Laurie Anderson - O Superman (Top Of The Pops 1981, Zoo dance routine)

[pigsmellfrommecca]

fuck. 30 years ago

[tacomadc]

Isn't that judge Cain?

[SilentGunman]

"Coming up next on BBC1, it's Doctor Who and the Shitty Dance Routine".

[sitemountain]

OH

MY

GOD! (a.k.a. Superman!)

This is just WRONG!

[skewlboypin]

wow. it's like a horrific traffic accident...i can't look at it and i can't look away.

too bad they do the whole song...we could have seen thier take on "american planes'

my brain bled while i watched this.

[GSmr666]

I am amazed at the silly inane comments to this track !

No it ain't no disco hit - but shit heads listen to the lyrics !

[nalexander21]

You can criticise the choreography but it was contemporary to 1981. Sure it is an adventurous bit of smoke and mirrors and probably not half as bad as some of the monstrosities on TOTP from that time, but so terribly overdressed it appears to have nothing much in common with the understated brilliance of one of the more interesting poet musicians of the late 20th century. Saw her in concert last year.

[anordinaryboy]

I like John Peel's assertion at the end that Altered Images would be the biggest band of 1982. Shows that even when you know as much about music as the great man himself, you can't get everything right!

[gothschild]

As much as I love this song, the choreography just ruins it. Terribly.

[boyen89]

WTF!!!! is this???

[6666hoopick]

The repeating 'ah ah ah' and men popping out of bubbles really freaked me out as a sensitive 9 year old, er, I'm over it now

[TheRichcolours]

ROFL @ 0:38

[superzwiebel]

... *facepalm*

Awesome song, though!

[neil73]

I remember wtching this as it was broadcast, all those years ago - nearly 30 in fact. I remember my older brother laughing at this video saying its a load of pulasting bags!

[neil73]

@neil73 Pulsating bags, even

[TheKenfig]

Brilliant Choreography (JOKE)

[6F6G]

I remember this when it first came out. It was so boring I ended up estimating the number of honks which carry on throughout the song. My estimate was 1,243. Any better estimates?

[bc1050]

This is art at its best.......majestic, stimulating and forever advancing our understaning of the human psyche and condition. Superb!

The harmonics are un paralleled in their sonic complexity and beauty

[enneffess]

Most fucking annoying song, even worse than Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up".......

[Leotheninja]

@enneffess I shutter to think of the music you listen too,if i dont like a Artist i DONT click that song as simple as that...

[fiftythirdand3rd]

Gay.



[cbak12sg]

This was the worst ever TOTP Christmas show. Not a single chart topper was featured.

[smzf]

The overwhelming stench of pretense and self important drivel that flows from admirers of this garbage is unbelieable. I feel sorry for Rebecca Black, this is clearly one of the worst songs inflicted on humanity.

[spottydog4477]

@smzf -how old are you sonny? This music was constructed in the infancy of 'electronic'. anderson was 'experimantal' , 'innovative', original'........using analogue loops and primitive synth on multi tracks.

still you can always talk up the 'IDOL" genration of sterile formulated programming of fuller.........what sad sad time for kids and music

[smzf]

@spottydog4477 30. The technological limits are beside the point. Jean Michel Jarre, Kraftwerk, amongst others were equally limited technologically but created some innovative tracks that stand on their own merits. They don't require a dose of verbosity. I've heard this labelled as sublime, an understanding of the human psyche, which is really ridiculous. I think its more a reflection of herd mentality, it suitably esoteric, so its art, and riidicule is a sign of a reactionary.

[smzf]

@spottydog4477 As for Idol, i think its dire. All contestants perform the same bleeding gums murphy r'n'b verbal gymnastics. But,its pop entertainment,it leaves you under no illusion that its a format designed to make money. It never claims an artisitic resonance or merit. No-one is going to verbally felate Ryan Seacrest for his fundamental understanding of our innate anomie, or credit his haunting, beautiful portrayal of US hegemony. The song is bad, but what follows it is far more grating

[anthonisaac]

@smzf

continued...

I don't buy into the notion of classifying someone as "pretentious" based solely on what brand of music one likes. I cannot help what I like (just as you can't) and I like some of her music very much. Characterizing Laurie Anderson fans this way rests entirely on false assumption and flawed logic.

[anthonisaac]

@smz

Your assumption that anyone who is a fan of Laurie Anderson is "full of pretense and self import" is as annoying to me as is her music to you. As for her being "verbose," I find her words to be very musical apart from their meaning.  In fact, much of "O Superman" could be scored, even when she is technically speaking. Furthermore, I don't believe her lyrics offer any sort of prophecy...I just happen to find this piece hypnotic and soothing, much like classical minimalism.

[Leotheninja]

@spottydog4477 well put

[TheJoshigan]

Not a song but a work of Art..."When 'Privacy' is gone...(my add), There's always Liberty.... And when Liberty is gone... There's always Freedom...And when Freedom is Gone...There's always Justice... And when Justice is gone...There's always 'FORCE!" 'Ha ha hah ha ha ha ha..So not laughing out loud. I know the truth is unbearable, so go ahead, pick the red pill, you will wake up feeling refreshed and that the world is fine.

[smzf]

@TheJoshigan How is the truth unbearable, the world is such a vile place. Bit adolescent isn't it on your part. The world is infinately better than it has been for the vast majority of human history.For at least 70% of the population life is no longer stunted brutish and short. The truth is very very bearable. In a historical context this piece was written during the 1980's, a critiscism of US cold war policy. A policy that proved neccessary and successful. Otherwise we wouldn't be posting this.

[H71BCD]

I last saw this as an 8 year old in 1981 and was very confused. I've just watched it as a 38 year old and stillI am confused. Wasn't Top of the Pops great back then...

[missmarypickford]

what were the names of the dancers in zoo???

[spottydog4477]

@missmarypickford I can name two - Julie Brown Clive Clark

[MrJuno6]

Man that fucking "ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha etc etc" is SO fucking annoying !!

[kingofthedammed]

@MrJuno6

listen to it without the ha ha ha and it is shit believe me

[TheJoshigan]

@MrJuno6 If you and any other's actually believe the intention was to be pleasing to the ear then truly we are all doomed. Art, song, performance, does it have to be beautiful? And by whose standards? Why do you limit yourself to 'acceptable' and 'pleasing' musak. You really need to try to Listen to "Difficult Listening Hour," you might actually start to have original thoughts. Also, can not a 'difficult truth, epiphany, no madder how 'ugly.' be sublimely expressed.

[MCNOISE666]

Kill the dance troupe!

[guimbadriver]

this remember the obssetion of army of lovers

[SilentGunman]

If you showed this to me with no sound and asked me to guess what it was, I would have said a drug orgy or a really fucked up scene from Doctor Who.

[lisalewis401]

@SilentGunman hahaha! Totally agree. lol

[JohnnyLovely2]

hey i wanna see the altered images one lol

[therealstevegray]

o bless

[marcgibsontube]

I agree entirely with the assessment perfectly expressed by sambda in the video details. I nearly stopped viewing at about one minute in to avoid engendering negative connotations to the song, but the unfathomable awfulness had me morbidly-hooked. This whole literal-translation aesthetic runs so completely opposite to Laurie's beautifully bleak abstraction and poetic succinctness that it was simultaneously laughable and sad.

[mjtpli]

man that's so wrong. I guess they had to do something; I wonder if they even had access to Anderson's no-budget shadow puppet video? Anderson tells the story very amusingly of how she got a grant to make like 500 copies of this record and was selling it by mail out of her apartment when someone from England called asking for fifty thousand by next week. Viral audio, early-80's style!

[poodyglitz]

If I were Laurie Anderson, I'd be very, very pissed!

[LutherStarling]

I used to have this single but I never saw it performed on TOTP until now! Thanks for this posting. Though this performance is drastically shortened from the single itself which lasted about seven or eight minutes if I remember correctly. I liked this number, I don't know if you could call it a 'song' as such but certainly it was a piece of musical creativity. Very original, unusual.

[corpsvalue]

OMG Hilariously horrible.

[ColumRogers]

Thank you for this extraordinary performance, i really miss the old dance troops .

[digitalbroadcaster]

@ColumRogers Such as Pans People huh? :o)

[erpy83]

wow, I knew that "O Superman" made it to #2 in late 1981 and I'd been waiting for a peformance of O Superman at TOTP for a long time, and what an elaborate and theatrical one! thanks for posting!