Category Archives: music video

Music Video of the Year: Can’t Turn Back The Years by Phil Collins (1994, directed by Jim Yukich)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

 This music video was directed by Jim Yukich, who is one of those directors who seems to have directed a video for everyone.  If you have ever had a hit song or top-selling album, Jim Yukich probably directed a music video for you.  He directed a lot of videos for both Genesis and Phil Collins as a solo act.  But Yukich also directed videos for everyone from Iron Maiden to David Bowie, Michael Jackson, Huey Lewis, and David Hasselhoff.  Going for Maiden to Hasselhoff, that’s a journey!

This song received lukewarm reviews when it was first released but, as is this case with much of Collins’s work, it has since been favorably reevaluated.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Kickstart My Heart by Mötley Crüe (1989, directed by Wayne Isham)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Today’s music video of the day was filmed at Hollywood’s famed Whisky a Go Go, while Mötley Crüe was preparing to embark on their tour promoting Dr. Feelgood.  In the 80s, you knew you had made it big if Sam Kinison was your chauffeur.

This video was directed by Wayne Isham, who directed videos for practically everyone.  Everyone who was anyone in the music biz worked with Wayne Isham at least once.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Hold Me Now by Thompson Twins (1983, directed by Rupert James)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Today’s music video of the day is for a song that epitomizes the 80s for a lot of people.  I don’t know how many John Hughes’s film featured Hold Me Now but it seems like everyone one of them should have.  This was not only the group’s first big hit but the video was a popular one in the early years of MTV.  This was one of those videos that proved that even a performance clip could be more than just a video of the band on stage.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Rock ‘N’ Roll Doctor by Black Sabbath (1976, directed by ????)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

I have no idea who directed this or where it was filmed.  The Black Sabbath YouTube channel lists this as being the official music video for Rock ‘N’ Roll Heaven and the IMDb says that the video was released in 1976 so that’s what I’m going with.  I’m going to assume that this video was filmed at one of the American stops during the first part of the Technical Ecstasy Tour.

Like most 70s music videos, this is a pretty basic performance clip.  The video lets the band do the talking, as it were.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Send Me An Angel by Scorpions (1991, directed by Meiert Avis)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

This music video from the German group Scorpions has an old west theme that fits the song well.  Send Me An Angel is Scorpions at their most soulful and showed audiences outside of Germany that the band was capable of much more than just singing about being rocking you like a hurricane.

This song was included on Scorpions’s 11th studio album, Crazy World.  It was the 4th and final single to be released off the album and it went on to become one of Crazy World‘s signature tunes.  While the song peaked at #44 at the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and at #22 in the UK, it was a huge hit for the band in the rest of Europe.  It was especially popular in Belgium, proving once again that Belgians just have better taste in music than the rest of the world.

Meiert Avis is one of those directors who has worked with everyone who is anyone.  He directed many of U2’s early, acclaimed music videos.  He later frequently worked with Chris Cornell and the Pretty Reckless and he directed the feature film Far From Home.

Enjoy!

Music Video Of The Day: Inside Out by XYZ (1989, directed by Craig Morse)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Today’s music video of the day features France’s XYZ rocking out in the desert, with the help of some hard-working models.

XYZ was formed in 1978 and, after ten years of playing Europe, New York, and Los Angeles, they finally got a record contract in 1989.  The self-titled album was produced by Don Dokken who later said that the experience was difficult because the band’s lead singer had a thick French accent and the other members of the band was incapable of vocally harmonizing with him.  This led to Dokken singing backing vocals for most the songs, including this one.

The video was directed by Craig Morse.  On the IMDb, this is the only music video that he is credited with directing.  Of course, the IMDb often lists music videos without crediting a director so it’s possible that Morse might have a few more videos to his name.  Or he might just be a rare example of a one-and-done music video director.

This single was successful enough to XYZ went on tour with Ted Nugent.  The band, however, broke up shortly afterwards.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Hero of the Day by Metallica (1996, directed by Anton Corbijn)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

This video was directed by Anton Corbijn.  If you were a rock star in the 90s, Anton Corbijn probably directed a music video for you.

In this video, a young man (George Clemens) discovers that Metallica is inescapable.  Even on television, every channel features either a show or a commercial that features the members of the band.  For someone who has access to 24-hour Metallica television, the young man doesn’t seem to care about much.  Not even his girlfriend can get much of a response from him.  He would rather just fantasize about monsters fighting.   

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Misunderstanding by Genesis (1980, directed by Stuart Orme)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

In today’s music video of the day, Genesis takes us on a tour of Los Angeles in 1980 and pays tribute to the Beach Boys.  Technically, the video is actually about Phil Collins wearing a Hawaiian shirt and driving around the city and searching for his girlfriend but mostly, that was just an excuse to show off Los Angeles.

This video was directed by Stuart Orme, who directed several videos for both Genesis as a group and Phil Collins as a solo act.

Enjoy!

Music Video Of The Day: What’s The Matter Here? by 10,000 Maniacs (1988, directed by Matt Mahurin)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Like Suzanne Vega’s Luka, this song is about a woman realizing that a child who lives in her building is a victim of child abuse.

This video is one the many video to have been directed by Matt Mahurin.  Matt Mahurin is one of those all-purpose music video directors.  Since the 1980s, he’s done videos for everyone from U2 to Peter Gabriel to New Kids On The Block to Marilyn Manson.  He also directed the video for Bush’s Everything Zen but let’s not hold that against him.

Enjoy!