11 posts tagged “alternative”
Although I don't agree with the religious philosophy of the song, I think Dear God by XTC is a very well-crafted song. I had never seen the video for it until recently, and was pleased to discover that the video adds to the song and is very well done.
Extra bonus: The Dukes of Stratosphear are the members of XTC disguised as a psychedelic 60s band. They released two albums as this side project, and both contain some brilliant parodies of bands such as The Beatles, The Beach Boys, and The Kinks. Here's a clip from the main single they released.
Years: 1987, 1985
Posted by: Celeste
Befork Bjork was solo, there were The Sugarcubes. This song leapt immediately to mind after seeing a terrifying picture of the adorable Bjork over on Go Fug Yourself, a site that I occasionally find amusing but mostly find terribly catty.
After the release of the great album Hounds of Love (which unfortunately is associated with a lot of terribly boring videos), Kate released a greatest hits album entitled The Whole Story. Aside from a new version of the song Wuthering Heights from her first album, there was only one new song on this album: Experiment IV.
The story behind the video is the idea of a military experiment to see if it was possible to kill with sound. Catch the cameo by Hugh Laurie - he's standing by the phone. Lyrics are here.
Year: 1986
Posted by: Celeste
Credit: nixygirl
Next up by Kate is "Sat in Your Lap" from her 1982 album, "The Dreaming." I don't know that I care for the elbow warmers, but otherwise, I think she looks pretty fab in this video. Lyrics are here.
Addendum: A friend pointed out that the above photo looks like the video contains dancing Klansmen. It does not, in fact - although the similarity between that and what I assume is a British boarding school dunce's outfit is eerie.
I'm starting something new. This week I will explore one of my favorite artists - definitely in the top ten. Every day this week I'll post a video from this particular artist. Heather, feel free to join in with your own faves! I think we should both agree to avoid Duran Duran, though, unless we want to do that one jointly one week. (We're both avid Duranies, if that wasn't already apparent.)
I'm kicking this off with Kate Bush. Kate is someone you either love or hate - the timber of her voice, her looks, her strange-sounding music, and her art/dance videos are things you either appreciate or you don't. Personally, I think she's fantastic, although all of her music is not immediately accessible. I started liking her in about 1984 when a high school friend first played me her first album, The Kick Inside. That had been released in 1978, so it's a bit out of range for this site, but Kate had several releases during the 1980's.
Some of these videos may be flirting with breaking rule number three. I must admit that I mainly loved Kate for her audio recordings, and hadn't even seen many of these videos before now. She's a dancer and a performance artist as much as she is a musician, but the music is how I came to love her. These videos aren't all that terrific in my opinion. I have chosen the ones that I thought were the most cheesy or interesting.
On the cheese side, we have the first Kate Bush video, Babooshka, from one of my favorite albums of Kate's, Never For Ever. The lyrics depict an aging couple in a loveless marriage, where the wife decides to start sending love letters to her husband using the pseudonym "Babooshka". Hopefully that will explain the video slightly, although it's a bit inexplicable. Lyrics are here.
Year: 1980
Posted by: Celeste
Credit: nixygirl
Fishbone is a wacky, wacky group. My favorite song of theirs is Lyin' Ass Bitch, but this one is right up there.
This song is also on that EP, and is also pretty good:
Year: 1985
Posted by: Celeste
Credit (for both): fishbonedotnet
The Primitives generated a series of happy-poppy, incredibly catchy 2- to 3-minute singles. I have strong memories of listening obsessively to the cassettes of Lovely and Pure while playing various SSI AD&D gold box video games on my computer. (Pool of Radiance and Curse of the Azure Bonds, anyone? I also associate Curve's album Cuckoo with playing Master of Orion for hours on end, but that's another story.)
From 1987, Crash:
From 1988, Way Behind Me
From 1989, Secrets
Posted by: Heather
Credits: crashsite000 , cellular1ai, boomboxderby
The full title of this song is Yin and Yang (and the Flowerpot Man), and it typifies the use of black and white in eighties videos.
Year: 1986
Posted by: Celeste
Credit: klint
I first heard The Connells when my friend Jennifer incessantly played their second album, "Boylan Heights", in the car on the drive to high school every morning. (It was a nice change from the Melissa Etheridge tape she had previously incessantly played every morning.) The Connells got their start in Raleigh (playing frat parties around the Triangle, according to what I've heard) and although I'm not sure how popular they were nationally, they were pretty well-known locally during the 80s and 90s. I got to see them live in the early 90s at the "Earth Buddies" concert at Walnut Creek.
My (now former) coworker Bennett had a Brush With Fame related to the Connells: he rented band member George Huntley's old bedroom in the Huntley family home at one point! Bennett did not gain any superpowers as a result of his stay there, however. And it turns out that guitar god George, no longer with the band, is now selling real estate in Raleigh and will go to "great lengths" to make your home purchase "a stress-free, enjoyable experience." ;-) He mentions The Connells on his "About Me" page.
Sadly, YouTube's Connells pickings are slim. I found the videos for "Over There" from "Boylan Heights" and "Something to Say" from "Fun and Games".
Thanks to felmote for this one.
