Category Archives: music video

Music Video Of The Day: It Must Be Love by Madness (1981, directed by Chris Gabrin)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

“In the pool, I had these lead weights on. I thought I was gonna die. The hire guitar got bent so we got a hairdryer and sent it back. They said, ‘The neck’s like a banana.’ So we had to buy it.”

— Guitarist Chris Gabrin on performing under water in the video for Madness’s It Must Be Love

In America, this song and video was released as Madness’s follow-up to their first (and, to date, only) hit in the United States, Our House.  Unfortunately, for the band’s U.S. popularity, the video was heavily influenced by the very British Ealing comedies and it was not immediately appreciated by audiences across the Atlantic.  I think if the video were released today, at a time when more people are aware of international cinema and appreciation of British comedy is now a mainstream phenomena as opposed to just the kids in the computer lab talking about Monty Python, it would be better received in the States.

In the U.S., It Must Be Love peaked at #33.  As with most of Madness’s song, It Must Be Love was far more successful in the UK, where it has twice reached the UK Top 10, once when it was originally released and then when it was re-released in 1992.

Obviously, the British have always been better about appreciating a bit of madness than the Americans.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Fine Time by New Order (1988, directed by Richard Heslop)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

“My car had been towed away and I had to remind myself to go and pay the fine. I just wrote “Fine Time” on this piece of paper to remind myself to go get it and thought, that’s a good title.”

— New Order’s Steve Morris on Fine Time

That’s a good story but what does Steve’s car getting towed have to do with a kid having a weird Christmas dream?  Probably nothing.  It is a New Order song, after all.  One of the great things about New Order is that everything about them, from their name to their songs to the videos, is open to several hundred interpretations.  It’s hard to know what the future may hold but one thing can be said for certain.  People will still be arguing about what Blue Monday is about.  And when they get tired to arguing about Blue Monday, they can talk about this video.

I guess the kid is dreaming.  But what’s going on with the dog?  Is the dog barking at his master’s dream?  Is it actually safe to allow that dog to sleep in a bed with a child?  Is it a good idea to tie a dog to a bed?  I don’t know.

Richard Heslop also directed videos for Ace of Base but we won’t hold it against him.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Zemra ime by Mozzik (2019, dir by Mozzik)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

In today’s music video of the day, the Albanian rapper Mozzik goes to prison and it turns out that prison in Albania is just as tedious and soul-destroying as prison in America.  Fortunately, he can always escape to his dreams.

Or, at least, that’s what I assume is happening in this video.  I don’t speak a word of Albanian.  But one of the great things about both music and the visual arts is that sometimes, you don’t have to speak the language.  You just have to open up your mind to the emotions and the images.

This video was directed by Mozzik himself and he did quite a good job!  I especially like the surreal scenes of Mozzik thinking about being free.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Waiting On A Friend by The Rolling Stones (1981, directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

“Just let me be cynical for a moment. First of all, it’s really NOT about waiting on a woman friend. It’s just about a FRIEND; it doesn’t matter if it’s a man or a woman. I can see people saying, Oh, we’re all much older now, Mick’s writing this much more compassionate stuff, must be about a real person. But that’s only in their perception of it.”

— Mick Jagger on Waiting For A Friend

Is our man Mick waiting for a friend or is he waiting for his drug connection?  Since the video features Mick hanging out in front of a building in New York and waiting for Keith Richards to come walking up, I guess both could be true.  Interestingly enough, Keith has often said that he and Mick have a strained relationship in real life, though Keith also wrote in his autobiography, “”I still love him dearly … your friends don’t have to be perfect.”

This video was popular in the early days of MTV.  At a time when many of the big rock bands were still skeptical about the music video format and many were also predicting that MTV would never last, the network was happy to have a video from a group as legendary as the Stones.  The video was directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg, who was  doing videos even before MTV was a thing.  Waiting with Jagger in front of the building is Peter Tosh.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Ashes to Ashes by David Bowie (2000, dir by ????)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

It’s Ash Wednesday!

I remember, when I was like 14, I got up early in the morning and I woke up my sisters by shouting, “It’s Ash Wednesday, bitches!”  My mom was not amused.  That said, Ash Wednesday is one of my favorite days.  I just love the ritual of it all.  Of course, I also usually wash my forehead fairly early in the day.  That’s allowed, by the way.

Now, before anyone leaves any snarky comments, I fully understand that David Bowie’s Ashes to Ashes is not actually about Ash Wednesday nor are the ashes mentioned in the song literal ashes.  I understand that but hey, this is a good song and David Bowie certainly does look happy in this clip.  Around the two minute mark, he takes the time to praise the backup singers, which is a pretty classy move.

This is from a 2000 performance in London.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Safe Home by Anthrax (2003, directed by Robert Carlsen)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

“You have always been my safe home.”

Yes, that is Keanu Reeves walking down a highway medium while Anthrax performs the song in this video.  What is Keanu doing there?  He was a long-time fan of Anthrax and he just happened to be available when this video was being shot.  This video came out while Reeves was still riding high from The Matrix films and it is easy to imagine Neo wandering about aimlessly.  It’s much more difficult to imagine the same thing happening to John Wick, who always has a destination in mind.

Other than the movie star cameo, this is a no frills video from Anthrax, one that lets the music do the talking.  I’m not a huge Anthrax fan but I always appreciate relatively direct videos like this.

This is James Hetfield’s favorite Anthrax song.

Enjoy!

Music Video Of The Day: Jesus Built My Hotrod by Ministry (1991, directed by Paul Elledge)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Needless to say, that’s the famous Gibby Haynes providing the vocals on Ministry’s Jesus Built My Hotrod.  Gibby recorded the vocals while he was in Chicago, doing the first Lollapooloza tour.  Ministry’s Al Jourgensen told Songfacts, “Gibby came down completely drunk off his ass. He couldn’t even sit on a stool, let alone sing. I mean, he was wasted. He fell off the stool about 10 times during the recording of that vocal. He made no sense and it was just gibberish. So I spent two weeks editing tape of what he did, thinking it still was better than what I was thinking of doing with the song.”

Fortunately, Gibby’s vocals saved both the song and probably the future of the band.  Ministry had already been given an advance of $750,000 to make an album.  According to Jourgensen, the band spent all the money on drugs and ended up with only this song to show for all of their efforts.  In an attempt to at least get some of their money back, Warner Bros. released the song as a single and it quickly shot up the charts.  For a while, at least, it was Warner Bros’s top selling-single of all time.  As a result, Ministry got another advance of $750,000 and this time, they actually used the money to make an album.

As for the video, it’s all about car culture.  Paul Elledge also directed two videos for Anthrax.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Hungry by Lita Ford (1990, directed by Jesse Dylan)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Here are the lyrics to Lita Ford’s Hungry:

My nylons are melting down my legs 
Your heart is pounding at my throat 
I can’t catch my breath 
I lost it when your fingertips 
Ran down my back and up my neck 
Your kiss makes me feel like this 
I’m so hungry for your sex 
I’m so hungry for your sex 
I got an appetite for love tonight 
I wanna taste your sweet thing 
I wanna feel the sting of your sex, of your sex 
My body all painted lipstick red 
We ripped the sheets right off the bed 
My fingernails left fiery trails 
Across your back, oh, tell me baby 
How’d you like that little pussycat scratch 
I’m so hungry for your sex 
I’m so hungry for your sex 
I got an appetite for love tonight 
I wanna taste your sweet thing 
I wanna feel the sting of your sex, of your sex 
I’m so hungry for your sex 
I’m so hungry for your sex 
I’m so hungry for your sex 
I got an appetite for love tonight 
I wanna taste your sweet thing 
I wanna feel the sting of your sex, of your sex 
I’m so hungry for your… 

I’m not sure how you go from those lyrics to Alice in Wonderland, though Wonderland in this video is portrayed as being a very dark place.  While Alice explores, Lita Ford writhes in a shallow pool of water.  How it all links up is anyone’s guess.

This video was directed by Jesse Dylan, who also did videos for Lenny Kravitz and 3rd Bass.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Lord of the Flies by Iron Maiden (1995, directed by ????)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Lord of the Flies is based on William Golding’s famous book about a group of school children who get stranded on a deserted island and turn into savages.  The lyrics are a literal interpretation of the book’s plot:

I don’t care for this world anymore
I just want to live my own fantasy
Fate has brought us to these shores
What was meant to be is now happening

I’ve found that I like this living in danger
Living on edge it makes feel as one
Who cares now what’s right or wrong,
it’s reality
Killing so we survive
Wherever we may roam
Wherever we may hide
We’ve got to get away

I don’t want existence to end
We must prepare ourselves for the elements
I just want to feel like we’re strong
We don’t need a code of morality

I like all the mixed emotion and anger
It brings out the animal the power you can feel
And feeling so high on this much adrenalin
Excited but scary to believe what we’ve become

Saints and sinners
Something within us
We are lord of flies

Saints and sinners
Something willing us
To be lord of the flies

The video was shot while Iron Maiden was touring the Holy Land and it’s a typical no frills Iron Maiden production.  One thing that I’ve respected about bands like Iron Maiden is that the majority of their music videos are just clips of the band performing.  They don’t need to do anything fancy to hold your attention.  They just get out there on stage and play the Hell out of every song.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: You Suck by Abigail Breslin (2014, dir by ????)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

You tell ’em, Abigail!

I like to think that this song was directed at whoever it was who convinced her to appear in New Year’s Eve.

I’m happy to say that no one in my life sucks right now.  In fact, I’m about to go on a two week vacation with my favorite person in the whole wide world.  Fear not, though.  I may be gone but I have a lot of posts written out and scheduled to publish until I get back.  So, I’ll be on vacation and yet, I’ll still be posting reviews.  I often think about this because it’s actually a pretty common occurrence for me to write out a review and then schedule it to publish way later in the year.  So, if — God Forbid — I were to die over the next two weeks, I would still be posting reviews all the way through 2021.  It would be like my ghost telling you what movies to see …. FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE!  That’s kind of neat.

Anyway, enjoy!