Scratch Video

I've been looking at some old Howard Jones videos tonight and remembered how innovative and colourful his videos were.

http://youtu.be/XD3qA54Fn_Q



I got to thinking about the early days of video (this being the 30th anniversary of MTV going on the air) and how experimental the video form was when it really started to take off, about 1984 to 1988, then remembered this brilliant slab of video and music:

http://youtu.be/UWglhugZZ-c



I remember seeing the video for "Life in One Day" on MuchMusic and wondering what the heck I was watching. I thought it was difficult to watch, but it held my attention. I couldn't turn away. Eventually, Christopher Ward (one of my musical heroes, BTW) explained it was a concept called "Scratch Video". The video was directed by noted video producers Godley and Creme, who tried to turn the video into the visual equivalent of a DJ sampling and scratching on a turntable. Needless to say, the experiment wasn't entirely successful, but it's an interesting look into the past of music video.

Godley and Creme are also famous for their own groundbreaking video for "Cry":

http://youtu.be/KxtPRF6NG7I