53/100 Video - "Shock the Monkey" – Peter Gabriel (1982)

 

Peter Gabriel has always been a chameleon.

And he seemed to be almost too creative for his former Genesis band mates.

Unpopular opinion: this is PG's best video.

Released in 1982 during the early days of MTV, the video for "Shock the Monkey" was far ahead of its contemporaries.

The lyrics explore the theme of jealousy in humans, explaining the primal symbolism throughout the clip.

And those moving robotic lamps looked pretty cool back in the day.

#73. "Big Time" - Peter Gabriel (1986)

I've always preferred "Big Time to "Sledgehammer".

The song kicks off with Gabriel's "Higher" vocal then takes us on a relentless ride into his vivid imagination.

"Big Time" is the 80s in a nutshell: a brash and bold sound with bombastic lyrics that satirize the 'American dream'. Watching the creative claymation video provided a natural trip back in 1986. It still captivates today. 

And the track grooves with a driving, even funky, bass. In fact, the bass was played by two band members to achieve the unique percussion sound using funk fingers. A more detailed explanation can be found on Wikipedia: 

"Using one of Levin's fretless basses, Levin handled the fingerings while Marotta hit his drumsticks on the strings, which is why the bass part sounds percussive. Inspired by this sound, Levin later invented funk fingers, which were little drumstick ends that could be attached to the fingers to achieve a similar bass guitar effect in concert."

And for good measure, The Police's Stewart Coupland plays the drums. So much larger than life. Big Time.