Billy Ocean - Loverboy

Rounding out our All Hallows Even celebration is "Loverboy" by Billy Ocean.  This is definitely one of the oddest 1980s videos, with a plot that seemingly has nothing at all to do with the song.  We suspect that there may have been some controlled substances involved, along with at least one Star Wars fan.

Long time viewers may recall that this is Billy Ocean's second appearance on ERV, as "Caribbean Queen (No More Love on the Run)" was posted last March.  As we mentioned then, Billy Ocean (given name: Leslie Charles) was a modestly successful singer until 1984, when his Suddenly LP broke out, reaching the top 10 in both the U.S. and the UK.

While "Loverboy" was a big hit (#2 in the U.S. and #6 in the UK), it was not as big a hit as "Caribbean Queen" in either market. Not not worry, though, Billy Ocean remained massively successful through the rest of the decade.

As to the video ... it is a perfect Halloween video, from the sci-fi perspective.  We are of two minds here - on the one hand, it is trying to be an ambitious mini-movie.  On the other hand, there seems to be little plot, and the visuals are cheesy, though perhaps less so by the standards at the time.  The plot seems to revolve around a lizard creature, who goes to a cantina to ... kidnap a female alien (?), after killing her date in an unprovoked burst of laser fire. Yeah. 

It's probably best to not analyze it too much, but it is a weirdly engaging and odd Halloweeny clip.

Cool trivia fact: superstar music producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange co-wrote the song, along with Keith Diamond and Billy Ocean.  

Real Life - Send Me An Angel

For our second All Hallows Even treat, we're posting Real Life's "Send Me An Angel" (the original version; more on that in a moment).

Real Life were an Australian band that formed in Melbourne in 1980.  Originally called The Wires, the group changed their name to avoid being confused with Wire (the UK punk rock act).  They settled on A Private Life, which turned out to be a terrible choice, as they were then threatened with a lawsuit from Private Lives (a Sydney band) and so changed their name again to Real Life.

"Send Me An Angel" was the lead single from the group's first LP, 1983's Heartland. The song did reasonably well, reaching #29 on the U.S. charts, and going to #6 in their native Australia.  The video, with a spooky forest and a wolfman (prince?) looking for his Celtic (?) princess (?) seems ... odd, but definitely Halloweeny.

As mentioned above, Real Life re-released the song (and video) in 1989, as part of their Send Me An Angel/Best of Real Life compilation.  Incredibly, "Send Me An Angel" re-charted even higher in the U.S., reaching #26.  The video is less interesting (and less spooky) than the original, but we've included it here anyway (cause that's what we do).

Special shout out to M, who asked for our help after seeing a portion of the video on Loop ... and then found it herself.  Obviously, we liked it enough to put it up on the blog.

Kiss - I Love It Loud

Welcome to ERV's 10th annual All Hallows Even party.  A reminder to our newer readers: our  prior ghostly (ghastly) clips can be found using the All Hallows Even tag on the right.

Leading off this year's festivities is "I Love It Loud" by Kiss.  As most readers know, Kiss has a long and somewhat controversial history.  The group started in New York City in 1973, and was led by Paul Stanley (guitar and vocals) and Gene Simmons (bass and vocals).  Ace Frehley (guitars) and Peter Criss (drums) rounded out the original lineup.  Right from the start, Kiss was known for their makeup, costumes, and theatrical stage shows as much as for their music.

The group really broke out following their 1975 Alive! double album and had a period of superstardom, which was on the wane by the early 1980s.  Changes to their sound likely didn't help - 1979's Dynasty was dance-influenced, while the 1981 "Music from 'The Elder'" concept album included orchestral parts.

With this backdrop, "I Love It Loud" from the 1982 Creatures of the Night LP was a return to form.  Although the album didn't become a huge commercial success, the anthemic hard rock and focus on music videos laid the groundwork for Kiss' success in the 1980s.  Stanley and Simmons capitalized on this by having the band remove their makeup (on MTV no less) and effectively repositioned Kiss as a pop metal act, which paid huge dividends for the rest of the decade.

From a Halloween perspective, "I Love It Loud" is spot on.  The makeup, costumes, and tank/drum kit are nicely complimented by the sonic assault (and glowing eyes).  The result works, in our opinion, and makes for a fun Halloweeny video.