Videodrone #5: Fashion

Videodrone is a weekly feature looking at music videos from the last half century. 

Fashion (1980)

For those of us old enough to be sentient in 1980, there was a noticeable shift as the '70s ended and a new decade began. Obviously, just flipping the calendar to a new page doesn't automatically change anything other than the date, but the vibes were definitely different. The ramshackle feel of the '70s was replaced by a more uptight mood in the '80s, which was underlined by the rise of conservative leaders like Reagan and Thatcher.

For the purposes of this feature, music video was changing as well. More artists were promoting their music by making videos, although the vast majority were straight performance clips--either live or mimed in a studio. 

One artist who wasn't afraid to take some chances was David Bowie, who had risen to prominence in the '70s with a string of excellent albums. He also dabbled in acting and was very creative when it came to his look and his image. Despite the critical success of his music, his late '70s "Berlin Trilogy" of albums made with Brian Eno didn't make a big splash commercially. 

Bowie's 1980 release Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) was less ambient and ambitious than the Berlin albums, and its lead single "Ashes to Ashes" revisited the Major Tom character of his first hit, 1969's "Space Oddity." The accompanying video was epic and expensive, but since I already wrote about it and the song in depth, I'm going to focus on the second single and video, "Fashion."

The song both celebrates and criticizes the world of fashion, which Bowie saw as becoming regimented and strict. Calling out "fascists" and the "goon squad," "Fashion" features a memorable guitar riff from art-rock legend Robert Fripp. Of course, the line "We are the goon squad and we're coming to town" takes on a much different meaning in 2026.

The video was directed by David Mallet, who worked with Bowie on "Ashes to Ashes" and also directed tons of videos for artists including Blondie, Boomtown Rats, Joan Jett, Def Leppard, Rush, the Rolling Stones, Iron Maiden, Tina Turner and AC/DC. 

Filmed at the NYC nightclub Hurrah, the video features Bowie and his bandmates (including rhythm guitarist Carlos Alomar, drummer Stephen Goulding and lead guitarist G.E. Smith of Hall & Oates and later the SNL house band) performing. It cuts between them and shots of dancers rehearsing and a bunch of New Romantic types outside a soup kitchen, one of whom was May Pang, ex-girlfriend of John Lennon and future wife of Bowie producer Tony Visconti. 

The dancers start imitating Bowie's dance moves, a commentary on the copycat nature of fashion trends. One of the dancers was original MTV VJ Alan Hunter, a year-plus before MTV launched in August 1981. 

The song peaked at #5 on the U.K. Singles chart and #70 on the Billboard Hot 100 (and #21 on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart). 

Although I was familiar with songs like "Fame" and "New Americans," "Fashion" and "Ashes to Ashes" were my real introduction to Bowie at age 12. They were interesting and weird and fun, which are all pretty good descriptors for Mr. Bowie himself. And the visual flair of their videos was certainly influential on the rest of the music world as we moved into the '80s and the power of the video became more apparent.