Everybody loves a good cartoon, right? Well, as it turns out, the rock and pop stars of the 80s also saw the value of videos and animation. Once they realized that videos could be more than simply them miming their hits, they, along with their video directors, got creative and started incorporating animation.
Videos by American Songwriter
These four songs all stand out as excellent tracks without any embellishment. But the colorful, animation-laced videos that accompanied them certainly didn’t hurt.
“Don’t Answer Me” by The Alan Parsons Project
It kind of figures that The Alan Parsons Project would be willing to try different things in their videos. Remember that this was a band that never really had a frontman. (Parsons simply oversaw the project from a production standpoint and played keyboards.) These guys didn’t even like to tour. Thus, a video featuring a kind of comic book brought to animated life, where the band doesn’t show up until a brief cameo at the end, made sense. Since “Don’t Answer Me”, co-written and sung by Eric Woolfson, cops a bit of a retro vibe, the throwback feel of the characters also syncs. This one didn’t hit as big as the others on this list. But early MTV enthusiasts remember the video fondly.
“Take On Me” by A-Ha
The iconic video that we all know was actually the second video filmed for “Take On Me”. Not only that, but the production of the song itself also transformed before it reached the hit version. Behind-the-scenes execs realized the inherent value of the song and understood that there was value in putting A-ha frontman Morten Harket’s face front and center. In stepped director Steve Barron and the rotoscoping technique, which brought the animation to vivid life. The concept was also key, as it tapped into the high drama within the song. You won’t find a more iconic video moment than when Harket’s character tries to smash his way out of the black-and-white world to be with his girl.
“Money For Nothing” by Dire Straits
Mark Knopfler overheard some appliance movers complaining one day about the life of ease enjoyed by rock stars who didn’t do much to earn it. That was the seed for “Money For Nothing” in terms of the songwriting. As for the video, enter Steve Barron, yes, the same Steve Barron who tackled “Take On Me”. He had to convince Knopfler to try something different from the average performance video. Barron’s idea for computer animation depicting the workers who inspired the song eventually got Knopfler on board. The result was something that looked like nothing else on MTV, even as the song itself gently mocked the network.
“Sledgehammer” by Peter Gabriel
It’s hard to explain now just how important the video for “Sledgehammer” proved when it came to changing the image of Peter Gabriel. Up to that point, both in Genesis and as a solo artist, he had come off as a wacky art-rocker who favored face paint and bizarre get-ups. Just as the music on So, his 1986 album, presented a more pop-friendly version of Gabriel, the video for this massive hit offered a kinder, gentler image. Via several animation techniques, Gabriel stands at the center of the frame while all kinds of attractions swirl around him. The smile rarely leaves his face, even when a Claymation section features limbs growing out of his face and beating the heck out of him.
Photo by Paul Natkin/Getty Images
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