Music Video of the Day: Welcome to the Jungle by Guns N’ Roses (1987, directed by Nigel Dick)


Supposedly, this is a video that MTV initially rejected, feeling that it would be too intense and sordid to appeal to its audience.  In the end, the only reason MTV relented was due to the intervention of David Geffen, who convinced the channel to play the song once at five in the morning.  No sooner had the video aired than the station started to get calls from viewers who wanted to see it again.  Just as the song would become one of Guns N’ Roses’s signature songs, the video became one of MTV’s signature videos.

This is yet another video that was directed by Nigel Dick.  The video follows a young Axl Rose, as he gets off the bus in Los Angeles and finds himself in the jungle.  Interestingly, the members of the band appear as an assortment of drug dealers and other lowlifes, all of whom are trying to corrupt Axl.  It’s been said that the video actually follows the real life dynamic of the group as Axl, despite his reputation, stayed away from the heavy drug use that the rest of the band happily indulged in,

The video has been called a combination of Midnight Cowboy, The Man Who Fell To Earth, and A Clockwork Orange.  That sounds right to me.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Stand by R.E.M. (1989, directed by Katherine Dieckmann)


Are you prepared to stand in the place where you live?

Michael Stipe and Peter Buck have both called this the dumbest song that R.E.M. ever recorded, with Stipe going on to explain that he wrote it as almost a parody of the type of “bubble gum pop” that their record label was pushing them to produce.  Stipe also said that he actually likes the song.

It is certainly catchy and it won’t leave feeling quite as homicidal as Shiny Happy People.

The director of this video has also worked with Aimee Mann, Sharon Van Etten, and Indigo Girls.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: No More Mr. Nice Guy by Megadeth (1989, directed by Penelope Spheeris)


Happy birthday, Dave Mustaine!

No More Mr. Nice Guy was originally written for Wes Craven’s Shocker, a movie about someone who was never a nice guy.  The video pays homage to the film’s electric chair-inspired plot.  This video was directed by Penelope Spheeris, who is best known for Wayne’s World and The Decline of Western Civilization trilogy.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: St. Elmo’s Fire (Man in Motion) by John Parr (1986, directed by Kort Falkenberg III)


Though the song was specifically written for the film, St. Elmo’s Fire, Man in Motion was actually inspired by a news report that singer John Parr and composer David Foster saw about Rick Hansen, a paralyzed Canadian athlete was who going around the world in his wheelchair and rising money and awareness for spinal injury charities.

The Canadian version of this video features footage of Rick Hansen.  However, the American version is devoted to promoting the film that the song was written for.  The cast of St. Elmo’s Fire looks through the windows at the burned out set of the St. Elmo’s Bar.  Because Parr only had a limited availability before he had to return to the UK, this video was shot in one night.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Outside by Staind (2001, directed by Nigel Dick)


This is the version of Outside that does not feature Fred Durst providing “backup.”

I prefer the version without Durst but, in all fairness, they’re both good.  The version that Aaron Lewis performed during the Family Values tour was still a work in progress and Durst wasn’t lying when he said that he was feeling those lighters.  The version that Staind later released as a single is the final version of the song.  It’s the way the song was meant to be heard.

The music video was directed by Nigel Dick.  If you’re a successful musician, Nigel Dick is eventually going to direct a video for you.  That’s just the way it works.

Enjoy!

Music Video Of Day: Another Rainy Night With You by Queensryche (1993, directed by Mary Lambert)


There are actually two music videos for this song by Queensryche.  The first one was a black-and-white version that featured a ghostly bride.  I shared that one last week.  The second one is the one that I’m sharing today, which features a woman floating space and the band performing in front of various city scenes.

This version of directed by Mary Lambert, of Pet Semetary fame.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Don’t Change by INXS (1982, directed by Scott Hicks)


Today’s music video of the day is for INXS’s Don’t Change, from their third album, Shabooh Shoobah.  Though INXS had been around for a while and had released two previous albums before releasing Shabooh Shoobah, Don’t Change is often described as the song that introduced the band to the world outside of Australia.

The song’s video was originally envisioned as featuring the band performing on airport runway.  However, due a bad weather, the band was instead forced to film and perform the song in a nearby hangar.  The video was directed by Scott Hicks, who would later go on to direct Geoffrey Rush to his first Oscar in 1996’s Shine.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Room For One More by Anthrax (1993, directed by ????)


The video below features flashing lights and similar visual effects that may be difficult for viewers with photosensitive epilepsy so, as always, watch it at your own discretion.

This music video features Anthrax doing what they did best, rocking it.  Like many of the older metal bands, Anthrax usually kept it simple when it came to their music videos.  Instead of going for gimmicks or a lot of bells and whistles, they just picked up their instruments and played as fast and as loud as they could.  It’s not a bad approach.  Though this video does feature clips of cattle and construction, it still puts the band front and center.

The song was recorded and this music video was shot during the time that John Bush was lead singer of the band, replacing Joey Belladonna after the latter was fired.  Belladonna, of course, would later rejoin the band.

Who directed this?  I have no idea.  Neither does the imdb or the imvdb.

Enjoy!

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


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.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Playground Twist by Siouxsie and the Banshees (1979, directed by Clive Richardson)


In this music video for Playground Twist, Siouxsie and the Banshees show that, despite it’s fearsome reputation, punk rock could be just as fun as any school playground song.  The children who appeared in this video probably had no idea that they were dancing with the woman who Bill Grundy was attempting to hit upon when Steve Jones of the Sex Pistol called him a “dirty sod” on live British television.  The British tabloids labeled this exchange and the entire interview between Grundy and the Sex Pistols as being “the filth and the fury.”

This was one of several videos that Clive Richardson did for Siouxsie and the Banshees.  He also directed videos for several other groups that were a prominent part of the New Wave scene, including Depeche Mode, Tears for Fears, and Adam and the Ants.

Enjoy!