Laura Branigan's Masterpiece, "Self Control"

HIlaria Baldwino would kill for those eyebrows.

LOL R1. Her eyebrows are not too thick but I guess thicker than the style now.

I've always loved this song and the video. Totally 80s.

What’s with all the black plastic bin liner bags everywhere?

We always sang this song as Elf Control.

R4, depicitng a gritty city in decay I think? Making it seem surreal but also not totally dissimilar to the real NYC of the time?

That opening shot of her was totally giving me Balthus vibes.

Meh, her flashdance song is better.

Fun fact: It's an Italian pop song first recorded by the singer Raf. Written by the same people who wrote "Gloria" (originally sung by Umberto Tozzi.)

I don't know how or why she had this Italian connection but it worked out well for her.

Of course this is Laura again stealing songs from Europe and exploiting the American mark for her own stardom.

^market

Hey Celine pulled the same shit.

Gloria.

Original recording.

(The Trump family apparently loves this song!)

I absolutely adore her. And I am certain Raf would disagree that she stole anything and were quite happy with the royalties she generated for them.

I said, NIGHT!

Op, you make a thread about her/this song every couple months.

r16, I have never posted a thread about her.

I love that video, r8. When I first saw Flashdance, I told my mom I wanted to work as a dancer in a bar like Mawby’s and my mom told me “good luck”. I didn’t realize there were no real non-stripper dancing on stage opportunities.

Plus I was a 12 year old boy at the time.

I remember the video, it was a big thing at the time that Friedkin directed it. It was edited or censored because of the orgy scene, it kind of reminded me of Eyes Wide Shut after watching the video again recently. In Friedkin's autobiography he mentioned that he was sent some music by some unknown named Prince who was a fan and wondered if he would be interested in directing a video of one of his songs....apparently Friedkin threw it in the trash. R4 I remember those trash bag streets, I figured they wanted wet streets and this was a low budget way to create the illusion...I may be wrong. I love the song and I like the video but I think the video could have been much better, maybe Friedkin needed some extra cash or maybe he was dating Laura.

G-d bless both you and your mother, r18.

That big ol' thing made me nervous.

R21. what?

I definitely go through periods of obsessively watching that video. She is insanely beautiful at 3:20.

The video shows you don't need big budgets to make videos interesting.

I love LB!

I like the extended version with the longer intro.

Kid in white showing how it's done.

I lived in Europe at the time this was released (1984) and the funny thing is that Raf's and her version were released almost simultaneously, with a month or less between each other. In some places, like Germany, Raf's version was even more popular - Europeans were really into Italo disco at the time and his version was more in that vein, while Laura had to rawkify it a bit for the American market.

Self Control was her peak. Her best single. Her best album. I still enjoyed her follow-ups but she just couldn't seem to generate as much interest as Gloria or Self Control, and sadly, a number of her songs became bigger hits for other people - I Found Someone (Cher), Power of Love (Celine Dion) and like Gloria Estefan did in 1994, Laura covered Turn the Beat Around, but Gloria had the hit version. Michael Bolton had a hit with How Am I Supposed to Live Without You which was a Top 20 hit for Laura in 1983 but an even bigger hit for Bolton (who co-wrote it). The Power of Love was also a top 40 hit for Laura but Celine's version was an even bigger hit.

Er she can't dance. Moves like bumpity bump.

I like Laura, but she always looked to me like a former waterpolo player turned drag queen.

Laura wasn't conventionally beautiful but she looked great in the Self Control video - perfect mix of lighting, makeup and styling.

R27 Did they just grab a bunch of people off the streets and say, "Hey! Wanna be a backup dancer for this song? You do? Okay - just get on stage and do whatever you want."

^ Those crazy Japanese!^

I was hoping for some great revelation at the end, like maybe the masked person was also Laura.

Or is it that she has sex with the masked man which results in a doll?

The video proved to be controversial, so shockingly steamy that MTV required some edits before it could air. What fascinates to this day is how demure it seems compared to most of today's videos. That, and how rare it is to see a video on any of the major music channels that addresses a woman's sexual thoughts. That's a key to how Branigan fit into the world of music at that time. Her image was never girlish or adolescent, though she was conventionally attractive. She was simply marketed as a woman with complex emotions. That seems unfathomable in today's marketplace.

Was the Madame Alexander doll at the start and end of the video raped?

R37, Hell nah! Eat some of dis wet ASS pussy

I recommend her episode of Mobituaries.

I saw Laura Brianigan once.

Would she have had a different career if Madonna hadn’t shown up?

One of the best songs of the '80s. 1984 was such a great year in pop music.

Masterpiece, indeed.

Judging by the number of covers it has, it could be considered one of the more remarkable songs of the era.

Fantastic song! Never gets old. I can listen to it all the time.

Agree r45. That song still sounds great, it's aged very well. Unlike many other songs from that same time period.

Laura died much too young. I miss her.