Aged cheese - direct from Canada
I guess in Canada, "Honeymoon Suite" is the favorite brand of cheese ... at least during our favorite decade.
This video -- for their hit "New Girl Now" -- is possibly filled with more '80s cliches than anything I've seen before. (Yes, the fake video for "Pop Goes My Heart" from the movie "Music & Lyrics" has been dethroned.) Fantastic song though.
The band was formed in 1982 in Niagara Falls, Ontario, and hit pay-dirt in 1984 with their self-titled debut album. Four singles (New Girl Now, Burning In Love, Wave Babies and Stay In the Light) were hits in Canada while "New Girl Now" charted in the United States.
Honeymoon Suite is still alive and kicking -- they've got a nice official website and everything. And they're still playing gigs up north. If this video turned you on to their music, check out their 2006 two-disc set -- "Feel It Again: An Anthology."
Relive the music, movies and culture of the greatest decade ever with Times online editor Steve Spears. A teen during the decade, Steve is obsessed with everything from Duran Duran to Journey, John Hughes to John Cusack, and parachute pants to Reaganomics.
E-mail Steve Spears:
THIS WEEK'S SHOW: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers rock Tampa Bay. To hear the latest "Stuck in the 80s" episode now, 
::snort:: priceless!
Posted by: Marissa | February 28, 2008 at 08:23 PM
Hey Steve, if you want Canuck cheese, go to You-tube and type in "Bad Bad Boy" which is a song from Haywire, who were from Prince Edward Island, our smallest province. That's a run-on sentence.
Who says this blog can't be educational?
Posted by: Al | February 28, 2008 at 08:27 PM
Full credit for this video find goes to Marissa. I forgot to include that in the post. (Is that what the snort was for?)
Posted by: Spears | February 28, 2008 at 08:34 PM
Baaaad bad boooy.....do de doooo doooo.
Gotta love those 3-note synths!
Posted by: Al | February 28, 2008 at 08:39 PM
Pretty damn funny. I'm loving the fact that the video still in the frame is of a hirsute chest -- oh yeah and rowr.
I love how cheesy it is in its earnestness.
Posted by: jane | February 28, 2008 at 08:45 PM
I'm not sure how hard (or painful) it'd be to compile a list of the cheesiest videos of the 80s, but it's tempting after seeing this one.
Posted by: Spears | February 28, 2008 at 08:47 PM
No, Steve. The snort is an indication of how hard I was laughing. I often snort when I giggle. Not charming, but it happens.
Thanks
Posted by: Marissa | February 28, 2008 at 08:47 PM
A cheesiest video list. Awesome. Cliches a-go-go.
Doitdoitdoit.
Posted by: jane | February 28, 2008 at 08:53 PM
Thanks for finding that video, Marissa. I loved Honeymoon Suite. I'll have to go check out that 2 disc set. Great, more music to buy, this blog is costing me an arm and a leg.
Posted by: Melissa | February 28, 2008 at 08:54 PM
Wow, Steve, that was so effing metal! Why wasn't that in the top 20 metal cds of the 80s?
Posted by: Douglas Arthur | February 28, 2008 at 09:02 PM
thanks for "finding" that video Marissa! It is a great appetite suppressant.
God bless the short posts.
Posted by: Douglas Arthur | February 28, 2008 at 09:04 PM
haha Douglas. You 'tard. Short and sweet. Nothing long winded. Are you ill?
Posted by: Marissa | February 28, 2008 at 09:10 PM
I love 80's cheese! I prefer Honeymoon Suite's second album, 'The Big Prize'.
Posted by: Bassnote | February 28, 2008 at 09:37 PM
I'm already putting my Velveeta list together.
Here's a sneak peek (gotta love the lion suit!):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXcT7WWPh0Y
Posted by: Jeff in Cuba | February 28, 2008 at 09:49 PM
Our favorite decade was indeed filled with loads of Gub'ment processed cheese food.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MifVhq4KIEE
Posted by: Marissa | February 28, 2008 at 10:15 PM
I've been pondering the idea of what exactly are the elements that make an '80s video cheesy... some suggestions:
* big hair
* big makeup
* the featuring of a gratuitous female(s)
* a storyline (this one is critical)
* special or stage effects -- smoke, acrobatics, anything vaguely Industrial Light and Magic-esque
* a costume change or three
* choreography!
Posted by: jane | February 28, 2008 at 10:40 PM
No wonder you lost the Philippines, Gen. McArthur....
Posted by: Spears | February 28, 2008 at 10:48 PM
I'll add to Jane's list:
bad animiation
black-and-white checkerboard flooring
headbands
zippered pants
Delorean!
This video, however, doesn't have the flaming cymbal or milk-filled snare drum. Also, this video's "storyline" should have had the rejected girl take off her glasses, toss her hair, and reveal that she is a stone cold fox!
Posted by: Big Tex | February 29, 2008 at 07:42 AM
Great additions, Tex. Can't believe I forgot to add any car to the list.
Oh -- sunglasses! Always worn by someone whether they're needed in a practical way or not.
Posted by: jane | February 29, 2008 at 07:54 AM