ABC - Be Near Me

What this video is

Released April 1985 at the height of the Second British Invasion, 'Be Near Me' arrived during the defining moment when MTV transformed the UK synth-pop act into a transatlantic commodity. ABC, having pivoted from the orchestral glam of 'The Lexicon of Love' toward a fully computerized, drum-machine-driven sound on 'How to Be a Zillionaire!', used the video's cartoonish visual language to offset the coldness of…

Why it matters

A landmark artifact of mid-80s art-pop MTV aesthetics, 'Be Near Me' documents ABC's genre pivot from orchestral new wave toward electronic synth-pop, bridging post-punk glamour and the nascent dance-pop crossover. The video's performance-only white-cyclorama format became a defining template for…

The director

English director born c. 1953, trained at Falmouth Art College and Sheffield School of Art. Co-founded Sheffield Independent Film Company. Early breakthrough came with Cabaret Voltaire's 'Sensoria,' one of the first three music videos acquired by MoMA for…