Standing Waves: Vertigo (1981)
Standing Waves’ Vertigo EP came out January 8, 1982. Here’s the video for the title track.
I will always maintain that the most beautiful thing in this world is someone — anyone — dancing with abandon. I am a somewhat academic person on the whole and generally appreciate the products of the mind over manifest beauty of practically any kind, but a body in motion, without care, without inhibition, is almost undeniably transcendent. Will you forgive me if I use the phrase “kinetic joy”?
This video, to me, is all about the dancing. The performance footage is quite stilted, I think. The looks on their faces always betray an acute awareness of being filmed. The vocalist, as he holds that final wail, hams it up a little too much. Neither lip syncing nor miming playing an instrument are particular natural actions, though, so I can forgive them that. And then doubly so because this has some of the best dance sequences I have maybe ever seen in a video. Obviously not choreographed, indeed probably ill-planned, the idea seems to have been, “Let’s just bring a bunch of our friends to the abandoned building down the block and have them dance.” But these kids just look like they are having fun. Awkward, flailing, silly fun.
It makes me want to cut the sleeves off of my shirt and join in.
