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Eleven '80s videos that made me gayWhen it comes to videos, I'm old. I remember the premiere of Friday Night Videos, and even before that (and even before MTV), I watched something called FM-TV (later Teletunes) on a local public access channel. It was such a thrill to stay up late and enter that strange new world. My sister even figured out how to hook up our clunky TV to the stereo so we could enjoy bizarre bands like Les Rita Mitsouko in high fidelity. And just as the age of music video was dawning, so was my baby dykedom. Here are some '80s videos that helped me explore my newfound appreciation for the fairer sex. (Note to the PMRC types: I'm not really saying these videos made me gay; just that these women are totally worth going gay for, if that were possible.)
1. The Eurythmics, "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" (1983) Oh, Annie Lennox. The hair. The stare. The tie. Sweet doesn't begin to cover it. 2. The Pretenders, "Brass in Pocket" (1979 — yeah, a year early) I didn't understand half of what Chrissie Hynde was saying, but her eyeliner did something to me — as did her smooth, sexy voice. 3. Cyndi Lauper, "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" (1983) At that point, I didn't know exactly what I wanted from a slumber party; I just knew I really, really liked them. 4. Tina Turner, "What's Love Got To Do With It" (1984) Love has a lot to do with it. Especially if you're going to strut like that. This video also fed my growing yen for the Big Apple. 5. The Go-Go's, "Our Lips Are Sealed" (1981) Not Belinda. The other ones. I'm looking at you, Kathy Valentine. 6. Pat Benatar, "Love Is a Battlefield" (1983) Let's take to the streets and have a dance-off! We are strong! No one can tell us we're wrong! 7. Heart, "What About Love" (1985) It wasn't their best or their prettiest. But Ann Wilson's voice is pure heat. 8. Katrina and the Waves, "Walking on Sunshine" (1985) It was all about the shoes. And the awesomeness of the song! 9. Stevie Nicks, "Talk to Me" (1985) I wanted to talk to her. For a long, long time. 10. The Bangles, "Going Down to Liverpool" (1984) This is the Bangles before they started to suck (i.e., before they let bimbo Susanna Hoffs sing everything). And yes, that's Spock behind the wheel — but more important, that's bassist Michael Steele in the purple jacket and ridiculous tie thingie. Yum. (Bonus: This song was originally recorded by No. 8 on this list!) 11. Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, "Crimson and Clover" (1982) I know it's obvious, but I'm still powerless when I see it. Thank you, Joan, for not changing the pronoun. What a beautiful feeling. Finally, here's a video that just made me weird. This is the aforementioned Les Rita Mitsuoko. The song is "C'est Comme Ça," from The No Comprendo (1986). OK, that still makes me feel weird! No comprendo indeed. Submitted by on December 14, 2007 - 11:40am. |
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News, Reviews & Commentary on Lesbian and Bisexual women in Entertainment and the Media
It's so cool I'm first
ROCK & ROLL
Ooh, I so loved
Les Rita Mitsuokos
I thought their video for Andy was really neat...never heard anyone else talking about them though.
Love the list, I have almost all of those songs in my 80's playlist...
Joan in the runaways
It's called...
It's called Edgeplay: A Film About the Runaways and it's available on Netflix...everyone should check it out!
What about Love
Can someone tell me why a pop band like Heart did a metal themed video for a love song?
Regardless, I saw them recently at a venue in Vancouver and they were beyond amazing...they rocked the house
Walking on sunshine..
Gawd I thought I was the only one that liked that song...and I still do!
Love the rest, The Pretenders, Pat Benatar, Heart, etc.....and Joan Jett....I was lucky to go at her concert here in the Island early this year at the local Hard Rock Cafe....oh she still rocks!
Nope
I totally agree with this
I totally agree with this selection - we must be around the same age. We didn't have MTV in France at this time but there were some TVshows on saturday night (very late in the night) which aired all these video.
On a saddest matter, Fred Chichin (the male guitarist of Les Rita Mitsouko) died a few days ago from cancer. He was 53.
The lyrics / translation (by myself) of "C'est comme ça"
C'est comme ça / that's the way it is
Ah, la la la la
Ouais / Yeah
le secret / the secret
ça coupe et ça donne / it cuts and it gives
Oh, oh, faut que j'moove / Oh gotta go
Sans fin / without end
du venin / some venom
qui me fait mal au cœur / which hurts my heart
Quand / when
le serpent / the snake
Chaloupe et console / sways and comforts
Oh, oh, faut que j'moove / Oh gotta go
L'ami Sadi / the friend Sadi
s'enlise / is getting stuck
et là ça fait peur / and there, it's scarry
Si c'est ça / tht's it
Ah la la la la
Ça le susurre / It's whispering
a mes entournures / arround me
Ah, ah, faut que j'moove / I gotta go
Ça le grince / It's creaking
juste pendant la nuit / in the night
Ah, c'est comme ça / that's it
ça plonge et ça vire / it dives and it swings round
Ah, ah, faut que j'moove / gotta go
Et ça gêne / and it's in the way
quoi, quand y a pas de plaisir / so What, when there's nomore pleasure
C'est comme ça / that's the way it is
Ah la la la la
La lala lala lala lalala...
J'veux pas t'abandonner, / I don't want to give you up
mon bébé / my baby
J'veux pas nous achever, / I don't want to finish us off
tu sais / you know
C'est pas que je veuille tenir / That's not that I want to hold on
ni que je veuille m'enfuir / or to run away
Il me faut prendre le frais, c'est vrai / I need to take a breath of fresh air, that's true
Hé, hé, hé
hé, viens près de moi / come near me
que je te le dise / I must tell you
Faut que j'moove / I gotta go
ce secret qui me tord le cœur / that secret which twists my heart
Ah, la la la...
Thank You :-)
Thank you SO MUCH for this translation!!! There was a late-night video show here in the US in the 80's that played Les Rita Misouko, and this song has been stuck in my head ever since.
So sad about Fred Chichin. I heard about him last week :-(
Hellz yes most of those
Lucky Star
The good old days
Great blog, this is fun stuff, I remember it all fondly. But here are a few more -
Josie Cotton, The Cars, Rockpile, Tracy Ullman, Cheap Trick...those were the days.
A Maniac!
The videos for "Maniac" and "What a Feeling" from Flashdance...
Steelmills...
Dancers...
What's not to love?
;-)
Always had a thing for "dancers" (and even studied dance at the time).
Okay...
Okay...
It's a tad embarrassing, but watch the videos and see if you can sit still while watching those dance moves (gyrating hips, etc. ;-) ).
Oh...and Cynthia Rhodes was hot in that movie too!
As for female musicians...
I was fond of Heart, Annie Lennox, Stevie Nicks, Pat Benatar, Chrissie Hynde (Pretenders), Joan Jett... All female rockers with such powerful voices!
Oh...and Patty Smythe...
Edit: I could not remember the name of Jennifer Beals' dance double in this film, so I looked it up. It was Marine Jahan (and her dance moves were HOT).
Flash Dance
Classic 80s
I don't think most people have much regard for this film, but...it is classic 80s (since there are even references to the "Flashdance Look") and the dancing/music is quite memorable.
By the way...
Welcome StonedSoul!
:-)
Take your passion... And make it happen!
~H~ I have the highest regard for this film! Steel worker, exotic dancer, sticking it to "the man," realizing your dreams...what more can you ask for?
Stevie Nicks made me so gay!!
Voices Carry
Aimee Mann
Early Rock
Stevie Nicks and Christine McVie from Fleetwood Mac. I liked Patti Smith when she first started and use to wear suits. Of course Annie Lenox. The Pretenders, The Shangrilas.
with you there, babe
Stevie Nicks never did it for me, but Christine McVie..... yes, that voice is pure sex. And Patti Smith, she was mesmerising.... how is that woman not a lesbian - I just dont get it.
Mmmmmm
Mmmmmm
Mmmmmm
Ha
You know what's funny?
Oh shoot
It's Sweet
Oh, that
Graphically Nice
Heh
FINALLY
Thanks Scribe!! I knew I was not alone..OOOOHHH Stevie what you did to me!!Spin Girl Spin..I wanted to be her Sister of the Moon..The Go- Go's what great memories Kat and I driving around in the Eldorado, top down screaming out "We got the Beat"... Good Times!! Good Times!!
Texas anyone?
I remember the first incarnation of Texas in the 80s - " I don't want a lover" and the gorgeous Sharleen Spiteri. Still gorgeous now. And as for Joan Jett - maybe it's just me but I think she's hotter now than she was back then.
Great choice, must be the same age too. I used to do a bit of DJing at college and "Walking on Sunshine" was a sure fire floor filler every time!
Anne Wilson's voice
Anne Wilson's voice definitely played a role in my gayness. God that woman can SING.
...and I forgot how much I loved that Tina Turner song!
I do have to admit how happy I am that the blue-eyeshadow-bright-red-lipstick fashion statement didn't stick around past the 80's. Bleecchhhh.
Ha
for me it's Madonna
Joan Jett
wow. just, um, wow.
I love the part where she bites off the flower.
OMFG
You have totally stolen my teenage "I'm not like the other girls" soundtrack. Well, except for Tina Turner and Heart (I think Love is a Battlefield is the only power ballad I ever liked).
OMG, Annie Lennox. My mother was sitting there going "Ick, that girl looks just like a man". I was speechless, because I couldn't decide between "Oh no, she doesn't" or "Isn't it fab?" as a riposte.
The first time I heard Crimson and Clover, my ears nearly fell off - Joan Jett didn't change the original lyrics!!1! Yay for the video (never seen it). Really, there's nothing that needs to be said about Chrissy Hynde - the woman is fantastic. And the Bangles! Yay, I loved that song - and no-one I know now has heard of it. As for Stevie Nicks, she definitely made up part of my emo-listening repetoire (like the Cure, but better eye-candy. Kind of.).
80s Music
Turn Back Time!!
Only the Eurythmics
made my 80s recruitment videos. I guess I'm a couple of years older than you, Scribe...
It had started in the seventies, but for me the 80s was all about...
My great proto-"coming out" memory is watching Kate Bush on television singing Wuthering Heights, and finally being able to say, "She is *gorgeous*" and no one thought that was odd because they all agreed. So I could finally express it!
OH MY GOD
OH MY GOD
I fell in
lustlove with Kate Bush the first time I saw her Wuthering Heights video. I'm still a slobbering fangirl almost 30 years later.Annie Lennox Rocks!
OMG.. this brings back so many memories! Yup, it's all HER fault that I'm gay! LOL..
Nobody wears a suit as well as she does. And the shape of her head - so perfect it even looks good in ORANGE! When she sang "Who's That Girl", I always secretly hoped that it was about a girl and not about seeing her bf with another girl.
In those days, we didn't have cable and no music videos on TV; well, there was Solid Gold (LMAO..). So we had to borrow video tapes from schoolmates and they were so RARE!! Remember in those days, Betamax format tapes were giving VHS a hard fight but VHS won. So the tapes had to be in the right format unless you had 2 machines in the house!
Oh well.. those were the days... Thanks for the memories!
Here comes the rain again...
I sometimes forget how heartstoppingly beautiful Annie Lennox was: I still think she's gorgeous, but the nature of beauty changes with age.
I remember seeing her on TV, although I was very young, and being enraptured. When you look at her videos and listen, I think you understand it's in what she gives to the audience with every expression and in her amazing eyes.
I'd like to give Siouxsie Sioux and Kate Bush a mention too; I think I was the wrong side of the pond for some of the others mentioned here :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oerhxhlfRYI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5etWdDtvBa4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BZsXVf6INc
Oh, Siouxie's fantastic.
Oh, Siouxie's fantastic. She's touring the UK soon, but coming nowhere near where I live. Me and my mother are gutted. =[
I love Annie, she is and was absolutely gorgeous. I wish I had the guts to get hair like that.
You're probably all thinking "wtf, this girl is sixteen, waaaay before her time" but..meh. Blame my mother, I love the 80's!
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Annie Lennox
The hottest lesbian that never was.
(Sigh) God can be so cruel.
Not Only But Also
The Eurythmics
Damndest thing is, the first time I saw the "Sweet Dreams" video, I swear Annie was setting my gaydar off like a fire alarm.
Tina Weymouth
I loved (still do) Tina! Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club--didn't matter. I couldn't get enough of her.