My uncle Tom was a big influence on my musical taste growing up (and I like to think I get to influence his taste now). He taught me the words to Cindi Lauper’s “Girl’s Just Wanna Have Fun” and I think it may have been the first full lenghth song I learned. Though, it was easy to entertain a toddler with that because it was an entirely goofy video (there was even a Conehead in it!) and basically, it symbolized the 80’s American halcyon before, you know, everyone got bitter for a while in the early 90s.
Tom used to periodically record music videos off of Mtv and some of the other cable and network stations that ran videos at night. There was one coveted collection in particular that I watched repeatedly for at least fifteen years (and brought with me with when I moved away from home) that thankfully included much more than the usual 80s stuff everyone remembers from VH1 specials like Tony Basil’s “Mickey” or Nena’s “99 Luftballoons”. This tape had things like They Mighty Be Giant’s “Puppethead” (very hip for a kid my age), Loverboy’s “Turn Me Loose,” Madonna’s “Get into the Groove,” Falco’s “Amadeus,” Aretha Franklin’s “Freeway of Love,” Sade’s “Sweetest Taboo,” Fleetwood Mac’s “Big Love,” and Tina Turner’s “One of the Living,” along with a mess load of other videos.
Godley and Creme’s “Cry” was one of my favorites on that tape, and you may have noticed something similar in the “Black and White” video Michael Jackson did in the 90s – black and white shots of faces morphed. Well, here it is as done by a bunch of Englishmen.
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