Category Archives: music video

Music Video of the Day: Headed for a Heartbreak by Winger (1989, directed by Mark Rezyka)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

As Butt-Head once put it, while watching this very video, “His teeth are whiter than white.”

As far as commercial success goes, Winger had a brief but good run in the late 80s.  Then grunge came along and the musical landscape changed for the better.  Winger later found fame as the favorite band of Stewart Stevenson on Beavis and Butt-Head.  It was rumored that Winger became Stewart’s favorite band after Kip Winger complained about his videos being criticized by Beavis and Butt-Head.  It’s always better to laugh at yourself than to complain because being associated with Stewart is what really robbed Winger of whatever credibility they had.  Of course, it didn’t help that Lars Ulrich was seen throwing darts at Kip Winger’s face in the video for Nothing Else Matters.

This video is typical Winger stuff.  Kip sings that he’s headed for a heartbreak and you don’t believe him for a minute.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Live and Let Die, covered by Guns N’ Roses (1991, directed by Josh Richman)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

I have to give credit for Guns N’ Roses.  No matter what else may be said about the band, they were responsible for two of the best covers of the 90s, Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door and Live and Let Die.  Both of these covers treat the original version with respect while also sounding very much like the type of music that Guns N’ Roses was known for.

The video for Live and Let Die features footage of the band in concert, mixed in with pictures of them in their younger days.  This was also the last Guns ‘N Roses video to feature Izzy Stradlin as being a part of the band.  This video was put together by Josh Richman, an actor who was also a friend of the band.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Man On The Edge by Iron Maiden (1996, directed by Simon Hilton)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Today’s music video of the day is one of the three videos that were shot for Iron Maiden’s Man On the Edge.  This was one of the first Iron Maiden songs on which Blaze Bayley sang and it was also one of the first that he wrote for the band.  The lyrics were inspired by the film Falling Down.  That’s the film in which Michael Douglas plays an engineer who snaps.  Bayley felt that the film worked as a parable for the frustration that comes from losing a job and the lyrics reflect that.

This video was filmed on location at Masada, Israel.  It was directed Simon Hilton, who also directed videos for Robert Plant, The Chemical Brothers, Coldplay, Depeche Mode, Alice Cooper, David Bowie, and a host of others.  Hilton was one of those directors who everyone seems to have worked with at least once.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Nothin’ But A Good Time by Poison (1988, directed by Marc Reshovsky)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

“You’re getting paid to wash dishes … not listen to that … rock and roll music!”

This video could properly be called Washing Dishes With Poison.  When you wash dishes with KISS, the dishes don’t get done and your boss yells at you.  When you wash dishes with Poison, the dishes not only get one but the boss doesn’t even know what to say when he sees how quickly you did them.  What’s going on in this video?  Did Poison wash the dishes for him?  Is that Poison’s idea of a good time?

This video was directed by Marc Reshovsky, who is also credited as being the director of photography on videos by Seal, kd lang, Billy Joel, and Ice Cube.  Those are all talented artist but none of them will wash your dishes.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Wake Up Dead by Megadeth (1987, directed by Penelope Spheeris)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

In this video, Megadeth performs behind a wire fence while their fans attempt to get to the band.  It doesn’t have much to do about the song, which is about a man sneaking back into his house after cheating on his girlfriend.  But it probably is a fair representation of what it was like to be in a popular thrash metal band in the 80s.

Directing this video was Penelope Spheeris, who has previously celebrated metal in the documentary, The Decline of Wester Civilization Part II.  Spheeris would later direct the film for which she is best remembered, Wayne’s World.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Superstitious by Europe (1988, directed by Nick Morris)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Superstitious was the first single to be released from Europe’s fourth studio album, Out of this World.  Out of this World was released in 1990.  One album later, Europe would go on a temporary hiatus as grunge and then generic pop replaced Europe’s style of metal as MTV’s favorite style of music.  The band reunited in 2003 and has since released six more albums.  Europe rocks!

This video for Superstitious was filmed in Long Island, New York.  The video was directed by Nick Morris, who was a very busy video director in the 80s and the 90s.  He also did the video for Europe’s best-known song, The Final Countdown.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Don’t Know What You Got Till It’s Gone by Cinderella (1988, directed by Nick Morris)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Watch out!  Cinderella’s in a sensitive mood.

Best known for being discovered and initially promoted by Bon Jovi, Cinderella had their biggest hit with Don’t Know What You Got Till It’s Gone.  This song made it up to number 12 on the charts in 1986, proving that there was a market of listeners who were eager for overly sensitive hair metal.

The video was shot at Mono Lake, a California lake that is well-known for the large amount of salt that has accumulated in the water.  (It has to be known for something, I guess.)  This video was directed by Nick Morris, who also directed the video for Europe’s The Final Countdown.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: You Think You’re Tough by Ratt (1983, directed by ????)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Before Tawny Kitaen became famous for appearing in Whitesnake videos, she dated Robbin Crosby, the lead guitarist of Ratt.  Those are Kitaen’s legs on the cover of Ratt’s first self-titled album.  Decorating those amazing legs with high heels and rats results in a classic 80s music image.

The video below is for one of the songs from that album, You Think You’re Tough.  You Think You’re Tough was Ratt’s first single and was released with a cover version of Rufus Thomas’s Walking The Dog.  The video keeps things simple, highlighting the band’s musicianship and saying, “These guys can really play!”

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Atlas, Rise! by Metallica (2013, directed by Clark Eddy)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

In Atlas, Rise!, Metallica sings about having the weight of the world on your shoulders and refusing to let it hold you down.  No matter how much Atlas has to carry, he will always rise and so will Metallica.

The video keeps things simple, focusing on the band’s skill.  The video was directed by Clark Eddy, who has also directed videos for Sublime, Crash Test Dummies, and Kid Rock.  Most of Eddy’s credits, though, are as an editor.  As an editor, he has worked on videos for Dua Lipa, Rihanna, Destiny’s Child, Iggy Pop, and Pitbull.  That is quite a collection.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: The Wicker Man by Iron Maiden (2012, directed by ????)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

In the year 2000, Iron Maiden proved that they still had it with a song based on the movie The Wicker Man.  The song became one of their late career hits, earning the band another Grammy nomination.  This was the first song that the band rehearsed after the return of Bruce Dickinson and Adrian Smith.  Dickinson later said the song was an attempt to capture the feeling of being on stage and watching the audience chant along to what you’re singing.

This video features the band performing the song live in 2012, in Santiago, Chile.  An earlier video, which was released at the same time as the song and which was directed by Dean Karr, featured the band performing the song on a stage while a fire raged behind them.

Enjoy!