Two videos, Police Edition

I'm not sticking exactly to the schedule I thought I would, because I realized that even the issue of how a band presents itself can be separated into how they do in music videos versus in general. One question with that is whether the band even needs to be in the music video.

That is a question that comes way back from my memories, thinking of the Police. I seem to remember an interview with them talking about the video for "Invisible Sun", where they wanted to do something different because not every video could be them goofing around in the studio.

It sticks in my mind because that felt like they were embarrassed about "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic". What I hadn't realized is that those songs were from the same album, and how old they were.

Both tracks are off of Ghost In The Machine from 1981. MTV launched in August, and "Invisible Sun" was released in September, so music videos were still relatively new, and it is reasonable that there was some uncertainty about what to do, and how to do it.

Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aENX1Sf3fgQ

Invisible Sun: http://vimeo.com/63705688

"Every Little Thing" is a combination of some performance and some fooling around in the studio. In a way it reminds me of the awkwardness of Rufus King in "Just What I Need", but they do seem to be having more fun, and to have better direction. I enjoy it when Sting and Andy Summers are dancing and trading hats, while understanding that someone probably told them to do that.

It does work for the video. The song is kind of rare in that it is a pop love song that is more fueled by how wonderful things are than by how much everything hurts, so the playful vibe that complements the song there is appropriate. It would be disastrous for "Invisible Sun".

"Invisible Sun" is about how people in terrible circumstances find the will to go on. It is positive in a way, because they do go on, but there is the content about war and poverty and a darker musical sound as well. Footage of the conflict in Northern Ireland was relevant enough to get the video banned by the BBC.  

(And, on watching it again, the band kind of is in it as outlines behind the images.)

A lot of this relates to what we have previously covered about serving the needs of the song via the video, but looking now at the larger issue of how the videos reflect on the band.

With the Police, I don't remember many of their videos having plots. Instead, they tended to focus on performance, but with different atmospheres. They're most effective was probably "Every Step You Take", though "Wrapped Around Your Finger" was a cooler set, and the biggest wasted opportunity was "Synchronicity II", all from their 1983 album, Synchronicity.

Every Step You Take: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMOGaugKpzs

Wrapped Around Your Finger: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svWINSRhQU0

Synchronicity II: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1z6zh_the-police-synchronicity-ii_music

After that they disbanded, so there was never really a chance to branch out into other types of videos. That may be okay. Some bands probably should not act, in much the same way that Billy Squier should not dance, or at least should not have danced like he did in "Rock Me Tonight".

The "Rock Me Tonight" video failed because it didn't really represent Billy Squier, even with him in it, but there can be multiple accurate representations of a band. In the case of the Police, there is socially relevant, happy pop, and several moody songs about twisted love, and even though they certainly could be more creative and memorable, none of the videos feel drastically wrong.

However, these are also happening at a time and place when it was expected that every single released would have a video, and releasing singles and getting radio play was something handled by your label, and it was kind of a different world, at least for the bands that I'm interested in. I think for that tomorrow we will spend time with one of my favorite new bands.