In 1995, Duran Duran released an album of cover tunes. The one that got the most attention was this cover of Grand Master Melle Mel’s anti-cocaine anthem, White Lines. Listen as Duran Duran raps! The 90s were a wondrous time that we will never know again.
Enjoy!
This song, one of the first hit rap songs about drugs, is often mistakenly described as being a collaboration between Grandmaster Flash and Melle Mel. Grandmaster Flash actually had nothing to do with the song. He had already left Sugar Hill Records before the song was even recorded. When the single was first released, it was credited to “Grandmaster and Melle Mel,” in order to create the impression that Flash was involved. In his autobiography, Flash wrote that he once heard the song was while he was on the way to buy crack and, at that moment, he felt that Melle Mel was specifically speaking to him.
This video was shot by Spike Lee, who was a film student at NYU at the time and yes, that is Laurence Fishburne. Fishburne appeared in this video shortly after playing Cutter in Death Wish II and he has the same look in the video as he did in the movie.
Enjoy!
Filmed over the course of one night on Fremont Street in Las Vegas, the music video for I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For accomplished two things. First, it showcased the members of U2 at their most approachable and likable. (There was a brief moment time when you could use those two words when talking about U2, as strange as it may seem today.)
Secondly, it did wonders to improve the image of Las Vegas as a city. Instead of focusing on people gambling away their life savings, I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For portrayed Vegas as a friendly and diverse city where, if you go out on the right night, you might even run into one of the biggest bands in the world. According to civic leader Pat Christensen in a 2002 interview with the Las Vegas Review Journal, “”The whole perception of Vegas changed with that video. Now all the big names come here, some of them five, six times a year.”
As usual, in this video, the focus is on Bono and the Edge. Larry Mullen, Jr. and Adam Clayton are both present but it would be easy to mistake them for being a part of the crowd that gathers to watch The Edge play his guitar. Perhaps that is why, at the end of the video, Adam appears to just wander away from the shoot and get in a waiting taxi cab.
Enjoy!
Today, this song is probably best remembered for its prominent use in Boogie Nights and for one frequently misheard lyric. Many people still continue to believe that Springfield sings, “I wish I was Jessie’s girl,” instead of “I wish I had Jessie’s girl.”
This simple video was directed by Rick Springfield himself. The song was Springfield’s second top 20 hit, the first being the now-forgotten Speak To The Sky. At the time that this song and video came out, Springfield was better known for appearing on General Hospital. Though he had started out as a singer, when Springfield’s musical career temporarily stalled, he followed the advice of his then-girlfriend, Linda Blair (yes, that Linda Blair), and pursued an acting career.
Enjoy!
As a group, Animotion is destined to be most remembered for Obsession but they did record other songs. I Want You appeared on Animotion’s second studio album and was one of the first single releases from it. Despite a good beat and a video that was very MTV-friendly, it only reached the 84th position on the U.S. charts. It was, however, considerably more popular in Germany, reaching the 24th position.
Nick Morris, the prolific director of this video, also did videos for Big Country, Cliff Richard, Europe, Cheap Trick, and Mister Mister. He also directed a production of The Toxic Avenger: The Musical, which was released in 2018.
Enjoy!
I’ve always liked this song, perhaps even more so than The Wallflowers’s best known song, One Headlight. Jakob Dylan (who certainly has the talent necessary to be worthy of being known as something more than just “Bob’s son”) was inspired to write this song by a homeless man who he used to see on 6th Avenue. One day, the homeless man was gone but all of his possessions were still sitting on the sidewalk. As the days passed, the man’s possessions disappeared one-by-one. Jakob considers this to be the first true song that he ever wrote.
This music video was directed by David Fincher, who you may have heard of.
In 1988, evangelical preacher-turned-comedian Sam Kinison had a hit with his cover of Wild Thing. For the music video, he not only recruited a host of 80s rockers, he also cast Jessica Hahn, who was at the center of the scandal that took down two other evangelical preachers, Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker.
For completists, here is who can be seen in this video, backing up Sam and Jessica: Joe Perry and Steven Tyler (Aerosmith), Steve Adler and Slah (Guns ‘n Roses), Sebastian Bach (Skid Row), Jon Bon Jovi, Alec John Such, and Richie Sambora (Bon Jovi), Jonathan Cain and Deen Castronovo (Journey), Robbin Crossby and Warren DeMartini (Ratt), C.C. Deville (Poison), Tommy Lee (Motley Crue), Rudy Sarzo (Quiet Riot), Billy Idol, and Dweezil Zappa.
Enjoy!
In 1980, Bauhaus covered Mac Bolan’s tribute to his drug dealer, Telegam Sam. Of course, they added their own unique spin to the song. The music video finds them apparently locked away in a boiler room. While the band plays, Peter Murphy dances through the room while dressed up as the contortionist from The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Hopefully, Telegram Sam will get everyone out in time to record the first Love & Records album.
Enjoy!
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, one that lets the band do the talking.
Enjoy!
