Author Archives: Jedadiah Leland

Music Video of the Day: A Groovy Kind of Love, covered by Phil Collins (1988, directed by Jim Yukich)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

To say, as one BBC documentary did back in 2000, that “critics sneer at Phil Collins” is to be guilty of a massive understatement.  For as long as I can remember, critics have loathed Phil Collins and most of his fellow musicians haven’t had much good to say either.  Who can forget Noel Gallagher imploring the British public to vote for Labour because “if you don’t and the Tories get in, Phil Collins is threatening to come back and live here. And let’s face it, none of us want that.”  And, of course, in American Psycho, Patrick Bateman vigorously defended Phil Collins as a musical genius and both hookers and audiences laughed.

It’s easy to understand how the fatigue with Phil Collins set in.  In the 80s through the mid 90s, he was everywhere.  His songs were hits but many of them sounded so similar that they were difficult to keep straight.  Music critics love authenticity and that was often what Phil Collins seemed to be lacking.

Still, you can’t deny that the man sold a lot of records.  Critics and hipsters may not have liked him but, for a while there, everyone else couldn’t wait to hear the latest from Phil Collins.  For me, Phil Collins’s music will always be a guilty pleasure.  He’s easy to mock but his music epitomizes an era and still holds up better than something from Michael Bolton.

No, I just don’t think he’s as bad as people say.

But we’re talking about Phil …. er, never mind, man.

This cover of The Mindbenders’s A Groovy Kind of Love appeared in the movie Buster, which was an attempt to turn Phil Collins in a film star.  The movie took place in the 60s and the soundtrack is full of music from that era.  This was one of two songs that Collins recorded for the film’s soundtrack.  The other was Two Hearts, which received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song.

The video is one of the many videos that find Phil Collins sitting in a dark room and singing.  While singing, he watches scenes from Buster.  The film did well in the UK and less well in the States.  Some critics complained that the film glorified crime (it was about the real-life Great Train Robbery), which led to Prince Charles and Princess Diana canceling plans to attend the film’s London premiere.  Collins later stated that he was the one who told Charles that he should stay home in order to save him from any embarrassment.  Telling royalty to stay away from your movie for their own good is classic Phil Collins.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: (I Just) Died In Your Arms by Cutting Crew (1987, directed by Peter Kagan and Paula Greif)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Today’s music video of the day is for yet another song that I remember fondly from Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.  I used to think that I inherited my love of music from my father, who played bass in several different bands back in the day.  Now, I realize that it’s probably all due to spending too much time playing Grand Theft Auto.  Never let it be said that outrageously violent video games don’t serve a purpose.

When Nick van Eede sings that he “died in your arms tonight,” he’s referring to the French phrase, Le petite mort, which is also slang for having an orgasm.  As van Eede later explained it, he wrote the song after a one night stand with an ex-girlfriend.  Every aspiring artist dreams of coming up with a hit while also getting laid at the same time but van Eede actually did it.  It took him only three days to write and record the song and it subsequently went on to become Cutting Crew’s biggest hit.  It was also, at the time, the most successful single to be released by Virgin Records in the States.

Enjoy!

Music Video Of The Day: One Better Day by Madness (1984, directed by Nigel Dick)

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 “The idea of that song was when you’d hear people say, ‘Oh, he’s seen better days,’ like when you see a guy in a suit looking a bit tatty. I thought, ‘What was that one better day?’ Then I had the idea that he would meet this other homeless person that happened to be a woman – and they fell in love. Between them they could engender one better day as people who had, supposedly, seen better days.”

— Graham “Suggs” McPherson on One Better Day

In this song and music video, the lads from Madness prove that they were capable of doing serious songs, along with the comedic romps for which they were best known.

This video was filmed in front of Arlington House, which was a homeless shelter located in the band’s hometown of Camden Town, London.  Because this was their final single for Stiff Records, the label refused to put up any money for the video so what you’re seeing here was funded by the band themselves.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Hip To Be Square by Huey Lewis and the News (1986, directed by Godley & Creme)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

“Everyone thinks I’m the boy next door because I look like the boy next door. But look at my parents, and look where I come from. I’m a beatnik kid.”

— Huey Lewis

For the record, Huey Lewis has always insisted that the lyrics of Hip To Be Square are meant to be ironic.  They were originally written in the third person and were meant to satirize the band’s clean-cut image.  Because Huey Lewis and the News were older than the average rock band when they hit it big, they were often considered to be safe or conservative.  In real life, Huey Lewis was the stepson of beat poet Lew Welch, whom Lewis has described as being a major influence on his life and music.  (Huey, who was born Hugh Cregg III, even paid tribute to Lew Welch with his stage name.)  After high school, Lewis hitchhiked through Europe and he spent several years as a part of San Francisco’s decidedly unsquare music scene.

Despite what Patrick Bateman might try to tell you, Hip To Be Square was never meant to be an anthem for square people.  In concert, Lewis usually makes this point square by signing the song as Too Hip to Be Square.

The video was directed by the team of Kevin Godley and Lol Creme, who directed several memorable music videos in the 80s.  Godley and Creme directed this video using the type of medical cameras that are typically inserted into a human body to allow doctor to get a closer look at what might be ailing you.  The video was nominated for Best Experimental Video at the 1987 MTV Music Video Awards.

Enjoy!

Music Video Of The Day: What Do You Do For Money Honey by AC/DC (1980, directed by Eric Dionysius and Eric Mistler)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

One reason why AC/DC has remained popular for such a long time is because there’s nothing phony about them.  They play hard rock, they play it loud, and they make no apologies.  That attitude can be found in all of their songs and also all of their videos.  The video for What Do You Do For Money Honey, like most of their videos, is a simple performance clip because AC/DC doesn’t need to do anything extra to rock you.

This song is from Back In Black, their first album after the death of lead singer Bon Scott.  After Scott’s death, the band came close to disbanding but were encouraged to stay together by Scott’s parents, who insisted that Scott would not have wanted his death to be the end of AC/DC.  Brian Johnson was subsequently brought in to replace Scott and the rest is history.  In What Do You Do For Money Honey, Johnson is singing to an unseen woman who avoids having to work by sleeping with older, wealthy men.

The song may not be as well-known as Highway to Hell but it’s still AC/DC rocking out as only they can.

Enjoy!

 

Music Video of the Day: Satellite by the Hooters (1987, directed by ????)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

When watching today’s music video of the day, it helps to know something about the time when it was made.

During the late 80s, several popular televangelists were exposed as doing some less than holy things.  Jimmy Swaggart kept getting caught with hookers.  Jim Bakker (husband of the heavily made-up Tammy Faye Bakker) was accused of embezzling money from his ministry in order to pay off Jessica Hahn, a church secretary who said he had raped her.  (Bakker claimed that he was set up by enemies who wanted to take over his ministry.)  Oral Roberts announced that if he didn’t raise a certain amount of money, God was going to kill him (“take me home”).  Meanwhile, Pat Robertson (yes, that Pat Robertson) was running for President and Jerry Falwell was just being himself.

Obviously, someone needed to step up and take on these religious charlatans and the Hooters answered the call with this song and video.  Both were considered highly controversial at the time, which helped Satellite become the band’s first successful single in Europe.

The video features the couple from American Gothic trying to watch the Three Stooges with their daughter, despite constant interruptions from obvious stand-ins for Jerry Falwell and Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker.  I would never think of the American Gothic couple as being fans of Larry, Moe, and Curly but it goes to show that you never can tell.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Kids in America by Kim Wilde (1981, directed by Brian Grant)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Happy Independence Day, America!

For today’s music video of the day, we have Kim Wilde performing Kids in America.  This was her first single and one of two of Wilde’s singles to chart in the United States, the other one being her cover of The Supremes’s You Keep Me Hangin’ On.   (Wilde found more success in her home country, with 25 singles charting on the UK charts.) The song was written by Wilde’s father and her older brother, both of whom were fascinated by American youth culture.

The video, which finds Kim Wilde literally looking out a “dirty old window,” was directed by Brian Grant, who was one of the busiest music video directors of the 1980s.  He also did videos for The Human League, Squeeze, Queen, and Tina Turner.

Myself, I will always associate this song with stealing cars in Vice City.

The only thing better than stealing a golf cart is stealing a golf cart while listening to Kim Wilde sing Kids in America!

Enjoy!

MAD Magazine Is Shutting Down

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

I just heard from a friend of mine who is in a Facebook group with a MAD writer that, after the next two issues, MAD will no longer be publishing original material.  Instead, it’ll publish reprinted material until it’s subscription responsibilities are fulfilled and then the magazine will cease publication.

Obviously, MAD isn’t the cultural force that it once was but it’s still an American institution.  In a time when even having a sense of humor can be a subversive act, MAD will be missed.

From the Direct-To-Video Film Vault: Naked Obsession (1990, directed by Dan Golden)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Franklyn Carlysle (William Katt) is a fine, upstanding city councilman, with a rich wife (Wendy MacDonald) and a bright future.  Carlysle wants to be mayor and he’s come up with the perfect scheme.  He’s going to work with a developer to renovate Dante’s Square, the city’s notorious red light district.

One night, while Franklyn is driving through Dante’s Square, he’s carjacked.  Someone knocks him out before stealing both his car and his wallet.  When Franklyn comes to, he discovers that he’s being watched over by Sam Silver (played by Rick Dean).  Sam is apparently a homeless philosopher, who tells Franklyn that he’s been taking life too seriously and that sometimes, you just have to yell, “Fuck this shit!” at the top of your lungs.  When Franklyn asks where he can find a phone so he can call the cops, Sam leads Franklyn to the Yin Yang Club.  It’s there that Franklyn sees Lynne (Maria Ford), a dancer to whom he is immediately attracted.  Suddenly, his missing car and his stolen wallet no longer seem that important.  With his marriage already in trouble, Franklyn returns to the club the next night.

Franklyn soon discovers that Lynne has a thing for being choked during sex.  Even though Sam keeps telling him things like, “Nothing wrong with the dark – you spend half your life in it – trouble is, most people keep their eyes closed,” Franklyn is worried that his affair with Lynne will derail his mayoral ambitions.  However, when Lynne shows up dead, Franklyn finds himself dealing with a much bigger problem.  He’s now the number one suspect in her murder.  Things just get stranger as Franklyn discovers that he wasn’t the only one cheating, meets a masked, gun-wielding stripper, and discovers that Sam might not even be of this world.

William Katt and Rick Dean in Naked Obsession

It can be said, without fear of hyperbole, that Naked Obsession in the Citizen Kane of Roger Corman-Produced Straight-To-Video Maria Ford-Stripper movies.  This is largely due to the performance of the late, great Rick Dean in the role of Sam.  Sam’s not just just a homeless drunk with a motormouth.  As played by Dean, he’s a philosopher king and, the film hints, much more.  He comes across like an angel of the devil and he’s exactly what Franklyn Carlysle needs to liven up his too safe life.  Maria Ford, who specialized in playing troubled strippers in Roger Corman films, gives one of her best performances and, in the role of Franklyn’s secretary, Elena Sahagun, has some great scenes too.  Finally, William Katt classes up the joint, giving a real performance as Franklyn instead of just sleepwalking through the film.  Dan Golden’s direction emphasizes the surreal and, by the time the end credits roll, Naked Obsession will leave you wanting to spend a night or two at Dante’s Square.

Like so many classic films from the golden age of late night Cinemax. Naked Obsession has never been released on DVD or Blu-ray but it can be found on YouTube.

Music Video of the Day: Down by the Water by PJ Harvey (1995, directed by Maria Mochnacz)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

“It’s a song I didn’t want to put a label on too much, like this isn’t a song about some woman drowning her baby. To be quite honest, I don’t really know what it is for me, myself, yet – which I don’t mind because I’d much rather leave it for other people to do what they want with anyway.”

— PJ Harvey on Down By The Water

Despite the above quote, it is generally accepted that PJ Harvey’s Down By The Water is about a woman who drowned her baby and is now returning to the scene of the crime and asking for her baby to be returned.  According to Harvey, she has met both fans and critics who have assumed that the song must be autobiographical and that she’s singing about drowning her own child.

Speaking of drowning, that’s what came close to happening to PJ Harvey herself while she was shooting this video.  Made up to look like, as she herself put it, “Joan Crawford on acid,” Harvey was wearing a wig that proved to be so heavy that, when she went underwater, it was a struggle to resurface.

It proved to be worth the trouble, though.  The video was not only highly popular on MTV but it also helped to make a hit out of the song.  In fact, Down By The Water would prove to Harvey’s breakthrough hit in the United States.  Years after it’s initial release, the song continues to live on as a part of the soundtrack of countless investigative procedural crime dramas.

Enjoy!