Category Archives: Music

Music Video of the Day: The Big Crash by Eddie Money (1984, directed by Martin Kahan)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

In his video, Eddie Money returns to his roots.

Eddie was born in Brooklyn.  His father was a cop.  His grandfather was a cop.  His brother was a cop.  It was expected that Eddie would become a cop too.  Even while he was pursuing a career in music, Eddie joined the NYPD.  However, while he was still in training, Eddie was told that he would not be allowed to wear his hair long if he was a member of the NYPD.  That was the last straw for Eddie, who later said that he could not imagine spending the next 20 years of his life with short hair.  He left the force and returned to music.  Unfortunately, the band he was in suspected that he was an undercover narc and kicked him out.  Meanwhile, his father tore down and destroyed every Jimi Hendrix poster that Eddie had hanging in his room.  Perhaps realizing that New York was no longer going to be a friendly place to live, Eddie headed for California and the rest, as they say, is history.

In this video, though, Eddie is back in New York and working out the of the 18th precinct.  While he investigates crimes on the streets, a runaway is sucked into a dangerous lifestyle.  Eddie has longish hair in the video so he finally got to be a cop without having to cut his hair.

This video was directed by Martin Kahan, who also did videos for KISS, Scandal, Michael Bolton, and a lot of other people who probably would never have made it as a member of the NYPD.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Breakin’ … There’s No Stopping This by Ollie and Jerry (1984, directed by Joel Silberg)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Drummer Ollie Brown and bassist Jerry Knight were two Detroit-based sessions musicians who were also members of Raydio, along with Ray Parker, Jr.  In 1984, Brown and Knight were hired to provide songs for the soundtrack of the upcoming breakdancing movie Breakin’.  There’s No Stopping Us was named after a line that was spoken by one of the characters in the film and it was meant to not only reflect what was happening in the movie but also Ollie and Jerry’s own struggle and determination to make it in the music biz.

The video is made up entirely of clips from the movie.  (The video’s credited director Joel Silberg also directed Breakin’.  It seems if anyone deserve credit for the video, though, it’s the editor who put it together.)  Jean-Claude Van Damme was an extra in Breakin‘ and supposedly, he can be spotted dancing in this video.  I think I spotted him at the 2:32 mark, dancing in a crowd, but I could be wrong.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Heaven’s On Fire by KISS (1984, directed by David Lewis)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

This is yet another KISS video from the era when the band was performing without their makeup because who needs a memorable gimmick when you can just be another overage hair metal band singing about banging groupies?

This video begins with Paul Stanley’s hands on fire.  Judging from the rest of the video, which features scenes of KISS performing mixed with scenes of KISS entertaining their fans, those hands probably weren’t the only thing that felt like it was on fire by the time filming on this video was completed.

Over on the imdb, director David Lewis has exactly two credits.  One is for this video.  The other is for directing a Linda Ronstadt television special.  Both of them came out in 1984 so it appears that Lewis went straight form Linda Ronstadt to KISS.  That was probably quite a journey.

Speaking of journeys, KISS eventually put the makeup back on.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: It’s A Mistake by Men At Work (1983, directed by Tony Stevens)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Like yesterday’s music video of the day, today’s entry is an anti-war song from 1983.  This time, it’s from Australia’s Men at Work and, as opposed to yesterday’s earnest video from Europe, the video for It’s A Mistake takes a darkly satirical approach to the song’s themes.

After starting out with toy soldiers and stop motion animation, the video segues into the members of the band portraying children who go from playing war to being invited into a tent by an American officer, where they discover a bunch of other officers having a party.  War is all fun and games when you’re not the one doing the fighting.  When the children grow up and all pursue different careers (businessman, activist, doctor, and road workers), they’re still drafted to serve in the military.  Whilst the soldiers fight, the generals gather in an underground bunker and one of them accidentally launches the nukes while trying to stub out a cigar.

Despite or maybe because of it’s anti-American sentiments (even Ronald Reagan gets a satiric shout-out in the song), It’s A Mistake actually charted higher in the States than in the band’s native Australia.  In Australia, it peaked at 34 while in the States, it hit 6.

The video was directed by Tony Stevens, whose entire directorial output pretty much consisted of music videos for Men at Work and Midnight Oil.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: In The Future To Come by Europe (1983, directed by ????)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

In 1983, the Swedish heavy metal band, Europe, released their first album.  It was called Europe.  The first album is always the easiest to title.

In The Future To Come was their very first single and this was their very first video.  The video features the band performing on a windy plain and singing about the possibility of the world ending as a result of a nuclear war.  This was a theme to which they would return in the best-known song, The Final Countdown.  Joey Tempest was only 19 when he wrote this song and it very much reflects a 19 year-old’s worldview but, at the same time, Europe rocked.

For those curious, here are the lyrics for In The Future To Come.  It should be remembered that these lyrics were written at a time when many people agreed that nuclear war was an inevitability.  In the 80s, many believed it wasn’t a question of whether or not it would happen.  Instead, it was a question of when it would happen.

So many tears ago the people on this earth
They were laughin’
They didn’t think of anything else
Than love and peace
But generations failed to see
That they were causin’
Trouble for the future
They didn’t know that one single war

Would continue to increase
But I’ll be beside you
‘Cause I want to hide you

I’ll cover my pain
Or I’ll gone insane
Oh Lord where will it end
When tomorrow is done
Oh Lord can we stop to pretend
That we can survive in the future to come

As long as you can see
As long as you can feel
There’s no cause for alarm
As long as you can touch
As long as you can more

It ain’t too bad
But one day or another
This world would maybe
Be destroyed forever
A holocaust maybe be spread
And drive us all mad

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Coming Up Roses by Elliott Smith (1995, directed by Ross Harris)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Today’s music video of the day is Coming Up Roses, Elliott Smith’s first solo music video.  Elliott Smith would go on to become one of the most influential indie musicians of the 90s, though he never seemed to get the recognition that he deserved when he was alive.  Even his Oscar nomination for composing Miss Misery for Good Will Hunting was overshadowed by all the bombast surrounding Titanic and My Heart Will Go On.

This is a simple video, one that will look familiar to anyone who has ever seen an indie video from the 90s but it feels very appropriate for Elliott Smith and his style of music.  This video was directed by Ross Harris, who was himself a former child actor.  Remember Joey, the little kid who was invited up to the cockpit in Airplane?  That was Ross Harris.

Here are the lyrics for Coming Up Roses, composed by Elliott Smith:

I’m a junkyard full of false starts
And I don’t need your permission
To bury my love under this bare lightbulb

The moon is a sickle-cell
I’ll kill you in time
Your cold white brother alive in your blood
Like spun glass in your sore eye

While the moon does it’s division
You’re buried below
And it’s coming up roses everywhere
You’ve gone red roses fall in love

The things that you tell yourself
They’ll kill you in time
Your cold white brother alive in your blood
Spinning in the night sky

While the moon does its division
You’re buried below
And it’s coming up roses everywhere
You’ve gone red roses

So you got in a kind of trouble
That nobody knows
It’s coming up roses everywhere
You’ve gone red roses.

Music Video of the Day: Deep Deep Trouble by Bart Simpson (1990, directed by Gregg Vanzo)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Since yesterday, I shared Do The Bartman, I guess it only makes sense to share the 2nd Simpsons music video today.  Deep Deep Trouble is more of the same but, for those of us who remember when The Simpsons was funny, it still generates a feeling of welcome nostalgia.

Deep Deep Trouble was written by Matt Groening and DJ Jazzy Jeff and it’s easy to actually imagine this as one of the Fresh Prince’s songs from the Parents Just Don’t Understand era.  Bart, of course, was voiced by Nancy Cartwright.  The video was directed by Simpsons animated Gregg Vanzo.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Do The Bartman by Bart Simpson (1990, directed by Brad Bird)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Way back in 1990, The Simpsons were still a new phenomena and, even more importantly, the show was still funny.  Today, it can be easy to forget that The Simpsons were once considered to be cutting edge.  Of course, they were also a merchandizing bonanza and this lead to the release of an album called The Simpsons Sing The Blues.  The first single and video released from that album was Do The Bartman, which had nothing to do with the blues but which was a big hit nonetheless.

The video, which features Bart up to his usual tricks, was directed by Brad Bird.  At the time, Bird was a former Disney animator who had helped to develop The Simpsons after animating some of the original shorts that aired during The Tracey Ullman Show.  Long after Do The Bartman, Bird would find fame and acclaim for his work with PIXAR, in particularly The Incredibles.  He would also move into live action directing with Mission Impossible — Ghost Protocol.

Bart Simpson, of course, was and is voiced by Nancy Cartwright.  Later episodes of The Simpsons would poke fun at both The Simpsons Sing The Blues and the Bartman.  That probably wouldn’t happen today but, back in the 90s, The Simpsons were still funny and the show was still capable of poking fun at itself.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Nervous Shakedown by AC/DC (1983, directed by Paul Belcher)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

One thing you can say about AC/DC: they’ve never been afraid to let the music speak for itself.  At a time when other bands were creating increasingly elaborate music videos and worrying more about how they would look on MTV than how they would sound while performing, AC/DC simply went out on stage and rocked while the cameras were rolling.  AC/DC’s videos are direct and make no excuses, much like the band itself.

This is the video for Nervous Shakedown.  Just like all of AC/DC’s other music videos, this video is about the performance and nothing else.  Nervous Shakedown is the fourth song off of AC/DC’s album, Flick of the Switch.  The song peaked at #35 on the UK charts, while reaching #20 in Ireland.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Lick It Up by KISS (1983, directed by Martin Kahan)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Right.  What to make of this?

Lick It Up almost sounds like the title of a song that you would come up with if you were attempting to parody a KISS song.  However, KISS beat you to it because KISS is a band that has never been afraid to descend into self-parody.

The video has a very Spinal Tap feel to it, opening with a group of beautiful women living in a burned-out city.  They’ve figured out how to survive on their own but they’re still not happy.  Then the members of KISS come walking down to the street and start singing “Lick it up,” and everyone realizes what this post-apocalyptic hellscape has been missing.

This video was from the period where KISS stopped wearing their makeup because, when you’ve got a songs like Lick It Up, who needs a gimmick?

This video was directed by Martin Kahan, who also directed the video for KISS’s All Hell’s Breaking Loose.  That video also featured KISS performing in a post-apocalyptic hellscape.  I guess that was the thing to do in 1983.

Enjoy!