Since it’s Harvey Keitel’s birthday, it seems appropriate that today’s song of the day should come from the soundtrack of one of his best-known films.
Category Archives: Music Review
Music Video of the Day: Take My Breath Away by Berlin (1986, directed by Marcello Anciano)
Take My Breath Away was written by Giorgio Moroder and Tom Whitlock after the producers of Top Gun realized that they needed a romantic scene between Tom Cruise and Kelly McGillis and that they would need something other than Danger Zone to play during it.
The song was originally offered to The Motels but it was eventually recorded by Berlin. Like most of the soundtrack-related music videos of the 80s, the video for Take My Breath Away is a mix of clips from the film and clips of the band performing.
Enjoy!
Song of the Day: Next Big Thing by California Dreams
Oh, why not?
I feel like this has to be shared at least once a year. No matter how much change there is in the world, we’re always looking for the next big thing.
All together now …. he’s so funky!
Music Video of the Day: Armegeddon It by Def Leppard (1988, directed by Wayne Isham)
The theme of this video seems to be that Def Leppard is the band that has fun onstage and off!
This footage for this video was shot over the course of two shows at McNichols Arena in Denver, Colorado. Originally, the footage was going to be used for a future concert film but, when Armageddon It was released as a single, the band’s record label said that they needed a music video to accompany it and they needed it immediately. Since the band didn’t want to do another “concept video” (and really didn’t have time to come up with a concept in the first place), the Denver footage was hastily edited together.
The end result was that Armageddon It went on to the become the band’s fourth top ten hit in the United States.
Enjoy!
Song of the Day: The Twilight Zone Theme by Marius Constant
Technically, the French composer Marius Constant did not set out to write the theme song for The Twilight Zone. In the 50s, CBS commissioned Constant to compose a number of short pieces for CBS stock music library, basically as musical stingers that could be used for radio shows. In 1960, when The Twilight Zone needed a theme song, an enterprising CBS employee combined two of Constant’s composition to create the iconic Twilight Zone theme.
Enjoy our short but haunting song of the day.
Music Video of the Day: The Radiator by Getdown Services (2026, dir by JJ Jarman)
It’s always good fun until someone gets pushed down a flight of stairs.
That’s a lesson for us all.
Enjoy!
Song of the Day: My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue) by Neil Young
This is the song that gave it’s title to one of the best films ever made.
My my, hey hey
Rock and roll is here to stay
It’s better to burn out
Than to fade away
My my, hey hey.
Out of the blue
and into the black
They give you this,
but you pay for that
And once you’re gone,
you can never come back
When you’re out of the blue
and into the black.
The king is gone
but he’s not forgotten
This is the story
of a Johnny Rotten
It’s better to burn out
than it is to rust
The king is gone
but he’s not forgotten.
Hey hey, my my
Rock and roll can never die
There’s more to the picture
Than meets the eye.
Hey hey, my my.
Songwriters: Neil Young and Jeff Blackburn
Music Video of the Day: Mother 93 by Danzig (1993, directed by ????)
The above video was the second one for Mother, hence why it’s called Mother ’93. It features live footage of the band performing at the Irvine Meadows Amphitheater in California. At around the same time this video was in rotation on MTV, Glenn Danzig was invited to audition for the role of Wolverine in one of the early attempts to make an X-Men film. Danzig, who had the right look for the role, had to turn down the opportunity due to scheduling conflicts.
This video also inspired a classic line from Beavis and Butt-Head: “That little dance isn’t very cool.”
Enjoy!
Music Video of the Day: Wild Night by John Mellencamp, featuring Me’shell Ndegeocello (1994, directed by Jonathan Kaplan)
Today’s music video of the day is for John Mellencamp’s cover of Van Morrison’s Wild Night.
In 1994, the opening of this video was the most popular 40 seconds on MTV. I have traveled in a lot of taxi cabs and Ubers. I’ve been lucky enough to have some very good drivers but none of them appeared in the 1992 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. The driver, in this video, is played by Shana Zadrick, a model who was often compared to Cindy Crawford.
Back in 1994, if you enjoyed this video, you could go down to your friendly neighborhood Musicland (or Suncoast Motion Picture Company) and, for just $19.98, you could see even more of Shana in this commemorative video:
The other good thing about this video is that bassline, which was provided by Me’shell Ndegeocello. Wild Night was released at the same time that Ndegeocello had her biggest solo hit, If That’s Your Boyfriend (He Wasn’t Last Night).
This video was directed by Jonathan Kaplan. A former film school classmate of Martin Scorsese’s, Kaplan got his start directing films like Night Call Nurses and The Student Teachers for Roger Corman. He eventually became a mainstream film and television director. His most highly regarded film is probably 1988’s The Accused, for which Jodie Foster won her first Oscar.
Song of the Day: Revenge of the Ninja by Robert J. Walsh
Today’s song of the day comes to us from the soundtrack of the 1983 film, Revenge of the Ninja. Composed by Robert J. Walsh, this soundtrack will definitely leave you prepared to defeat all of your enemies, ninja-style!
(Actually, don’t try to do that without getting some training once. I speak with the experience who sprained her ankle multiple times as a result of trying to duplicated Kate Beckinsale’s Underworld moves.)
Through the Shattered Lens 