So… 79 songs into this song of the day experiment, and I believe this is the first time I’ve picked a song about which I don’t really have anything specific to say. No personal anecdote to share or broad theme to discuss.
Just a song.
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Song of the Day #78: ‘Don’t Answer Me’ – Alan Parsons Project
The second video (after ‘Take On Me’) that leaped to mind when I decided on this music video theme was Alan Parsons Project’s animated classic ‘Don’t Answer Me.’
The extremely simple, comic book-inspired tale follows a Dick Tracy lookalike liberating his ex from a big, abusive galut.
Song of the Day #77: ‘Cradle of Love’ – Billy Idol
Ah, the ‘Cradle of Love’ video.
This was one of the formative experiences of my youth (at least I remember it that way… it turns out the video got most of its airplay in 1990, when I was 18). I must have watched this video a hundred times when it was popular, eating up every piece of eye candy.
The story is essentially a PG-rated porn plot. Jailbait vixen knocks on her uptight neighbor’s door and asks to use his stereo. Caught up in the music, she lets loose, performing an elaborate striptease, kicking her shoe into the fish tank (how rude!) and treating herself to a glass of wine (which conveniently spills on her blouse).
Song of the Day #76: ‘Addicted to Love’ – Robert Palmer
Four of the five videos I picked for this week’s theme have a storyline of one sort or another. This one is the exception.
I’d like to know who the genius was who said to Robert Palmer: “Why don’t you just sing the song in front of five hot chicks in black dresses and mime makeup?” It’s the simplest idea yet one of the indelible images of the early MTV era.
Ben Folds – Way to Normal
You know the old cliche that “so-and-so’s worst album is better than just about everything else out there” — well, Ben Fold’s new album puts that concept to the test.
Way to Normal is definitely Folds’ worst album, but it isn’t bad by any means. It just feels like a big step down from the wonderful Songs for Silverman and Rockin’ the Suburbs — not to mention his work with Ben Folds Five.
