“Careful what you wish for” is a frequent horror theme. We all know that, when the monkey paw curls its finger, we might think it’s a positive thing but the opposite usually turned out to be true. Did you wish for someone in a box? Who wished for someone in a box?
This music video was one of the many Bad Omens videos directed by Orie McGinness, who has also done videos for Warbringer, Dayshell, Afterlife, Gideon, American Sin, and a host of others.
Enjoy!
In 1999, Fear Factory and Gary Numan teamed up to give a new spin to an 80s classic. This video plays more to the horror element of Numan’s song, which is something that I think is often overlooked.
John S. Bartley, the credited director, worked primarily as a cinematographer. Among the television series that he worked on: The X-Files, Bates Motel, iZombie, and Vikings. He also worked on the 2002 spider horror film, Eight-Legged Freaks.
Enjoy!
Odin was one of the many hair metal bands that tried to make it big in the 80s. They were a part of the same L.A. scene that launched everyone from Poison to Guns ‘N’ Roses to Mötley Crüe. Today, they are probably best-remembered for being prominently featured in the 1988 documentary, The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years. While bands like Poison and RATT and musicians like Ozzy Osbourne appeared in the documentary as battle-weary veterans, Odin was meant to represent the up-and-coming band that was on the verge of breaking through. This video came out a few years before Odin was featured in Decline.
Who directed this video? I’m not sure. I even resorted to asking Google A.I. Google A.I. replied with:
Mark Romanek is a pretty well-known director so if he started out his career directing videos for Odin, that would be a pretty big deal. However, every list of credits that I could find for Romanek online listed neither Odin nor this video. The video was released in 1985. Both Wikipedia and the IMDb list Romanek’s first music video as being 1986’s Sweet Bird of Truth by The The. I could be wrong but I’m 99.9% certain that Mark Romanek did not direct this video.
Odin never did break through and broke up shortly after the release of the documentary. (They may have gotten more screentime then most of the veterans but what most people remembered from that movie was Ozzy making breakfast and Chris Holmes drinking beer.) Maybe one reason they didn’t really break through is because, according to this video, their drummer could blow people up just by looking at them. It’s not a good idea to blow up your own fans.
Enjoy!
The nights are indeed about to crazy around here, with October approaching. In my office, over the next 31 days, this song will be playing in the background, a reminder to keep dancing until the month comes to an end.
Love and Rockets is definitely one of those 80s bands that should have been bigger than they were. Basically made up of every member of Bauhaus except for Peter Murphy, Love and Rockets was responsible for some of the best songs of the decade.
No New Tales To Tell is from their third studio album, Earth, Sun, Moon. Thanks to this music video, which was put in heavy rotation on MTV, the song did manage to reach number 18 on the U.S. charts. The video was directed by the very prolific Tony van den Ende and it features a few shots of the band in their Bubblemen costumes. (The Bubblemen were a side project for several members of the band. They performed while dressed as friendly bees.)
Enjoy!
For today’s song of the day, we have Chernobyl by Blanck Mass. This piece of music was used to haunting effect in 2014’s A Field In England.
This video was shot at Red Rocks in Denver, Colorado during U2’s tour supporting War. When they were a young group and before Bono’s messianic tendencies got the better of him, U2 were a rocking band who were responsible for some of the best songs of the 80s. Sunday Bloody Sunday was one of their signature songs and this video captures them at their best.
The song is meant to be a condemnation of the atrocities committed by both sides during The Troubles.
Enjoy!
With today’s song of the day, we continue our Bonnie and Clyde theme!
This song is from 1968 and was inspired by Arthur Penn’s classic crime film, Bonnie and Clyde. Oddly enough, this song insists that Bonnie and Clyde were from Savannah, Georgia when everyone knows that they were from my part of the world, North Texas. Then again, “Savannah” does sound a bit better when set to music than “West Dallas.”
Huey Lewis and the News were the epitome of a mid 1980s band. They worked hard and they made videos that celebrated having a good time. They were never as obnoxious or openly hedonistic as the hair bands of era but they were also out-of-place in the angst-filled 90s. But while everyone else continues to pay thousands to see Bruce Springsteen, Huey Lewis and the News will always be the blue collar bar band for me.
This video was directed by Jim Yuckich, who has directed videos for everyone.
Enjoy!
Through the Shattered Lens 