Category Archives: music video

Music Video Of The Day: Pop Muzik by M. (1979, directed by Brian Grant)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

 Pop Muzik, which was written from the perspective of a DJ, was arguably the first new wave hit and this music video was extremely popular during the early years of MTV.  The video was the first to be directed by Brian Grant, who was a BBC producer at the time.  Working with a £2000 budget, Grant created a video that was revolutionary for the time.  (In the late 70s, music videos were mostly just straight performance clips.)  The success of Pop Muzik led to Grant becoming one of the busiest music video directors around.  Grant went on to direct videos for The Human League, The Fixx, Squeeze, Duran Duran, and many others.  If you were a New Wave group, Brian Grant probably directed at least one video for you.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: And We Danced by The Hooters (1985, directed by ????)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Today’s music video of the day comes to us from The Hooters, a Philadelphia-based band whose sound will always be identified with the mid-80s.  And We Danced is their biggest hit to date.  It’s certainly the one that most people think of if they think about The Hooters.

This music video, which was hugely popular back when MTV played music videos, was shot at a drive-in theater in Exton, Pennsylvania in the summer of 1985.  Unfortunately, the theater has since been torn down but, in a sense, it will exist forever because of this music video.  The video itself was nominated for a Best New Artist award at the MTV Music Video awards but it lost to Take Me On by a-ha.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: No More Tears by Ozzy Osbourne (1991, directed by Ralph Ziman)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

This song, which Ozzy said was actually about a serial killer, was the title track from Osbourne’s 6th solo album.  The video was directed by Ralph Ziman, who also did videos for Vanessa Williams, Toni Braxton, Alice Cooper, L.A. Gun, and Faith No More.

The little girl at the end of the video is Kelly Osbourne. 

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Beautiful Girl by INXS (1992, directed by Mark Pellington)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Supposedly, this song was written about a runaway that Michael Hutchence had befriended and who he wanted to protect in a platonic way.  However, when the song was released in the United States, it was selected to be the theme song of an eating disorder awareness campaign and the music video, directed by Mark Pellington, reflects that.

Mark Pellington, of course, should be a familiar name.  He directed music videos for just about everyone was relevant in the 90s.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Beautiful Dangerous by Slash, featuring Fergie (2010, directed by Rich Lee)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Today’s music video of the day is for the third single to be release from Slash’s self-titled debut solo album.  Slash told The Sun that this song began as a piece of music that he wrote as “a score for a scene in a strip club” and he decided to have Fergie provide vocals after hearing her cover Heart’s Barracuda.

The video features Fergie as an obsessed fan of Slash’s who apparently ends up killing him.  Slash said that the idea for the video came from Fergie herself.  The video was directed by Rich Lee, who has also done several videos for The Black-Eyed Peas, Eminem, Lana del Rey, and others.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Couple Days Off by Huey Lewis and the News (1991, directed by Jim Yukich)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Everyone needs a couple of days off, even Huey Lewis and the News!

This song was the final single from Huey to chart in the Billboard Top 20.  For better or worse (I would say “better”), Huey Lewis and the News were the epitome of a mid 80s band.  They worked hard and they made videos that celebrated having a good time.  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!

Music Video of the Day: Don’t Stand So Close To Me by The Police (1980, directed by Derek Burbidge)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Because Sting was famously a teacher before he became a rock star, it’s easy to assume that this song, about a teacher tempted to have an affair with a student, was autobiographical. Sting insists that it was not, beyond that it was somewhat inspired by the groupies who were, at that time, crazy about The Police.

This video was directed by Derek Burbidge, who also directed several videos for bands like AC/DC, Squeeze, Queen, Gary Numan, The Eurythmics, and Stray Cats. In the early 80s, if you were a successful band looking to get some extra exposure on MTV, it’s extremely probable that Burbidge would have ended up directing a video for you.

Enjoy!