Synopsis

Set up like a casting call, the video presents a parade of hopeful performers auditioning to become the voice of Jeff Beck's song. Donny Osmond opens the proceedings, while singers, actors, comedians and television personalities deliver exaggerated auditions, musical asides and comic reactions. Beck remains the instrumental anchor, playing guitar as the increasingly eccentric lineup competes for attention. The mock audition finally gives way to Beck's guitar spotlight, while Herb Alpert arrives too late to take part.

Factoids & Trivia

• "Ambitious" was released in 1985 on Beck's album Flash. Nile Rodgers wrote the song, and the track helped place Beck's guitar within the dance-oriented, polished sound of mid-1980s pop-rock.

• The video's celebrity lineup includes Donny Osmond, Marilyn McCoo, Gerry Beckley, Jimmy Hall, Jon Butcher, Herve Villechaize, Joyce Brothers, Cheech Marin, Al Kooper, Parker Stevenson, Abby Dalton, Willie Tyler and Herb Alpert.

• Cheech Marin and Al Kooper reprise characters associated with Marin's earlier "Born in East L.A." video, adding to the clip's deliberately loose, sketch-comedy atmosphere.

• Beck plays a Jackson Soloist in the video, a notable change from the Fender Stratocaster most closely associated with his image.

• The clip became a familiar MTV presence during the promotional cycle for Flash, benefiting from the era's fondness for videos packed with recognizable celebrity cameos.