Category Archives: Music Review

Song of the Day: Lo and Behold, covered by Marjoe Gortner

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

It’s Marjoe Gortner’s birthday!

Marjoe Gortner is a former child evangelist who had a long career as an actor in films, usually playing sinister characters.  His most-seen film was probably Earthquake.  My favorite Marjoe film is Starcrash.  That said, Marjoe’s best performance was probably as himself in the candid documentary, Marjoe.  The Oscar-winning film featured a look behind the scenes of the religious revival industry, with Marjoe as an amoral tour guide who discussed how he didn’t believe what he was preaching and who had basically been forced into the business by his parents.  Marjoe described how every word he preached was calculated to inspire people to donate more money to his ministry.  Marjoe described himself as being “bad but not evil.”

In 1972, Marjoe recorded an album called, after his famous documentary quote, Bad But Not Evil.  Today’s song of the day is Marjoe Gortner covering Bob Dylan’s Lo and Behold on that album.

I pulled out for San Anton’I never felt so goodMy woman said she’d meet me thereAnd of course, I knew she would
The coachman, he hit me for my hookAnd he asked me my nameI give it to him right awayThen I hung my head in shame
Lo and behold! Lo and behold!Looking for my lo and beholdGet me outta here, my dear man
I come into PittsburghAt 6:30 flatI found myself a vacant seatAnd I put down my hat
“What’s the matter, Molly, dear?What’s the matter with your mound?”“What’s it to ya, Moby Dick?This is chicken town!”
Lo and behold! Lo and behold!Looking for my lo and beholdGet me outta here, my dear man
I bought myself a herd of mooseOne she could call her ownWell, she came out the very next dayTo see where they had flown
I’m going down to TennesseeGet me a truck or somethingGonna save my money and rip it up
Lo and behold! Lo and behold!Looking for my lo and beholdGet me outta here, my dear man
Now, I come in on a Ferris wheelAnd boys, I sure was slickI come in like a ton of bricksLaid a few tricks on them
Going back to PittsburghCount up to 30Round that horn and ride that herdGonna thread up
Lo and behold! Lo and behold!Looking for my lo and beholdGet me outta here, my dear man

Music Video of the Day: Going Back To Cali by LL Cool J (1988, directed by Rick Menello)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Today is LL Cool J’s birthday.

Going Back to Cali was a song that originally appeared on the Less Than Zero soundtrack.  Supposedly, the song is as much about producer Rick Rubin’s ambivalence towards Los Angeles as it is about LL Cool J’s feelings towards the city.

The video was directed by Ric Menello, who best-known for his work with the Beastie Brothers and for his later collaborations with director James Gray.  One of the dancers is MTV VJ Martha Quinn, who was dating the video’s cinematographer at the time.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: The Golden Path by The Chemical Brothers, featuring Wayne Coyne (2003, dir by Chris Milk)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today, the Shattered Lens wishes a happy birthday to the Flaming Lips’s Wayne Coyne!  Our music video of the day is for The Golden Path, his classic collaboration with The Chemical Brothers.

That is Fran Kranz, who acted in The Cabin In The Woods and who directed the brilliant Mass, playing the lead character.

Enjoy!

Song of the Day: Every Breath You Take vs The Theme From Peter Gunn

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

I was thinking of re-binging The Sopranos next month and that led to me remembering this totally awesome bit of music from the show’s third season premiere!

Music Video of the Day: Touch of Grey by Grateful Dead (1987, directed by Gary Gutierrez)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Rest in Peace to Bob Weir.  A founding member of the Grateful Dead, Weir passed away yesterday at the age of 78.

Today’s music video of the day was also the Grateful Dead’s first.  Touch of Grey introduced the Dead to the MTV generation and caused a notable rise in the band’s popularity.  The shots of the audience were taken from a Dead show in Monterey, California.  The scenes with marionettes were filmed at Laguna Seca Raceway.  Director Gary Gutierrez was a longtime associate of the band who had previously created the animation sequences for The Grateful Dead Movie.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: One More Time by Rod Stewart (2021, directed by ????)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Today is Rod Stewart’s 81st  birthday and today’s music video of the day is One More Time, taken from his 32nd studio album, The Tears of Hercules.  Appearing with Stewart in this video are his actual backup singers, Amanda Miller, Holly Brewer, and Becca Kotte.

Rod Stewart holds the record for being the artist featured most frequently during MTV’s first day of broadcast.  On August 1st, 1981, MTV featured eleven of his videos.

Enjoy!