Synopsis

Level 42 perform "Running In The Family" in a brightly colored, highly stylized studio set. The band members occupy a geometric room resembling a giant game board, while a circular platform turns beneath them like a vinyl record. Rapid edits, bold blocks of color, graphic patterns, and constantly shifting camera angles give the performance a kinetic pop-art quality. Rather than presenting a literal family narrative, the video creates a playful visual counterpart to the song's themes of inherited behavior, memory, and the uneasy similarities between parents and children.

Factoids & Trivia

• The single was released in the United Kingdom on February 2, 1987, and reached No. 6 on the UK Singles Chart.

• The central platform rotates in the same visual manner as a vinyl record, tying the video to the song's title and the period's fascination with bold, graphic studio concepts.

• Its brightly colored, geometric design is commonly associated with pop-art imagery and has been compared to the visual language of Piet Mondrian and Andy Warhol.

• "Running In The Family" appeared in the 1987 video collection "Family of Five," which brought together the five music videos made for singles from the album.

• The song was written by Mark King, Phil Gould, and Wally Badarou. It was released as the title track of Level 42's seventh studio album.

• The original video was issued through PolyGram Video International, reflecting the importance of home-video compilations as a way for bands to package and preserve their promotional films during the 1980s.