When you walk into a disco and they offer you a seat
Here's something called the Sharing Is Caring meme, which I grabbed from kindkit:
For one week, recommend/share:
Day one: a song
Day two: a picture
Day three: a book/ebook/fanfic
Day four: a site
Day five: a youtube clip
Day six: a quote
Day seven: whatever tickles your fancy
So today is song day, but since I'm reliant on YouTubery to share these things, I thought I'd go for songs plural and bring you a mini-feature I'd like to call "Some Of The Most Eighties Things Ever To Happen In Pop Videos":
Laura Branigan: Self Control
Eighties content: Neon lights, painted girls, flying curtains, being ravished by a contemporary dance troupe.
Also notable: The way that they've "accurately" recreated the look of a rainy street by putting a load of bin liners on the ground. Recession-tastic.
Alphaville - Dance With Me
Eighties content: Ridiculously long coats, a ballerina in a dirty warehouse, a burning rose, a woman gazing mysteriously from beneath a small hat.
Also notable: This was from Alphaville's later, A-ha-ish phase, but if you feel happier with Big in Japan, it's always there.
J. Geils Band - Centerfold
Eighties content: Running down corridors, some great ladies' hairdos, a drum covered in milk (paging Dr Freud?).
Also notable: What with the somersaulting schoolgirls not wearing very much, this is a bit like a boys' version of Total Eclipse of the Heart, isn't it?
Mike Oldfield - Moonlight Shadow
Eighties content: Running around with a long floaty scarf, oppressive country houses, duelling in the night.
Also notable: Floaty Scarf girl is played by Maria from Allo Allo, who also played Biggles's unconvincing love interest in Biggles: Adventures In Time.
Modern Talking - Cheri Cheri Lady
Eighties content: A chessboard, random glass globes and triangles standing about for no reason, and best of all, a man playing a spontaneously combusting cello! They really don't make 'em like this anymore.
Also notable: A phenomenally cheesy tune, along with a long-awaited answer to the question "Where did Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen get his hair from?"
Alternatively, if all this retro stuff feels like ancient history and you want something a bit more hip and happening, you may like to know that my brother's band The Gilded Palace of Sin have an album coming out next month, and they're promoting it with a free track to download. Go on, it's your chance to say that you heard them before the squealing crowds arrived...
For one week, recommend/share:
Day one: a song
Day two: a picture
Day three: a book/ebook/fanfic
Day four: a site
Day five: a youtube clip
Day six: a quote
Day seven: whatever tickles your fancy
So today is song day, but since I'm reliant on YouTubery to share these things, I thought I'd go for songs plural and bring you a mini-feature I'd like to call "Some Of The Most Eighties Things Ever To Happen In Pop Videos":
Laura Branigan: Self Control
Eighties content: Neon lights, painted girls, flying curtains, being ravished by a contemporary dance troupe.
Also notable: The way that they've "accurately" recreated the look of a rainy street by putting a load of bin liners on the ground. Recession-tastic.
Alphaville - Dance With Me
Eighties content: Ridiculously long coats, a ballerina in a dirty warehouse, a burning rose, a woman gazing mysteriously from beneath a small hat.
Also notable: This was from Alphaville's later, A-ha-ish phase, but if you feel happier with Big in Japan, it's always there.
J. Geils Band - Centerfold
Eighties content: Running down corridors, some great ladies' hairdos, a drum covered in milk (paging Dr Freud?).
Also notable: What with the somersaulting schoolgirls not wearing very much, this is a bit like a boys' version of Total Eclipse of the Heart, isn't it?
Mike Oldfield - Moonlight Shadow
Eighties content: Running around with a long floaty scarf, oppressive country houses, duelling in the night.
Also notable: Floaty Scarf girl is played by Maria from Allo Allo, who also played Biggles's unconvincing love interest in Biggles: Adventures In Time.
Modern Talking - Cheri Cheri Lady
Eighties content: A chessboard, random glass globes and triangles standing about for no reason, and best of all, a man playing a spontaneously combusting cello! They really don't make 'em like this anymore.
Also notable: A phenomenally cheesy tune, along with a long-awaited answer to the question "Where did Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen get his hair from?"
Alternatively, if all this retro stuff feels like ancient history and you want something a bit more hip and happening, you may like to know that my brother's band The Gilded Palace of Sin have an album coming out next month, and they're promoting it with a free track to download. Go on, it's your chance to say that you heard them before the squealing crowds arrived...