Author Archives: Jedadiah Leland

Music Video of the Day: Yesterdays by Guns N’ Roses (1992, directed by Andy Morahan)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Yesterdays appeared on Use Your Illusion II and the video mixes pictures that were taken during the Use Your Illusion tour with black and white footage of the band performing in a warehouse.  Looking at the photographs, you can see both Izzy Stradlin and Steve Adler, who had left the band by the time the video was filmed.

Director Andy Morahan is one of those directors who worked with everyone in the 80s and 90s.  As I have mentioned elsewhere on this site, he directed Highlander III but he didn’t write it so don’t hold that against him.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: I’m The Man by Anthrax (1987, directed by ????)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

One of the first rap/metal songs, I’m The Man was originally meant to be a collaboration between Beastie Boys and Anthrax.  However, because the two bands could never work out their schedules, Anthrax ended up just doing the song on their own, with Frank Bello, Charlie Benante, and Scott Ian tying to do their best Beastie Boy impersonation.  Even though the band viewed the song as just being a joke between friends, it went on to become one of Anthrax’s most unexpected hits.

Most listeners will recognize a sample of Sam Kinison as the source of the song’s primal screams.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Finish What Ya Started by Van Halen (1989, directed by Andy Morahan)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Today’s music video of the day is one of the highlights of the Sammy Hagar era of Van Halen.  This song peaked at #2 on the Billboard rock chart and it was also used as the theme song for a Sidney, a short-lived sitcom starring Eddie Van Halen’s then-wife Valerie Bertinelli.

This video was directed by Andy Morahan, who was nominated for a Video Music Award for his work here.  Morahan also did videos for Wham, Kim Wilde, Simple Minds, Pet Shop Boys, and Guns ‘N Roses.  He also directed the third Highlander film but he didn’t write the script so don’t be too hard on him.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Burning House of Love by X (1986, directed by Daniel Kleinman)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Today’s music video of the day comes from the seminal Los Angeles punk band, X.  This video and song was a part of an effort to make X into a more “commercial” band.  Burning House of Love did receive some airplay on “mainstream” radio stations and the video was nominated for a Video Music Award but it still failed to bring X their commercial breakthrough.  It’s not a bad song, though.

The video was directed by Daniel Kleinman, a British music video director who also did videos for Madonna, Fleetwood Mac, and Adam Ant.  (Kleinman was also a member of the punk-era band, Bazooka Joe.)  In the 90s, Kleinman would be appointed title designer for the James Bond films, a position that he had filled for every film sine Goldeneye.

Enjoy!

Music Video Of The Day: Slang by Def Leppard (1996, directed by Nigel Dick)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Slang was the title track from Def Leppard’s sixth studio album.  The album had the misfortune to come out in 1996, when Grunge was still in full swing and Def Leppard’s style of arena rock had gone out of style.  It was Def Leppard’s first album to fail to achieve platinum status in the United States, though it was more successful in Europe.  Of the album’s tracks, the title track is the only one that is still regularly played in concert by the band.

The video for the song was filmed in Los Angeles, at Occidental Studios.  The video feels like a slicker version of the video for Rocket.  Jimmy Swaggart makes a cameo appearance, crying as he announces that he’s sinned.  This video was filmed 8 years after Swaggart’s infamous “I have sinned” speech and its inclusion here really does make Def Leppard seem like a band stuck in time. It’s still a rocking song, though.

This video was directed by Nigel Dick, who directed videos for everyone.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Somewhere Down The Crazy River by Robbie Robertson (1988, directed by Martin Scorsese)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Rest in Peace, Robbie Robertson.

This video was directed by Martin Scorsese, who was frequently described as being one of Robertson’s best friends.  (Robertson is also credited as having been the music supervisor for many of Scorsese’s films.)  This was Scorsese’s second music video to direct, following Michael Jackson’s Bad.

Appearing with Robertson in the video is Maria McKee, the singer who may best known for “If Love Is A Red Dress (Hang Me In Rags),” which appeared on the Pulp Fiction soundtrack.

Music Video of the Day: (Flesh & Blood) Sacrifice by Poison (1991, directed by Marty Callner)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

There some videos that you pick for video of the day because you really like the song or the band or even the director.  There are other videos that you pick because it’s midnight and you suddenly realize that you still haven’t picked one yet.  The videos that fall into the latter category usually feature competent bands in relatively simple performance clips.

(Flesh & Blood) Sacrifice was one of the singles come off of Poison’s third studio album, Flesh & Blood.  This album was the first part of Poison’s attempt to move away from their hair metal image and embrace more serious themes.  It turned out to be one of their best-selling albums, even though the band itself still found itself soon replaced on MTV by groups like Nirvana and Pearl Jam.

This music video was directed by Marty Callner, who was one of those directors who worked with just about everyone.  If you were famous, you worked with Marty Callner.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Inertia by Bruce Dickinson (1996, directed by Bruce Dickinson)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Today is Bruce Dickinson’s birthday so today’s music video of the day is not only for a song that Dickinson wrote and recorded but also for a video that Dickinson himself directed.  Inertia appears on Dickinson’s third solo album, 1996’s Skunkworks.  Though Inertia was not released as a single, it did get its very own music video.

Enjoy!