‘Music For The Dancers’ N°115 – Vintage 80s Music Videos

1 . Kool & The Gang – Get Down On It

“Get Down On It,” from Kool & The Gang’s 1981 album “Something Special,” exemplifies the sleek, party-ready funk of its era with meticulous precision. Produced in collaboration with Eumir Deodato, the track balances buoyant instrumental textures with a rhythmic engine that stays comfortably syncopated without ever veering into chaos.

The song’s heartbeat lies in its bassline, a groove so insistent it feels as if it’s daring you to stay still. Layered horns pop and weave throughout, injecting bursts of exuberance that contrast with the relatively straightforward vocal delivery. James “J.T.” Taylor, whose addition to the group marked a distinct tonal shift in their output, sings with an assured effortlessness—enough finesse to ride the bass-heavy current but never so much that he overshadows it. His restraint fits the song’s ethos: functional, celebratory, efficient.

On release, “Get Down On It” secured the #10 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 and climbed to #4 on the R&B charts in 1982, pointing to its broad appeal. Across the Atlantic, its reception was even warmer, peaking at #3 in the UK, the band’s highest-charting single there. That widespread success suggests the song’s universality, though the track treads a precarious line between infectious repetition and creative stagnation.

Despite its polished production and undeniable commercial success, the composition’s reliance on hook-driven simplicity occasionally tips into predictability. The lyrics, penned by Ronald Nathan Bell, Claydes Charles Smith, and a constellation of others, revolve around a singular theme, yet never elevate beyond the cheerfully mundane. That ethos was perhaps intentional—it’s a track designed for escapism more than introspection—but the absence of nuance limits its lasting depth.

“Get Down On It” operates as both a snapshot of Kool & The Gang’s pivot to commercial prominence and a post-disco machine engineered for maximum crowd engagement. Its gold certification further solidifies its impact, though the song functions less as a revolutionary work of funk and more as an expertly crafted product of its time.

Featured on the 1981 album “Something Special “.

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2 . Adeva – Respect

Adeva’s cover of “Respect,” a house-infused take on Otis Redding’s 1965 composition, lands squarely in the late-‘80s moment when soulful vocals over pulsing beats held sway in UK club culture.

Released on January 8, 1989, under the Cooltempo label, it managed a respectable climb to number 17 on the UK Singles Chart, remaining afloat for nine weeks—a lifespan neither fleeting nor groundbreaking.

This solo effort lacks any high-profile collaborations, but Adeva’s background as a church choir director in Paterson, New Jersey, anchors the track’s vocal strength in gospel gravitas.

But while Patricia Daniels (Adeva’s real name) lends an undeniable emotional charge, the house production sometimes feels like a paint-by-numbers exercise, more interested in riding the zeitgeist than reimagining its source material.

There’s a curious irony in a song demanding “Respect” being relegated to a mid-chart position, overshadowed by the massive hits of its contemporaries from the acid house and pop-soul movements of the era.

The cover’s inclusion in her album *Adeva!*, which dropped in August 1989 and peaked at a robust number 6 on the UK Albums Chart, shows its commercial purpose: a component in a broader, platinum-certified success story that exceeded 300,000 sales in the UK.

Still, in an album flanked by UK top-20 hits like “Warning!” and “I Thank You,” “Respect” feels less like a centerpiece and more like a competent placeholder—a track that sustains momentum but rarely demands revisitation on its own terms.

Featured on the 1989 album “Adeva!”.

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3 . Eric B. & Rakim – Move The Crowd

“Move the Crowd,” released in 1988 as part of Eric B. & Rakim’s seminal debut album “Paid in Full,” is less a song and more a directive.

The title doubles as both a mission statement and a unifying mantra, delivered with Rakim’s signature calm confidence while the track hums beneath him, steered by a synth line contributed by Rakim’s older brother, Steve Griffin. Each line unfolds like a sermon in cool detachment, emphasizing the connection between artist and audience rather than pandering to radio-friendly hooks.

Peaking at number 3 on the U.S. Dance charts and number 53 on the UK Singles Chart, the song’s numbers quietly reflect its potency—a slow burn rather than instant domination. Yet, its impact transcends such metrics. The repetitive “move the crowd” chorus distills hip-hop’s ethos into a single phrase: control, influence, and engage using nothing but the raw power of words and beats. Beneath the bravado, there’s a jazz-inspired rhythmic complexity at work, a carryover from Rakim’s experience as a sax player and his admiration for John Coltrane. You feel this inheritance not in explosive improvisation but in the deliberate, unhurried swing of his rhyme schemes.

The production, rooted in drum machines and turntables, aligns with the duo’s larger approach throughout “Paid in Full,” an album that itself would go platinum and land at 58 on the Billboard 200. There are no theatrics here, no grand gestures; just precision and an insistence on craft.

It’s not without fault. The track feels almost austere at times, its sparse arrangement demanding focus on the lyrics to the exclusion of much else. While that works in its favor as a study in the potential of minimalism, it risks alienating listeners conditioned for a more dynamic listen. Yet in showcasing Rakim’s control of both language and rhythm, it remains a cornerstone of hip-hop’s “golden age,” quietly implementing the tools that would later define the genre’s complex relationship with artistry and entertainment.

Featured on the 1987 album “Paid in Full”.

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4 . The Whispers – And the Beat Goes On

“And the Beat Goes On” by The Whispers finds its groove firmly in 1979 and stays there, an unhurried slice of funk polished to a mirror shine by producer Leon F. Sylvers III. It is part of their self-titled album, the group’s first major commercial knockout, which climbed to number one on the Billboard Top Soul LPs chart and went double-platinum.

The song rides a rhythmic bassline that feels like it was precision-engineered to get toes tapping, alongside electric guitars and synthesizers layered with just enough shimmer to maintain intrigue without veering into excess. Crisp drum patterns and peppered percussion stabilize the track, while subtle string arrangements and periodic brass bursts provide small embellishments, tasteful but never gratuitous.

Vocally, twin brothers Wallace “Scotty” Scott and Walter Scott take center stage with harmonies smooth enough to make glass jealous, backed by The Whispers’ collective strength. Their delivery imbues the lyrical premise with charm: using the metaphor of music to symbolize resilience after heartbreak. The oft-repeated refrain, “And the beat goes on, still moving strong, on and on,” could have easily tipped into monotony, but the group’s execution prevents it from wearing thin.

While its message of persistence carries universal appeal, there’s an airiness to the lyrics that could leave those looking for emotional depth unsatisfied. This isn’t introspection set to music; it’s more of a head-nod anthem with a touch of optimism, tidy enough for radio but not overly daring. Chart success—number one on the Billboard Hot Soul Singles and a top-20 crossover on the Billboard Hot 100—demonstrates its broad accessibility.

“And the Beat Goes On” doesn’t push boundaries, but not every song has to. Instead, it solidifies The Whispers’ ethos: slick, professional, and unfailingly pleasant, even if it occasionally plays things too safe. For a group 15 years into their career, maybe standing comfortably at the intersection of funk and pop was the point all along.

Featured on the 1979 album “The Whispers”.

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5 . Mick Jagger – Just Another Night

A showcase of Mick Jagger’s ambition to carve out a solo identity apart from the Rolling Stones, “Just Another Night” off his 1985 debut album *She’s the Boss* offers up a polished but uneven slice of mid-’80s pop-rock.

The song carries a sophisticated production sheen courtesy of Jagger and Bill Laswell, laden with touchstones of its era like John “Rabbit” Bundrick’s swirling synthesizers and Anton Fier’s Simmons electronic drums, which contrast with Sly Dunbar’s acoustic drumming. While this balance of analog and digital creates a layered soundscape, it occasionally feels more calculated than inspired.

Jeff Beck’s dual contributions on electric and acoustic guitar inject moments of grit and urgency, but they’re at odds with the restless slickness that permeates the track. Robbie Shakespeare’s bass gives the rhythm section a steady pulse, but it lacks the swagger historically associated with Jagger’s best work. The production leans into texture, yet the song never fully escapes its glossy trappings.

The accompanying Julien Temple-directed music video, featuring Rae Dawn Chong, continues the song’s styling as polished romantic drama. With its semi-narrative arc, the video feels like another attempt to telegraph emotional depth that the song’s lyrics don’t quite achieve.

Chart success was respectable enough, with the song hitting number 1 on the US Mainstream Rock chart and achieving a solid top-15 presence across Australia, New Zealand, and the Netherlands. Its peak at number 32 on the UK Singles Chart, however, signals the lukewarm reception Jagger’s solo material often received at home, hinting at an audience still tethered to his Rolling Stones legacy.

The 1988 copyright dispute with reggae singer Patrick Alley underscores the song’s flirtation with genre blending, yet originality clearly prevailed during the trial. While “Just Another Night” doesn’t lack effort or professionalism, it resides more as an intriguing fragment of Jagger’s broader career experiment than as a standalone artistic triumph.

Featured on the 1985 album “She’s the Boss”.

Lyrics >> Review >> More by the same : Official Site

6 . Mandy Smith – I Just Can’t Wait

“I Just Can’t Wait,” Mandy Smith’s 1987 debut single, is pure Stock Aitken Waterman: polished, upbeat, and drenched in the glossy synths that defined late-’80s pop.

Crafted by Pete Waterman, Mike Stock, and Matt Aitken, the song leans heavily into euro-disco sensibilities, an infectious yet formulaic sound that was becoming PWL Records’ hallmark at the time. Smith’s voice—while more limited in range than the powerhouse vocalists of the era—adds an accessible fragility, resonating almost deliberately with the youthful exuberance the song attempts to project. Barely sixteen at the time of its release, Smith debuted not only as an artist but as the first signee of her label, though her connection to Bill Wyman loomed large in the backdrop.

Chart-wise, the track bounced between notable and forgettable territory, peaking at #6 in Italy and #14 in Germany, while languishing at #91 in both the UK and Australia. The music video, steeped in the controversy of Smith’s highly publicized and scandal-ridden relationship with Wyman, reflects these tensions. Scenes seem to brush against themes of defiance and commitment—a peculiar choice given the criticism surrounding her personal life. The visual cues, while tame by today’s standards, nod to her tumultuous headlines in ways that feel calculated rather than incidental.

Despite clear efforts to deliver chart-friendly material, “I Just Can’t Wait” comes across more as an artifact of its production team’s ubiquity than Smith’s own musical identity. Included on her debut album “Mandy” (1988), which saw moderate success, the track struggles to escape the shadow of its creators, often prioritizing their sonic signature over genuine artistry. For all its peppy determination, the song encapsulates the fleeting, manufactured veneer of late-’80s pop—a time capsule that resonates as much with its surrounding narrative as with its hook-laden chorus.

Featured on the 1988 album “Mandy”.

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7 . Altered Images – I Could Be Happy

“I Could Be Happy,” released in 1981, finds Altered Images balancing their roots in post-punk’s angular urgency with glossy nods to new wave’s melodic accessibility.

Produced by Martin Rushent, whose earlier work with the band helped define their sound, the track exudes a polished charm reflective of its era. Rushent’s deft production lies in its ability to temper the band’s jagged edges without erasing their eccentricities. The result lands somewhere between playful daydream and calculated pop precision.

Lyrically, the song conveys a yearning that feels almost paradoxically buoyant, Clare Grogan’s effervescent vocal delivery lending lightness to the weight of restless desire. There’s a tangible irony in how lines dripping with wistfulness are juxtaposed with an insistent, upbeat rhythm. This irony may not feel fully deliberate but adds a textured layer to what could otherwise risk being mistaken for fluff.

The song’s chart trajectory reflects its crossover appeal, peaking at number 7 in the UK and resonating internationally, yet its U.S. presence—barely cracking the Billboard Dance Chart at number 45—highlights the band’s limited stateside reach. Its refined melodicism couldn’t breach America’s broader appetite for the sprawling drama of contemporaries like The Human League.

Grogan’s multifaceted career, encompassing acting stints in “Gregory’s Girl” and “Red Dwarf,” often outshone the band’s later output, which fizzled with their disbandment in 1983. Yet “I Could Be Happy,” a cornerstone of their second album “Pinky Blue,” encapsulates their fleeting knack for pop melancholia wrapped in a candy-coated veneer—a moment of brilliance that feels both self-aware and charmingly naive.

Featured on the 1982 album “Pinky Blue”.

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8 . Yarbrough and Peoples – Heartbeats

Released in 1982, “Heartbeats” by Yarbrough and Peoples seems to reflect both the promise and the limitations of their urban contemporary sensibilities.

As part of their second studio album, also titled *Heartbeats*, the song captures their polished yet restrained approach to early ’80s R&B.

It reached number 10 on the US *Billboard* R&B chart and barely missed the *Billboard* Hot 100, lingering just outside at number 101—a footnote in commercial achievement rather than a bold statement of crossover success.

Its transatlantic appeal, though, is worth noting, peaking at the same position on the Dutch Singles Chart, leaving behind an inconspicuous yet real trace in Europe.

The duo, Cavin Yarbrough and Alisa Peoples, bring a familiarity to their collaboration, a reflection of their upbringing in Dallas and piano lesson origins, yet their execution often feels more dutiful than daring.

“Heartbeats” emerges as a sequel of sorts to their breakout single, “Don’t Stop the Music” (1981), bearing similar clean synth lines and measured vocal harmonies but without the spark that defined the former track’s punch.

Had it been released in a vacuum, perhaps this track would resonate more, but nestled as it is in the shadow of their earlier work and their tendency for formulaic top 10 R&B hits—think “Don’t Waste Your Time” or “Guilty”—”Heartbeats” offers familiarity over innovation.

Moving forward in the 1980s, Yarbrough and Peoples continued their measured trajectory, releasing four studio albums, marrying in 1987, and eventually shifting their focus to music production through their company, Yarbrough & Peoples Productions.

The understated charm of “Heartbeats” might faintly echo in these later ventures, but as time unfolds, the song feels more like a modest checkpoint in a career that prioritized steadiness over distinct highs or lows.

Featured on the 1983 album “Heartbeats”.

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9 . Billy Ocean – When the Going Gets Tough The Tough Get Going

“When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going” barrels in as a slick, high-energy slice of 1980s pop craftsmanship, reflective of its purpose-built origins for *The Jewel of the Nile* soundtrack.

Crafted in record time by Billy Ocean alongside Wayne Brathwaite, Barry Eastmond, and the famously meticulous Mutt Lange, it feels like a four-day sprint to distill radio-friendly adrenaline. The title’s origin, a half-baked on-screen quip from the film, almost feels ironic given the song’s polished finish and precision-hit chart performance.

Its infectious hooks and buoyant brass arrangements serve as a testament to the era’s inclination toward larger-than-life optimism, peaking with Vernon Jeffrey Smith’s saxophone solo (incongruously mimed by Danny DeVito in the music video).

The video’s borderline absurdist charm—featuring Michael Douglas, Danny DeVito, and Kathleen Turner awkwardly shuffling to the beat—is both a marketing ploy and a pop-cultural artifact, though Top of the Pops banning it over union rules underlines how far it strayed from traditional musical presentations.

Chart-topping for four consecutive weeks in the UK, while peaking just shy of the top spot in the US, it cemented itself as Billy Ocean’s commercial zenith, even as his later career drifted into niche endurance rather than sustained stardom.

Ultimately, this isn’t a song that thrives on lyrical depth or understated subtlety. In its propulsive rhythms and earworm melodies, it encapsulates a moment when pop music wasn’t trying to be anything more than a feel-good companion for escapist blockbusters.

Featured on the 1986 album “Love Zone”.

Lyrics >> More by the same : Official Site

10 . Afrika Bambaataa & UB40 – Reckless

“Reckless” finds Afrika Bambaataa teaming up with British reggae stalwarts UB40 for a genre-hopping experiment that, while ambitious, flits between cohesion and chaos.

Anchored in the eclectic fabric of his 1988 album “The Light,” the song is arranged and produced by John Robie, whose touch is unmistakable in the track’s layered structure. Vocal contributions from Bambaataa, Lizzie Tear, and Malibu interplay with UB40’s reggae-driven instrumentation, forming a curious, sometimes jarring blend of hip hop, electro, and pop-reggae sensibilities.

Charting at number 17 in the UK, “Reckless” occupies a peculiar middle ground in Afrika Bambaataa’s discography, overshadowed in significance by the seminal “Afrika Shox” a decade later. The song’s extended video version and vocal wildstyle mix highlight its appeal as a danceable oddity, though the variations can’t fully disguise its tendency to feel overstuffed.

Bambaataa, a Bronx-born DJ and hip hop architect, stretches his Zulu Nation ethos into new territory here, but UB40’s easygoing reggae doesn’t always mesh with the track’s electro roots. What results is a hybrid effort that is as much an experiment in cross-genre collaboration as it is a snapshot of late-’80s musical pastiche.

While “Reckless” deserves credit for its ambition, it occasionally falters by leaning too heavily on juxtaposition, its parts not entirely coalescing into a coherent whole. If anything, it serves as a prelude to better-integrated collaborations in pop history, rather than a definitive masterstroke in its own right.

Featured on the 1988 album “The Light “.

Lyrics >> More by the same : Wikipedia

11 . Phil Collins – Sussudio

Phil Collins’ “Sussudio,” from the 1985 album “No Jacket Required,” is less a song title and more a spontaneous linguistic accident turned billboard-topper. The invented word “sussudio” dances somewhere between catchy nonsense and a playful placeholder, emerging as Collins hummed his way through the song’s early drafts. Whether it’s a stand-in for a crush’s name or an ode to equine trivia, as Collins half-seriously suggested years later, the word itself matters less than its rhythmic utility.

The track leans heavily into Collins’ experimentation with the “Minneapolis sound,” a distinct fusion of synth-funk vibes, famously associated with Prince. Its pulsating groove, bolstered by a horn section programmed by Dave Frank, doesn’t just hint at commercial ambition—it shouts it. The synthetic euphoria is infectious, yet its repetitive exuberance occasionally veers into over-polished territory, making it more a dance-floor fixture than a deeply stirring creation.

Commercially, the song’s success was undeniable. Sitting pretty at number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and peaking at number 12 in the U.K., “Sussudio” cemented Collins’ era-defining pivot toward glossy pop accessibility. It received an unintentional second wind with its prominent inclusion in the film “American Psycho,” which gave its upbeat sheen a sinister ironic twist when juxtaposed with the movie’s grim context.

Phil Collins, already known as Genesis’ driving force, appeared to be enjoying the liberation of his solo career but also leaning toward formulaic paths. There’s pleasure to be mined in “Sussudio,” but its synthetic shine sometimes feels more mechanical than magical. For a song that was birthed from randomness, it manages to capture the decade’s pulse, yet never fully transcends it.

Featured on the 1985 album “No Jacket Required“.

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12 . That Petrol Emotion – Groove Check

“Groove Check,” from That Petrol Emotion’s 1988 album *End of the Millennium Psychosis Blues*, lands as an uneasy amalgam in a project already marked by its scattershot approach to style.

The band’s third outing underscores the eclectic instincts of a group grappling with its own identity, especially as founding member John O’Neill was preparing to leave just as the recording commenced.

On first blush, “Groove Check” feels more like a placeholder than a centerpiece, its role on the record less about artistic cohesion and more about filling out the tracklist with another example of the album’s unmoored ambition.

Steve Mack’s presence as the American wildcard in this UK-Irish ensemble is felt intermittently here—not so much a guiding force as another variable in a lineup searching for its next post-Undertones iteration.

While the song never quite ascends to the sharpness of That Petrol Emotion’s better-received works, such as those from their *Babble* period, it oddly finds meaning in retrospect, having inspired a campus radio show’s name.

Ironically, though, it isn’t the kind of track one might imagine lighting up a college radio station’s electronica playlist; instead, it trudges along, a sonic outlier more intriguing for what it says about the band than for what it delivers musically.

As emblematic of *End of the Millennium Psychosis Blues* itself—a record marked by restless experimentation but uneven execution—”Groove Check” feels less like a directive for listeners and more like an existential query from the band trying to decide if they should keep checking at all.

Featured on the 1988 album “End of the Millennium Psychosis Blues”.

Lyrics >> Review >> More by the same : Official Site