I’ll be back tomorrow. In the meantime, enjoy Every Day Is Halloween by Ministry. Mvdbase says there was an official music video for it, but I can’t find it. If I ever do, then I’ll do a post on it. There are plenty of unofficial ones, though. I’ve included a couple of them below.
This is from a 1956 episode of the Ed Sullivan Show:
Rock and roll legend Fats Domino passed away yesterday in Harvey, Louisiana. He was 89 years old. Beginning his career in 1947, Fats Domino performed for 60 years straight before retiring in 2007. He leaves behind 5 gold records, 37 Top 40 singles, and 35 records in the Billboard Top 40.
Once, when a reporter called Elvis “the king,” Elvis pointed at Fats Domino and said, “No, the real king of rock and roll is right over there.”
RIP, Fats Domino.
Thank you for the music.
Hi! Lisa here with today’s music video of the day!
Today, we have the video for Radiohead’s Burn the Witch. Through the use of stop motion animation, Burn the Witch tells a disturbing little story, one that deals with an inspector who comes to a seemingly idyllic English village and who eventually ends up getting trapped in a wicker man. If any of this sounds familiar, it’s probably because you’ve seen either the original Wicker Man or the remake starring Nicolas Cage. The video for Burn the Witch is actually a bit more positive than the film that inspired it. In the video, the inspector escapes at the end. Neither Edward Woodward nor Nic Cage were quite as lucky.
As for the song itself, it deals with the dangers of groupthink and blind obedience to authority. Since Radiohead’s music has always possessed a libertarian streak, that’s certainly not a shock. The video condemns not only those who would demand blind obedience but also on those who are foolish enough to give it.
Of course, with The Wicker Man theme, it’s also perfect for October!
Enjoy!
Rockabilly singer Jumpin’ Gene Simmons (no relation to the KISS Demon with the long, long tongue!) had a #11 hit on the Billboard charts with the spooky-themed novelty song, “Haunted House”. OK, so the song’s not all that spooky, but this YouTube video is, set to some scary scenes from William Castle’s HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL ! So put on your blue suede shoes and enjoy!:
Hi! Lisa here, with today’s music video of the day!
Life as a ghost isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be and if you needed proof, just check out this otherworldly music video. The video mixes spirits with a good beat, so you know there’s no way that I’d be able to resist it.
This one was filmed in Toronto and it was directed by Colin O’Toole.
Hi, everyone! Lisa here, filling in for Val.
In 1994, Tim Burton released Ed Wood, a film that I consider to be his best. (In fact, it’s one of the few Tim Burton films that I feel actually improves with repeat viewings. Don’t start yelling at me about Beetlejuice.) The score, which so evocative of Wood’s style of filmmaking, was composed by Howard Shore. This video features the actress Lisa Marie (who played Vampira in Ed Wood) dancing to Shore’s theme music.
Before anyone says it, I did not pick this video just because it features a dancer named Lisa Marie. I’m not the egocentric … well, actually, I am. In fact, I’m so egocentric that I’m shocked that I have yet to dedicate an entire post to just listing words that rhyme with Lisa. (Sadly, there’s not many. Visa is a good one.) But still, I did have other reasons for picking this video than just the fact that I am also named Lisa Marie and I also enjoy dancing in cemeteries. Those reasons will hopefully become obvious as the day develops here on the Shattered Lens.
Anyway, both Tim Burton and Toni Basil are credited with directing this video. I’m going to assume that Burton’s directorial credit is largely due to all of the scene of Ed Wood that are spliced into the footage of Lisa Marie dancing. Toni Basil, who also did the choreographed this video, is one of our favorite people here at the Shattered Lens. Just check out my review of Head and Val’s review of Slaughterhouse Rock.
Enjoy!
This past August, I got to see Alice Cooper perform live in concert (on a triple bill with classic rockers Deep Purple and Edgar Winter!). The Coop’s Grand Giugnol antics, complete with a ten-foot Frankenstein, a murderous danse macabre with a ballerina, the famous guillotine routine, loads of pyro, and the incredible shredding of guitar goddess Nita Strauss, stole the show. Alice has always been the most theatrical of rockers, and the man’s still got it!
In 1975, Alice released his first solo LP without his longtime backing band, “Welcome to My Nightmare”, featuring Cooper classics like “Cold Ethyl”, “Black Widow”, “Only Women Bleed”, and the title track. A videotaped TV special was made to coincide with the album, and horror icon Vincent Price was brought in to play ‘The Curator of The Nightmare’ (Price did narration for ‘Black Widow’ on the record, predating Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”). If you’ve got…
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In an era of throbbing disco beats, ponderous prog rock, and angry loud punk, Tom Petty’s rootsy, guitar-jangling sound was like a breath of fresh air blowing through the late 70’s radio airwaves. Petty was a Southern boy, but didn’t fit the ‘Southern Rock’ mode of the Allman Brothers or Marshall Tucker. Instead, he and his band The Heartbreakers were influenced by the stylings of The Beatles and The Byrds, crafting tight-knit pop tunes for the ages.
The Florida-born Petty was an artsy type of kid, an outsider in a world of machismo. He met his idol Elvis Presley when The King was making the 1961 film FOLLOW THAT DREAM on location, and three years later, when The Beatles appeared on Ed Sullivan, Tom knew what he wanted to do with his life. By age 17, he’d dropped out of high school, and three years later started Mudcrutch, a…
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Words fail me right now.
Rest in peace, Tom Petty.
Thank you for the music.
Update, 4:39 pm — Now, CBS, which was the first outlet to report that Tom Petty had died, have backtracked their report. He’s on life support but apparently, he’s still hanging on.
4:44 pm — The LAPD has apologized for “inadvertently providing false information.”
12:25 am — Sadly, Tom Petty’s passing has now been confirmed.
The Monkees (Davy Jones, Mickey Dolenz, Peter Tork, and Mike Nesmith) brought rock’n’roll to TV with their mega-successful 1966-68 musical sitcom. Inspired by The Beatles’ onscreen antics in A HARD DAY’S NIGHT and HELP!, producers Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider cast four fresh-faced youths (Jones was a Tony nominee for OLIVER!, Dolenz had starred in TV’s CIRCUS BOY, Tork and Nesmith were vets of the folk-rock scene), hired some of the era’s top songwriters (Gerry Goffin & Carole King, Tommy Boyce & Bobby Hart, Neil Diamond, Harry Nilsson) and session musicians (Hal Blaine, James Burton, Glen Campbell , Carol Kaye), and Monkeemania became a full-fledged teenybop pop phenomenon.
Detractors (and there were many) in the music biz called them ‘The Pre-Fab Four’, looking down their noses at The Monkees while looking up as hits like “I’m a Believer”, “Daydream Believer”, and “Pleasant Valley Sunday” climbed to the top of the…
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