Today’s song of the day is the main theme from Leone’s best-known film, The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.
Ennio Morricone’s score is as much of a character in this film as the ones played by Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach, and Lee Van Cleef. It perfectly sets the moods, telling us that we’re about to see something that is truly epic. The opening notes, which have so often been parodied but which have never lost their power, truly capture the feel of Sergio Leone’s mythical vision of the old west.
This video is for the third single from AC/DC’s 13th studio album, Ballbreaker. This video features AC/DC rocking out on stage while oil-covered women keep the fans running backstage and end up getting covered in oil. Back in 1995, this is how we all assumed AC/DC made sure sure the show never ended.
This video was directed by the band’s usual director, David Mallet.
Enjoy!
For today’s song of the day, we have this beautiful 2013 instrumental pieces from Moby.
No, Michael, you may not.
Enjoy!
Considering that it’s Ian Fleming’s birthday, what else could I have possibly picked?
It’s easy to forget now but, in the mid-90s, slam poetry and spoken word performances were trendy for a brief time. As with anything that was trendy, MTV had to jump on the bandwagon and ruin it through overexposure. For a while, in 1995, every commercial break on MTV seemed to feature Maggie Estep performing. Estep wasn’t the only performer featured, of course. There was another poet whose name that I cannot remember. He would do pieces about sports and how the announcers would never just tell you what the score was. It’s funny because it’s true, right?
This video received moderate airplay on MTV and it was featured on an episode of Beavis and Butthead. Director Mark Pellington was one of those video directors who worked with everyone. He later went on to have a middling feature film career.
Enjoy!
A lot of people have sung this song, from Paul Anka to Frank Sinatra to Sid Viscous and Jay-Z.
Christopher Lee’s version remains my favorite.
… And now, the end is near
And so I face the final curtain
My friend, I’ll say it clear
I’ll state my case, of which I’m certain
I’ve lived a life that’s full
I traveled each and every highway
And more, much more than this
I did it my way
… Regrets, I’ve had a few
But then again, too few to mention
I did what I had to do
And saw it through without exemption
I planned each charted course
Each careful step along the byway
And more, much more than this
I did it my way
… Yes, there were times, I’m sure you knew
When I bit off more than I could chew
But through it all, when there was doubt
I ate it up and spit it out
I faced it all, and I stood tall
And did it my way
… I’ve loved, I’ve laughed and cried
I’ve had my fill, my share of losing
And now, as tears subside
I find it all so amusing
To think I did all that
And may I say, not in a shy way
Oh, no, oh, no, not me
I did it my way
… For what is a man, what has he got?
If not himself, then he has naught
To say the things he truly feels
And not the words of one who kneels
The record shows I took the blows
And did it my way
… Yes, it was my way
Songwriters: Paul Anka / Gilles Thibaut / Claude Francois / Jacques Revaux
Reportedly, this video was eventually meant to be far more elaborate but, when those plans fell through, the band went for a more minimalist version that was directed by Peter Christopherson. Take after take was filmed until Reznor was properly exhausted and punch-drunk.
Peter Christopherson has also directed videos for Filter, Soft Cell, Stabbing Westward, and the Ben Folds Five, amongst others.
Enjoy!
For today’s song of the day, we have a classic 1960 instrumental from The Ventures. The baton-twirling cheerleader in the video was lifted from an odd 1963 film called The Yesterday Machine.
This cover of the Peter Frampton hit was featured on the soundtrack for one of the seminal films of Generation X, Reality Bites. Back in the day, MTV advertised the Hell out of Reality Bites, even though the movie portrayed MTV as being intellectually vapid and a net negative for the culture.
(As opposed to Ethan Hawke and his band, Hey, That’s My Bike!)
Enjoy!
Through the Shattered Lens 