It’s that time again, time for Music Video Madness, the WTF?? edition. Don’t get me wrong, I like these videos. Even so, you have to admit that there’s something about each of them that elicited a WTF? the first time you saw it.
Culture Club - Karma Chameleon
Okay, hands up everyone who thinks Boy George would have survived one day in Mississippi in 1870.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - Don’t Come Around Here No More
This video caused some controversy when feminist groups objected to Petty cutting and eating the Alice cake. Of course, the video was equally objectionable to those who wore oversized top hats and used bathtub-sized teacups.
The Cars - You Might Think
Ric Ocasek did a great job of acting like an emotionless rod in this video. Oh wait, he wasn’t acting…
Styx - Mr. Roboto
Dennis DeYoung. Rock opera. And that’s all I’m going to say about that.
If Boy George were to show up on the scene today, would anybody think he was odd, or just another Portland-like musician?
First, the Cars are the most under-rated band of the 80’s. I love everything they did. Their solo projects? Not so much… but as the Cars they were great.
Second, Tommy Shaw should have set Dennis DeYoung up to have an “unfortunate accident” when he started writing this dren. All the Tommy Shaw stuff was rockin.
First of all, I had a cassette of “Heartbeat City”, and I wore that sucker OUT. In the studio, the Cars were great.
But I also saw them playing live on MTV, and they looked like animatronics. They didn’t. freaking. move.
And worst of all, Ric Ocasek blew the opening of the first verse, but since they were playing to a prerecorded synthesizer track, they couldn’t just vamp and do it over, they had to SKIP THE ENTIRE VERSE.
Dude, if you can’t play live, you aren’t a rock band.
those robot masks in Mr Roboto look like Japanese versions of Twiggy from Buck Rogers.