look elegant…
YMCA = Young Men’s Christian Association which translates into Nuorten Miesten Kirkollinen Yhdistys in Finnish, thus the abbreviation NMKY.
The letters are the same in Finnish, they’re just pronounced differently.
English isn’t the only language in the world, you know.