Brat Pack Makes Strong Showing in Video Clips

Between cameos by Molly Ringwald and Ally Sheedy, the old Brat Pack makes a strong showing in this month’s edition of Sound & Vision as love interests in pop video clips by Bob Dylan and John Hiatt, respectively. Suddenly the Breakfast Club is the stuff of esteemed singer-songwriters’ dreams. Go figure.

Just to balance the scale age-wise, the bard of deadpan bitterness, William Burroughs, also puts in an appearance in this month’s column with a video promoting his new album of pop poetry. The videos are rated on a scale of 0 (the worst imaginable) to 100 (the ultimate).

CLIP PICK TO CLICK:

George Michael’s “Praying for Time.” (Directors: Michael Borofsky, Robert Tercek.) Follow the bouncing ball. Since former MTV king Michael vowed to make no videos for his new album, Columbia Records put together--with his consent--a clip spotlighting this dour anthem’s printed lyrics, which come on screen one phrase or one word at a time against a bare minimum of deep blue background imagery.

On one hand, this does seem to reinforce the weighty self-seriousness of Michael’s current work, as if we need to study every line . On the other hand, reading a lyric sheet while listening to a song is the essential post-literate rock experience. Pompous or not, then, “Praying” is a cogent reminder that the song’s the thing. And besides, it beats worshipping his you-know-what. 75

WORTH A LOOK & A LISTEN:

William Burroughs’ “Thanksgiving Day.” (Director: Gus Van Sant.) As you’d imagine, the elder statesman of experimental novels isn’t much thankful for anything as he says grace in this low-key reading set against swelling music and patriotic background imagery. “Thanks for Indians to provide a modicum of challenge and danger. . . . Thanks for Prohibition and the war against drugs. . . . Thanks for a nation where nobody is allowed to mind his own business.” It’s a rant, but what else were you expecting? (Side note: Van Sant also directed Burroughs’ bit part in the film “Drugstore Cowboy.”) 70

Concrete Blonde’s “Joey.” (Director: Jane Simpson.) This former L.A. band has a surprise Top 40 single with “Joey,” a rock ballad of hoped-for reconciliation with Spector-esque touches that’s one of the year’s finest singles. Singer Johnette Napolitano looks fine in her new Gothic get-up, but the video for one of the year’s finest singles falters in taking one line of lyric (“And if you’re somewhere drunk and passed out on the floor”) to build a whole visual theme around the title character’s apparent alcoholism, with shot after shot of liquor bottles. Somehow the song itself--that line notwithstanding--never seemed to suggest “The Lost Weekend.” 66

VIDEO DROPOUTS:

John Hiatt’s “Bring Back Your Loving to Me.” (Director: Mary Lambert.) A fine soul song with a flimsy video concept: Ally Sheedy and her estranged, middle-aged boyfriend go to a bar where Hiatt and band are crooning yet another ballad of hoped-for reconciliation, but she finally dumps him for good when she returns from the ladies’ room and finds him joining in a line-dance with some bimbos. 50

M.C. Hammer’s “Pray.” (Director: Jules Lichtman.) A few years ago, during the peak of the aerobics craze, there was a “born-again” videotape workout called--you guessed it--”Believer-cize.” Well, with this high-energy Hammer gospel-rap, believercize’s time has finally come. The only problem is that we don’t get to see much of the enticing choreography, so ineffectively directed and haphazardly edited is this clip. You get angry from all the terrific dancing that’s constantly being quick cut: It’s a real waste of a natural resource. 50

Bob Dylan’s “Unbelievable.” (Director: Paris Barclay.) Bob Dylan as ZZ Top? In this dumb, jumbled narrative clip, some young buck picks up, goes to bed with and gets his wallet and car ripped off by a laughing Molly Ringwald--but then Uncle Bob, as a mysterious chauffeur, magically shows up and gives the poor kid his goods back. Say what? Look also for Sally Kirkland as the lusty (of course) motel proprietor. 45

Billy Idol’s “L.A. Woman.” (Director: David Fincher.) Hanging out at downtown’s Mayan Theatre dance club, Billy somehow looks across a crowded room--crowded with nothing but gorgeous brunettes, that is--and spots a lone gorgeous blonde, whom he chases and loses. Luckily, neither of them gets mugged on Hill Street, and she’s waiting when he gets home, and in lingerie, natch--see, she’s already his girlfriend, get it? It’s a predictable Doors desecration. Yet this handsomely shot, letterboxed clip picks up a few points it otherwise wouldn’t have just for being the first rock video to show its hero hobbling with a cane. 35