80s Nostalgia

Anastasia at Ypulse put up a great post about 80s MTV videos finding a new life on YouTube. Ah, this brings back memories -- and so, for your viewing enjoyment, here are some that I still remember fondly, the Russell Smith Top five cool video countdown:

Number 5:
Phil Collins: Don't Lose My Number
The ever creative Phil gives us the best parody of making a video about making a video -- with stories told in westers, Mad Max, Shogun, and king arthur style and takeoffs of videos from the Police, the Cars, and Elton John.



Number 4:
38 Special: Back Where You Belong
Not one of their more popular songs, but the video was an inspired cross between Hill Street Blues and the Keystone Cops.



Number 3:
Huey Lewis and the News: If this is it
One of my favorite bands of the era -- it's hard to pick a favorite video, but this told a good story, and I liked seeing Huey get the nice girl in the end.



Number 2:
Scandal: The Warrior. Strange post-apocalyptic costumes combined with Patti Smyth's gutsy singing -- a perfect combo for the teenage boy in the 80's.



and the Number 1 Russell's cool video is:

Asia: Don't Cry. My favorite band of the 80's. This song came from the sophmore effort Astra (far inferior to Alpha), Don't cry had the distinct advantage of playing off the Indiana Jones craze of the early 80s.

The videos all had stories -- they appealed to the imagination -- they were poppy tunes, most of which centered around romance. And, like much of the 80s (the early 80s at least) they were lots of fun.

Excelsior