Philip Bailey and Phil Collins - "Easy Lover" 1984

To clarify this is a video about the making of a video of a video. Video.

 

The video starts with the Phils sitting, being interviewed about their music video "Making Of" video for their new video. Phil Collins thinks it's interesting. And it is.

Video Video Video

The Phils fly over London to the studio in a helicopter and we get a glimpse of the main music video. Then they arrive separately into the studio so each of them can relish in their fame with the Music Video crew. All this is captured by the "Making Of" crew, or the "Making Of the Making Of" crew. That parts unclear. No it's the "Making Of" crew. I think.

Wearing some nice jumpers the lads hang around the studio we get a lovely montage of the set up for their awesome music video, we get a glimpse of the video they're going to be making. It's at this point that you understand why they made a "making Of" the music video because the music video is really, really dull. So much so that we get to see a collective eighteen seconds of it. The actual music video is just them on a stage in suits singing. it's boring. 

You've been saved form 4 minutes 47 seconds of this

But the "Making Of" which is secretly the actual music video your watching is really good. See what they did there.

So Phil Collins has to get his hair done and so he sings over the "Music Video" to learn his lines. Then Phil Bailey comes to check on him and they have a joke about Bailey having no hair.

"Your hair is short JK"

The fun doesn't stop their they mess about and even go to a cafe and eat and read the paper and for the bridge they dance around and try out some cool microphone stand tricks the Collins just can't get eh hang of. They sing over the music video again but together and then have what every 80s music video needs A Suit Up Montage!

Pictured: Cool

And then we see more of the dull actual Music Video.

Over all this is a fun little video of two musicians just having a laugh. Shame about the "Music Video" but the "Making Of" is awesome. Cracking tune. Love it.

 

My Short Film

I'm Sorry for the lateness of not have a new video review up over the last few weeks but I was busy working on my Short film "Practice".
You can see it here
 http://www.rode.com/myrodereel/watch/entry/442

and Vote for it in the #MyRodeReel Competition

"Ever Fallen in Love (With someone you shouldn't've )" (The downbeat cover version) by Fine Young Cannibals 1986

Such a long title.

In 1986 a small road trip comedy film named "Something Wild" with Jeff Daniels, Ray Liotta and Melanie Griffith was in need of a stand out song. The Fine Young Cannibals provided that with their version of "Ever Fallen in Love".

Something Wild indeed

The video takes place in a cinema, because it's a song for a movie, so where else would it take place. The cinema is filled with couples and stereo types and what can only be described as pure shenanigans.

We start with a street scene and a church bell.  For some reason  two men walk in drag toward the cinema doing a very bad impressions of women's voices "Hurry up I don't want to miss the beginning." Says one. The other replies "You've already seen it four times".  The women make their way into a busy cinema and take their seats. I'm sure, but I can't guarantee they're played by bassist  David Steele  and guitarist Andy Cox. From what I can determine from the original film there is no reason for this what so ever. Such as a similar scene.

I had hoped this was Jeff Daniels and Ray Liotta.

We find Lead Singer Roland Gift going about his droll work as a projectionist. Distracted by his singing he starts messing with the tracking on the projector as scenes from "Something Wild" play on the screen. This is a serious dick move on Roland's behalf but he doesn't give a fiddlers and starts making the characters move back and forth frame by frame in time to his music. A few audience members get angry and start throwing popcorn in his direction. Suddenly as we see David Steele and Andy Cox again dressed as different characters and then themselves in the audience, something magic happens, the dialling effect of the projector starts effecting real life, forcing people in the crowd to move back and forth intercut with shots of the film doing the same.

Hairography

This goes on for a while and it's actually really entertaining. Just as you think you've forgotten about the other weird randomness in this cool music video, Roland does a weird seizure dance to the bridge and beat break down. 

One of his band mates mysteriously grows a brown paper bag over his face. Suddenly three band mates are dancing and singing in front of the screen fully covered in brown paper bags. It's really odd and comes at you from nowhere. Roland up in the projection studio sings his heart out as the song builds to the big finish. Finally he just sneaks away having now destroyed all of space, time and reality with his mischievous projectionist super powers.  Hopefully leaving Doctor Who to come save the day.

This video is great!

 I loved it. What really stood out for me was the creative use of the scenes from the film. Using the clips to their own needs was really refreshing and way more interesting than what everyone else does, which is just intercut scenes from the film. This video just played with the footage they were given and messed around with it, making characters dance with a very simple editing technique and turning it into a very entertaining music video. 

boppin'

The cross dressing band members is very similar to something that has been being adopted by the likes of Dave Grohl and the Foo Fighters. It seems a bit more Monty Python but with terrible acting and is just strangely out of place. Had they fully embraced these characters and made them major parts of the video it would have been better, but they're sort of just there. 

As for the brown paper bag men?  I'm scared.

The stuff of Nightmares

Grand song but I think I prefer  the original 1978 version by the Buzzcocks.

Have you ever fallen in love (With someone you shouldn't've)?

"Loverboy" by Billy Ocean 1984

In 1984 Billy Ocean was sentenced to life inside the Phantom Zone for love crimes. Specifically for making all other men look really lame in front of women. He was also dressed like Han Solo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JjhBv2dqsk 

Shinning through his pyramid portal Billy entertains a vast collection of aliens as they sit around their desert cave cantina.

I use the word "cantina" for the exact reason you think. It's 1984 and Billy and his label obviously thought they should cash in on some of that Star Wars money, with a weird Superman II reference.

Billy is floating through space in his prism prison (say that six times fast)  and he comes to a sandy planet floating above a Lizard Man riding along a beach on his horse .

 Space horse?

The Lizard Man enters a cave as the glowing prism prison follows him in and sits in the middle of a SciFi cantina. There's even a tall hooded figure with glowing eyes. Is it a Jawa with gigantism or two Jawa's one on the other's shoulders so they look tall enough to drink? I like to think the second.

Now Lizard Man is getting really into Billy's awesome tune. He's looking around and feeling enriched with dance fever, he spots a stunning dog nosed girl with pink hair and starts to dance.

He strolls through the bar toward her. Past a robot with a TV for a head and Slimmer from Ghost Busters, before he died and became a ghost. He doesn't glow and we all know there was no way slimmer was once human, he had to have been an alien ghost. Right?

Anyway. Lizard Man being the dashing hero and "loverboy" that he is, shoots first and asks questions later. Taking out Dog Girl's, husband, owner, pimp, guy and some innocent bystander. Now at first you're thinking "Oh he's rescuing her." However she clearly does not want to go with Lizard Man and so he grabs her by the wrist and leads that girl back out to the desert.

 

 Straight up murder!

Then as Billy hops around singing smoothly, three normal sized rip off Jawas sing "Lover, Lover" as backing vocals to Billy. Who by the way, is still in the Phantom Zone  but now floating above them outside the cantina.

Once outside the Cantina, Dog Girl seems a bit more accepting of her new circumstances and hops  on the horse and rides off into the sunset with Lizard Man.

The last shot is lizard man roaring into the camera clearly having either eaten or mated or both with Dog Girl.

I loved this video. It sets up a clear story, it's fun and entertaining and has absolutely nothing to do with the song. In anyway what so ever. The "Lover Boy" depicted has to be Billy Ocean himself because Lizard Man is a straight up murderer and abductor. The song is great. It's catchy and upbeat, you can dance to it or you can get down to it. Props to Billy Ocean and also the props, puppetry and FX people, because this was awesome. Well the Jawas were clearly people on their knees in long gowns but some of the aliens looked awesome.

"Lover, Lover"

Later that year Captain Kirk rescued Billy Ocean from his prism prison (say that six times fast)  and they fought over some green skinned women.

Survivor

"Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor 1982

I think for starters we'll go with something simple that everyone knows.
I'm not going in any chronological order here but merely follow the videos I'm weirdly drawn to.
It's 1982 and you think you have some inspiring music in you, luckily so does Sylvester Stallone. He asks you to write a song with grit and motivation, and by all accounts you succeed.
Survivor:
"EYE OF THE TIGER"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btPJPFnesV4

The song is great, it's catchy and powerful and incredibly inspirational. It makes people want to stand up and face the world, their heads high and proud. The video however is not very inspiring and lands us in the Eye Of The Creepy Alley

We see front man Frankie Sullivan looking around to make sure there's no cops and then he breaks into a power walk through neon light streets. His bands mates have been hanging out by street corners also looking out for cops. Firmly they join the night time power walk, including somebody's mom. Oh no. Wait, that's actually lead keyboardist and co-band founder/song writer Jim Peterik.

As the band grows in numbers during the power walk I'm starting to wonder who is this bad ass, posy of rogues. Is Sullivan going to beat up his old high school bully or take down some drug pushers? Just as the songs gets into full swing I think "We're going to see a fight, He's going to fight. Fight, fight, fight!" But then they take a corner and end up in a bath warehouse. Seriously.

They manage to throw in a sneaky and very uninspiring run up some warehouse stairs as a nod to Rocky himself. There has to be an underground fight up there right? Nope. Instead they're in a dark creepy warehouse, so Sullivan's mother, sorry Jim Peterik can teach that young man to play guitar.

These guys are serious song writers and great musicians, but they move so stiff and awkwardly, trying desperately to look cool. They are clearly a bunch of very nice talented young men who love keyboards and rockin' out.
I know I'm being mean but the long walk to the extremely out of the way back alley, only emphasises the creepiness. I know it's 1982 but just look at Peterik with his perm and blue cardigan. He looks like every picture of every woman in 1982, who wasn't a model. Every girl who was an office worker, typist or secretary looked just like this guy in 1982. He's just not cool.

The rest of it is shots of these guys doing what they do best. Rockin' Out! Sure there's a cool waving giant plastic bag behind them at some point and some dodgy eye close ups on the word "eye" but that's as exciting as it gets. No fight. Just dudes being dudes in a creepy warehouse.
Harsh I know, but I tell it like I see it. Cracking tune though.