Pure ‘80s: The Ultimate DVD Box

Granted, many music critics and aficionados consider the 1980s a joke—a kind of cultural backwaters lying between the classic rock ‘70s and alternative/hip hop ‘90s—but I must confess to having a huge soft spot for songs like Madness' “Our House,” The Buggles' “Video Killed the Radio Star” (which trivia buffs know as the first music video shown on MTV), Big Country's “In a Big Country,” and Joe Jackson's “Steppin' Out.” Music videos for these four tunes and 11 others are included on “Totally New Wave,” the first volume in the three-disc Pure ‘80s: The Ultimate DVD Box set. Of course, the opener also features less than stellar efforts such as Bananarama's “Cruel Summer,” The Plimsouls' “A Million Miles Away,” and ABC's “When Smokey Sings,” but is rounded out with generally solid tracks, including Devo's “Whip It,” Blondie's “Rapture,” Soft Cell's “Tainted Love,” and the “banned” version (relatively tame today) of Frankie Goes to Hollywood's “Relax” (an S&M tinged celebration shot in a gay bar). Unfortunately, while the audio is sterling—in both Dolby Digital 5.1 and stereo—the music videos are hardly works of art, with only Duran Duran's “Hungry Like the Wolf” (an early stab at narrative, shot in multiple locations) and A-Ha's “Take On Me” (a still impressive combination of live action and rotoscoped animation) standing out. The second volume, “Video Idols,” which features the J. Geils Band (“Centerfold”), Olivia Newton John (“Physical”), Asia (“Heat of the Moment”), Pat Benatar (“Love Is a Battlefield”), Tears for Fears (“Everybody Wants to Rule the World”), and (video idol ?!?) Tiffany (“I Think We're Alone Now”) is pretty much the same, with the only visual standouts among the 15 cuts being Suzanne Vega's live-action/animated child abuse hit “Luka” and Wang Chung's hyper-edited “Everybody Have Fun Tonight” (although it's always a joy to hear the Fine Young Cannibals' “She Drives Me Crazy”). The final disc, “Headbangers Rule!”, is of course a testament to big hair and bad lyrics, featuring Led Zeppelin knockoffs such as Kingdom Come (“Get It On”) and Tora Tora (“Walkin' Shoes”), as well as Great White (“Once Bitten, Twice Shy,” which is no improvement on Ian Hunter's original) and Faith No More (“Epic,” notable for melding metal and rap) in another 15 tracks. The video quality is variable and even though the selection is obviously limited, the omissions read like a veritable musical who' who of the era: U2, Elton John, Madonna, Metallica, The Eurythmics, Cyndi Lauper, Peter Gabriel (whose music videos were truly memorable), Van Halen, Huey Lewis and the News, Motley Crue, Culture Club, Hall & Oates, Quiet Riot, and so on. Optional. Aud: P. (R. Pitman)