Author Archives: Jedadiah Leland

Music Video of the Year: Can’t Turn Back The Years by Phil Collins (1994, directed by Jim Yukich)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Can’t Turn Back The Years is found on Phil Collins’s fifth solo studio album, Both Sides.  Like much of Collins’s output, Both Sides received lukewarm reviews when it was initially released but it has since been reevaluated.

The music video was directed by Jim Yukich, who is one of those directors who seems to have directed a video for everyone.  If you have ever had a hit song or top-selling album, Jim Yukich probably directed a music video for you.  He directed a lot of videos for both Genesis and Phil Collins as a solo act.  But Yukich also directed videos for everyone from Iron Maiden to David Bowie, Michael Jackson, Huey Lewis, David Hasselhoff, and Debbie Gibson.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Gloria by U2 (1981, directed by Meiert Avis)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Gloria was the second single to be released off of U2’s second album, October.  It was one of their lowest-charting early singles but the music video for the song was also the first U2 music video to receive heavy airplay on MTV.  Given U2’s later reputation, its interesting to see how straight-forward and unpretentious their early videos could be.

This video was filmed in October 1981 on a barge in Grand Canal Dock in Dublin near Windmill Lane.  Director Meiert Avis has worked with just about everyone.  If your band was popular, Meiert Avis probably directed at least one video for you.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Sad But True by Metallica (1992, directed by Wayne Isham)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

In today’s music video of the day, Metallica takes on the blind faith that people have in their religious beliefs.  James Hetfield has said that he got the idea from watching Magic, a movie about a ventriloquist (played by Anthony Hopkins) who believes that his puppet is alive.  Both Jason Newsted and Lars Ulrich have stated that this song was their favorite from their self-titled, fifth studio album.

The music video was filmed in San Diego in January of 1992.  It was directed by frequent Metallica collaborator, Wayne Isham.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: My Life by Billy Joel (1978, directed by Steve Cohen)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

This is one of Billy Joel’s best-known songs.  For people who grew up at the right time, it will always be remembered as the theme song from Bosom Buddies.  (Unfortunately, due to licensing issues, the song does not appear on the show’s DVD release and it has recently been removed by syndicated airings.  All ten of Bosom Buddies‘s fans were very disappointed.)  In the background of this song, you can hear Chicago’s Peter Cetera and Donnie Dacus contributing backing vocals.

This video was directed by Steve Cohen, who directed several videos for Billy Joel in the late 70s and the early 80s.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Many Too Many by Genesis (1978, directed by Ken O’Neill)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

The video for this Tony Banks-penned song was shot during a soundcheck at the Knebworth Festival on June 24th, 1978.  The audio was a replay of the studio version of the song, with the band miming the performance.  Despite having a music video, Many Too Many only made it the 43rd position on the UK charts and it is one of the few Genesis songs that has never been performed in concert.

Along with his work with Genesis, director Ken O’Neill also did videos for The Smiths and Elton John.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: I Get Excited by Rick Springfield (1982, directed by ????)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Rick Springfield’s performance in this video confirms that he was excited and he wanted to make sure that everyone knew it.  This is the type of video that was very popular in the early days of MTV, where the emphasis was on both the musicianship on the band and the number of people willing to pay money to see them perform.  Watch the audience get excited as Rick points at his drummer.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Girl, You’ll Be A Woman Soon by Urge Overkill (1994, directed by Drew Carolan)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Rest in peace, Blackie Onassis.  Onassis joined Urge Overkill as their drummer in 1991 and he played with the band until their first break-up in 1997.  He was the drummer who played on their cover version of Neil Diamond’s Girl, You’ll Be A Woman Soon.  The song became a hit for the band when it was featured in Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction and, even today, hearing it brings to mind memories of Uma Thurman as Mia Wallace.

Though Onassis would collaborate with Urge Overkill’s Nash Kato on the latter’s 2000 solo album, Onassis was not a part of the band when it reformed in 2004.  Instead, Onassis largely stayed out of the public eye, with the band announcing his death yesterday.

The video for Girl, You’ll Be A Woman Soon mixes clips from Pulp Fiction with clips of the band performing the song at the type of establishment that would probably be frequented by Tarantino’s characters.  In a 1992 interview with Spin Magazine, Onassis said that the mission of Urge Overkill was to “resurrect the era of the swinger” and that describes the feel of this video.

Director Drew Carolan also directed the video for Living  Color’s Cult of Personality and The Mighty Might Bosstones’s Don’t Know How to Party.

RIP, Blackie Onassis.

Music Video of the Day: I Found Somebody by Glenn Frey (1982, directed by ????)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

What if Glenn Frey never joined the Eagles and became a superstar before pursuing even more success as a solo artist?

This video imagines that Glenn would have been the type of talented bar musician who had his fans but who was still able to sit down and have a drink in peace between performances.  In this video, Glenn finds somebody at the bar and they leave together.  It’s a simple video that probably made a lot of 1982 teens wish they had a job singing at a bar.

This song originally appeared on Glenn’s debut solo album, No Fun Aloud.  Despite the title, this album was all about mellow fun in the California sun.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Boat on the River by Styx (1979, directed by ????)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

It’s a funny story.  My first choice for today’s music video of the day was I’m Just A Singer (In A Rock And Roll Band) by the Moody Blues.  I wrote up a long and in-depth post about the history of the song, the history of the Moody Blues, and the history of the video.  It was the type of post that I would hope to be remembered for.

Then I discovered that I had already featured the video in 2020.  

With a deadline looming and not much time to find something new, I did what I think anyone would have done in my situation.  I grabbed the first Styx video I could find.

This simple video is for Styx’s song Boat on the River.  Boat on the River appeared on Styx’s 9th album, Cornerstone.  It was only released as a single in Europe, where it proved to be very popular in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.  Like many of the music videos that were made in the days before MTV, the video for Boat On The River is a performance clip, with the emphasis less on what the song is about and more about the musicianship of Styx as a group.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Jailbreak by AC/DC (1977, directed by Paul Drane)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

The music video for AC/DC’s Jailbreak was filmed for the Australian musical program, Countdown.  This was in the years before MTV, when music videos were still a rare thing and there certainly weren’t any channels or streaming sites dedicated to showing them.  The video was filmed in Albion, a suburb of Melbourne.  Bon Scott, Phil Rudd, and Angus Young all played prisoners.  Malcolm Young and Mark Evans played the guards who, during the attempted jailbreak, shoot Bon Scott dead.

At the time, this video was controversial for its use of violent imagery.  It is considered to be the first music video to make use of fake blood and explosions.

The video’s director, Paul Drane, was also the director of Countdown.  In the United States, his best known work is a television special that he directed about Nostradamus which was re-edited and released theatrically as The Man Who Saw Tomorrow.

Enjoy!