Today’s song of the day comes to us from DJ Judaa. Enjoy freedom.
Category Archives: Music
Music Video of the Day: Walking Away by Information Society (1988, directed by Mark Pellington)
Information Society was formed, in Minneapolis, by Paul Robb in 1982. Despite a small but devoted fan base, the band initially struggled to achieve mainstream success, which led to several lineup changes during the group’s early years. It wouldn’t be until 1985 that Information Society would have their first minor hit and then it would be another three years before they released their two best known songs, What’s On Your Mind (Pure Energy) and Walking Away.
According to Paul Robb, Walking Away was written while he was thinking about all of the people who had recently left the band. In Robb’s own words, “So if you listen to the lyrics of ‘Walking Away,‘ it’s basically just someone complaining about people who left. That’s because that’s exactly what it is.” Though Walking Away was not as big a hit as What’s On Your Mind, it still charted at #9 and there’s a good chance of hearing it played at any 80s night.
Just as Pure Energy sampled Leonard Nimoy, Walking Away opens with William Shatner saying, “It is useless to resist us.” Leonard’s son, Adam Nimoy, was a huge fan of the band and was instrumental in winning the band permission to use the audio samples in their songs.
Mark Pellington also directed the video for the band’s first hit, What’s On Your Mind.
Enjoy!
Song of the Day: Input by S-50
For today’s song of the day, we have a classic dance track from S-50.
Music Video of the Day: What’s On Your Mind (Pure Energy) by Information Society (1988, directed by Mark Pellington)
Leonard Nimoy saying, “Pure energy” was taken from the Star Trek episode Errand of Mercy. Both the sound of Nimoy’s voice and this energetic video led to this song becoming a surprise hit. One radio station in Boston played the song on a continuous loop for 25 hours straight, leading people to call the station because they thought “Pure Energy” was a warning that something had gone wrong in the DJ booth.
Mark Pellington was one of those directors who did videos for just about everyone during the first decade of the MTV-era. He has also directed feature films like Arlington Road and The Mothman Prophecies.
Enjoy!
Song of the Day: Barely Breathing by Duncan Sheik
RIP, Duncan Sheik.
Music Video of the Day: White Lines by Duran Duran, feat. Grandmaster Melle Mel and The Furious Five (1995, directed by Nick Egan)
In 1995, Duran Duran released an album of cover tunes. The one that got the most attention was this cover of Grand Master Melle Mel’s anti-cocaine anthem, White Lines. Listen as Duran Duran raps! The 90s were a wondrous time that we will never know again.
Enjoy!
Song of the Day: What A Wonderful World, performed by Joe Pesci
For today’s song of the day, here’s a beautiful sentiment from Mr. Joe Pesci.
Music Video Of The Day: White Lines by Melle Mel (1983, directed by Spike Lee)
This song, one of the first hit rap songs about drugs, is often mistakenly described as being a collaboration between Grandmaster Flash and Melle Mel. Grandmaster Flash actually had nothing to do with the song. He had already left Sugar Hill Records before the song was even recorded. When the single was first released, it was credited to “Grandmaster and Melle Mel,” in order to create the impression that Flash was involved. In his autobiography, Flash wrote that he once heard the song was while he was on the way to buy crack and, at that moment, he felt that Melle Mel was specifically speaking to him.
This video was shot by Spike Lee, who was a film student at NYU at the time and yes, that is Laurence Fishburne. Fishburne appeared in this video shortly after playing Cutter in Death Wish II and he has the same look in the video as he did in the movie.
Enjoy!
Song of the Day: Peace In Our Life by Frank Stallone
I am going to be hosting a watch party of Rambo: First Blood Part II later tonight so it seems only appropriate for Frank Stallone to provide us with our song of the day.
Sing it, Frank!
Music Video of the Day: I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For by U2 (1987, directed by Barry Devlin)
Filmed over the course of one night on Fremont Street in Las Vegas, the music video for I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For accomplished two things. First, it showcased the members of U2 at their most approachable and likable. (There was a brief moment time when you could use those two words when talking about U2, as strange as it may seem today.)
Secondly, it did wonders to improve the image of Las Vegas as a city. Instead of focusing on people gambling away their life savings, I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For portrayed Vegas as a friendly and diverse city where, if you go out on the right night, you might even run into one of the biggest bands in the world. According to civic leader Pat Christensen in a 2002 interview with the Las Vegas Review Journal, “”The whole perception of Vegas changed with that video. Now all the big names come here, some of them five, six times a year.”
As usual, in this video, the focus is on Bono and the Edge. Larry Mullen, Jr. and Adam Clayton are both present but it would be easy to mistake them for being a part of the crowd that gathers to watch The Edge play his guitar. Perhaps that is why, at the end of the video, Adam appears to just wander away from the shoot and get in a waiting taxi cab.
Enjoy!
