Music Video of the Day: On A Wicked Night by Danzig (2010, directed by Glenn Danzig)


October is a good month for Danzig.  In this music video, Glenn Danzig gets back to nature.  Say what you will about Danzig because his music isn’t necessarily for everyone.  But Danzig could easily shove much of today’s wimpy rockers into a locker.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: A Touch of Evil by Judas Priest (1990, directed by Wayne Isham)


Though Rob Halford has said that the lyrics are actually a metaphorical look at a love/hate relationship, both this song and the accompanying video are usually said to be about demonic possession.

This video was directed by Wayne Isham, who is another one of those directors who seems to have done at least one video for every single successful band out there.

Enjoy!

Music Video of The Day: Stratego by Iron Maiden (2021, directed by Gustaf Holtenas)


This song is off of Iron Maiden’s 17th studio album, 2021’s Senjutsu.  Directed by Swedish animator Gustaf Holtenäs, the epic music video for Stratego imagines an battle in ancient Japan.  Thematically and visually, it goes along with the cover of the album, which featured Eddie dressed as a samurai and holding a katana.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: And Fools Shine On by Brother Cane (1995, directed by ????)


Brother Cane’s And Fools Shine On is best-known for appearing on the soundtrack of Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers.  No matter what else people say about that movie, the general consensus seems to be that at least the music was good.

The video is slightly horror-themed, though Michael Myers doesn’t show up.  Instead, the video feels like an homage to the expressionistic cinema of F.W. Munrau and Fritz Lang, as if someone tried to combine Nosferatu with Metropolis.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: It’s Me by Alice Cooper (1994, directed by ????)


Is Alice Cooper haunting her dreams or has she been hypnotized?  According to this song’s Wikipedia page, this video received “virtually no airplay” on MTV.  1994 was at the height of MTV’s embrace of grunge and also the beginning of Britpop so I guess Alice Cooper was not high on the channel’s radar.

This song appeared on Alice Cooper’s 13th solo album, The Last Temptation.  All of the songs on the album dealt with a mysterious showman and his attempts to get a boy named Steven to join his traveling show.  At least some parts of the video feature Alice in character as the showman.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: The Garden by Guns N’ Roses (1993, directed by Del James)


This was one of the few Guns N’ Roses’s videos to not get heavy play on MTV, perhaps because all of the members of the band appear to be either depressed or under the influence.  Black-and-white shots of the sleaziest parts of New York are mixed with color footage of strippers.  The video makes 1993 New York look so dangerous that it could almost be a Rudy Guiliani campaign commercial.

(Of course, we all know that it wasn’t New Yorkers fear of crime that elected Guiliani.  It was their anger over Yogurt that falsely claimed to be low fat.)

Alice Cooper and the late Shannon Hoon can be heard providing background vocals on this song.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: West End Girls by Pet Shop Boys (1984, directed by Eric Watson and Andy Morohan)


Is Chris Lowe a ghost in this video?

He better be, just so I can justify picking this video during our annual Shattered Lens Horrorthon. 

Neil Tennant and his ghost friend go for walk through London.  Among the sights that we see: Waterloo Station, Tower Bridge, West Minster, the South Bank, Leicester Square, and a protest outside the South African Embassy.  (This video was filmed at a time when South Africa was still ruled by Apartheid.)  Both Fletch and Desperately Seeking Susan are playing at a cinema.

This was the video that first introduced the US to the Pet Shop Boys.  Watching it makes me nostalgic for London.

Enjoy!

Music Video Of The Day: CantSpeak by Danzig (1994, directed by Fred Stuhr)


This song is from Danzig 4.  

The guitar tracks in CantSpeak are actually the guitar tracks for another song, Let It Be Captured, played backwards.  This was inspired by the frequent accusations that Danzig hid Satanic messages in their songs that could only be heard if you played the song backwards.  I don’t hear any secret messages in CantSpeak but the guitar tracks sound good.

In this video, Glenn and the band appear to be trapped in a cast-iron stomach.  It’s just another day for Danzig.  Real-life monsters, like Charles Manson and Saddam Hussein, also makes cameo appearances as Danzig performs.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: The Writing On The Wall by Iron Maiden (2021, directed by Nicos Livesey)


According to Iron Maiden lead singer Bruce Dickinson, this song and video are “all wrapped up in a lot of messages about greed and the destruction of the planet, with the top one-percenters sitting in their shiny castles, leaving everyone else outside to rot on a dying planet. It’s meant to be pretty on the nose about the current planetary situation”.

Taking place in a dystopian future in which the British slavishly follow behind the Americans while other world leaders ride atop nuclear missiles that are pulled by their slaves, it is fair to say that this video is “on the nose.”  Fortunately, Eddie and the Four Bikers of the Apocalypse aren’t going to step to the side, especially not when there are people in ragged Iron Maiden shirts dying in the desert.

Enjoy!