Category Archives: Music

Music Video of the Day: Don’t Talk To Strangers by Rick Springfield (1982, directed by Paul Justman)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

This is the music video where Rick Springfield sets a landline phone on fire. That’s one way to keep your girl from talking to strangers. Even though the video suggests that Springfield is saying that you shouldn’t talk to strangers because you never know who they could actually be and you might be putting yourself in dangers, Springfield has admitted that the song’s message was less altruistic. Instead, it was a message to his girlfriend (and later wife), telling her not to talk to strangers while he was away because he was worried that she would end up cheating on him.

As Springfield explained to Variety, “Back then, I was scared that she was screwing around because I was doing the same thing.” Jesse’s girl could probably tell you something about that.

This video was directed by Paul Justman, who also did videos for The Cars and the J. Geils Band.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: (619) 239-King by Mojo Nixon and Skip Roper (1989, directed by Bill Fishman)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Yes, that was a real number. It was not, as some people have reported, Mojo Nixon’s private number. Instead, it was a number that was connected to house in San Diego where people could call and leave reports of having sighted Elvis or really anything else they wanted to say to Mojo. According to the comments left for this video on YouTube, Mojo often changed the message on the machine.

It’s been a while since we’ve had any Elvis sightings. I don’t know how many people remember this but when I was a kid, there were people who seriously believed that Elvis had faked his death and was living in Florida. There were even pictures that people claimed to have taken of him. The funny thing is that, in all of these pictures, Elvis still had his sideburns and was usually wearing a white jump suit. Elvis faked his death but wasn’t willing to get a haircut or buy any new clothes.

If Elvis is still alive, he’s 86 years old now.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: My Girl by Madness (1979, directed by ????)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Today’s music video of the day is for My Girl, the third single to be released off of Madness’s debut album, One Step Beyond… This song spent 10 weeks on the UK singles chart, peaking in the third spot. The song was written by Mike Barson, Madness’s keyboardist. Barson has said that the song was somewhat autobiographical and about a man who would rather stay home and watch TV rather than go out or have long conversations with his girlfriend. Barson reportedly wrote the lyrics on the back of a cigarette packet while working as a delivery driver.

This video was shot at the Dublin Castle in Camden, London.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Easy Sleazy by Mick Jagger with Dave Grohl (2021, editing concept by Matt Clifford)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Are you sick of the lockdowns? Are you tired of hearing about the Coronavrius? Do you really want to just get back to living your life and doing what you want without having to worry all the time?

Well, Mick Jagger and Dave Grohl feel the same way! They’ve written a song about it and made a video. Let’s listen and take a look, shall we?

Hell yeah!

Now, there’s some people on twitter (yes, I know) who are convinced that Mick is being serious when he says that the vaccine is going to allow Bill Gates to enter a person’s blood stream. Myself, I think it’s pretty clear that Mick is being sarcastic. I would say that this song speaks for all of us who are equally sick of both the scolds and the conspiracy theorists. Mostly this song is just about wanting to get on with one’s life and for the pandemic to just become a bad memory. Who can’t relate to that?

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Don’t Stand So Close To Me by The Police (1980, directed by Derek Burbidge)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Because Sting was famously a teacher before he became a rock star, it’s easy to assume that this song, about a teacher tempted to have an affair with a student, was autobiographical. Sting insists that it was not, beyond that it was somewhat inspired by the groupies who were, at that time, crazy about The Police.

This video was directed by Derek Burbidge, who also directed several videos for bands like AC/DC, Squeeze, Queen, Gary Numan, The Eurythmics, and Stray Cats. In the early 80s, if you were a successful band looking to get some extra exposure on MTV, it’s extremely probable that Burbidge would have ended up directing a video for you.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Mediate by INXS (1987, directed by Richard Lowenstein)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

INXS plays tribute to Bob Dylan in today’s music video of the day!

Some members of the band did a better job than other when it came to keeping up with the cards but they all still did a pretty good job considering that this is a 2 and a half minute music video with no visible edits. This video was originally included on the backend of the video for Need You Tonight. Richard Lowenstein directed both videos and it was a definitely a canny move to combine the two and basically get MTV to promote two songs for the price of one.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Need You Tonight by INXS (1987, directed by Richard Lowenstein)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Need You Tonight was the first single released off of INXS’s sixth studio album, Kick. The video, which made use of several different types of animation, was extremely popular with MTV’s audience and, as a result, the song went on to become one of INXS’s biggest hits. The video went on to win 5 awards at the MTV Music Video Awards. This was back when those actually meant something.

Director Richard Lowenstein directed a total of 16 videos for INXS, including this one. He also directed a film called Dogs in Space, which was not about actual dogs in space but which was instead about the Australian post-punk scene. INXS’s lead singer Michael Hutchence played Sam, the leader of a band called Dogs in Space.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Don’t Let Go The Coat by the Who (1981, directed by John Crome)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Don’t Let Go The Coat is thought to be a tribute to Pete Townshend’s spiritual guru, Mehr Baba, who often told his followers to “hang fast to the hem of my robe.” Just as Mehr Baba told his followers to not lose sight of his teachings, the song’s lyrics seem to reflect Townshend’s struggle to remain true to his beliefs even when he’s feeling depressed and struggling with his demons.

The video is a performance clip, directed by John Crome. Crome also directed the video for The Who’s You Better You Bet. The video features Kenney Jones on drums. Jones joined the band after Keith Moon’s tragic death. Roger Daltrey has often said that The Who became a different band after the death of Moon and that none of the drummers that they brought in could duplicate Moon’s frenetic approach. As was often the case when it came to anything Daltrey said, Pete Townshend disagreed. Jones played with The Who until the band’s first break-up in 1983.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Shake That Thing by The Georgia Satellites (1990, directed by Bill Fishman)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

This is the Georgia Satellites song that is not Keep Your Hands To Yourself.

This video finds the band in New Orleans and dropping in on Kitten Natividad, the famed dancer and adult film star who is best known for the films she made with Russ Meyer. (She starred in both Up! and Beyond the Valley of the Ultra Vixens.) Natividad is still alive and working, at the age of 73.

The Georgia Satellites released their last studio album in 1997, though the band is still apparently active, with guitarist Rick Richards as the last original member to still be with the group. Lead singer Dan Baird retired in 2019, saying on his website, “I won’t quit making music, but it’ll be in my basement, at my home, where I can walk my dog, go to the gym 4 times a week, shave on Friday and go to sleep with my sweetie beside me every night.” That sounds like the ideal retirement to me.

Enjoy!