Ever since the dawn of MTV and Friday Night Videos, the music video has significantly impacted musical tastes and pop culture. It might not be as extreme as when the Buggles declared that "Video Killed the Radio Star", but there is no arguing that the music video certainly could make or break a song's popularity. So this regular Flashback Video feature will serve to remember some of the music videos from the great '80s decade that made an impact on me in one way or another.
This issue we will cover "If You Leave" by O.M.D. The song was recorded for the soundtrack of the 1986 John Hughes film Pretty In Pink. As confirmed in my interview with O.M.D.'s Andy McCluskey, the song was amazingly written in just a day after the original O.M.D. song "Goddess of Love" no longer fit the changed ending of the movie. I think they created the perfect song for the movie's ending and it has gone on to become one of my favorite songs of the entire decade. "If You Leave" went on to peak at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in May of 1986.
The music video for "If You Leave" was directed by Ian Fletcher who had previously directed the music video for Oingo Boingo's "Weird Science" which coincidentally was from another John Hughes movie. In the '90s, Fletcher went on to direct videos for Anthrax, DJ Quik, Mellow Man Ace and The Rembrandts among others.
The music video features the duo of McCluskey and Paul Humphreys with a black background and performing the song near the crumbling ruins of a building. It does not include scenes from the movie, but it does include images of the film's star Molly Ringwald superimposed throughout portions of the video. Here is the music video for "If You Leave" by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark...
In my interview with Andy McCluskey, I asked him his thoughts about MTV and here was his response:
MTV initially was a wonderful tool for spreading the word without having to tour for months and do all the interviews. I never thought it would take off… just shows you what I know.
Check out that interview to find out more about "If You Leave" as well as O.M.D.
Hope you enjoyed another trip back to the '80s thanks to Flashback Video!