Obsession was originally written and recorded as a duet by Michael Des Barres and Holly Knight.  The original version was included in the soundtrack for a forgotten 80s film called A Night In Heaven, which featured Lesley Ann Warren as a professor who has an affair with one of her students, a male stripper played by Christopher Atkins.  The film was a flop but the song caught the attention of the band, Animotion.  Their cover version is not only the best-known version of the song but it was also Animotion’s biggest hit.

Directed by underground filmmaker Amos Poe, the video featured the band performing in front of a pool and in a luxury house while dressed up in different costumes.  Why Mark Anthony and Cleopatra?  Why Amelia Earhart and Rudolph Valentino?  Why not?  It was the 80s and cocaine was very popular.  The important thing is that both the video and the song came to epitomize an era.

I know this is running the risk of becoming a cliché but this is another song that I originally came to appreciate while playing Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.  It was the perfect song for going for a midnight joyride in a stolen car.  I crashed any number of vehicles into the ocean while listening to Animotion.