Synopsis

The Motels perform "Take the L" in a stylized, theatrical setting that turns the song's breakup theme into a series of striking visual tableaux. Martha Davis appears in multiple split-screen images and shifting dramatic poses, while the band performs amid deliberately artificial backdrops. Page-turning transitions give the video a storybook quality, moving between scenes as the central wordplay unfolds: remove the "L" from "lover" and the result is "over." The effect is moody, surreal, and firmly rooted in the early MTV visual language.

Factoids & Trivia

• "Take the L" was released in 1982 as the second single from The Motels' third album, *All Four One*. It reached No. 52 on the Billboard Hot 100.

• The song was written by Martha Davis, keyboardist and saxophonist Marty Jourard, and John Carter. The title hook reportedly came from Carter during a conversation with Jourard, who was in the process of ending a relationship. Jourard initially thought the line was deliberately corny, almost camp.

• The Motels recorded the song in one take on December 7, 1981.

• The video's page-turning transitions were noted at the time as an early use of that effect in a music video. Its split-screen compositions also show Davis in three different personae.

• Martha Davis later recalled that the band's first two videos were made for roughly $60,000 each and shot in only two or three days. The productions took place during the pre-union, anything-goes phase of early music television, with locations and participants often found at short notice.

• The video was part of Capitol Records' early MTV push for The Motels, which paired it with "Only the Lonely." Both clips helped establish the band's cinematic visual identity during the channel's formative years.