Red Rockers - China

What this video is

Released in mid-1983, 'China' arrived at the precise moment when MTV was reshaping the American music industry and early post-punk bands were navigating the tension between artistic credibility and commercial accessibility. Red Rockers had evolved sharply from their punk roots — described as 'America's Clash' — into a polished new wave act on Columbia/415 Records. The video's colorful, theatrically exotic visual…

Why it matters

A textbook example of early-MTV new wave crossover production: low-budget theatrical video aesthetics married to a melodically polished post-punk pop song. The video helped define the visual vocabulary of 1983 American new wave — exotic imagery, warm film palette, performance-anchored structure —…

The director

Oley Sassone is a New Orleans-born cinematographer, director, and producer (b. November 5, 1952). He began his career directing music videos in the early 1980s, going on to direct nearly 100 videos for artists including Eric Clapton and Gloria Estefan. He…