Music Video Monday: Top Ten ’80s Videos At The Beach

To my great surprise I found myself sunbathing at the beach this weekend (in the north-east of England! in April!), hence this week’s music videos are all beach-themed as I dream of the summer ahead and the summers from thirty-odd years ago.

10. Belinda Carlisle – Circle In The Sand

A nice near-literal video for this pretty 1988 track – there’s a lot of sand but not a lot of circles.

Belinda Carlisle - Circle In The Sand

9. Don Henley – The Boys Of Summer

It was perhaps inevitable that the ultimate ’80s summer anthem would have a beach scene in the video. The black and white film makes it a bit gloomy, but that’s consistent with the pessimistic feel of the song.

Don Henley - The Boys Of Summer

8. Boy Meets Girl – Waiting For A Star To Fall

The video for this late ’80s cheesefest starts off with a suitably cheesy beach running scene. Love that epic sax solo!

Boy Meets Girl - Waiting For A Star To Fall

7. Fleetwood Mac – Big Love

This is a more familiar sight for a British beach! Fleetwood Mac huddle in coats and scarves on a night-time beach in one of the many sequences of this brilliant video.

Fleetwood Mac - Big Love

6. Blondie – Call Me

Bit of a seasonally-confused video here, as the beach shots of Debbie Harry are interspersed with her in a coat looking cold in New York City. Maybe she goes on holiday somewhere for the beach scenes.

Blondie - Call Me

5. Erasure – Ship Of Fools

The beach in this video is all made up of rocks and shells and therefore not at all suitable for sunbathing, although Andy Bell gives it a good go.

Erasure - Ship Of Fools

4. Wham! – Club Tropicana

Most of this ultimate summer holiday video is poolside, but George Michael does take a brief trip to the beach halfway through. It looks a bit overcast, though, so I don’t blame him for heading back to the pool.

Wham! - Club Tropicana

3. The Bangles – Eternal Flame

A nice sunset beach scene here among the floaty images of Susanna Hoffs and co singing along to the song.

The Bangles - Eternal Flame

2. Duran Duran – Rio

Duran Duran made pretty much all of their videos on beaches during the jetsetting Rio era, but this one for the album’s title track is the most colourful and fun. The yacht scenes are the most iconic, but the beach scenes are blue-skied and beautiful and make me want to book a holiday.

Duran Duran - Rio

1. Elton John – I’m Still Standing

I love everything about this ridiculous Cannes romp, from the ostentatious outdoor piano to Elton’s comedy glasses to the pre-Strictly Bruno Tonioli dancing his way through Cannes in a succession of ’80s leotards. The best bit, though, is when Elton lines up the dancers on the beach and pushes them over in a chain of human dominoes.

Elton John - I'm Still Standing

It’s starting to grey over here in Newcastle, so I suspect I won’t be taking any more trips to the beach for a couple of months now. I’ll have to make do with ’80s videos in the meantime!

More video action next Monday.

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