Hungry For Love, Part Four: More Awesomely Bad Music Videos From Around The Globe

By Jim R. Clark

This is Part Three in our series on bizarre videos you may have forgotten about or never seen. Don’t forget to check out Parts One, Two, and Three.

Please enjoy my latest serving of the most off-the-wall and obscure selections from the Internet. In addition to the usual nuggets of unknown corny music videos, I’ve come across a few that can be described as either Minimal Synth or Minimal Wave, an interesting style of music created in the early 1980s utilizing sparse electro-instrumentation which has now become popular again.

Polyphonic Size, “Mother’s Little Helper” (1982, Belgium)
At what point does serious art cross the line and become unintentional comedy? This video may have crossed that line. Not to be confused with the alt-hippie band Polyphonic Spree, this band gives the French Minimal-Synth treatment to a popular rock & roll classic. Does it get any better than a cover song in broken English with a backdrop of bizarre, avant garde performance art?

Alain Chauffour, “Musclor et Les Maitres De L’Univers” (1985, France)
This is not a music video per se, but it’s weird enough to make your head spin. You will have never seen this before unless you are French or French Canadian. See if you can guess what American cartoon this song is about . . .

Not satisfied with simply one French intro to an American cartoon? William Leymergie, “Pac Man” (1985)

Kokett, “Geheimagenten (Secret Agent)” (1983, Germany)
A nice example of the NDW (German New Romantic) movement. Awkward dancing in pastel fog interspersed with clips from post-apocalypse movies make this video a stand-out.

Kliché, “Patrulje (Patrol)” (1982, Denmark)
When watching this video, you may be tempted to ask yourself, “What on earth is this?” HAZMAT-suited soldiers twirling giant rubber gummi worms? Why? I cannot actually explain it myself. Some sort of commentary on the modern state of militarism? Perhaps you can interpret some meaning out of this oddity.

Mozzart, “Money” (1987, Germany)
Typifying the callous materialism of the 1980s, this ridiculous video features an especially catchy tune and a prancing dandy, the two essential keys to a great video!

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