Alphaville — Jet Set

JUL 01 1985 · 12:00

Alphaville — Jet Set (1985) Director: Karl Danguillier Era: New Wave / Synthpop Golden Age (1985) - Peak of European electronic pop, West German new wave movement at commercial zenith; fourth and final single cycle from 'Forever Young' LP on WEA/Warner. High. This video is a confirmed, director-credited artifact from one of West Germany's most internationally successful synthpop acts, produced at the peak of the 'Forever Young' album campaign. It is one of only two directorial works linking Karl Danguillier to Alphaville (alongside 'Dance with Me', also 1985), making it essential for any study of the band's visual identity in their foundational period. The quantitative profile — dark, warm, slow, and contemplative — is highly consistent with the period's European art-pop video conventions and provides a clean data signature for comparative aesthetic research. Context: Released in March 1985 as the fourth and final single from Alphaville's debut album 'Forever Young' (WEA Musik GmbH, West Germany), 'Jet Set' arrived at the commercial and creative apex of European synthpop's mainstream penetration. The band had already scored international recognition with 'Big in Japan' (1984) and the title track 'Forever Young' (1984). The single was re-recorded following the departure of founding member Frank Mertens, reflecting internal band evolution mid-campaign. The video's thematic concern — satirising wealth and glamour by advertising intangibles like anarchy and freedom — engages directly with the ironic, politically-tinged sensibility of West German youth culture navigating Cold War anxieties in the mid-1980s. Production through ARRI Video and Pool Production Munich situates the work firmly within the professional West German music video industry of the period. Director notes: Directed for production companies ARRI Video and Pool Production Munich (per IMDb production credits). The video was produced as the official accompaniment to the March 1985 single release on WEA Musik GmbH. Per IMDb's plot synopsis, the video conceptually frames the band advertising 'things money can't buy: anarchy, freedom, love, fun and a piece of the end of the world,' directly reflecting frontman Marian Gold's stated artistic intent for the song. The single's audio was re-recorded at EMI Studios, Cologne and mixed at Audio Studios, Berlin, with the 7" described on the sleeve as the 'original soundtrack from the video of the same name,' indicating an unusually tight audio-visual co-production relationship. Cinematography credited to Wedigo von Schultzendorff (per IMDb full credits).