‘Vous Avez Dit Bizarre’ N°90 – Vintage 80s Music Videos

1 . Talk Talk – Life’s What You Make It

Talk Talk’s “Life’s What You Make It” hardly plays by the rules of mid-’80s pop, which is probably why it still sounds fresh decades later.

Anchored by a hypnotic, looped piano riff and a rhythm section that feels curiously alive, the track shrugs off the synthetic polish of their earlier work for something more organic—but no less calculated.

Mark Hollis’s voice, hovering somewhere between agony and calm resolve, delivers lyrics that could double as a motivational wall poster if they weren’t so disarmingly sincere.

The production, courtesy of Tim Friese-Greene, manages to walk the line between sparse and grand, with layers of sound seeming untouchable yet deeply tactile.

Released in 1985 and eventually finding a home on their critically-lauded album *The Colour of Spring*, it showcases a band sidestepping the neon glare of their contemporaries in favor of a subtler, mood-driven aesthetic.

It isn’t a song that grabs you by the collar; it’s one that waits for you to lean in, and therein lies its power.

Featured on the 1986 album “The Colour Of Spring“.

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2 . Yes – Owner of a Lonely Heart

“Owner of a Lonely Heart” throws its weight behind a punchy groove and a razor-sharp riff, icing its cake with arena-sized hooks that remain oddly cold to the touch.

Born out of the progressive-to-pop mutation that Yes underwent in the early ’80s, it’s a product of Trevor Horn’s obsessive retooling, hijacking Trevor Rabin’s original demo and battering it into dance-rock submission.

The band’s earlier labyrinthine compositions are trimmed here into radio-friendly geometry, with the chorus doubling as both a payoff and a bit of glib self-help.

For all its surface cheer, the track’s DNA is stranded somewhere between swagger and isolation, its titular metaphor underlined not so much by the lyrics as by a stray gunshot sound effect buried in the mix—a touch equal parts melodramatic and macabre.

While “Owner” skyrocketed Yes to commercial heights, topping the Billboard Hot 100 and staking out 23 weeks there, its reception within the band was lukewarm, reflecting the internal friction of old prog ideals clashing with Horn’s technophile instincts.

The video, a surreal collage of shape-shifting imagery, feels like someone fed a Dali painting into a malfunctioning VHS player—a fitting match for a song whose themes oscillate between freedom and alienation.

In hindsight, it’s less a full reinvention of the band than a declaration of conditional surrender: progressive rock shedding its layers until only a catchy paradox remains.

Featured on the 1983 album “90125“.

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

3 . Dead Or Alive – You Spin Me Round [Like a Record]

The pulsating allure of Dead or Alive’s “You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)” thrums with an obsessive edge that mirrors its origins as a club anthem turned global chart force.

Emerging in 1985 off *Youthquake*, this track’s fusion of shimmering pop, R&B undertones, and new wave sharpness elevated it above the era’s synth-laden landscape without pandering to its clichés.

Inspired by a bizarre cocktail of Luther Vandross smoothness and Little Nell’s camp, the song orbits a dangerously catchy hook—a compulsive energy that feels like it might detonate under its own weight.

Its slow-burn ascent to No. 1 in the UK, taking an unprecedented 14 weeks, underscores its tenacity, defying initial skepticism from its own label.

Producer trio Stock, Aitken, and Waterman sharpen the edges and polish the gloss, crafting a sonically airtight machine, all glamour and menace in equal measure.

The lyrics, steeped in fixation and desire, spin around with unsettling urgency, perfectly matched by Pete Burns’ vocals—at once theatrical, sneering, and ever-so-slightly unhinged.

Visually, the accompanying low-budget video leans just hard enough into camp to resist being taken fully seriously, basking in a whirl of fabrics and eye-popping imagery that has since been parodied with affection by Jimmy Fallon and Paul Rudd.

Though its creators often bristled against the “two-hit wonder” label, the song’s staggering ubiquity suggests it didn’t need more company—it remains a towering, inescapable monument to love as obsession and pop as a relentless cyclone.

Featured on the 1985 album “Youthquake”.

Lyrics >> Review >> More by the same : Wikipedia

4 . Thomas Dolby – Hot Sauce

Thomas Dolby’s “Hot Sauce” is as quirky as its title suggests, steeped in the same tongue-in-cheek flamboyance that defines his 1988 album *Aliens Ate My Buick*.

The song serves up a heaping dose of dance-rock spiced with funk, all simmered in Dolby’s signature eccentricity.

This wasn’t a track aiming for the UK Singles Chart stratosphere—landing at a modest No. 80—but it exemplifies his unapologetically offbeat approach to pop.

The album itself feels like a satirical romp through late-’80s genre experiments, from the pop irreverence of “Airhead” (No. 53) to the cerebral disarray of “My Brain Is Like a Sieve” (No. 89).

With co-production by Bill Bottrell and Dolby himself, the production gleams with precision, pairing slick synths and urgent rhythms that channel a sort of kitschy dystopian energy.

Yet, Dolby isn’t just playing musical mad scientist—his career pivots into the tech industry and academic spheres suggest he’s both futurist and nostalgist, blending retro grooves with forward-thinking ideas.

The two remastered videos for “Hot Sauce,” released in 2009, don’t hurt its campy legacy either, showcasing a visual aesthetic as frenetic and unconventional as the song sounds.

Overall, it’s not just a track—it’s an artifact of a musician embracing the absurdities of pop culture with a knowing wink.

Featured on the 1988 album “Aliens Ate My Buick”.

Lyrics >> More by the same : Official Site

5 . Grace Jones – Pull Up To The Bumper

Released in 1981 as part of Grace Jones’s *Nightclubbing* album, “Pull Up to the Bumper” takes a bold route with its sultry blend of electro-disco, funk, and reggae-disco vibes.

The track boasts a hypnotic uptempo rhythm interwoven with post-punk and dub production, a sound engineered by producer Chris Blackwell with origins in the 1980 *Warm Leatherette* sessions.

Its sexually suggestive lyrics raised eyebrows yet further cemented Jones’s provocative public image, a layer she clarified—not softened—in a 2008 interview.

The track sees Jones brush past convention, both lyrically and musically, with her signature mix of avant-garde cool and dancefloor heat.

Though it initially landed at #53 on the UK Singles Chart, a 1986 re-release saw it ascend to #12, reminding critics and club-goers alike of its transatlantic sway over multiple generations.

The music video adds a sharp visual complement, leaning into chic new-wave aesthetics with a hint of electro-disco sparkle.

If Jones’s catalog has a lodestar, this track might well be it—an enduring curveball in pop music’s dynamic evolution.

Featured on the 1981 album “Nightclubbing“.

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

6 . Ray Parker Jr. – Ghostbusters

Ray Parker Jr.’s “Ghostbusters” is less a song and more a cultural moment, strutting out of 1984 with an infectious hook that insists it’s ready to bust ghosts—all to a neon-lit dance-pop groove drenched in synth-rock flair.

The track initially tiptoes onto the Billboard Hot 100 at #68, but by August, it unapologetically elbows its way to #1, where it parks for three weeks. Across the pond in the UK, its peak reaches #2, staying there for another solid three weeks.

Commissioned as the theme for Ivan Reitman’s paranormal smash, the song rides high on its bouncy, feel-good vibe, but not without attracting controversy. Huey Lewis thought the track sounded too close for comfort to his song “I Want a New Drug,” leading to a behind-closed-doors settlement seemingly as lucrative as it was awkward.

Commercial success came calling in spades. Over a million copies sold across major markets, with the anthem topping or flirting with the top of charts in no fewer than seven countries.

Parker Jr.’s Motown roots lend the track a subtle rhythm-and-blues streak beneath its all-out pop sheen, reinforcing its mass appeal. Even its reincarnation with Run-D.M.C.’s hip-hop spin for the sequel couldn’t dim its legacy.

Nominated for an Academy Award and a Grammy, “Ghostbusters” refuses to fade, buoyed by a billion-dollar franchise that owes plenty of its kinetic energy to a simple question: “Who you gonna call?” The answer, then and now, is always obvious.

Featured on the 1984 album “Ghostbusters: Original Soundtrack”.

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

7 . Fun Boy Three – The Lunatics [Have Taken over the Asylum]

The Fun Boy Three’s “The Lunatics (Have Taken Over the Asylum)” is a peculiar mix of biting social commentary and new wave pop quirks, released during the politically charged climate of 1981.

Its jagged vocals, courtesy of Terry Hall, Neville Staple, and Lynval Golding, are more a chant than a conventional melody, underscoring the unsettling theme of societal breakdown and misplaced authority.

The track’s sparse, percussion-heavy arrangement creates a lurking tension, making it less a singalong and more of a warning bell wrapped in an infectious groove.

Peaking at number 20 on the UK charts, it marked a daring, if not entirely radio-friendly, departure from their days with The Specials.

Lyrically, the song is unmistakably sardonic, poking at the absurdity of mismanagement, though its ambiguity leaves room for the listener to connect the dots—perhaps intentionally vague, as though the real asylum is everywhere and nowhere at once.

The music video only heightens the offbeat charm, juxtaposing minimalism with an understated chaos that matches the song’s haunting message.

Released under Chrysalis Records, it feels both of its time and eerily prescient, a reflection of the unrest that often defines any era of upheaval.

Ironically, while it critiques a system in disarray, the band’s own career trajectory was anything but aimless, later collaborating with Bananarama on two Top 5 hits, cementing their knack for pairing dark undertones with catchy rhythms.

Though overshadowed by the critical acclaim of their second album, “Waiting,” this track from their debut captures an experimental rawness that doesn’t strive for perfection but thrives in its imperfections.

Featured on the 1982 album “The Fun Boy Three”.

Lyrics >> Review >> More by the same : Wikipedia

8 . Ultravox – Hymn

Ultravox’s “Hymn,” released in 1982 as part of *Quartet*, lands squarely in the synthpop, post-punk, and new wave trifecta that defines much of their catalog.

The track climbs to #11 on the British Top 40, finding additional traction in Germany and Switzerland, but its commercial success doesn’t mask its curious contradictions.

Produced by George Martin—yes, that George Martin of Beatles fame—the song carries lofty ambitions, though the execution may leave you wondering if it aimed too high or just got lost on the way up.

Centered on themes of faith, power, and existential longing, the lyrics oscillate between a yearning for guidance and a plea for enlightenment and glory, leaving listeners to parse whether this is spiritual petitioning or a sardonic jab at organized religion.

Set against repetitive crescendos that critics have dismissed as recycled ascensions, the soundscape doesn’t exactly reinvent the wheel—but it does create a sense of building tension that’s somewhat hypnotic, if not entirely innovative.

The music video is a visual oddity, featuring Ultravox members seduced by a diabolical figure in a Faustian tale of ambition and its price—a narrative that ties neatly to the song’s meditations on the cost of success.

While the title “Hymn” may hint at divine intervention, the execution feels less sacred and more skeptical, flirting with the sacred only to critique its structures.

The song’s grandeur, underscored by crystalline synths and post-punk influences, remains nostalgic for many, though it doesn’t entirely escape criticism for leaning on formulas that feel a touch too familiar.

Ultimately, “Hymn” fits snugly in Ultravox’s oeuvre as both a reflection of their sonic obsessions and a statement on the challenges of holding onto meaning in an increasingly fragmented world.

Featured on the 1982 album “Quartet”.

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

9 . Mobiles – Drowning in Berlin

“Drowning in Berlin” by The Mobiles doesn’t just belong to the new wave or new romantic camp—it practically sets up a tent there, embraces its peculiar melodrama, and asks you to join in the moody spectacle.

Released in 1982, it carries the unmistakable flair of the era: icy synth lines, detached vocals, and an atmosphere so thick it likely fogged up more than a few Walkman headsets.

The lyrics—equal parts cryptic and poignant—speak to a sense of upheaval and alienation, capturing the emotional instability of landing in a strange and unforgiving environment, all against a backdrop of Berlin as both a physical and metaphorical landscape.

You can almost feel the synth-heavy paranoia, as if the city’s Cold War-era tensions seeped directly into the melody itself.

The Mobiles performed this track on “Top of the Pops” in 1982, which might’ve been its zenith, etched more in visual memory than chart statistics, as there’s little clarity on its commercial performance.

What we do know, though, is that RCA had its hand in the release, and the aesthetics of the track show a keen understanding of early ’80s musical tropes—angular, stylized, yet achingly sincere.

While details on the album or producer remain elusive, “Drowning in Berlin” is less about the mechanics and more about the moment it creates—a snapshot of a time when disorientation wasn’t just lyrical fodder, but practically the zeitgeist itself.

Lyrics >> Review >> More by the same : Wikipedia

10 . ZZ Top – Sharp Dressed Man

In 1983, “Sharp Dressed Man” sneaks onto the airwaves as part of ZZ Top’s *Eliminator*, merging Texas blues grit with the sanitized sheen of ‘80s synth-driven beats.

Produced by Bill Ham, the track operates less like a swaggering rocker and more like a strut set to disco-lite grooves—a sound purists might roll their eyes at, but one that undeniably hooked a broader MTV-fed audience.

The music video, dripping with ‘80s excess, is a spectacle: a trio of glamorous women, a hot rod to end all hot rods (that 1933 Ford Coupe), and the bearded Texan trio acting as quasi-magical style gurus.

Though the lyrics paint a picture of high-heeled sophistication and sartorial bravado, the band’s actual preference for denim and cowboy boots makes the narrative delightfully ironic.

Its guitar solo, landing on Guitar World’s “50 Greatest,” smokes with precision yet feels surprisingly restrained for a band known for raw, Southern-fried riffs.

Rediscovered amidst the buzz of a Grammy-nominated documentary decades later, the song still struts confidently, polished boots and all, into streaming playlists worldwide.

Featured on the 1983 album “Eliminator “.

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

11 . Culture Club – Do You Really Want To Hurt Me

Released in September 1982 from Culture Club’s *Kissing to Be Clever*, “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me” blends new wave and reggae into a polished package of emotional ambiguity.

The song climbs to No. 1 in the UK and dominates charts in 23 countries, ensuring its global reach and marking the band’s first major success in North America.

Steve Levine’s production lets simplicity shine, with its sparse arrangement spotlighting Boy George’s pained yet composed vocal delivery.

Its lyrics walk a fine line, hinting at heartbreak without committing to a clear narrative, leaving listeners to fill in the gaps with their own projections.

The accompanying video, with Boy George’s androgynous style on full display, sparks conversation, amplifying the band’s cultural relevance beyond just the music.

Critics call it a “simple masterpiece,” citing its timeless quality, though some may argue its over-polished edges rub against its emotional core.

The track’s Grammy nomination in 1984 cements its place as a cornerstone of early ’80s pop—a reminder that even quiet devastation can turn heads.

Featured on the 1982 album “Kissing to Be Clever”.

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

12 . Paul McCartney – Pipes Of Peace

Paul McCartney’s “Pipes of Peace” carries an ambition that exceeds its runtime, a pop confection wrapped in themes of idealistic unity and joy over a deceptively simple melody.

The track hails from McCartney’s 1983 album of the same name, the kind of effort where his melodic instincts are undeniable but arguably laid bare by production slickness courtesy of George Martin.

Released on Parlophone in December, it secured a foothold atop the UK and Irish Singles Charts for a couple of weeks, while in the U.S., it was relegated to the B-side of “So Bad,” a move that left the song’s potential impact stateside entirely muted.

Its message of peace is visually amplified by a music video depicting the 1914 Christmas truce during WWI, with McCartney himself doubling as both a British and German soldier, his dual portrayal undeniably heartfelt if teetering on overly earnest.

The video, featuring over 100 extras and shot on the pastoral stretches of Chobham Common in Surrey, generated some controversy decades later when Sainsbury’s holiday ad drew parallels too close for comfort.

Despite its polished veneer, “Pipes of Peace” wears a sincerity that sidesteps mawkish territory just enough to border on charming, its warmth mirrored in compilation appearances like *All the Best* and *Pure McCartney.*

Still, it’s hard to ignore that its saccharine optimism feels a touch quaint when revisited outside its original gloss-filled ’80s frame, its lofty aspirations landing closer to a finely-crafted greeting card than a profound cultural anthem.

Featured on the 1983 album “Pipes of Peace“.

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