In 1980, Bauhaus covered Mac Bolan’s tribute to his drug dealer, Telegam Sam. Of course, they added their own unique spin to the song. The music video finds them apparently locked away in a boiler room. While the band plays, Peter Murphy dances through the room while dressed up as the contortionist from The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Hopefully, Telegram Sam will get everyone out in time to record the first Love & Records album.
Enjoy!
This music video for the classic Def Leppard song was filmed in Ireland, outside of Dublin. The scenes inside the factory were filmed at Jacob’s Biscuit Factory and such a blue collar location feels just right for a hard-working band like Def Leppard.
David Mallett was one of those directors who worked with basically everyone at least once. If you were in any way a star, David Mallett probably did at least one video for you.
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The Reaper is busy in today’s music video of the day. The Reaper collects souls, many of whom are friends and family of the members of Bones Thug-n-Harmony and takes them to the mountaintop. Everyone’s entering the afterlife with Eazy-E.
I remember this video was huge for a while in 1996. You could not turn on MTV without seeing Eazy-E ascending into the afterlife. (Once I learned that Bone Thugs-n-Harmony were proteges of Eazy-E’s and signed to his label, Eazy’s inclusion in this video made much more sense.) At the Video Music Awards, Tha Crossroads was nominated for Best Rap Video but lost to Coolio’s Gangsta’s Paradise.
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Metallica burns the stage with today’s music video of the day. You Must Burn! is one of the many songs to be found on Metallica’s 11th studio album, 72 Seasons. This song (and this album) finds Metallica playing with a new-found intensity while James Hetfield releases some of his most introspective and troubled lyrics to date. It’s a good return to form.
The video was directed by Timothy Saccenti, who did several of the other 72 Seasons videos as well.
Enjoy!
Filmed at a time when there was widespread rioting happening in not just London but all across Europe, the video for Ghost Town features the Specials driving around London and looking at a once bustling city that appears to now be a deserted ghost town. Much as with The Clash’s London Calling, the overall theme here seems to be that London is drowning and everyone lives by the river. According the band’s bassist, the car was borrowed and the original owner was not happy when he discovered that the camera used to shoot the scenes of London had also scratched up the side of the car.
Barney Bubbles was a graphic artist who also branched out into shooting music videos. Before his tragically early death at the age of 41 in 1983, Bubbles did videos for not only The Specials but also for Elvis Costello and Fun Boy Three.
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Like almost all of the songs that Lindsey Buckingham has done as either a solo artist or a member of Fleetwood Mac, Go Insane was inspired by Buckingham’s tumultuous relationship and break-up with Stevie Nicks. In this case, the song was about how, in order to work with Nicks as a member of Fleetwood Mac, Buckingham had to compartemetalize or even ignore his mixed feelings about the other members of the band.
The video interprets this as literally entering a mirror and discovering what’s on the other side. The effects seem simple today but, when this video first came out, they were impressive enough to land Go Insane a nomination for the MTV Video Music Award for Best Visual Effects.
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Mirror People was one of the singles to be released off of Love and Rockets’s third studio album, Earth, Sun, Moon. The video looks like something that Dr. Caligari would have filmed if he had been a music aficionado.
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How many soundtracks has this classic song appeared on? Probably not enough. This video of a 1978 performance is as close to an “official” video as this song every got. If the song had been released just a few years later, it probably would have had a video that would have become an MTV mainstay.
Enjoy!
Lightning Strikes was one of Aerosmith’s first videos to be created for MTV. (It was also their only single to chart during the Jimmy Crespo years.) The video switches back and forth from Aerosmith performing in a club and Aerosmith in a hallway, about to go to battle with a bunch melons.
Director Arnold Levine also directed the video for Aerosmith’s Chiquita, as well as videos for Cheap Trick and REO Speedwagon.
Enjoy!
Through the Shattered Lens