It is a dream? Is it a fantasy? Is it a mirage? Is it a vision of the future? Perhaps it’s all four.
I just know that it’s atmospheric and, by this point, everyone should know how much I love atmosphere.
Enjoy!
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. (Originally, the love scene wasn’t in the finished film but when test audiences said that they would like to see one, Cruise and McGillis were brought back to quickly shoot one. McGillis had dyed her hair for another film, which is why the scene itself is shot in silhouette.)
The song was originally offered to The Motels but it was eventually recorded by Berlin. (Terri Nunn, the lead singer of Berlin, was one of the contenders for the role of Princess Leia in Star Wars and would have been cast in the role if, for some reason, Carrie Fisher hadn’t worked out.) 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!
Music Video of the Day: Closer, covered by Robyn Adele Anderson (2020, dir by ????)
Why not get your week off to a good start with this cover of Nine Inch Nails’s Closer?
Enjoy!
Music Video Of The Day: Crackerbox Palace by George Harrison (1976, directed by Eric Idle)
Yes, this video was directed by Eric Idle of Monty Python fame. Idle appears in the video, as does Neil Innes. (Innes plays several roles, including the woman pushing the carriage at the start of the video.) This video was shot on the grounds of Harrison’s estate, Friar Park (which was also known as, you guessed it, Crackerbox Palace). The video made its debut on the November 20th, 1976 episode of Saturday Night Live. SNL, that week, was hosted by Paul Simon and featured both Simon and Harrison as the musical guests.
The name Crackerbox Palace was originally used as the name for the Los Angeles estate that was owned by Lord Buckley, a comedian who was admired by Harrison and whom it was felt that Harrison physically resembled. Harrison wrote the song after meeting Lord Buckley’s former manager, George Grief. Harrison also payed homage to Blazing Saddles in the song, repeating Madeline Khan’s famous line of “It’s twoo, it’s twoo” during the instrumental breaks.
This whimsical video reflects Harrison’s sense of humor (not to mention Idle’s). Harrison, with his reputation for being the spiritual Beatle, never seems to get enough attention for his sense of humor.
Enjoy!
Music Video Of The Day: Tommy Gun by The Clash (1978, directed by Don Letts)
“I was saying us rock ‘n’ rollers are all posers and egomaniacs, but we know that terrorists are as bad, or worse than we are. They definitely love to read their own press… I know they dedicate their life to a cause, but they’re always posing for pictures.”
— Joe Strummer, on Tommy Gun
It’s always hard for me to listen to The Clash without also thinking about the way that Johnny Lydon dismissed them as not being a real punk band. (Lydon was fond of pointing out that Strummer was a diplomat’s son and that he had previously been in a “pub band” before getting involved with punk scene.) Johnny may have had a point about The Clash never really being as working class as they claimed to be, though that didn’t stop him from collaborating with members of the band on a few projects after The Clash broke up. Still, I’ve always liked The Clash’s music.
Tommy Gun was the band’s take on international terrorism. When it was first released, there was some controversy over whether the band was pro-terrorism or anti-terrorism. As with many of The Clash’s songs, it could be read both ways. It was The Clash’s first top twenty hit in the UK, peaking at #19.
This video was one of the first of many to be directed by Don Letts. Some sources say that this was the first video that Letts shot for the band, though Lett’s video for The Clash’s White Riot was actually released before the video for Tommy Gun. I don’t know how true that is but I do know that Letts went on to direct several videos for both The Clash and Mick Jones’s Big Audio Dynamite.
Enjoy!
Music Video of the Day: Cool by Gwen Stefani (2005, dir. by Sophie Muller)
I ain’t no hollaback girl …. I ain’t no hollaback girl ….
Oh wait, wrong Gwen Stafani song. This one’s Cool too, though. In fact, that’s the name of the song! It’s all about how Gwen used to date this guy but they broke up but they’re still cool, as in they’re still friends. In this video, Gwen proves just how cool she is by inviting her ex and his now lover to her Italian villa.
This video was filmed at Lake Como, Italy and the main reason I like it is because I like Italy and watching a video like this reminds me of how much I want to go back and visit Italy. That was kind of the plan for the second half of this year but then the COVID-19 panic hit and upended everything.
By the way, are we still doing the quarantine thing? It’s hard to keep track. I know that two weeks ago, people were threatening to throw me up against the wall for wanting to go outside. Now, they want to do the same thing because I don’t want to go out. Personally, I just want to know that I can safely travel to Italy.
Anyway, enjoy this video and hopefully, we’ll all get to travel again at some point in the near future!
Music Video Of The Day: Dangerous by Olivia Krash (2016, dir by ????)
This video features Olivia Krash covering one of my favorite songs, Big Data’s Dangerous!
Covers are always interesting. I like covers when they bring something new to the song and I think that Olivia Krash definitely does that with her version of Dangerous. Her version is a bit less paranoid than the original version that was performed by Big Data and Joywave. It takes an anthem to suspicion and turns it into a party song and there’s nothing wrong with that. In the future, all parties will be paranoid. Really, they already should be. I remember there was a Brinks Home Security commercial that featured a woman throwing a house warming party and discovering, to her surprise, that she didn’t know one of the guests. His name was AJ and later, he broke into her house. If she had been properly paranoid, she would have said, “Hey, what’s the stranger doing at my party!?” Instead, she was just like, “Who’s that? I don’t know him! Ha ha!” It’s not so funny once you’ve got a broken window that you’re going to have to pay to get repaired, is it?
My least favorite covers, by the way, are the ones that sound like duplicates of the original. I mean, what’s the point? I’m also not a fan of extremely overdramatic cover versions. For instance, there used to be a WGU commercial that featured the most over-the-top version of The Times They Are A Changing that I had ever heard and it was so terrible that I always had to hit mute whenever I came across that commercial. I’m also not a huge fan of the song Amazing Grace, largely because everyone who sings it always seems like they’re on the verge of tears and that’s just not fun to watch. Plus, I just take issue with any song that requires me to describe myself as being a wretch. I mean, I like songs that make me feel confident, y’know? Calling myself a wretch would be the exact opposite of that.
Enjoy!
Music Video Of The Day: I Hate Everything About You by Three Days Grace (2003, dir by Steve Gainer)
Back when we were both in college, my friend Evelyn and I would often greet each other by loudly exclaiming, “I hate everything about you!” That always got us a few weird looks but you have to understand that, at the time, we were both making a point about avoiding easy sentiment and …. well, we also liked getting weird looks because we felt like that was a sign that we were bringing down the establishment in some sort of way. That may sound silly now and, to be honest, it sounded silly back then. But still, we had fun and that’s the important thing.
Anyway, I Hate Everything About You is one of those songs that’s really appealing when you’re trying to be a rebel and you want the world to know how pissed off and disillusioned you are. At the same time, it’s also a song that lends itself to all sorts of parody. (Who knows how many people sang, “I. Ate. Everything. About. You!” back in the day?) It’s a catchy song. You can kind of dance to it. You can play it really loud when you’re trying to freak out your mom. The lyrics are fun to write inside your diary whenever you’ve had a bad day.
The music video features three people who hate everything about someone else. One guy is being cheated upon by his girlfriend. One girl is going out with the type of smirkey douchebag who has been killed in countless Lifetime films. Another teenager has to deal with an abusive father. They all go to a hill where they destroy stuff. It’s kind of like how you’re supposed to set your lover’s pictures on fire if you break up. Personally, I say keep the pictures and get a voodoo doll. Just a few pokes from a sharp pin and you’ll have all the revenge you want! And you won’t have to go to some ugly old hill either. Voodoo is a revenge that you can practice from the safety of your own bedroom. Voodo? You do!
The music video was directed by Scott Winig. The cinematography was done by Steve Gainer, who was also one of the credited cinematographers on Movie 43. I mean, goddamn, you want to talk about hate.
Anyway, I hope that you’re not hating anyone right now. I used to hate my neighbor because his dogs were always barking but then I remembered that karma is harsh and unforgiving. This is indeed a disturbing universe, one that is perhaps ruled by the blind and dumb Azathoth.
Just a reminder: In his house at R’lyeh, dead Cthulhu waits dreaming.
Enjoy!
Music Video of The Day: Where Have All The Cowboys Gone? by Paula Cole (1997, dir. by Caitlin Fenton)
If you’re wondering where all the cowboys have gone, you’re not alone. I wonder that too whenever I see a video of some vegan freaking out over having to kill a spider. Where have all the cowboys gone? They’re probably working on a ranch and too busy to get on social media. The world may be changing but men who ride bulls are still way more appealing than men who beg for retweets.
This song is actually about a break-up. The singer has broken up with her boyfriend and now she’s wondering where all the cowboys have gone. In the video, she’s singing about it in a dead forest. Maybe that’s the problem. She’s looking for cowboys but she’s hanging out on the set of a horror movie. You’re not going to find many cowboys there. Stop hanging out in the forest and get down to Fort Worth for the stock show.
I’m glad the Dallas Cowboys never tried to make this their official song.
Music Video Of The Day: Cry by Mandy Moore (2001, dir. by Chris Applebaum)
This song is from A Walk To Remember, which was Mandy Moore’s biggest starring role until she got cast on This Is Us. If you haven’t seen A Walk To Remember, Mandy Moore plays a girl who marries Shane West but then dies a year later.
I guess this video is a sequel because now Mandy Moore is singing to Shane West from Heaven while Shane watches old home movies of him and Mandy goofing off between filming their scenes. Shane uses a telescope and discovers that he can see Mandy in Heaven and Mandy looks really happy. Then Shane goes into the city and is reminded that his romance with Mandy was just a part of a movie. I don’t know if that’s a happy ending or not.
Through the Shattered Lens 