Author Archives: Jedadiah Leland

Music Video of the Day: Cage by Billy Idol (2022, directed by SRS)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

After all this time, Billy Idol is still out there, making music and making videos.  Cage is his latest and it features Billy singing about dealing with his own demons while breaking free of a straight-jacket.  Harry Houdini has nothing on Billy!

The video was directed by SRS, which I assume is a pseudonym.  Remember when music videos used to be directed by guys with names like Nigel and Spike?  Now every music video appears to have been directed by a computer program.

Right now, this video only has 419,000 views on YouTube.  Times are forever changing and musical tastes change with them but that’s still no way to treat Billy Idol!

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Midnight Mover by Accept (1985, directed by ????)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Midnight Mover is the Accept song that wasn’t Balls to the Wall.  I actually prefer Midnight Mover to Balls to the Wall as both a song and video but Midnight Mover was never featured on Beavis and Butt-Head and is lesser known as a result.

The song is about a drug dealer, one who moves his product at midnight.  The video is mostly interesting as an early example of the “bullet time” technology that would later be made famous by The Matrix.  Accept did it first!

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Dystopia by Megadeth (2016, directed by Blair Underwood)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Just to clear up some confusion that apparently shows up online, the Blair Underwood who directed this video for Megadeth is not the same Blair Underwood who co-starred on L.A. Law.  Considering that Blair Underwood the actor reportedly based his L.A. Law character on a young Barack Obama and Dystopia was undoubtedly Dave Mustaine’s commentary on America under Obama, the collaboration would have been an unlikely one.

It was for Dystopia that Megadeth won their first Grammy.  Unfortunately, during the Grammy ceremony, the house band played Metallica’s Master of Puppets when Dave Mustaine and the band went up to accept the award.  Mustaine, who was famously kicked out of Metallica before then forming Megadeth, said that he didn’t take it personally.  That doesn’t really sound like the Dave Mustaine that most people know but let’s take his word for it.

Enjoy!

Music Video of The Day: Living After Midnight by Judas Priest (1980, directed by Julien Temple)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

The most interesting thing about this performance clip music video is that it was directed by Julien Temple.  Temple was and still is best known for documenting the brief but memorable career of The Sex Pistols.  He went on to direct two Sex Pistol films, The Great Rock ‘n’ Roll Swindle and The Filth and the Fury.

Temple has directed music videos for just everyone who was anybody on the British rock scene: Sex Pistols (naturally), Depeche Mode, David Bowie, Rolling Stones, Duran Duran, Sade, and many others.  He also directed the music video for Planet Texas, in which Kenny Rogers is abducted by aliens.  The music industry brings together even the most unlikely of collaborators.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Three MC’s And One DJ by Beastie Boys (1999, directed by Adam Yauch)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Nobody did it better than the Beastie Boys.

This video was shot at 262 Mott Street in Manhattan.  Mix Master Mike, in his first song with the Beatie Boys, has to sneak into the building in order to perform with them.  Anyone who has ever lived in New York or even just visited family in New York should be able to relate.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door by Guns N’ Roses (1992, directed by ????)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

When I wrote about the video for Live and Let Die, I mentioned that Guns N’ Roses were responsible for two of the best covers of the 90s.  This is the other one.  Axl Rose and the entire band proved that they were just as capable of covering Bob Dylan as they were Paul McCartney and Wings.  Just as with Live and Let Die, Guns N’ Roses respected the original while also creating their own unique version.

There are actually two videos out there for GnR’s version of Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door.  This one was filmed at the Freddy Mercury Tribute Concert in 1992.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Hold Me Now by Thompson Twins (1983, directed by Rupert James)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Today’s music video of the day is for a song that epitomizes the 80s for a lot of people.  I don’t know how many John Hughes’s film featured Hold Me Now but it seems like everyone one of them should have.  This was not only the group’s first big hit but the video was a popular one in the early years of MTV.  This was one of those videos that proved that even a performance clip could be more than just a video of the band on stage.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Rock ‘N’ Roll Star by Oasis (1995, directed by Nigel Dick)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

This song is the epitome of Oasis.  They set out to be rock ‘n’ roll stars and they succeeded.

The video was filmed at the band’s Live By The Sea gig at Southend-on-Sea.  The clips of the band offstage were filmed at Southend Pier.  The bowling alley that the band visits later burned down.  It’s a fairly simple video from veteran director Nigel Dick.  Anyone who has ever been a rock ‘n’ roll star has been directed at least once by Nigel Dick.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Headed for a Heartbreak by Winger (1989, directed by Mark Rezyka)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

As Butt-Head once put it, while watching this very video, “His teeth are whiter than white.”

As far as commercial success goes, Winger had a brief but good run in the late 80s.  Then grunge came along and the musical landscape changed for the better.  Winger later found fame as the favorite band of Stewart Stevenson on Beavis and Butt-Head.  It was rumored that Winger became Stewart’s favorite band after Kip Winger complained about his videos being criticized by Beavis and Butt-Head.  It’s always better to laugh at yourself than to complain because being associated with Stewart is what really robbed Winger of whatever credibility they had.  Of course, it didn’t help that Lars Ulrich was seen throwing darts at Kip Winger’s face in the video for Nothing Else Matters.

This video is typical Winger stuff.  Kip sings that he’s headed for a heartbreak and you don’t believe him for a minute.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Live and Let Die, covered by Guns N’ Roses (1991, directed by Josh Richman)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

I have to give credit for Guns N’ Roses.  No matter what else may be said about the band, they were responsible for two of the best covers of the 90s, Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door and Live and Let Die.  Both of these covers treat the original version with respect while also sounding very much like the type of music that Guns N’ Roses was known for.

The video for Live and Let Die features footage of the band in concert, mixed in with pictures of them in their younger days.  This was also the last Guns ‘N Roses video to feature Izzy Stradlin as being a part of the band.  This video was put together by Josh Richman, an actor who was also a friend of the band.

Enjoy!