Subservient Chicken Loves the '80s

When the Subservient Chicken became a worldwide sensation in 2004, everyone assumed this was just another case of overnight success in the entertainment industry -- a multitalented newcomer who'd come out of nowhere and was destined for greatness.

But no, as is often the case in these situations, the Subservient Chicken had a long history of less exciting work before everything clicked into place. And now the true story can finally be told.

Chuckie Chicken grew up on a small southern farm with dozens of brothers and sisters, all the while dreaming of greater glory. After years of single-minded devotion to his craft, he finally made his way to Hollywood, only to discover that even in that liberal bastion, not many doors were open for a giant chicken, no matter how talented he might be.

Those talents could not be denied for long, though, and while he wasn't able to pick up many notable gigs at first, he did manage to scrape by with odd jobs. Many of his fans may be surprised to hear that one of his earliest long-term assignments was as a music video coordinator. From 1982 to 1990, Chuckie worked with dozens of popular artists, ranging from one-hit wonders to the biggest stars of the era. He would come up with concepts for videos for their songs, then act them out in his own home in order to fully express his artistic vision. Typically, the singer or band who hired him would indeed take his concept and make it into a video; of course, they wouldn't have Chuckie's natural grace and agility and savoir-faire, so what you would see on MTV or VH1 wouldn't always perfectly match Chuckie's original performance.

Sadly for posterity, the original Chuckie videos have not all survived in their entirety, but we do have excerpts from many of them here:

Watch Chuckie's videos
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As you'll see, it's no wonder that he became the celebrity he did; the only surprise is that it took so long.

Behold the birth of a superstar!

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