Album: Animal Magic
Video: From Vimeo. (That's right, Vimeo!)
Billboard Hot 100 Peak: 14
MTV Top 20 Peak: did not chart
MTV Top 20 Weeks: 0
If your only experience of 1986 music was watching every single MTV weekly top 20 countdown, followed by the top 100 countdown on New Year's Eve, then you would never be aware that this song existed. That is just wrong.
For you see, the Blow Monkeys were a British New Wave group that released over a dozen singles during the 80's. After their 1990 breakup they reformed in 2007 and released another four albums. But we wouldn't care about any of that if not for "Digging Your Scene", a classic from the opening notes with its bright, up-tempo beat and nuanced harmonies. But as the song ignited the airwaves and climbed the pop charts, all the while accompanied by an amazing video, MTV couldn't be bothered to acknowledge it with a ranking of any kind.
Look, in all honesty they probably got it right. The single didn't make the top ten and plenty of other great songs missed the countdown (although a lot of junk made it as you will see). Still, it's a personal fave and since I’m the one with a blog devoted exclusively to 1986 music videos, “Digging Your Scene" gets its due here.
I always thought this song was easy breezy, the perfect tune to see performed live in a dinner theater lounge. But reading deeper into the lyrics it turns out to be a dark exploration of shame, loneliness and the terrors of HIV. Who knew?
But we're not going to let that bring us down! Because a song this awesome deserves an equally awesome video, and it has one. The five coolest things about it, in chronological order:
1) All that amazing stuff on the stage. That gold glittery curtain, my god. The fake plants.
2) Tipsy couples involved in all sorts of hi-jinks, sipping elaborate fruity drinks and blowing paper party horns.
3) The lounge staff getting into the act at several key moments. First, the bartender supplies lead singer Dr. Robert with his guitar with a nifty forward pass at 1:30. Then, during the bridge, the same bartender and a bored waitress join the band for a dance routine…and still return to work in time to fill drink orders!
4) An epic food fight. If you’re keeping score, and why wouldn’t you be, the action starts at 3:24 with a patron flinging a lime at the stage, where the drummer deftly catches it in his mouth. The drummer counters by flipping a drumstick with deadly accuracy directly into the fruity cocktail of said patron’s date. As the nervous bartender looks on, the first guy hurls the tiny drink umbrella onto the stage, where it blooms into full flower as Dr. Robert’s parasol. You can’t make this stuff up.
5) The club owner slamming a wad of bills into Dr. Robert’s hand as he departs.
If your only experience of 1986 music was watching every single MTV weekly top 20 countdown, followed by the top 100 countdown on New Year's Eve, then you would never be aware that this song existed. That is just wrong.
For you see, the Blow Monkeys were a British New Wave group that released over a dozen singles during the 80's. After their 1990 breakup they reformed in 2007 and released another four albums. But we wouldn't care about any of that if not for "Digging Your Scene", a classic from the opening notes with its bright, up-tempo beat and nuanced harmonies. But as the song ignited the airwaves and climbed the pop charts, all the while accompanied by an amazing video, MTV couldn't be bothered to acknowledge it with a ranking of any kind.
Look, in all honesty they probably got it right. The single didn't make the top ten and plenty of other great songs missed the countdown (although a lot of junk made it as you will see). Still, it's a personal fave and since I’m the one with a blog devoted exclusively to 1986 music videos, “Digging Your Scene" gets its due here.
I always thought this song was easy breezy, the perfect tune to see performed live in a dinner theater lounge. But reading deeper into the lyrics it turns out to be a dark exploration of shame, loneliness and the terrors of HIV. Who knew?
But we're not going to let that bring us down! Because a song this awesome deserves an equally awesome video, and it has one. The five coolest things about it, in chronological order:
1) All that amazing stuff on the stage. That gold glittery curtain, my god. The fake plants.
2) Tipsy couples involved in all sorts of hi-jinks, sipping elaborate fruity drinks and blowing paper party horns.
3) The lounge staff getting into the act at several key moments. First, the bartender supplies lead singer Dr. Robert with his guitar with a nifty forward pass at 1:30. Then, during the bridge, the same bartender and a bored waitress join the band for a dance routine…and still return to work in time to fill drink orders!
4) An epic food fight. If you’re keeping score, and why wouldn’t you be, the action starts at 3:24 with a patron flinging a lime at the stage, where the drummer deftly catches it in his mouth. The drummer counters by flipping a drumstick with deadly accuracy directly into the fruity cocktail of said patron’s date. As the nervous bartender looks on, the first guy hurls the tiny drink umbrella onto the stage, where it blooms into full flower as Dr. Robert’s parasol. You can’t make this stuff up.
5) The club owner slamming a wad of bills into Dr. Robert’s hand as he departs.
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