The Ambitious Lovers were formed by Arto Lindsay and Peter Scherer shortly after the dissolution of Lindsay’s previous band DNA, a herald NYC ‘no wave’ act most known for their inclusion on the Brian Eno curated No New York LP.

While that band specialized in abstracted/\atonal/\auditory/\assaults, a rock’n'roll scraped down to its base coat, the Ambitious Lovers were in turn a downtown funk machine. They recorded three albums over a seven year period… Envy (1984), Greed (1988), and Lust (1991)… each named after a deadly sin. The project was apparently to do all seven, and it’s a damn shame they didn’t.

There’s much to like about the above clip though. First off, the song’s catchy as hell. And if there’s anyone who could have upstaged David Byrne in the ‘nerdy-white-guy-who-could-throw-the-funk-down’ department, it no doubt would’ve been Lindsay. But what really makes it for me, aside from the savage breakdown at about 2:14 in, is the all-smiles energy of percussionist Cyro Baptista… looking distinctly like a certain bowler.

For more adventurous terrain, after the jump you can view their “music video” from the Envy album. I’m gonna hedge and say I don’t think this was played on MTV at the time.