Category Archives: Music

Music Video of the Day: Livin’ On The Edge by Aerosmith (1993, directed by Marty Callner)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Written during the 1992 Los Angeles riots, Livin’ On The Edge was the first single off of Aerosmith’s 11th studio album, Get A Grip.  It’s still one of their most commercially successful songs to date, spending nine weeks at the number one spot on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart.

The video features Edward Furlong, living a life almost as dangerous as the life lived by the delinquents in the video for Skid Row’s 18 and Life.  Furlong, fortunately, manages to survive his time living on the edge.  Furlong did this video shortly after starring in Terminator 2: Judgment Day.

The video also features Joe Perry playing a guitar solo in front of an incoming train.  This scene was filmed on Lake Britton Bridge in Shasta County, California.  The same bridge also appears in Stand By Me.  If I remember correctly, at the same time that this video came out, there was also a PSA about the dangers of walking on railroad tracks that used to show up on television constantly.  The spot featured two kids walking across a bridge, much like the one featured in this video when a train starts bearing down on them.  At the end of the PSA, one of the kids manages to get off the bridge and then has to watch as the train runs over his slower friend.  Whenever I see this video or hear this song, that’s what I think of.

This video was directed by Marty Callner, who directed the majority of Aerosmith’s videos.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: The Unnamed Feeling by Metallica (2004, directed by the Malloys)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Are you suffering from anxiety?

Don’t worry, James Hetfield has got your back.  In fact, he wrote an entire song about the moments right before someone starts to panic.  The song calls it The Unnamed Feeling and this is probably the rare Metallica song to which everyone can relate.  St. Anger will probably always be a controversial album but I think it’s aging well.  Hetfield was obviously dealing with some serious things during the recording,  You don’t need to watch Some Kind of Monster to know that.  You just have to listen to the songs.  Personally, I like knowing that even a pioneer of thrash metal can sometimes get nervous.  That means there’s hope for the rest of us.

The video features the band playing in a room in which the walls are slowly closing in.  In between scenes of the band, we watch people dealing with that unnamed feeling.  Keep an eye out for Edward Furlong, who previously lived on the edge for Aerosmith.

Enjoy!

Music Video Of The Day: I’m Just A Singer (In A Rock And Roll Band) by The Moody Blues (1972, directed by ????)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Today’s music video of the day was written by John Lodge, the bassist and vocalist for The Moody Blues.  The song was inspired by Lodge’s feeling that his fans were expecting him to have all of the solutions for the world’s problems.  His reply, in this song, is that he doesn’t have the answers.  He’s just a singer in a rock and roll band.

The Moody Blues may not have been able to give any answers in this song but it was still one of their biggest hits in the U.S.  For whatever reason, it was significantly less popular in the UK.  In the US, it reached the 12th position on the charts.  In the UK, it could only make it to the 36th position.

After the release of this single, The Moody Blues went on a five year hiatus so that the members of the band could work on other projects.  They wouldn’t release another single until 1978, with Steppin’ In A Slide Zone.

Enjoy!

Music Video Of The Day: Stacy’s Mom by Fountains of Wayne (2003, directed by Chris Applebaum)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Adam Schlesinger, R.I.P.  Fuck COVID-19.

Adam Schlesinger wrote this song and he intended for it to be a tribute to the Cars.  The opening guitar riff was meant to sound like the riff from Just What I Needed.  The video itself is full of references to the Cars.  Keep an eye out for the license plate that reads, “I ♥ RIC,” not to mention the the boy in the opening scene who appears to be meant to be an adolescent version of Ric Ocasek.  Schlesinger even invited Ocasek to appear in the video but Ocasek never replied to the invitation.

The video also pays homage to Fast Time At Ridgemont High, with Stacy’s mom taking the place of Phoebe Cates.  Stacy’s mom is played by Rachel Hunter, so who can blame the main character for having a crush?  Apparently, before settling on Hunter, the band hoped to cast Paulina Porizkova in the role.  Porizkova was, of course, married to Ric Ocasek.

Enjoy!

Thank you for the music, Adam.

 

Song of the Day: That Thing You Do (R.I.P., Adam Schlesinger)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Earlier today, COVID-19 claimed the life of singer-songwriter Adam Schlesinger.  Schlesinger was only 52 years old.

Adam Schlesinger may be best known for his work with Fountains of Wayne but he also wrote and produced songs for several films.  He was Oscar nominated for writing the title song to That Thing You Do, one of the best rock and roll films of the 90s.  The song was not only catchy but it was also the epitome of everything that was great about pop music.  With this song, Schlesinger and the film paid tribute to every single band that has ever had a one-hit wonder.

In tribute to Adam Schlesinger, here’s That Thing You Do:

You,
Doin’ that thing you do,
Breaking my heart into a million pieces,
Like you always do
And you,
Don’t mean to be cruel,
You never even knew about the heartache,
I’ve been going through
Well I try and try to forget you girl,
But it’s just so hard to do,
Every time you do that thing you do
I,
Know all the games you play,
And I’m gonna find a way to let you know that,
You’ll be mine someday
‘Cause we,
Could be happy can’t you see,
If you’d only let me be the one to hold you,
And keep you here with me
‘Cause I try and try to forget you girl,
But it’s just so hard to do,
Every time you do that thing you do
I don’t ask a lot girl,
But I know one thing’s for sure,
It’s the love I haven’t got girl,
And I just can’t take it anymore
‘Cause we,
Could be happy can’t you see,
If you’d only let me be the one to hold you,
And keep you here with me
Cause it hurts me so just to see you go,
Around with someone new,
And if I know you you’re doin’ that thing,
Every day just doin’ that thing,
I can’t take you doing that thing you do
RIP, Adam Schlesinger.

Music Video Of The Day: Things Have Changed by Bob Dylan (2000, directed by Curtis Hanson)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Normally, today would be April Fool’s Day but this year, I don’t think anyone’s in the mood for any of that.  To quote today’s music video of the day, things have changed.

Bob Dylan wrote this song for a really good movie called Wonder Boys.  (The movie’s good and the Michael Chabon novel that it’s based on is even better.)  Dylan went on to win an Oscar for this song and I can still remember the night that he performed it at the Oscars.  On the night of the ceremony, he was in Australia so both his performance of the song and his acceptance speech was live streamed into the Shrine Auditorium.  The entire performance was a close-up of Dylan, without any camera movements or cuts to the audience.  It was eerie but effective and appropriate because Bob Dylan is an artist who has always tried to control his own image.

This video was directed by the late Curtis Hanson, who also directed Wonder Boys.

Enjoy!

Music Video Of The Day: I Love Rock N Roll by Arrows (1976, directed by ????)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Though everyone is probably most familiar with Joan Jett’s cover of the song, I Love Rock N Roll was originally recorded by a London-based group called Arrows.

Though Arrows were only together for three years (from 1974 to 1977), they were popular with British teenagers and they even had their own TV show on Granada Television, where they would play their own songs and introduce other acts.  This video for I Love Rock N Roll comes from that television show.  This is probably from the same episode of the show that Joan Jett saw in 1976 while she and the Runaways were on tour in the UK.  She liked the song so much that she covered it when she made her first solo album.  Her version, of course, went on to become a huge hit.

(As popular as they were in the UK, Arrows were basically unknown in the United States.  During the time they were together, they only performed in the U.S. once and that was for an episode of Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert in 1975.  When Jett released her version of I Love Rock N Roll, most American listeners were unaware that it was a cover.)

The song was written by Alan Merrill, who was the lead singer for Arrows.  Sadly, Merrill, who was sick with COVID-19, died on Sunday.  Today’s music video of the day is dedicated to his memory.

Music Video of the Day: Spice Up Your Life by Spice Girls (1997, dir by Marcus Nispel)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Are you tired?

Are you bored?

Are you stuck in a go-no where life?

Are you living in a dystopian future that was apparently inspired by Blade Runner?

Well, don’t worry.  Spice Girls are here!

One thing that I like about the Spice Girls is that you could always sing along to their songs.  The other thing I like about them is that, regardless of how simple their music may have been, their music videos were almost always ludicrously overproduced.  That’s the case here, where Spice Up Your Life is transformed into an anthem for revolution.

Spice Up Your Life was directed by Marcus Nispel, who has subsequently directed a few features film that I didn’t care much for.

Enjoy!