Category Archives: Music

Music Video of the Day: Panama by Van Halen (1984, directed by Pete Angelus)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

In 1983, a reporter accused Van Halen’s David Lee Roth of only writing songs about “women, partying, and fast cars.”  Roth realized that he never actually had written a song about a fast car so he wrote one about “Panama Express,” a car that he had seen race in Las Vegas.

The majority of this video was shot over two night at the Spectrum in Philadelphia.  A few clips were taken from a performance that Van Halen gave at the Providence Civic Center in Providence, Rhode Island.

This video was directed by Pete Angelus, a long-time associate of the band.  Along with directing most of Van Halen’s early videos, he also directed the videos for David Lee Roth’s Just a Gigolo and California Girls.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Perhaps by Guns N’ Roses (2023, directed by ????)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Today’s music video of the day is the latest video from the veteran rockers Gun N’ Roses.

This video is the first to have been filmed since the return of Slash to the band.  Watching this video, it’s interesting to see the members of the Guns N’ Roses, all older and more weary but still as proficient at rocking out as they were in their youth.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Wonderin’ by Neil Young and The Shocking Pinks (1983, directed by Tim Pope)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

I was going to feature Neil Young’s controversial video for This Note’s For You today but it turns out that the video can’t be embedded anywhere outside of YouTube.  That is probably because of a scene in the video in which a Michael Jackson impersonator sets his hair on fire while filming a commercial.  This was based on a real-life incident and when it was recreated for the music video, it led to Michael Jackson threatening legal action and MTV briefly banning the video.

So, I decided to go with a different Neil Young video.  Wonderin‘ comes from Young’s 13 studio album, 1983’s Everybody’s Rockin’.  The album was a “rockabilly” album and featured Young performing with a band called The Shocking Pinks, who were put together specifically for the album.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: No Myth by Michael Penn (1990, directed by Mark Lindquist)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

If you have ever wondered what it’s like to live next door to an indie rock artist, this video will supply the answer.

When I first watched this video, I wondered if the director could have been a very young Paul Thomas Anderson (who did directed the video for Michael Penn’s Try in 1997) but actually, the video was directed by Mark Lindquist.  Lindquist has also done videos for Eels, The Church, Cowboy Junkies, Alan Jackson, Charles & Eddie, Richard Marx, Belly, The Posies, and Kelly Willis.

Enjoy!

Music Video: The Finer Things by Steve Winwood (1986, directed by ????)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

I don’t have much to say about this video, which is essentially a performance clip.  Like most performance clip, the idea is to showcase not just Winwood as a musician but also Winwood as a musician who is beloved by his audience.  It’s pretty simple.  I’m sharing this video because I just like the song.  Steve Winwood seems to have felt the same as he later used the title for the name of his 1996 compilation album box set.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Yesterdays by Guns N’ Roses (1992, directed by Andy Morahan)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Yesterdays appeared on Use Your Illusion II and the video mixes pictures that were taken during the Use Your Illusion tour with black and white footage of the band performing in a warehouse.  Looking at the photographs, you can see both Izzy Stradlin and Steve Adler, who had left the band by the time the video was filmed.

Director Andy Morahan is one of those directors who worked with everyone in the 80s and 90s.  As I have mentioned elsewhere on this site, he directed Highlander III but he didn’t write it so don’t hold that against him.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: I’m The Man by Anthrax (1987, directed by ????)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

One of the first rap/metal songs, I’m The Man was originally meant to be a collaboration between Beastie Boys and Anthrax.  However, because the two bands could never work out their schedules, Anthrax ended up just doing the song on their own, with Frank Bello, Charlie Benante, and Scott Ian tying to do their best Beastie Boy impersonation.  Even though the band viewed the song as just being a joke between friends, it went on to become one of Anthrax’s most unexpected hits.

Most listeners will recognize a sample of Sam Kinison as the source of the song’s primal screams.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Finish What Ya Started by Van Halen (1989, directed by Andy Morahan)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Today’s music video of the day is one of the highlights of the Sammy Hagar era of Van Halen.  This song peaked at #2 on the Billboard rock chart and it was also used as the theme song for a Sidney, a short-lived sitcom starring Eddie Van Halen’s then-wife Valerie Bertinelli.

This video was directed by Andy Morahan, who was nominated for a Video Music Award for his work here.  Morahan also did videos for Wham, Kim Wilde, Simple Minds, Pet Shop Boys, and Guns ‘N Roses.  He also directed the third Highlander film but he didn’t write the script so don’t be too hard on him.

Enjoy!