Boston’s Dropkick Murphys are an Irish punk-rock band whose foot-stompin’, hell-raisin’ concerts are always a rowdy good time! Their 2013 release “Signed and Sealed in Blood” features the holiday tune “The Season’s Upon Us”, celebrating a typical family Christmas, South Shore style. If you’ve never heard them, you’re in for a treat! Enjoy, and Nollaig Shona!:
Today’s music video is sure to get you in the holiday mood!
This video is for No Doubt’s cover of a Christmas song by the Vandals. It’s a pretty simple video, actually. No Doubt is beating some guys up when they finally get the Christmas spirit. To be honest, I’ve always imagined that this what a typical day in the life of No Doubt was like.
Anyway, this video was directed by Sophie Muller. On the IMVDB, Sophie Muller has been credited with directing 222 videos. She’s worked with almost everyone.
As for the video itself, I just like it because it’s one of those videos that manages to find the perfect balance between sincerity and satire.
Enjoy!
The holiday classic “Silver Bells” by songwriters Jay Livingston & Ray Evans has been covered by everyone from Dean Martin to Perry Como, The Supremes to Bob Dylan, Blake Shelton to Sarah McLachlan, but it made it’s debut in the 1951 film THE LEMON DROP KID, starring Bob Hope and Marilyn Maxwell. See how many Familiar Faces you can spot as Bob and Marilyn stroll down the snowy New York street and introduce the world to “Silver Bells”!:
“Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas” was first broadcast on December 18, 1966, and has become a TV staple ever since! Directed by Looney Tunes animator Chuck Jones and narrated by the great Boris Karloff, one of the highlights is voice actor Thurl Ravenscroft (the original Tony the Tiger… “They’re grrrrrreat!) singing “You’re A Mean One, Mr. Grinch”, an ode to the odious Grinch, and here it is! Enjoy, and save me some Roast Beast!:
This is perhaps the greatest music video of all time and it only cost $800 to make.
First a little background of how Spike Jonze came to direct this video. Apparently, Jonze unsuccessfully lobbied for the chance to direct the video of Fatboy Slim’s Rockafeller Skank. However, Jonze still made a video of himself dancing to the song and sent it to Fatboy Slim (also known as Norman Cook) as a gift/joke. Cook was so impressed that he hired Jonze to make the video for Praise You.
Here’s what you really need to know about this video:
Despite the authenticity and the passion of the amateur performance captured in this video, The Torrance Community Dance Group does not exist.
Richard Koufey does not exist. That is Spike Jonze playing Koufey. I don’t know if Jonze “performed in several B-boy posses” while growing up, as Koufey claims to have done. There’s something oddly touching about the enthusiastic way that Jonze/Koufey shouts, “B-boy.”
The bewildered audience is real and their confused reaction to Koufey’s performance was real too. This video was shot outside of a movie theater, without permission or permits. What you’re seeing in this video is technically a crime, which makes it all the more enjoyable. I’m not sure if the man who briefly turns off the music was in on it or not. If that wasn’t planned out ahead of time, Jonze was definitely taking a risk by jumping on him.
Myself, I just love the enthusiasm of it all. It takes talent to be both bad and good at the same time.
Enjoy!
Dee Snider and his band released “A Twisted Christmas” in 2006, a heavy metal rendering of Christmas classics. The best of the bunch is “O Come All Ye Faithful”, using riffs from their hit “We’re Not Gonna Take It” to rock the traditional holiday hymn. There’s even an official video, and here it is! Enjoy “O Come All Ye Faithful”… and rock on, Dee!:
To be honest, the main reason that I picked this for today’s music video of the day is because it’s rare a day passes by that I don’t describe myself as being “a 90s bitch.”
Reportedly, this song was recorded at a time when both Aino Jawo and Caroline Hjelt were going through difficult break-ups. From Songfacts.com:
The song doubles as a kiss-off to the Icona Pop duo’s then boyfriends. “We were going through similar stuff, with dating pigs, and things were not going our way. And when that song came along, we just felt it, and we wanted people to feel our anger,” Jawo explained to MTV News. “We felt the song was a strong song, and … we just wanted to get the song out and get the pigs to hear it. You know who you are.”
“Now, we meet them on the street when we’re back home, and you’re like ‘Hi!’ and they’re like ‘hi,'” Hjelt added. “And we’re like ‘Hahaha, thank you for the inspiration.'”
Enjoy!
Hi, everyone! Lisa here with today’s music video of the day!
Yes, yes, I’m late. Sorry, I fell asleep last night before I got a chance to set up today’s music video of the day. Then, when I woke up, I was out the front door and driving down Central Expressway before I realized that I’d forgotten to put in my contacts. Seriously, I was totally blind and driving down the busiest, most dangerous highway in Dallas.
And yet, I survived!
So, in order to celebrate this momentous occasion, how about a music video from one of my favorite bands? This is Uprising by Muse. It seems to go with the general tenor of the times. Everyone’s convinced they’re a revolutionary. even if they’re just some rando on twitter. Things are blowing, if only in our neighbor’s dreams.
The bit with the teddy bears? That’s a Ghostbusters tribute.
Enjoy!
Florida rockers The Royal Guardsmen soared up the charts like a Sopwith Camel with their 1966 hit “Snoopy Vs The Red Baron”. A year later, the band released ‘Snoopy’s Christmas”, a holiday follow-up featuring everyone’s favorite WWI flying ace and his arch enemy The Red Baron calling a yuletide truce on Christmas Eve. The song went to #1 on Billboard’s Christmas specialty charts, and still gets airplay around this time of year! Enjoy “Snoopy’s Christmas”!:
This video was filmed backstage at Earl’s Court in London. It was directed by Mick Rock, who is credited with directing four videos for David Bowie.
When asked, Bowie described this song as being “a sensitive young girl’s reaction to the media. I think she finds herself disappointed with reality… that although she’s living in the doldrums of reality, she’s being told that there’s a far greater life somewhere, and she’s bitterly disappointed that she doesn’t have access to it.” I imagine most people have felt that way at some point during their life. Admittedly, I haven’t but then again, who knows what the future might hold?
Is there Life on Mars? I think Santa would definitely say that there is. Not to mention…
That said, it’s an interesting question. On the one hand, I’m a natural-born skeptic when it comes to aliens and UFOs. On the other hand, the universe is really, really big. Is it possible that we’re all alone? For the sake of ennui, I want to say yes. But realistically, it seems like there has to be something out there. I guess what disappoints me is that, whenever we do find signs of life in space, it’s always little pieces of fungus or a one-celled amoeba. What’s the use of discovering extraterrestrial life if it’s just going to be the type of stuff that usually ends up on the bottom of someone’s shoe?
Then again, I guess that’s preferable to the alternative:
Enjoy!
Through the Shattered Lens 