Excellent Birds

One of the more idiosyncratic collaborations of the 1980s was a tie-up between venerable art-rock veteran Peter Gabriel and maverick performance artist Laurie Anderson, resulting in the single 'Excellent Birds', which first appeared on Anderson's 1984 album 'Mister Heartbreak', and later in a modified form on Gabriel's 1986 blockbuster 'So'. The song itself was a rather strange existentialist meditation, backed by an instrumental mixture of talking drums, Fairlight CMI sample-generated found sounds and twelve-string guitars, a strangely calming composition that highlighted both artists' more experimental facets. Check out the equally bizarre video, which featured some early-era, oddly charming CGI that is virtually primitive by today's standards.