Narrowcast loves VH1 Classic

Anthony used to do running commentary on videos on VH1 Classic, but he hasn't in a while, and now that the greatest video channel in the world is finally part of my cable package, I'm stealing the idea.

Robert Palmer - "Looking For Clues"
A 1980 new wave chestnut in which Palmer looks and sounds so much like Sting that it honestly took me a minute to be absolutely sure this wasn't some obscure Police video even though I know the Police catalog fairly well. He looks so ridiculously dorky and awkward bouncing around a blank white set in this that it's not surprising that when he stumbled upon a successful video concept that made him look suave and cool, he kept remaking it over and over.

Chicago - "25 or 6 To 4"
Apparently in 1986, following the departure of Peter Cetera, Chicago re-recorded one of their classic 70's marching band hits for the album Chicago 18 (how many bands have gotten up into double digits with numbered self-titled albums?), with big, harsh 80's overproduced drum machine beats that almost sound proto-industrial. And then, they shot this amazing sci fi video that takes place in the year 2036 in some confusing dystopian future version of Chi-town.

John Mellencamp - "Ain't Even Done With The Night"
John and his band dress up like some kind of R&B vocal group and lip sync with syncronized dance moves and finger snapping. This features one of the greatest moments I've ever seen in a music video, in which Mellencamp's saxophonist lip syncs his own sax solo with completely amazing facial gyrations. It's a good song, too! That recent Mellencamp best-of collection keeps calling to me every time I'm in a record store.

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