Come Clean: I don’t know why Al B. Sure’s face…

…was so angry in the 1988 video for his hit song, “Nite and Day”. Like Dude snarled through the whole thing… and he probably growled, too, but the track drowned it out.

The video opens with the sun rising over the NYC skyline, and we see Al atop a roof watching… and looking unusually angry. Then a trio of video girls pass by and we see Al again, winking… with something like aggression. He tilts his head so hard when he does that wink, I feel my neck starting to spasm. It’s reminiscent of that Michael Jackson “Thriller” zombie-neck move, actually.

His dance moves are jerks and whips of his limbs. His nostrils flare. He stares down the camera, all while mouthing lyrics like, “Believe me when I say that I do care, I can tell you”, which, to me, sounds like a total Jerk Boy line. If a guy has to keep insisting on how much he cares, it’s a warning that he probably does NOT ACT with care.

Then he does the classic video “stalking, but not really, wink wink” move of following the object of his forceful attraction through the city streets… But guys, he’s still totally snarling, complete with nostril flare and pursed lips. This doesn’t seem like flirting. It’s more like a rejected Lifetime movie from 30 years ago with extras from “A Different World” starring. 

He gyrates, grinds and humps the air around him. He sings the lines “I’d like to run my fingers through your hair” while grabbing at his own soft curls… but he’s got his teeth bared. He continues, “Baby, if you left I could not bear”, and I’m not sure what would happen if all that unrequited emotion is never met, but I don’t want to find out.

He then croons, “Please don’t share”. Share? Should his crush not share her love with anyone else? Or should she keep to herself the fact an R&B singer with knock-off Michael Jackson moves and a penchant for air drumming has got the hots for her?

Well, I have to share this video with you all, because it’s made my day. Maybe even my week. And to think Kanye referenced Dude as the type who girls LOVED. Then again, I guess he was. What do I know anyway? I was six. Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IlHq3n3hy0