Video Vault – The Max Headroom Show – 80s pop music vids: episode 1 | David J Rodger ¦ Science Fiction & Dark Fantasy

So I’m working on the overhaul of the post-apocalyptic RPG I wrote and released several years ago (Yellow Dawn – The Age of Hastur) and I’m digging up some old tunes from the 80s – getting into a vibe that is pure nostalgia: me, early teens, in my bedroom, writing my first game systems. I can still recall the track listings of casettes I recorded from the radio – tunes like “5 Minutes” by MAINFRAME.

Being in that zone of recollection made me think about what was probably my absolute favourite programme on TV at that time. The Max Headroom Show. Not to be confused with brilliant series “Max Headroom” which was more about a journalist and his virtual alter-ego getting involved in various exploits “20 minutes into the future”.

The Max Headroom Show (1985) was a music video gig, with a liberal dosage of Max crashing in and interrupting things with his wacky wit and unique perspective on life in the “real world”. It’s hard to believe there were only 6 episodes of the first series. Ten and a Chrismtas bonus for the second series. The music and the vibe of that show really connected with my mind. So I’ve been digging through the track listings for the videos he played and I thought I’d post them here. There’s some absolute gems of the 80s.

Episode One

Jean-Michel Jarre – Zoolook

King Kurt – Destination Zululand

Japan – Visions of China

Cabaret Voltaire – Sensoria

(This is a classic – lurrrve Caberet Voltaire)

Patrick Macnee and Honor Blackman – Kinky Boots

Sting – If You Love Somebody Set Them Free

Seriously hope you enjoy these as much as I did.

If you’re also into Max Headroom – the cyberpunk drama – good news: Shout! Factory released the Complete Series on DVD (although I can only find US format versions available at the moment).

Shout! Factory Listing for Max Headroom – the Complete Series

Amazon – Max Headroom: Complete Series [DVD] [1989] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

And here’s a trailer for it (not the music show)

David J. Rodger (born 1970 in Newcastle Upon Tyne) is a British science fiction & fantasy author and game designer best known for his novels set in a near-future world of corporate and political intrigue. So far he has published five novels; four that are set in the same world: God Seed; Dante’s Fool; Iron Man Project and Edge, and one, Dog Eat Dog, set within the post-apocalyptic world of Yellow Dawn.