VIDEO ’86 : SOME LIGHT GETS THROUGH

In 1986 the vaunted power of music videos seemed to slip a bit. Seemed is the key word, because the final vote isn’t in. The chief evidence against the form--a slip in MTV ratings, the fact that Van Halen and Journey didn’t make videos for a couple of singles--may prove merely circumstantial. And for every Van Halen record that wasn’t promoted by a video, there were 10 Cinderellas boosted by visual aids.

It’s easier, for a change, to make a determination about the overall quality of the year’s videos than about their influence--unfortunately. About 90% were somewhere between ho-hum and heave-ho. In terms of watchability, this was probably the worst batch yet. One suspected cause: the demise of outlets (like KABC-TV’s “Goodnight L.A.”) for non-mainstream, non-big-label offerings. Despite token efforts (MTV’s once-a-week “120 Minutes”) at showing the unsponsored and/or unorthodox, there seemed less reason than ever for a new band to spend big bucks on a video . . . or for those on big labels to take risks.

In the middle of this gloomy picture great videos still broke through from time to time. Almost all of our ’86 Top 10s are more intent on having fun with images than making serious statements--in contrast to last year’s best, “Sun City.” The chief exception: the stunning denunciation of TV-news ambulance-chasing in Neil Young’s “Touch the Night.”

The individual visions of a few directors stood out. The best of the bunch were two men (of course--rock videos are dominated by men and male fantasies) with completely different styles: Veteran Tim Pope made his biggest impression ever with clips that shunned video trickery, while Steven Johnson organized a toy parade of delightful gimmicks for the video we agreed on as the year’s big winner: Peter Gabriel’s “Sledgehammer.”

You could hardly find a more spectacular, no-punches-pulled, all-out audio-visual orgy of overkill than “Sledgehammer”--chock-full of dazzling special-effects wizardry and ideas. On the other hand, there may never be a more minimalist video than the Replacements’ “Bastards of Young,” which consists entirely of one shot of a guy listening to the record in question on his stereo.

The statement made in “Bastards” is basically anti -video--and basically on-target, too, when you stop to consider how many records would’ve been better-served by just letting listeners listen to the song instead of spoiling the experience by making them watch some bozo’s interpretation of it as well.

After enduring a year’s worth of music videos for The Times’ Sound & Vision column, here are our picks for the best of 1986, followed by the performer and director: TERRY ATKINSON:

1--”Sledgehammer,” Peter Gabriel (Steven Johnson).

2--”Close to Me,” the Cure (Tim Pope).

3--”Touch the Night,” Neil Young (Tim Pope).

4--”Land of Confusion,” Genesis (Spitting Image/Jim Yukich).

5--”In a Lifetime,” Clannad (Meirt Avis).

6--”She Went Pop,” Iam Siam (Zbgniew Rybczynski).

7--”In Between Days,” the Cure (Tim Pope).

8--”Walk This Way,” Run-D.M.C. (Jon Small).

9--”Bastards of Young,” the Replacements (Randy Skinner, Bill Pope).

10--”Bizarre Love Triangle,” New Order (Robert Longo).

CHRIS WILLMAN:

1--”Sledgehammer.”

2--”Bastards of Young.”

3--”Touch the Night.”

4--”Boys Don’t Cry,” the Cure (Tim Pope).

5--”Impressed,” Charlie Sexton (Jim Shea).

6--”She Went Pop.”

7--”Weight of the World,” Neil Young (Tim Pope).

8--”Stay,” Oingo Boingo (David Hogan).

9--”Wild Wild Life,” Talking Heads (David Byrne).

10--”Velcro Fly,” ZZ Top (Daniel Kleinman).