Here’s an ABC video from 1987 for a song called “The Night You Murdered Love.” It’s an unlikely pairing, and I never saw this one. This band really annoyed me in their heyday. You could say they got under my skin. However, I found their story as read in Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978-1984. There was a lot more to that band than you might think. This was the case with a lot of those types of bands from the UK that I couldn’t stand at the time. The book covers a lot more than ABC, and if you are a fan of “Our Band Could Be Your Life”, I highly recommend it. It’s very similar. Right, check out this horrible video with a wacky ABC licensed skateboard. It looks like a production model, or would appear to be since it’s in shrink wrap still. That’s just the kind of clueless thing you might expect in a video from a band that likely had not step foot on a skateboard prior to the video shoot. Graphics on top of the board too, so that makes sense in the context of a board that has trucks assembled after the shrink wrapping. It does have some bizarro aftermarket rails added on. It looks like they were designed to make the board look swanky. The skateboard in the story line of this video makes no sense whatsoever. There’s an anorexic chic with a fancy slingshot following the band around Paris with her skateboard in hand, except for a brief, and stiff ride. That’s luxury and decadence for you. I would have liked to hear how they sold that one.
– Thanks to Matthijs van Wijk for the tip.
ABC – The Night You Murdered Love
In case the video disappears, here’s some stills for posterity.
3 comments
john e
This is hilarious. I did read that book, Rip It Up and Start Again. There’s a great line in it that says “you know you’re living in a golden age when you have the feeling it will never end”. That’s a feeling I’ve had about skateboarding my entire life.
skaterhusseindave
Those rails are awesome!!! Now all it needs are head and taillights. Of course the video doesn’t make sense, that’s how you know it’s art.
Prickly Pete
Front truck is on backwards.