German Pillars-peeker Hallelujah Vs French Tres Groovy Manhattan
Ready To Rumble – The Video Contestants
It’s a classic matchup – the long-reigning champion coming out of retirement to enter the ring against the brash newcomer who appeared out of nowhere to astound YouTube audiences everywhere.
Viewers at the Heck Of A Guy Arena will be witnessing a battle for the title of Goofiest Leonard Cohen Music Video with not only individual video pride but also national honor riding on the outcome.
Let’s introduce the contestants.
The Return Of The Leonard Cohen German Pillars-Peeker Hallelujah Video
Recently, a post by  mnkyface on LeonardCohenForum alerted the faithful that
… the 80s Hallelujah video from German TV is back on YouTube! …  This was the video that had millions of hits and years of comments (often lively debate about Hallelujah versions, among other LC topics) only to be suddenly deleted by YouTube (or Sony?) some months ago. I think it was the most-viewed LC video on YouTube. The version that was uploaded before had a split second portion with a German TV (ZDF) host announcing “LAY-OH-NAHD Cohen!” This new upload has cut that portion out but all the LC lip-syncing goodness is there. Let’s not even talk about the background “singers”… 
(No, actually, let’s. Rejects from St Elmo’s Fire? And how about the guy who peers around the pillar before he’s supposed to? And then steps out too late?? Niiiiice. )
I LOVE this video. It has such significance for me because it was the first time I saw LC… and let’s face it, 80s LC is not fair play. Irresistible! I had heard In My Secret Life (just audio) …loved the song and decided to look up who this Leonard Cohen guy was. Landed on this video. And the rest is, as they say, is history. Like those historic looking columns and arches in that stunning set.
And, from Heck Of A Guy post, BBC Nov 1 Documentary On Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah:
Leonard Cohen Hallelujah Video
And, of the several versions of Cohen performances of Hallelujah available on YouTube and its congeners, I’ve picked the one from the German TV program with the Miami Vice-era Cohen1 in his unbuttoned doubled breasted jacket singing with dead leaves blowing across stage in front of the pseudo-ruins with the multiple archways through which the adolescent backup singers, in a manner not unlike that exemplified by zombies in a low cost teen exploitation flick, step into view to sing and sway.
Leonard Cohen – Hallelujah (German TV 1985)
The Newly Unearthed Leonard Cohen French Très Groovy First We Take Manhattan Video
From Heck Of A Guy post, Leonard Cohen In French Farce Version Of First We Take Manhattan:
Leonard Cohen Video Or Saturday Night Live Skit Gone Bad?
There are a number of points worth watching in this odd video of First We Take Manhattan which was originally shown on French TV in or shortly after 1988 and which appeared today on YouTube.
The set itself (shown above) is – well, let’s call it striking, a 1980s decorator’s dream composition in glass, mirrors, chrome, stainless steel, and all things bright and shiny.
The big question, however, is “Who are those two women with the big hair who assist Leonard Cohen in miming and pantomiming the song – and who lose the three-handed arm wrestling championship to him?”
Yes, they dance, too.
Très groovy.
Update (Sept 25, 2009): sturgess66 points out potential mystic/sci-fi aspects of this already extraordinary video:
I discovered that there were ghosts in the “First We Taken Manhattan” video! Or maybe Leonard is actually an extraterrestrial being as suggested in one of the recent Google translations. He and “the ladies” seemed to be able to vaporize at will – visible if you move the little guide slowly in certain places. There is always a possibility that they got their hands on a Star Trek transporter when making the video. Actually I think in some places they dubbed “the ladies” in after Leonard taped.
Leonard Cohen – First We Take Manhattan (French TV ca. 1988)
_____________________- Yep, Leonard Cohen played a role in Miami Vice. See Item #9 of Ten Items About Leonard Cohen and, for the real (fake) story, Item #8 of 10 Unbelievable Secrets About Leonard Cohen↩
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