Category Archives: music video

Music Video of the Day: The Killing Moon by Echo and the Bunnymen (1984, directed by ????)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

One of the seminal songs of the 1980s, The Killing Moon‘s biggest fan might just be the lead singer of Echo and the Bunnymen, Ian McCulloch.  In an interview with Uncut magazine, McCulloch said, “You don’t need to read The Bible, you can listen to ‘The Killing Moon‘ and get as much out of it. It’s the greatest song ever written.”

I would not go as far as to compare it to the Bible but this is a song and a video that epitomizes an era.  The atmospheric video, which mixes snow, abandoned roomed, mysterious figures, and flickering lights, is a riddle wrapped in an enigma and seems to be meant to viewed in October.

Years after it was released, The Killing Moon was discovered by a new generation of listeners when Richard Kelly used it in the opening scene of Donnie Darko.  As guitarist Will Sergeant explained it to The Guardian, “Years after it was a hit, we got an email saying this bloke wanted to use the song in a film, Donnie Darko, which we didn’t think would go anywhere, so accepted a one-off £3,000. Then when the director did the director’s cut he replaced ‘The Killing Moon’ with ‘Never Tear Us Apart‘ by INXS. Aren’t some people knobheads?”

Music Video of the Day: Rock and Roll All Nite By KISS (1975, directed by ????)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Do you remember what people used to think KISS stood for?

Knights in Satan’s Service.  Preachers and community leaders were told and actually believed that the band was trying to put teenagers under the thrall of Satan.

Of course, nothing could be further from the truth.  Paul Stanley came up with KISS and it was never meant to be anything other than a cool name.  As Peter Criss explained it, “”It really means a lot. It’s the first thing you do to a chick or anybody. It could also be the kiss of death. It’s a strong word. It’s easy to remember.”

Still, the members of KISS didn’t hesitate to play up their dangerous image.  Gene Simmons may have been a self-described “nice Jewish boy from Long Island,” but when he was on stage, he became the blood-drinking Demon.  (When Marvel published a KISS comic book in 1977, the red ink was said to contain drops of the band’s blood.)

What’s funny to me about old school KISS is that they would come out on stage, made-up to look like hardcore demons and monsters.  Fires would burn as they performed.  Blood would pour out of Gene Simmons’s mouth.  KISS went out of their way to look evil but their music was so radio friendly that it could probably be played at a church retreat.  The idea that anyone believed that they were “knights in Satan’s service” seems ludicrous today.

Rock and Roll All Nite was written by Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley.  Their goal in writing the song was to come up with an anthem for their fans and no one can deny that they succeeded.  This video was a promo video that was released, along with the song, in 1975.  Like most music videos that were produced in the pre-MTV days, the video keeps things simple and focuses on KISS performing in front of an enthusiastic crowd.

Decades later, a second video would be released for Rock and Roll All Nite.  However, that video features KISS without their makeup and that just feels wrong.

Music Video of the Day: Would You Love a Monsterman by Lordi (2006, directed by Pete Riski)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Yesterday, I shared the first music video for Lordi’s Would You Love A Monsterman?  Today’s music video of the day is the second video for Would You Love A Monsterman?

This second video takes the plot of the first video and replaces the little girl in the woods with a young woman in a morgue.  There’s no doll in this video but there is twice as much killing.  Again, the video ends with the main character deciding that yes, she can love a monsterman.

Music Video of the Day: Would You Love A Monsterman by Lordi (2002, directed by ????)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

There are actually two music videos of Lordi’s Would You Love A Monsterman, one that was released in 2002 and another one from 2006.  This is the 2002 video.

This version features a young girl playing with a dirty doll in the woods when Lordi suddenly appears and invites her to join them.  They even set her doll on fire but she still decides to join.  That is the power of Lordi.

Lordi is a Finnish band, who have been making music since 1992.  An earlier version of Would You Love A Monsterman was recorded under the title I Would Do It All For You in 1993.  When I Would Do It All For You was turned into Would You Love a Monsterman in 2002, it became Lordi’s first big hit.

Four years after this video was released, Lordi would make history as both the only Finnish and the only “hard rock” act to win the Eurovision song contest with their song, Hard Rock Hallelujah.

Music Video of the Day: I’ll Bite Your Face Off by Alice Cooper (2011, directed by ????)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

To quote Alice Cooper himself:

“This is my tip-of-the-hat to early Rolling Stones.  Like in 1964/65 when their songs were very Chuck Berry orientated. They just feel so good, in the pocket. This song was begging to be in the live show. We’ve done it in four different continents now and no one had ever heard it. By the second chorus, the whole audience is singing ‘I’ll Bite Your Face Off.’ It’s the perfect little 3 minute hit single.”

I’ll Bite Your Face Off was the first single to be released off Welcome 2 My Nightmare, Alice Cooper’s 26th studio album and a follow-up to Cooper’s 1975 album, Welcome To My Nightmare.  Each song represents a different aspect of a bad dream.  In I’ll Bite Your Face Off, Alice dreams about being introduced to the devil.

The video was filmed at several different live venues.  One of these performances was at the 100 Club in London, where actor Johnny Depp joined the band on guitar.

Music Video of the Day: Michael Caine by Madness (1984, directed by ????)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

From the minute that I read Lisa Marie’s review of The Island two weeks ago, I knew that I wanted to highlight this video from Madness.

As you can tell from the title, the song is a tribute to Michael Caine and his status as a British cultural icon.  The video is based on The IPCRESS File, the best known of the five films in which Caine played Harry Palmer.  Harry was the working class equivalent of James Bond.  Bond was a glamorous bachelor who slept with beautiful women and traveled the world.  Harry, on the other hand, lived alone in a shabby flat, wore glasses, and never got paid what he deserved.

That actually is Michael Caine repeating his name for the song’s hook.  When the band first approached him, Caine turned them down because he had never heard of them.  Only after his daughter told him how popular Madness was did Caine change his mind.  The sample of Caine repeating his own name was meant as a tribute to a scene in The IPCRESS File, in which Harry Palmer resisted a brainwashing attempt by repeating his own name.

Michael Caine spent 8 weeks on the British charts, peaking at number 11.

Music Video of the Day: Broken Wings by Mr. Mister (1985, directed by Oley Sassone)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

A man drives through the desert in a Thunderbird.  A hawk perches in a church.  An unknown couple dance the tango.  The beach awaits.  Yes, this is the video for Mr. Mister’s Broken Wings.

The video was directed by Oley Sassone, who later directed episodes of Hercules and Xena..  According to Sassone, “The subtext of the story and what I wanted the audience to feel was our hero’s own backstory in his mind. The tango dancers, juxtaposed with the images of him getting lost while driving, tossing a map and instead following the hawk overhead was, symbolically, his own soul, his own voice deep inside telling him to carry on – to lead him to a new path, a new beginning.”  Personally, I have always thought this song was about someone struggling to recover from a bad breakup.

Broken Wings is a song that epitomizes the mid-1980s so it’s not surprising that it’s also included on the Vice City: Grand Theft Auto soundtrack.  Getting chased the a police helicopter while listening to Mr. Mister is a surreal experience.

Music Video of the Day: Life’s What You Make It by Talk Talk (1985, directed by Tim Pope)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Today’s music video of the day is for another song that I discovered while driving around Vice City in a stolen car.

(Several stolen cars, actually.)

Talk Talk’s Life’s What You Make It is one of the most popular songs on Grand Theft Auto: Vice City‘s FLASH FM.  It’s the perfect song to listen to when you’re heading out to take down some drug dealers or if you just want to drive along the beach and wonder why Tommy Vercetti never learned how to swim.

The song was a hit both when it was originally released in 1985 and when it re-released in 1990.  The video was filmed in Wimbledon Common, London, during the early hours of the day.  The video was directed by Tim Pope, who directed videos for almost everyone in the 80s and 90s but is probably best-regarded for his work with The Cure.

Pope also directed the film, The Crow” City of Angels and was the original director for The Last King of Scotland.  Though Pope eventually left and was replaced on that project, he was responsible for casting Forest Whitaker as Idi Amin, the role that would eventually win Whitaker an Oscar.

Music Video of the Day: Smuggler’s Blues by Glenn Frey (1985, directed by Duncan Gibbins)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Contrary to popular belief, Smuggler’s Blues was not inspired by Miami Vice.  Instead, the exact opposite was true.

As Glenn Frey explained in the book, Behind The Hits, he based the song on some of the dealers and smugglers that he met while both a member of the Eagles and during his solo career.  “You don’t spend 15 years in rock and roll without coming in contact with entrepreneurs.  I’ve wanted to write a song about drug smuggling for a long time, but I’m glad I waited for this one. It says everything I wanted to say on the subject. I’m proud of the lyrics – it’s good journalism.”

The song appeared on Frey’s second solo album and was heard by Miami Vice‘s executive producer, Michael Mann.  Mann requested that one of the show’s writers, Miguel Pinero, adapt the song into an episode.  That episode, which was named after the song, premiered on February 1st, 1985.  The song was played throughout the episode and some of the lyrics were even included in the dialogue.  Glenn Frey himself appeared as a pilot.  As a result, the episode not only helped to make Smuggler’s Blues a hit but it also launched Frey’s acting career as well.

The video, which was cinematic at a time when many bands were still releasing simple performance clips, was directed by Duncan Gibbins.  Gibbins went on to direct a handful of thrillers before his tragic death in 1993.  Gibbins was staying in Southern California when a wildfire engulfed the house that he was renting.  Gibbins narrowly managed to escape from the house but then saw that a cat had been trapped inside.  He went back in and, while he did rescue the cat, he suffered severe burns at a result.  Gibbins jumped into house’s swimming pool. not realizing that the burns would allow the chlorine to enter his bloodstream.  Gibbins died later that day at Sherman Oaks Hospital, still asking if the cat had survived.  (Other than a few minor burns, the cat was unharmed.)

Gibbins work on Smuggler’s Blues is impressive and still influential.  The video was honored as “Best Concept Video” at the 1985 MTV Music Video Awards.

Duncan Gibbins, the director of Smuggler’s Blues

Music Video of the Day: Miami Vice Theme by Jan Hammer (1985, directed by ????)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Since yesterday’s music video of the day was Crockett’s Theme, it seems only appropriate that today’s music video should be for the Miami Vice Theme.

Brandon Tartikoff revolutionized television when he requested a television show about “MTV cops.”  Of course, before Crockett and Tubbs could take on the Miami underworld, they needed a soundtrack that was appropriate for their pastel-and-guns lifestyle.  That’s where Jan Hammer and the show’s main instrumental theme came in.  When you hear that music, you know it’s all about to go down.

When Miami Vice premiered on NBC in 1984, it was an immediate hit that spawned a successful soundtrack album.  As soon as the Miami Vice Theme was released as a single in August of 1985, it shot to the top of the charts.  The song’s popularity kept the Miami Vice soundtrack at the top of the album charts for 11 weeks, a record that would stand until 2006, when it was broken by the High School Musical soundtrack.

The video is mostly made up of footage from the show and Jan Hammer performing but it wins some points for being edited to make it appear as if Crockett and Tubbs are attempting to arrest Hammer.  Just like the show itself, this video is pure 80s, complete with a close-up of a giant floppy desk and plenty of synthesizer action.