Oh, New York. Best of luck to you.
Today’s song of the day comes from the soundtrack of 1973’s Black Caesar. Here is James Brown with Down & Out In New York City.
Category Archives: Music Review
Music Video of the Day: Give To Live by Sammy Hagar (1987, directed by Gil Bettman)
This music video is one of Sammy Hagar’s best. It shows how big deal MTV was in 1987 that Mark Goodman appeared as himself to introduce the video. The message of the video seems to be that happy couples watch Sammy Hagar together.
Director Gill Bettman was primarily a television director but he also directed a few videos from Hagar and Chicago.
Eddie Van Halen plays bass in this song. In fact, Eddie played bass for the entire album, I Never Said Goodbye.
Enjoy!
Music Video of the Day: A Lil’ Ain’t Enough by David Lee Roth (1991, directed by ????)
Love him or hate him, no one better epitomized an era than David Lee Roth. There’s no one else like him and regardless of how he may sound or look now, he was one of the greatest frontmen in the history of rock and roll.
There’s no director credited for this video. Peter Angelus seems like a good guess.
Enjoy!
Music Video of the Day: Headache by Frank Black (1994, directed by Adam Bernstein)
This song of comes from Frank Black’s second solo album, Teenager of The Year. Frank Black, of course, is better known as Black Francis, the lead singer of the Pixies. His real name is Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV and he’s one of the most important musicians of the last 40 years.
This video was directed by Adam Bernstein, who also worked with They Might Be Giants.
Enjoy!
Music Video of the Day: Taxman, performed by George Harrison and Eric Clapton (1991, directed by ????)
Today is Tax Day here in the States so this music video of the day feels especially appropriate.
George Harrison originally wrote this song in 1966. It appeared on Revolver. The song was inspired by the fact that, even tough the Beatles were making a huge amount of money, they were also expected to give a huge amount of that money to the government. Harrison said that the music was inspired by the theme song for the Batman TV series and once you learn that, it’s impossible to listen to this song without thinking, “Batman!”
Enjoy!
Music Video of the Day: Birdhouse Of Your Soul by They Might Be Giants (1989, directed by Adam Bernstein)
This is one of the best-known of They Might Be Giants’s songs. Though the song was released first, it also appeared on their 1990 album, Flood.
Director Adam Bernstein was a frequent They Might Be Giants collaborator. He also directed music videos for everyone from Public Enemy to Dead Milkmen to BareNaked Ladies and Sir Mix-A-Lot. He’s also a television director, having won an Emmy for his work on Fargo.
Enjoy!
Song of the Day: Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door by Bob Dylan
This is a song that means a lot to me.
Music Video of the Day: The Deeper The Love (1989, directed by Marty Callner)
This is a historically-important video. It’s the final Whitesnake video to feature Tawny Kitaen. After the video, it was all downhill for Whitesnake as far as much videos were concerned. It turns out that people weren’t watching them because they wanted to see David Coverdale’s hair.
Marty Callner should be a familiar name by now. He was one of those music video directors who worked with everyone who was anyone.
Enjoy!
Song of the Day: In A Gadda Da Vida by Iron Butterfly
If you’ve seen 1986’s Manhunter, it’s hard not to think of this song when it comes to appreciating the great Tom Noonan.
Music Video of the Day: Still of the Night by Whitesnake (1987, directed by Marty Callner)
Originally, this video was going to feature Claudia Schiffer but, when Schiffer had to withdraw at the last minute, director Marty Callner suggested using David Coverdale’s then-girlfriend, Tawny Kitaean, instead. This was the first of four Whitesnake videos that would feature Kitaen. It’s also one of the reasons why my generation has a weakness for redheads.
Marty Callner was one of those directors who worked with everyone who was anyone. If you had a successful band in the 80s, there’s a good chance that Marty Callner directed at least one of your videos. Unfortunately, you weren’t dating Tawny Kitaen so your video was not a hit on MTV.
Enjoy!
Through the Shattered Lens 