The Smiths: These Things Take Time

14 stylish videos from the decade of excess

A brief history of Talking Heads (and how they got here!)

Approaching age 50, singer/songwriter Nico leads a solitary existence, far from her days as a Warhol superstar and celebrated vocalist for the Velvet Underground in the 1960s. Her life and career on the fringes, Nico's new manager convinces her to hit the road again and tour in Europe to promote her latest album. She longs to rebuild a relationship with her son, whose custody she lost long ago.

It's 30 years since Manchester four-piece The Smiths changed the face of British pop with their debut single Hand In Glove. In this half-hour Culture Show special, fellow Mancunian and lifelong fan Tim Samuels sets out to find out why The Smiths have such a special place in the hearts of a generation of Brits. The Smiths were only around for five years in the mid-eighties, but to this day the sentiment their music evokes is strong. Samuels pays visits to a variety of dedicated fans including fashion designer Wayne Hemingway, poet Simon Armitage, Labour MP Kerry McCarthy and Oasis songwriter Noel Gallagher to analyse the look, the lyrics, the issues and the riffs that made The Smiths Britain's first, and arguably best ever, indie rock band.

On September 1, 2001, Irish rock band U2 made a triumphant return to their roots with two outdoor shows at Slane Castle, Ireland. U2 chose the castle venue because it marked two watershed moments for the band: their recording session for the landmark album THE UNFORGETTABLE FIRE in 1984, and their first Slane appearance opening up for fellow Irish rock band Thin Lizzy in 1981. U2 GO HOME captures the emotional intensity of the homecoming with 19 live tracks culled from the concerts.

Beginning at the industrial revolution of the ‘great north’, Jenn Nkiru draws lines between peoples, cities, countries, buildings, movements, bodies and spaces(s) using a mixture of archive materials and new footage. There is little stillness as we are pushed and pulled through Black histories and communities across the city of Manchester and beyond. Nkiru has termed this filmmaking process “cosmic archeology”, and it is grounded in Afro-surrealism, experimental film and the Black arts movement.

County Durham, England, 1984. The miners' strike has started and the police have started coming up from Bethnal Green, starting a class war with the lower classes suffering. Caught in the middle of the conflict is 11-year old Billy Elliot, who, after leaving his boxing club for the day, stumbles upon a ballet class and finds out that he's naturally talented. He practices with his teacher Mrs. Wilkinson for an upcoming audition in Newcastle-upon Tyne for the royal Ballet school in London.

On January 13th 1985, Midnight Oil performed the Oils on the Water concert on Goat Island, Sydney, to celebrate radio Triple-J's tenth birthday, before a select crowd of 400 (half competition winners and half staff, media and friends, though other fans swam across). The concert was simulcast live on ABC TV and Triple J radio, released on video, then later remastered as part of the 2004 Best of Both Worlds DVD set. Oils on the Water was a classic Midnight Oil performance and setting with the band in fine high-energy form, caught in the light of the setting sun, against the backdrop of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

A strippers' convention and a major contest. The movie focuses on a few strippers, each with her own strong motive to win.

In 1984, David Byrne put together a TV special on the Talking Heads for U.K. TV’s Channel 4, a 68-minute mix of live material filmed at Wembley Arena, interviews with the band, TV news clips, commercials and other various bits of found footage and sound.

Slow, une histoire d'amour

It is El Salvador, 1989, three years before the end of a brutal civil war that took 75,000 lives. Maria Serrano, wife, mother, and guerrilla leader is on the front lines of the battle for her people and her country. With unprecedented access to FMLN guerrilla camps, the filmmakers dramatically chronicle Maria's daily life in the war.

On August 8, 1988, the world’s first and largest Satanic rally took place. Ripped from a video featuring Satanist talking about creating a New World Order and killing off the masses. The 8-8-88 ritual was conducted right at the heart of the Satanic Panic. The goal, further exploit and feed upon the energies produced by the fears of the ignorant general public and media. It was shown to a sold-out crowd of degenerates promising them, “A Bitter Message of Hopeless Grief,” “A Nightmare of TERROR!” and “An Evening of Apocalyptic Delight!”

Public Image Limited provide a monumental live performance at London's Heaven, showcasing tracks from the new album. The (London) Times commented "This was an evening of uncompromising art and music; worthy of the total concentration of the audience. There is a PiL in Heaven was released as part of the 'This is Public Image Limited' limited edition 2 disc (cd/dvd) set.

Women At Large was a video series by Sharlyne Powell for larger sized women. Music by Entertainment Tonight's very own John Tesh and Michael Hanna of the John Tesh Project.

Ironworker Nick lives with his wife, Kitty, and three daughters. When he meets a significantly younger woman, Tula, he starts an affair with her, much to the chagrin of his wife, and his life is thrown into upheaval. Kitty kicks Nick out of the house, and he is forced to make some difficult decisions.

How could a German Wehrmacht soldier become a celebrated soccer idol of the Britons in the post-war period? The documentary by Radio Bremen shows the moving life story of the soccer star of the 1950s in a torn Europe and how an enemy became a friend. With his legendary appearance in the English Cup Final 1956, in which he played until the end despite a broken neck, Bert Trautmann set up a memorial for himself in the history of sport. Already in the same year, he is chosen as England’s footballer of the year, and by his club Manchester City even as best player of all times. Bernhard “Bert” Trautmann is one of the most popular and best-known soccer players in England.

An exciting dance/video program inspired by the hit film "Flashdance" is performed to some of the day's hottest dance music.

In County Durham, England, 1984, a talented young dancer, Billy Elliot, stumbles out of the boxing ring and onto the ballet floor. He faces many trials and triumphs as he strives to conquer his family’s set ways, inner conflict, and standing on his toes in a musical that questions masculinity, gender norms and conformity.

"The Farewell Affair" is one of the greatest espionage stories of the Cold War that will result in the accelerated fall of the USSR. It involves Vladimir Vetrov, a KGB agent put in the closet, who decides to contact the DST and deliver several lists of technological and scientific agents and secrets, which the KGB has been stealing from the countries of the Western Blocs for decades.