Hall & Oates: Adult Education

Hall & Oates: Adult Education
Song released February 18, 1984
Music Video
VHS
B-

Even Hall didn't know what the heck was going on here.  A portly biker performs some sort of sacrificial ritual that has little to do with the high-school-hallway lyrics.  The video isn't cheesy enough for me to give it more so-bad-it's-good points, but the song on its own is pretty good.  So, shrug, yeah, B- sounds right.

This video collection also averages out to a B-.  I wish it had their next single, "Out of Touch," where H & O get run over by a giant drum.  (Plus it might be my favorite of their songs.)

Hall & Oates: Say It Isn't So

Hall & Oates: Say It Isn't So
Song released October 29, 1983
Music Video
VHS
B

Good song backed with interesting visuals, from close-ups of shoes to performing on a New York City rooftop.  Not that the visuals have much to do with this song about being dumped, but it is the mid '80s, and just wait till we get to "Adult Education"!

Hall & Oates: Family Man

Hall & Oates: Family Man
Song released April 30, 1983
Music Video
VHS
B-

H & O's cover of the Mike Oldfield song from the previous year has a strange (but by no means strangest for them) video, with a pack of rambunctious kids and very primitive video-game-like special effects.

Hall & Oates: One on One

Hall & Oates: One on One
Song released January 29, 1983
Music Video
VHS
C+

Perhaps my least favorite song of theirs that period, but the video isn't bad, as it follows Hall from lying in bed to walking along the street to singing in a lounge.  I think.  OK, it's a little cheesy, but better than the too falsetto and repetitive singing.

Hall & Oates: Maneater

Hall & Oates: Maneater
Song released October 31, 1982
Music Video
VHS
B-

This doesn't have a story in the way that Tom Petty's "You Got Lucky" does, but it does have symbolic shots of a woman and a jaguar.

Hall & Oates: I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)

Hall & Oates: I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)
Song released December 14, 1981
Music Video
VHS
B-

Simple visual affects, a bit of mugging, a good if slightly repetitive song, and still no story.

Hall & Oates: Private Eyes

Hall & Oates: Private Eyes
August 29, 1981
Music Video
DVD
B

And another baby step towards "music videos as we think of them."  There's still no actual story, but the band is in costumes (the boxy early '80s suits look as silly as the trenchcoats) and there are more creative camera angles and simple visual effects, like during the clapping.  H & O's sense of humor and mugging towards the camera are in evidence here and, along with the fact that it is one of their better songs, I grinned a lot.