Ricky Gervais is a polarising figure. He’s an outspoken atheist. He’s prone to spouting off in a way that makes him seem quite arrogant. His Golden Globes take downs of celebrities are a masterclass in verbal brutality. Much like his most famous creation, comedy series The Office, you either think he’s amazing or find him excruciating. But prepare to have your prejudices questioned, your beliefs shaken to their core.
Behold, Ricky Gervais… new wave pop star.
It’s 1983 and you are in a parking garage wearing a skinny tie and too much hair gel. You are one half of unsuccessful pop band Seona Dancing. You are brooding for all you’re worth (which probably isn’t much because you filmed this music video for £300 and you just finished uni where your degree was in philosophy…)
Gervais has never made any secret of the fact that he was in a pop band in the eighties however I, along with most of the internet, have probably never seen the music video for this 1983 non-hit “Bitter Heart” and it’s making me have ALL the feels.
Here’s my breakdown of the best things about this video (of which there are many) –
Ricky Gervais is a Bowie clone
I’m sure a lot of people at the time were trying to pull off this look but Ricky-Bowie totally nails it. Even the voice is pretty damn close. Bowie was clearly a strong musical influence on the young Gervais.
That alone would be great but this makes Bowie’s subsequent guest appearance in Season 2 of Gervais’ show Extras even better. In it Gervais’ character Andy has recently achieved fame and is now lurking in VIP areas in clubs. Upon meeting David Bowie he unloads some of his worries and concerns, as a fellow entertainer, only to have Bowie immediately start writing a song about a “little fat man” that soon leads to the entire bar singing about Andy’s “pug-nose face”. So Gervais basically wrote an entire scene for the express purpose of having his musical hero destroy him.
Dude. That’s either really tragic or bloody amazing.
Studly posing
What can I say? I’m a sucker for affected broodiness and a jaw that pops.
The fact that Gervais once made music-video-bedroom-eyes and tortured “why is love so bloody hard?” faces for real, only makes his later David Brent pisstake even more hilarious.
These pants
These give me strange feelings that I can’t bring myself to talk about. Also, I do like a bit of “rolled up sleeve” on a bloke.
HULK SMASH! (with added veil)
In the eighties it was mandatory for music videos to feature a young woman of questionable mental stability smashing stuff up. In this case it’s probably because she’s only just figured out she’s been dating Ricky Gervais this whole time and not David Bowie. Fair enough, girlfriend. Fair enough.
It took me three viewings before I realised it was a veil she was wearing and not a curtain she’d just got tangled up in and was too depressed to do anything about.
Sudden inexplicable satanic possession
But then, most satanic possession is sudden, isn’t it? You hardly ever hear of someone complaining that they “might be coming down with a bit of a demonic infestation” do you?
Still, those red lights certainly did flick on out of nowhere.
This sort of happened to me once when my handbag got jostled when I was at the pub and my rear bikelights that were in there came on. It can happen to anyone, Ricky…
This face
Tyra would not call this “ugly pretty”.
So maybe you thought you knew who Ricky Gervais was but now you’re going to have to incorporate a Bowie-esque pop wannabe in tight, tight pants into that. You’re welcome.
(This article was originally published on the Cake Oven website)