Directed by Spike Jonze, the music video to Fatboy Slim’s “Weapon of Choice” (2001) features dance moves by Christopher Walken that are impossible to forget.
The opening to A-ha’s “The Sun Always Shines on T.V.” (1985) shows the conclusion to the famous video of their previous hit, “Take On Me”.
1980s videos could be quite grim. There often seemed to be an undercurrent of violence and danger. I don’t just mean “Beat It” or “Thriller”—think of “When the Rain Begins to Fall”, for example, or “The Wild Boys”. A naturally melancholic kid, I watched it all with a sense of confused discomfort: a feeling this menace might be waiting in the shadows for me. Funny I realize this all now that I’m getting older.
Stop motion fairy puppets from the surreal Spice Girls video, “Viva Forever” (1998). The video was directed by Aardman animator, Steve Box.
I kind of liked the Spice Girls. They were irreverent and refreshing at the time, all chattering out of turn during interviews and commenting on everything and everyone around them. So 1990s. The big question at the time was, Who is your favorite? Most people picked Ginger, or Posh. Mine was Baby.
This video was on heavy rotation, and I remember being a student and at work at night, always looking up whenever it came on.
Production cels from WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT (1988). When I saw this as a kid, that grand finale with all those different characters together, I thought it was the greatest thing ever shown on the silver screen. It had to be.
(The quality of that last image is pretty poor, but I wanted to include it anyway.)
A few from the category, HUH WHAT THE HECK I DIDN’T KNOW THEY EVER MET:
Michael Jackson and George Harrison, Leonard Nimoy and Jimi Hendrix (with Noel Redding), Sammy Davis Jr. and Brigitte Bardot, Andy Warhol and Muhammad Ali, Arthur Conan Doyle and Harry Houdini.
All legendary figures. I just realized all except Brigitte Bardot have passed away.
