Aimee Mann’s hilarious new Tom Scharpling-directed video revisits 80s schlock

Remember in the 80’s when spiked hair, rat tails, combat boots, and wearing one massively garish earring was considered the pinnacle of a sophisticated lady? For her new video “Labrador” off her eighth solo recording, Charmer, Aimee Mann decided it’s been a long enough retirement for these relics and decided to resuscitate them by recreating her 1980’s hit, ‘Til Tuesday’s “Voices Carry.”

Directed by comedian and radio host for The Best Show on WFMU, Tom Scharpling (who is played by a hilarious, and mustachioed Jon Hamm in the video), the premise is essentially a throwback to all the cheese that encapsulated the 80’s. Truthfully, not much is tweaked from the original video besides the tone (a comedy instead of a statement of depth), but that’s what makes it work so gloriously. The video stars Mann (after a recent stint on Portlandia) once again as the lead and Superchunk drummer-comedian Jon Wurster as her pretentious and unsatisfied love interest.

Watch both the original video for “Voices Carry” and Mann’s new recreation for “Labrador” below. And don’t forget to check back for our Critical Q&A with Scharpling in the next few weeks!