Where Are They Now? The Real Estate Of '80s Music Videos
Who could forget the 1980s? The music. The fashion. The real estate.
While much of the music of the '80s has withstood the test of time, the commercial real estate behind memorable '80s music videos was not always so lasting. Bisnow looked at the state of four of those locations.
Oh, Sherrie: Park Plaza Hotel, Los Angeles
While best known as the former frontman for Journey, Steve Perry struck out on his own for a solo career. Perry's debut album in 1984, Street Talk, birthed one of the most iconic songs and videos of the 1980s, “Oh Sherrie.”
The video starred Perry's then-girlfriend, Sherrie Swafford, as he crooned to her in what is today The MacArthur (formerly known as The Park Plaza) in Los Angeles. The MacArthur is a special events facility and a frequent filming location for movies. Built in 1925 for the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks as a memorial for members who died in World War I, and designed by the famed architect Claud Beelman, the facility was eventually sold by the Elks for commercial use, including as a hotel at one point.
Footloose: Geneve Steel, Vineyard, Utah
Progress has severed one of the six degrees of separation from Kevin Bacon. The actor, who hit stardom as the lead in the 1984 film Footloose, has an iconic scene where he dances and does some incredible acrobatics in a darkened mill. Those scenes were featured prominently in Kenny Loggins' “Footloose” hit song featured in the soundtrack.
Those scenes were filmed in what was once Geneve Steel in Vineyard, Utah. The mill was razed nearly a decade ago, and in its place Anderson Geneva Development is underway with a 1,700-acre master planned mixed-use community that will include retail, office, industrial, multifamily and single-family homes. Parts of the project, called @Geneva, are already sprouting, including a Megaplex movie theater.
Thriller: 1345 Carroll Ave., Los Angeles
Werewolves. Zombies. Screaming teens. Michael Jackson. Few videos have the iconic status of Jackson's 1983 mega-hit “Thriller.” And for good reason. The song was accompanied by a 14-minute mini-movie, directed by John Landis, that saw Jackson transform into the Wolfman and one of the undead, start a flash mob dance, and chase model/actress Olay Ray into a creepy old Victorian home.
That house still stands at 1345 Carroll Ave. in the Angeleno Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles.
Total Eclipse of the Heart: Virginia Park, Surrey, England
Even by today's standards, it is hard to gauge where director Russell Mulcahy was going with the music video of Bonnie Tyler's 1983 hit “Total Eclipse of the Heart.” Part arthouse, part interpretive dance number and a dose of creepy imagery – especially the flying choirboy with glowing eyes – Mulcahy had Tyler wander the halls of what was supposed to be a boys' boarding school.
That was filmed on location at Holloway Sanatorium, a gothic-inspired hospital near Virginia Water, Surrey, England. Designed in the mid-1800s by architect W.H. Crossland, the look and setting was supposed to be inspired by Crystal Palace Park in London. It is no longer a sanatorium. Holloway has since been transformed into Virginia Park, an upscale residential community complete with tennis courts, a playground, a gym, a spa, a sauna and a swimming pool. And no creepy glowing-eyed children.
