Better the Devil You Know (1990)
Better the Devil You Know, the first single from Minogue’s third album Rhythm of Love, released in 1990, marks a turning point in her career. The then 21-year-old singer has so far been marketed as a somewhat well-behaved girl next door, but is done with that. She demands more creative input into her own music and the visual aspect of her career.
Minogue works exclusively with the trio Stock Aitken Waterman on her first albums, who write and produce her music. They release her music in the United Kingdom via their own record company PWL. To limit their influence, Minogue decides to record the video for Better the Devil You Know in Melbourne, together with director Paul Goldman.
The singer later says that it was the first time that she had input into the images that accompany her music. She wants to present herself a little more sexy. But that doesn’t happen without a struggle.
Goldman says in the podcast A Journey Through Stock Aitken Waterman that PWL opposes Minogue’s ideas and especially does not want her to change her image. “When they saw the result, they freaked out completely. About how she was dressed, about how she presented herself.”
The director receives an aggressive phone call from an employee of PWL that he has messed it up and that the video must be adjusted. Minogue and her Australian team refuse to do that. Better the Devil You Know has now become a Kylie classic that she still sings during her concerts.
Kylie Minogue – Better the Devil You Know
Can’t Get You out of My Head (2001)
Minogue scores the biggest hit of her career in 2001 with Can’t Get You out of My Head, which reaches first place internationally. At the time of writing, the song has 733 million streams on Spotify and the video clip 614 million views on YouTube.
The video clip, directed by Dawn Shadforth, has a futuristic theme. Minogue regularly appears very close-up in the picture, which makes her face seem somewhat distorted. A conscious choice by Shadforth, who wanted to portray Minogue in a somewhat alienating way after speculation that the singer was extraterrestrial.
Minogue says years later in the Graham Norton talk show that the famous outfit with a hood and deep décolleté was inspired by artist and model Grace Jones.
Kylie Minogue – Can’t Get You out of My Head
Slow (2003)
As the first single from her ninth album Body Language, Minogue chooses the sensual song Slow, which peaks at eighth place in the Dutch Top 40. For the video clip, directed by Baillie Walsh, the singer and her team travel to Barcelona. The location for the video is a swimming pool, where Minogue lies sunbathing in a swimsuit, surrounded by a large group of other sunbathers.
That may sound like a very relaxed working day, but it is different. “I had to sing straight into the camera while the sun was right next to it. The tears streamed down my cheeks. In video clips there is always a painful moment. It is always too hot or too cold (like with All the Lovers below, ed.). But that’s just part of it,” Minogue tells MTV about it.
Kylie Minogue – Slow
All the Lovers (2010)
Minogue causes a stir in 2010 with the video for the song All the Lovers, the first single from the album Aphrodite. The Australian pop star travels to Los Angeles to record a video clip in the center, which she herself describes as an “ode to universal love”.
In the video clip, the singer is surrounded by people who undress down to their underwear, caress each other and kiss each other. In the climax of the video clip, Minogue stands on a tower of people who love each other.
Behind-the-scenes footage shows that it is certainly not warm in Los Angeles on that day in May 2010. Minogue and her dancers and extras are having a hard time. “It’s freezing, but everyone is dealing with it well,” Minogue says about the people she works with. When the recordings are completed, she gives them a pep talk in a speech.
The result does not satisfy everyone. Director Joseph Kahn says that someone from Minogue’s record company wants to completely change the video clip. “Kylie herself put a stop to that,” Kahn later recalls. When the video clip is refused in some Asian countries because of same-sex couples in the video, Minogue also refuses to adjust the images.
The song about love and equality does appeal to Minogue’s fans. They have called themselves ‘Lovers’ since the song was released.
Kylie Minogue – All the Lovers
Padam Padam (2023)
Padam Padam ensures a remarkably successful comeback by Minogue in 2023. The first single from the two Tension albums that the singer is now touring with becomes her biggest hit in years. In the summer of 2023, no pride parade is complete without the song.
For the video clip, Minogue is working with Sophie Muller. The two have already made more than ten videos together in recent years.
Here, the singer is inspired by the films of director David Lynch and the film The Man Who Fell to Earth by Nicolas Roeg. “Strange things that happen in real existing places,” Minogue describes the concept at Watch What Happens Live. For example, Minogue appears with her dancers dressed entirely in red in a car junkyard.