Just watched Bruce’s original video and my heart just aches for lost youth and times long gone. What a great song! Bruce never looked better. The lyrics are great, the music is rockin’ and perfect and when Bruce sings, “Hey. Baby…” and pulls the then unknown Courtney Cox out of the audience, oh my! The look of disbelief on her face followed by her ever so slightly self conscious dance made my heart leap back then and still does.
I’m 76, an old fogey. I just checked and I was 38 when the song came out in 1984. I thought it was much earlier then that. But I’m still dancing in the dark.
I was 25 when that came out, and at the height of at least some of my powers. How far we’ve come since, and how much downhill vs up. But it’s been a hell of a ride.
I’ve loved Springsteen since I was 10 years old and my parents started played *Born in the U.S.A. on a daily rotation on our home stereo. That said, I’ve never really cared for “Dancing in the Dark”. It’s the synths. They don’t belong in a Springsteen song.
That video was directed by Brian De Palma, of all people.
I love the riff to that track immensely. It’s the only really synth-heavy song on the album, but it’s a glorious hook. There were a few high-NRG 12" remixes made for dance clubs by Arthur Baker, one with vocals and added backing singers, and an instrumental version. You can still find them online; those have dated pretty badly but they’re still a hoot.
I was also first introduced to the amazing voice of Glasgow’s Amy MacDonald when she covered the song. She’s also covered “Born To Run” in concert but I feel she went back to that well one too many times, as it’s not nearly as good.
And Sam Fender has also covered the track in concert in a pretty damn good version.
It’s always struck me a little strange that Brian De Palma planted Courteney Cox in the audience, but an unwitting Bruce somehow picked her. The video could’ve gone a very different way!
Springsteen knew that he was to pick Courteney Cox, he just didn’t know that she was an actress. She has stated that she was one of many that he could have picked but the video makes that seem unlikely.
Well, I guess I get to do the “I was today years old” when I found out that was Courtney Cox in the video. Not that I’m that familiar with the video, but I know it, and I really like The Boss’s music.
My memory is that she was somewhat known back then. From what I remember, she’s the only actress I knew off-hand from that cast. She was is in Ace Ventura and Family Ties and stuff.
This doesn’t seem to be all that well known, but there was an earlier video concept (directed by a friend of Bruce’s Jeff Stein, who also did Billy Idol’s “Rebel Yell” and Tom Petty’s “Don’t Come Around Here No More”, among others) of just Bruce dancing on an all-black stage. The below rehearsal footage was shot, Bruce hated it and the whole idea was scrapped (a wise decision, methinks). Jon Landau went to his friend De Palma to ask if he had any ideas and the video we now know as the official one was made instead.
