‘Vous Avez Dit Bizarre’ N°532 – Vintage 80s Music Videos

1 . Talking Heads – This Must Be The Place [Naive Melody]

Talking Heads’ “This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)” snakes its way into a unique cross-section of 1980s pop, carrying a deliberately unsentimental take on romance while still doubling as the band’s most intimate offering. It closes their 1983 album *Speaking in Tongues*, a commercial breakthrough that leaned into bright rhythms without abandoning art-rock cleverness. Its skeletal groove, driven by the band members swapping instruments—Tina Weymouth’s bass and Jerry Harrison’s keyboards trading places—is a minimalist gambit that pays off with hypnotic ease.

David Byrne’s lyrics, elliptical as always, skirt traditional sentimentalities with a loose simplicity, making the song’s themes of belonging feel refreshingly open-ended. Byrne himself described it as a love song for those allergic to saccharine sincerity. The sparse yet magnetic arrangement radiates an everyday warmth, tethered by a repeating melody that sticks without overstaying its welcome. Byrne’s vocal delivery, raw and semi-detached, manages an odd sincerity, turning abstract lines into something relatable.

The song edges into post-disco territory, borrowing the syncopation of Afrobeat’s percussion, the light flourishes of funk, and even reggae’s breezy demeanor. While its 1983 chart positions—peaking at #62 in the U.S.—might suggest commercial mediocrity, the track’s cultural endurance tells another story. It later gained traction via Shawn Colvin’s covers and its prominent placement in *Stop Making Sense*, the band’s celebrated concert film where Byrne whimsically engages in a now-iconic dance sequence with a floor lamp.

With a music video cobbled together from lo-fi “home movie” footage, Byrne and the extended band orchestrate a playful experiment in anti-glamour aesthetics, subverting a time when bombast dominated MTV. Fans and critics seem to align on its later significance: its placement on Rolling Stone’s “500 Greatest Songs of All Time” (#123) and its #2 ranking on *American Songwriter’s* 2023 list prove its quiet magnetism has only grown. On Spotify, it now stands as the band’s second most-streamed track, trailing only the nervy classic “Psycho Killer.”

Beyond its initial era, “This Must Be the Place” has evolved into a favorite backdrop for indie film soundtracks and wedding playlists alike, achieving a peculiar dual identity as both niche and broadly celebrated. Perhaps its real charm lies in its ability to feel universal without trying too hard, its naïveté as deliberate as its craftsmanship.

Featured on the 1983 album “Speaking in Tongues“.

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2 . John Lennon – Nobody Told Me

John Lennon’s “Nobody Told Me” emerges as a peculiar yet unmistakably Lennon creation, blending disjointed observations with a steady rock rhythm.

Written in 1976 and revisited during the “Double Fantasy” sessions in 1980, the track takes on an eerie prescience, given its posthumous release on 1984’s “Milk and Honey.”

The song’s lyrics oscillate between humor and existential bewilderment, delivering lines that reflect societal absurdities—UFOs, Nazis, and Chinese famine all make appearances in this chaotic tapestry.

The infamous refrain, “Nobody told me there’d be days like these,” transforms into both a shrug and a scream, hinting at Lennon’s weariness with a world spinning off its axis.

Originally intended for Ringo Starr, the jagged charm of Lennon’s vocals proves essential; you can’t imagine anyone else pulling this off.

The production by Lennon and Yoko Ono leans minimalist, letting the conversational tone of the song take center stage without unnecessary embellishment.

Charting impressively worldwide, it carried a strange vitality, climbing to No. 5 in the US and lingering in the Top 10 across various countries.

The music video stitched together archival footage of Lennon, reinforcing its status as a posthumous homage while avoiding over-sentimentality.

It’s not Lennon’s most polished work, yet its rawness and wit encapsulate a spirit he’s always evoked—a mix of irreverence, reflection, and rebellion.

Far from the soaring intimacy of “Imagine” or the fervent urgency of “Instant Karma,” this track sidesteps earnestness in favor of shrugging detachment. And somehow, it works.

Featured on the 1984 album “Milk and Honey “.

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3 . Heaven 17 – Trouble

Released in 1987, “Trouble” by Heaven 17 skims the edges of synth-pop with a measured dose of New Wave stylings, landing somewhere between ambition and the constraints of its era.

Firmly rooted in the soundscapes of their fourth studio album, *Pleasure One*, this track signals the band’s gradual transition from purely electronic textures to the inclusion of live instrumentation, a move that doesn’t entirely abandon their roots but doesn’t revolutionize them either.

The Emulator II sampler and SP-12 drum programming handle much of the heavy lifting, while Glenn Gregory’s vocals bring a touch of emotional grounding to the polished surface.

Though the track achieved modest success in Germany, hitting No. 17, its UK performance—peaking at a lukewarm No. 51—indicates a general ambivalence from the domestic audience.

The 12″ release includes mixes with grander monikers like “(Big) Trouble,” yet no version manages to lift the song higher than its sleek but somewhat predictable arrangement.

Critics weren’t entirely sold either; Record Mirror called the keyboard arrangements “unexciting,” though AllMusic retrospectively commended the guitar work that accompanied the band’s new sonic direction.

The accompanying music video plays into late-80s tropes with atmospheric lighting and performance set pieces that feel more obligatory than groundbreaking.

While “Trouble” avoids catastrophe, it rarely reaches for anything daring, remaining an encapsulation of a synth-pop group testing fresh dynamics without achieving cohesion or clarity.

It’s less a must-listen than a timestamp, a snapshot of a band navigating the twilight of their most experimental period.

Featured on the 1986 album “Pleasure One”.

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4 . Julian Cope – 5 O’Clock World

Julian Cope’s take on “5 O’Clock World” lands somewhere between curiosity and afterthought in his discography.

Originally penned by Allen Reynolds and first a 1965 hit for The Vogues, the song is an ode to post-work liberation, a theme rooted in the monotonous grind and fleeting joy of the 9-to-5 existence.

Cope’s version, appearing on his divisive 1988 album *My Nation Underground*, admittedly carries less of the emotional weight or charm of the original.

The alternative rocker integrates a snippet of Petula Clark’s “I Know a Place,” a peculiar but ultimately forgettable addition.

Produced under the guidance of Ron Fair and released through Island Records, the track lacked the dynamism to make notable waves on any chart, reflecting the broader lukewarm reception of the album from both fans and critics alike.

Unlike the 1965 rendition, which cracked the Billboard top 10 and became synonymous with mid-century suburban Americana, Cope’s effort feels like a half-hearted nod to nostalgia, a filler project that neither reclaims nor reinvents its source material.

Musically, its pop-rock foundation leans more toward biting precision than effervescent innovation, and despite Cope’s affinity for reinterpreting songs, this attempt offers little to his experimental reputation.

The absence of a music video or significant live promotion further signals how perfunctory the cover feels within his career arc.

For an artist defined by his knack for genre-bending and soul-baring originality, this track exists as an outlier—neither offensive nor inspiring, but ultimately underwhelming and safely skippable.

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5 . Big Country – Just A Shadow

“Just a Shadow” arrives on *Steeltown*, Big Country’s second album, with a brooding intensity that mirrors the industrial discontent the record draws from.

Released as a single in early 1985, it lands at No. 26 on the UK charts, a respectable showing but hardly a breakout, suggesting its appeal is more niche than mainstream.

The song’s finest moment lies in its distinctive guitar work, where the band pushes their arsenal of effects to mimic bagpipes, crafting a unique sonic texture with the MXR Pitch Transposer 129 and e-bow.

The result is part folk war cry, part melancholic reflection, a tension that defines a lot of the band’s best work.

Stuart Adamson’s vocal delivery, while passionate, tends to veer into territory that critics from the period called earnest to a fault—admirable for its sincerity but occasionally overwhelming in its self-serious tone.

Produced by Steve Lillywhite, who’s practically synonymous with ‘80s rock grandeur, the track carries much of his trademark bombast, though it sidesteps the slickness that dulled many contemporaneous records.

Lyrically, the song flirts with societal critique, though its abstractions can feel impenetrable, leaving echoes of meaning without a defined center.

Its music video, available on YouTube, leans heavily on dramatic stage setups, which underline the song’s weighty ambitions but miss an opportunity to visually match its idiosyncratic sound.

Reviews at the time were polarized; *Kerrang!* championed its ambition, while *Record Mirror* found it middling—a clash emblematic of a band perpetually caught between critical adoration and skepticism.

Although “Just a Shadow” doesn’t reinvent the wheel, it encapsulates Big Country’s dedication to their craft, offering a tightly produced and melodically intricate track that resonates most with those who appreciate its specific brand of lyrical and sonic heft.

Featured on the 1984 album “Steeltown”.

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6 . John Mellencamp – Small Town

John Mellencamp’s “Small Town,” released in 1985 as part of his “Scarecrow” album, feels both intimately personal and socially resonant.

This autobiographical track, crafted with unpretentious language, celebrates the unpolished charms of Seymour, Indiana, while poking around the fences of small-town monotony.

Its musical framework is straightforward pop rock, with no flashy frills—just a steady beat, jangling guitars, and Mellencamp’s plainspoken vocal delivery that feels as though he’s speaking directly from a porch swing.

Climbing to No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100, the song’s gradual rise mirrored its layered appeal, from chart-blazers to reflective listeners who heard the steady heartbeat of middle America embedded in its chords.

The video, blending nostalgia with personal storytelling, showed Mellencamp’s unapologetic pride in his roots while skirting the edges of sentimentality.

“Small Town” isn’t a grandstanding anthem or a critique but rather a lively shrug—content in its limitations yet wary of being fenced in.

This authenticity helped it endure beyond the charts, becoming a pillar of Mellencamp’s repertoire and a cornerstone of rural identity pop rock.

Featured on the 1985 album “ Scarecrow“.

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7 . Luxuria – Redneck

Luxuria’s “Redneck” finds itself squarely in the late ’80s milieu, a strange intersection where Alternative Rock and Synth-pop shake hands but seem unsure of each other’s intentions.

Released in 1987 and appearing on the eponymous album before being pressed onto vinyl in 1988, the track feels both tethered to its time and lightly floating above it.

What strikes the listener is the song’s taut construction—sharp, lean, and propelled by a restless energy that mirrors the decade’s cultural anxieties.

Although Gavin MacKillop and Luxuria helm the production, there’s no lush, arena-friendly grandeur here; instead, the sound crawls through a curious middle ground, balancing jagged undertones with the era’s fondness for gleaming, synthetic veneers.

The lyrics, skipping explicit details in available sources, seem poised for ambiguity—a hallmark of the ’80s’ cooler-than-you ethos, content to imply more than it states outright.

If the song charted in 1988 (positions unspecified), it’s worth wondering whether it capitalized on a moment when chart-toppers carried dark, angular charm or simply surfed a fickle cultural wave.

Luxuria’s approach suggests a marriage of irony and earnestness, confident enough to play with contradictions while sidestepping easy categorization.

Whether “Redneck” was aiming to critique, satirize, or simply lean into its title’s provocations remains unclear, though that slipperiness works in its favor—it’s more interesting not knowing.

Ultimately, the track is an encapsulation of a period when genre boundaries softened, posturing mattered immensely, and an air of mystery wrapped around acts like Luxuria was more a weapon than a weakness.

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8 . Thrashing Doves – Beautiful Imbalance

Thrashing Doves’ “Beautiful Imbalance,” released in 1987, attempts to splice pop accessibility with experimental leanings, teetering between catchy hooks and offbeat arrangements.

Despite spending five weeks scraping into the UK Singles Chart top 50, the track falters commercially, leaving little to ripple across the music scenes of the late ’80s.

Its electronic flavor hints at the era’s tech-infused ambitions, with a plastic sheen that evokes both Reaganomics gloss and Thatcher-era anxiety.

The single’s scattered release formats—7″ vinyl in Germany, U.S. promo vinyl—reflect an industry unsure how to market it, praying to strike international crossover gold.

The absence of an official music video suggests limitations in either budget or vision, a missed opportunity in an image-driven music era dominated by MTV powerhouses.

Curiously, its B-side, “Self-Infliction Crew,” though lesser-known, feels more feral, pulling focus from the over-polished sheen of the title track.

Thrashing Doves’ output occupies a peculiar cultural blind spot: brimming with ambition but laden with layers of indecision, their sound remains firmly sandwiched between bold reinvention and tepid nostalgia.

“Beautiful Imbalance” encapsulates the push and pull of a band caught between pop’s surface-level appeal and a yearning for subversion.

Featured on the 1987 album “Bedrock Vice”.

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9 . Electric Light Orchestra – Here Is The News

“Here Is The News” emerges as an odd yet intriguing concoction on Electric Light Orchestra’s 1981 concept album “Time,” a record that swerves hard into synth-driven futurism.

Jeff Lynne’s production turns the track into an otherworldly broadcast simulation, complete with robotic voices and synthetic flourishes, crafting a sonic environment that feels sharply dystopian yet curiously playful.

At its heart, the song mimics a futuristic news program, projecting us into the year 2095, but the charm lies in its paradoxical blend of deadpan seriousness and tongue-in-cheek absurdity.

The track’s structure sticks to a strophic formula, punctuated by steady drum machines and twinkling synth layers, offsetting its complexity with an almost hypnotic rhythm.

Lynne simultaneously harks back to 1950s rockabilly and channels contemporary new wave, all while sprinkling in subtle nods to the Beatles’ layered melodic inventions.

It’s a song that bears the weight of experimentation without feeling heavy—a balancing act that’s equal parts calculated and spontaneous.

The spoken-word segments of intersecting fictional newsflashes are both campy and unsettling, a stylistic choice that resonates more as an atmospheric quirk than a narrative necessity.

ELO’s trademark lushness isn’t entirely absent, but the transition into synth-pop introduces a streamlined, almost mechanical precision that trades analog warmth for digital sparkle.

Released as a joint single with “Ticket to the Moon” in select markets, it found a modest audience, charting intermittently across Europe while avoiding major mainstream impact.

This isn’t the kind of song that clamors for attention but one that sits in its own corner, quietly challenging preconceptions of what pop-rock bands in the ‘80s were expected to deliver.

The video ensures the eccentric spirit of the song is carried over, with Jeff Lynne as a sendup of a stone-faced newsreader, amplifying its satirical undertones.

Despite not being a chart juggernaut, the track has found a second life in offbeat contexts, including TV and radio soundtracks, primarily in eccentric European programming brands like VPRO and Radio Aniol Beskidow.

Its fade-out ending leaves you hanging, as if the broadcast got cut short—a fitting close for a snapshot of a skewed imagined future.

Featured on the 1981 album “Time”.

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10 . Twisted Sister – Leader Of The Pack

Twisted Sister’s “Leader of the Pack,” lifted from their 1985 album *Come Out and Play*, flips the script on genre norms and expectations with a cover that feels equal parts tribute and calculated risk.

Originally penned by The Shangri-Las in 1964, this teenage tragedy anthem revolved around drama, heartbreak, and rebellion.

While the original portrayed the ill-fated romance through a male narrator, Twisted Sister injects their signature theatricality and swaps perspectives, focusing instead on the female protagonist narrowly dodging doom.

The production, steered by Dieter Dierks, leans into a glossy glam-metal-meets-pop aesthetic, less gritty than the band’s usual fare yet polished for broader appeal.

Visually, the music video doubles down with melodramatic flair: motorbikes roaring, anguished expressions, and a climactic car crash scene that ties directly into the song’s fatalistic themes.

Commercially, it charted modestly; reaching #47 in the UK while largely stalling in the U.S., underscoring its polarizing reception among fans who were divided on this stylistic detour.

Dee Snider himself saw this cover as a way to keep Twisted Sister relevant post-*Stay Hungry*, though it arguably spotlighted the tension between maintaining artistic identity and courting mainstream success.

While it didn’t crash open any doors or carve out new lanes, “Leader of the Pack” remains an oddball entry in their catalog—proof of a band unafraid to steer into unexpected directions, even at the risk of alienating their die-hard followers.

Featured on the 1985 album “Come Out and Play”.

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11 . Fiat Lux – Secrets

Fiat Lux’s “Secrets” lingers in the memory as a synth-heavy critique of 1980s superficiality, marrying pop rock sensibilities with a more introspective, electronically driven approach.

Originally released in 1984 as part of *Hired History*, the track grazed the UK charts at No. 65, a modest reflection of its layered ambition and sharp commentary on fleeting, transactional relationships in the music scene.

The track sets itself apart with melancholic cello lines weaving through its pulsating beats, lending an unexpected depth to a genre often accused of sterile homogeneity.

Its 2017 remake took a direction that was both faithful and forward-looking, revisiting the emotional terrain of the original but sharpening the production under the stewardship of David P Crickmore and Steve Wright.

With radio personalities like Peter Powell and Annie Nightingale giving it airtime, the song’s revision was less an act of nostalgia and more a quiet refusal to be forgotten amid shifting cultural waves.

The accompanying video, archived in the 1990 *Commercial Breakdown*, serves as a time capsule of its era, while the remake operates as a prologue to the band’s contemporary endeavors.

Unlike some hollow nods to bygone decades, “Secrets” critiques without succumbing to sentimentality, becoming both a product of its time and an artifact of enduring relevance.

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12 . The Triffids – Trick Of The Light

The Triffids’ “Trick of the Light” carries the ghostly fingerprints of late-80s post-punk, swaddled in melancholic storytelling and atmospheric tension.

Produced by Gil Norton, whose pedigree includes The Pixies and Echo & the Bunnymen, the track occupies a dreamlike liminal space—alternately delicate and haunting, without veering into melodrama or bombast.

The arrangement leans on an understated tension: shimmering in its restraint yet weighty in emotional resonance, displaying a masterful balance of wistfulness and introspection.

Lyrically, David McComb, the driving force behind The Triffids, crafts a poetic, almost cinematic narrative soaked in longing—a hallmark of the band’s catalog, which often probes themes of isolation and transient connections.

While the single didn’t populate mainstream charts, its niche relevance in indie and alternative circuits spoke volumes about its layered craftsmanship.

This track may lack a video component, but its aural imagery—replete with desolate Australian landscapes and rich metaphorical undertones—renders visuals unnecessary.

Part of a larger oeuvre that includes “Bury Me Deep in Love,” it encapsulates not just a sound but a mood, cementing The Triffids’ standing within the understated but crucial alt-rock conversations of the time.

Featured on the 1987 album “Calenture”.

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