Category Archives: music video

Music Video Of The Day: Dear Prudence, covered by Siouxsie and The Banshees (1983, dir by Tim Pope)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Happy birthday, Erin Nicole!

To be honest, the main reason that I picked this for today’s music video of the day is because Erin and I both love this song and it’s one that we’ve both listened to several times of the past few months.  (When you’re basically stuck inside for the majority of the year, you really do come to appreciate good music.)  Add to that, this song always makes me think of my sister, even if she isn’t listening to it with me.  The sun is beautiful and so is she. As I always say, one of the best things about being involved with TSL is that I get to work with my sister.   She’s always been there for me.  She’s always put up with me, even when I was at my worse.  I don’t know where I’d be without her.

This, of course, is a cover of a Beatles song.  If you think you spotted The Cure’s Robert Smith in this video, you are correct.  At the time this song was recorded (and this video made), Robert Smith was temporarily a member of the band.  This video was filmed in Venice, which is a wonderful city that I hope I get to once again visit with everyone who I care about.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: The Sun & the Rain (1983, directed by ????)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

This is a very British video but then again, Madness is a very British band.

They are also a very underrated band, even in the UK where they’ve been consistently popular since before I was born.  Because the members of Madness often seemed to be having so much fun playing around in their videos and their performances, it was often overlooked just how musically gifted they actually were.  Though the video may feature all of the usual silliness that people had come to expect from Madness, the lyrics of the song are anything but silly.

I have not been able to find a credited director for this video.  Even at the imdb, no one is credited.  I do know that most of Madness’s videos from the early 80s were directed by Dave Robinson and this video looks like his work.  But, until I know for sure, this video was directed by the four question marks.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Everybody Here Hates You by Courtney Barnett (2020, dir by Danny Cohen)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Oh hell yeah!  That’s more of a reaction to the sound of the song than to the song’s message, which is kind of depressing.

Seriously, we all know the feeling, right?  Judging from this video, Courtney is actually inside of someone’s brain and reminding them that everybody here hates them.  Everyone has felt that way at some point in their life.  Of course, to be honest, I’d rather be disliked than unknown or ignored.  Of course, I’d rather be loved than disliked.  I want people to be scared of how much they love me.

Anyway, this is a good song and a good video and it’ll get stuck in your head and you’ll hear it every time you start to feel insecure about something.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Metal Head by Blotto (1982, directed by ????)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Could this video be more 80s?

Blotto followed up the success of I Wanna Be A Lifeguard with this song, which poked fun at the heavy metal bands that were, at that time, popular on MTV.  In the video, lead singer Sarge Blotto finds himself turning into a metal head, which means wearing a bandana and a denim jacket and owning a van.  I wonder how MTV felt about this video, which was essentially a good-natured parody of everything that the channel was about in the 80s.

Hailing form Albany, New York, Blotto was a band that never quite hit it big despite having a fervent cult following.  An oft-repeated story about the band is that they turned down a major recording contract because they would have had to surrender creative control of their music.  Instead, they released their own albums on Blotto Records, which meant less exposure but also more freedom to record what they wanted.  Today, a band like Blotto can take their music directly to the people on any number of platforms but, in the early 80s, signing with a major label was the only way to get national exposure.

Blotto disbanded in 1984, though they have occasionally reunited over the years.  Unfortunately, Sarge Blotto died on April 10th, 2019.  In real life, Sarge Blotto was named Greg Haymes and was a widely respected music journalist.

RIP, Sarge.

Music Video of the Day: Tomorrow’s (Just Another Day) by Madness (1983, directed by Dave Robinson)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Tomorrow’s (Just Another Day) appeared on Madness’s fourth album, The Rise & Fall.  It spent 9 weeks on the British charts, peaking at #8.  Like a lot of Madness songs, it didn’t get as much play in the United States as it did in the UK.  In fact, in the States, Madness was often incorrectly described as being a one-hit wonder by people who were only familiar with Our House.  In fact, Madness is one of the most successful and popular bands to come out of the UK and they’re still performing with six of the seven members of the original line-up.  When you consider the number of line-up changes that most bands go through, that’s more than a little amazing.

Tomorrow’s (Just Another Day) opens with a scene that feels like vintage Madness as two end-of-the-world prophets confront each other on a street corner.  It then segues into several different scenes.  Madness is in jail.  Suggs is trying to get into his house.  At one point, it appears that band is in danger of turning into Alex and his Droogs from A Clockwork Orange.  Suggs has said that, “Madness videos were seven extroverts all mucking about trying to outdo each other,” and that is a good description of what’s going on in a video like this one.

This video was directed by Dave Robinson, who directed several videos for the band.

Enjoy!