By Robert Emslie
We all heart the eighties so let’s start off the week with one of the MTV era’s best music videos. Not only the winner of 6 MTV Music Video awards – including Best Concept Video and Viewer’s Choice – the Norwegian band Aha’s 1986 video for Take Me On also showed just how dastardly sidecar racers can be. This video was helmed by noted Irish director Steve Barron who is also known for Michael Jackson’s Billie Jean video, and the Coneheads movie!
Perhaps having a director well versed in film is the reason Take Me On has an actual story line, however fantastical and inscrutable it may be. It also has a cute girl and lots of big ’80s hair, and you can check it out all over again right after the jump.
[youtube width=”720″ height=”540″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djV11Xbc914[/youtube]
Source: YouTube
Jeff Glucker
It has motorcycles in it, which I find cool. And it makes me feel old, since I was a twentysomething when it came out.
I remember being totally blown away by the inventive mixing of pencil animation and live action footage, and the way the stray pencil marks made the animated images flicker and swirl. It is not nearly as impressive today, but I still like it. And let's remember that the technology available at the time made that whole thing a lot more time- and labor-intensive to pull off than it would be today.
I actually have a couple of a-ha's albums from '93 and Y2K, Minor Earth Major Sky and Memorial Beach. They're quite good! A bit out of place among the stoner-doom that populates my CD rack (yup), but I keep them near the Franz Ferdinand and Soul Coughing. The band is one of those one hit wonders that found they really really did not like the colossal pain in the ass of being famous and played things on the down low after the big splash. That guy's got some pipes.
“Take on Me” was one of those songs that, while not a bad song, was only a huge hit because of the video. There were several throughout the ‘80s that fit that bill, and “Take on Me” is a standout among them.
Rather off topic to the site, but relevant to this post, what other songs would you consider, “okay, but clearly eclipsed by the video”?
My nomination is “Sober”, by Tool.
Fatboy Slim, 'Weapon of Choice' is the classic example of a song I wouldn't give the time of day except for the video.
NIN "Closer" has to be up there for videos, but I like the song too.
Sledgehammer, Peter Gabriel.
Anything performed by Cyndi Lauper
We Are Young
Sledgehammer, without question (and we might as well include the very similar "Big Time" video). I think I disagree with your Cyndi Lauper vote. She had a few legitimately good songs for which the videos were wholly unmemorable (I had to look them up on youtube).
I'll give my second vote to "Sabotage" by The Beastie Boys. Not even a particulary good video, but campy and fun, and the song is memorable for the video, and not vice versa.
Gosh, can't believe I didn't think of this immediately. "Addicted to love" is the poster child for this question.
There was some song, I think it had "Baby" in the title or said a lot in the words. The song was not great, and I can't remember who sang it or the title even, but the video had a singing woman flying a WWII era prop fighter craft. Very memorable to me, the first memorable one, I wish I could remember more though. Here's one I actually remember, though from way later. It's notable to me cause my wife is the only other person who I ever met that could recall this one: [youtube _eXw47qb4U0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eXw47qb4U0 youtube]
I think your talking about a Pat Benetar song. I forgot the title.
[youtube lYn5kdHjgko http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYn5kdHjgko youtube] Thanks that was it! The song was "Shadows of the Night" and the video has not aged well. I was a little boy when I watched, it seemed so awesome with the plane back then. Also it did not have these blooping text bubbles, I think VH1 did that later for a while. There's a bad tailhook joke they did.
I love Don't You Want Me Baby by Human League, but I love even more that the video has a Rover SD1 and Saab 99 Turbo.
For that matter, Audioslave inserted into Vanishing Point is probably sort of pretentious, but pairs alright with Show Me How To Live. Or at least 16 year old me was convinced of that.
There's a pretty bad song with a Volvo 780, I watch it many Mondays, used to watch it on Wednesdays.
And by the way, Morten Harket *IS* Nick Rivers.
<img src="http://www.bogotafilm.com/images/cache/screen_image_127792.jpg" width="500">
The sidecar racers were definitely negatively portrayed in this video, in a completely undeserved manner I might add.
A vivid and dynamic video for the 80's. I was into stone sculptures, then, and my lovely lady called me to go downtown to see her. Lovely memories full of rancid fresh sweat under the spanish sun,!!!
Why–WHY?–is a sidecar racing motorcyclist carrying a pipe wrench? Why not a plain old Crescent? My experience tells me that that would be more useful on a motorbike.
I was in ninth grade when MTV came to my cable system in early 1981, so I'm definitely of the first MTV generation. "Take on Me" is my favorite of all the "art" videos.
If you haven't yet, grab a copy of "I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution" from your favorite bookstore, library, etc.
It's a long but fun read, mostly presented as quotes from interviews with MTV staff, musicians, video production people, anyone who was connected with MTV in the 80's and 90's.
Wow. That song still sucks.
I made an account at the imcdb forums today to ask this, maybe someone here knows? It's been bugging me for months now it seems:
"What was the music video with the Volvo wagon and the woman that beats the brains out of the guy?
I know this is a strange question, sorry. I looked at every movie for Volvo that had 'Music Video' as the type in the db and could not find it. I saw a music video some time back. What I think I recall is some fellow is driving a car, I think it was a Volvo 240 station wagon. He meets a woman, who I think was a hitch hiker. Then they drive and stop at an abandoned building. She starts to wreck the place. He is interested in what she is doing, then he takes a tire iron (I think) and hits some things in the building. He puts it down and when he is not looking she hits him in the back of the head with it. Then she ties him to the back of the car and drives off dragging him behind.
Anyway this video has been bugging me for quite some time. It's really itching my brain in that impossible way to scratch that I can't recall the name of the music video. Any help I would really appreciate, thanks."
I was just trying to find this with the Googles and… well, back here again.
Circles, I tell you. Circles.
The Summer Set – When We Were Young
Thanks Greg! Phew found the thread, I'm trying to answer this in as many places as I can, this is a good location, so google circles the wagon for the world.
[youtube DivSgLe9IJc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DivSgLe9IJc youtube]
YES YES YES! I told you it was a later 245 for sure. 😉
[youtube 8HE9OQ4FnkQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HE9OQ4FnkQ youtube]
Piiippe…Wreennch…Fiiigghhtt…Pipe!Wrench!Fight
I really only opened this post to make sure this was here.
That. Is. Hilarious.
Thank you.
It's a shame this is the song that everyone remembers from aHa's canon of work. Early Morning was far better, as was I've been losing you. And who could forget one of my favourite Bond songs, The Living Daylights?
Yes, I'm 31.