The Bangles - Walk Like an Egyptian

What this video is

Released September 1986 as the third single from The Bangles' second album Different Light (Columbia Records), 'Walk Like an Egyptian' reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on December 20, 1986, holding the position for four weeks and carrying into January 1987. It was the first song by an all-female, self-playing group to top the Hot 100, and Billboard ranked it the #1 song of 1987 in the US. The video's…

Why it matters

A landmark artifact of mid-80s MTV pop rock, this video demonstrates the fully mature grammar of the era: fast-cut performance intercutting, concept-driven choreography, and direct-address camera work. It represents the commercial apex of the Paisley Underground's LA indie-to-mainstream pipeline…

The director

Gary Weis (b. 1942/43) is an American filmmaker known for short films on Saturday Night Live (1975–77), co-directing The Rutles mockumentary All You Need Is Cash (1978) with Eric Idle, and the South Bronx documentary 80 Blocks from Tiffany's (1979). In the…