REO Speedwagon - Keep The Fire Burnin' (Video)

What this video is

Released in 1982, 'Keep the Fire Burnin'' arrived at a pivotal inflection point in American rock: MTV had launched in August 1981, and major labels were rapidly commissioning promotional clips to capitalise on the new channel's reach. REO Speedwagon had achieved massive mainstream breakthrough with Hi Infidelity (1980–81), and Good Trouble was the follow-up album under intense commercial pressure. The single…

Why it matters

The video is a representative artifact of the arena rock music video form in its infancy: performance-first, band-centered, emotionally earnest, and lit for CRT warmth. Bruce Gowers' direction connects this clip to the genealogy of the modern music video, from his landmark 'Bohemian Rhapsody' work…

The director

Bruce Gowers is a British director widely credited with pioneering the music video form. He directed Queen's 'Bohemian Rhapsody' promotional film in 1975, widely regarded as one of the first modern music videos. Throughout the late 1970s and 1980s he…