Adam Green's "Emily"

Maybe you guys know Adam Green as half of The Moldy Peaches, or maybe you know him as "that guy who did that song about Jessica Simpson just before she became a super-star."

Anyway, he has a newish album out, with a great single called "Emily."

Please watch this video for Adam Green's "Emily."

(Much smaller, but much clearer, version here.)

Okay, listen: this video is GENIUS. It so perfectly captures the vibe of roughly 1981, but not in any sort of obvious or retro way, so that it ends up triggering a memory of our childhoods, but in a way we can't...quite...put our...fingers on. You know?

Some obvious touchstones for the video include late-early-career Billy Joel (post-Captain Jack, pre-Uptown Girl), Joe Jackson, Taco, Graham Parker, footage of an Alice Cooper performance, and the video for the Steve Miller song "Abracadabra". I'm sure we could think of about fifty more. Oh, and some video we only saw once on, like, USA's Night Flight that we rememebered because it had a pre-Letterman Paul Schaefer on piano.

I really can't say enough about how awesome that video is! Some of the best parts include: the feathers, the white gloves, the harpsichord, the bust of Julius Caesar, the completely bare stage lit starkly from above, Adam Green's outfit, and that absolutely perfect fish bowl.

But the most amazing thing about it is how insanely perfectly it captures the early 80s version of "elegance." I'm surprised there was a chrome ball or one of those amber infinity mirrors.

I'm not exactly used to being positive about stuff here on MFN, and I can't quite articulate what is so great about it, how the director (Roman Coppola) just totally replicates a vibe THAT I NEVER REALLY UNDERSTOOD EXISTED until I saw his re-creation of it. Does that make sense?

(Also highly recommended: Nat King Cole and Baby's Gonna Die Tonight.)