I don't know about you, but for me and many of my high school friends Animotion's "Obsession" was sort of the canary in the new wave coal mine. Something about it felt so forced -- "Let's take the bluntness of Romeo Void's "Never Say Never" and rev it up with the synths from Gary Numan's "Cars" -- that it seemed like that wonderful era of music that gave us Yazoo, Depeche Mode, the Cure, Echo and the Bunnymen, OMD, Heaven 17, the Human League, Pet Shop Boys, Eurythmics and so on was nearing the end. Even singer Astrid Plane's name seemed contrived, even if it may very well have been hers. (Sorry, honey: It takes more than blue eyeshadow, a belt from Judy's and a sideways ponytail to be the next Cyndi Lauper.) So when the video came on MTV Classic the other night, I couldn't resist looking up the Wikipedia entry on the song to try to make sense of it all.
Imagine my surprise to learn that not only is it a cover -- it's a cover of a song written and performed by Michael Des Barres ("Roseanne," husband of Pamela who was with the band) and Holly Knight (writer of dozens of monster hits) that was originally used in Christopher Atkins film "A Night in Heaven" ... at the moment Ricky the Robot first shoves his obsession-worthy crotch in Lesley Ann Warren's face!
Lumping Animotion in with the great new wave bands of the '80s -- even on the nostalgia circuit -- feels blasphemous to me. This song with a hunk in a thong? That I'm a fan of!
1 comment:
I remember dancing to the cover (who knew!) during fake ID college Spring Break in Daytona. Remember sneaking rental of the film in HS. Chris Atkins was a crush. And Michael Des Barres also?!? It's all too much.
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