a-ha: Take On Me (1985)
The video has held up surprisingly well over twenty years, despite the female lead’s tragically 1980s hair. It’s a mix of rotoscope and live animation that has lived longer in cultural memory than the movie it’s in part aping, Altered States. Family Guy has even replicated the video’s look, though given how fast they chew through random references, it’s no surprise that they’d eventually have to borrow from the Norwegians.
Gorillaz: 19-2000 (2001)
I really like the animation on the early Gorillaz videos. And I must confess that I never get tired of “objects in the rearview mirror are closer than they appear” riffs. Except when Meatloaf does it. Brr.
Take On Me:
This one has to be on any list of classic videos. I also quite like the song as well. It was on one of my random radio recording tapes years ago, and I remember specifically holding onto this song. I didn’t see the video until years later. I had no idea its idea came from a movie.
19-2000:
Not my favorite of theirs (Feel Good, Inc. is hard to beat), but I like it. Something about Noodle’s cute nonsensical babbling about shoe shines grabs me. Murdoc is looking as maniacal as ever. 🙂
The “shoe shine” bit is what always gets lodged in my head when I hear this song.