This song of comes from Frank Black’s second solo album, Teenager of The Year. Frank Black, of course, is better known as Black Francis, the lead singer of the Pixies. His real name is Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV and he’s one of the most important musicians of the last 40 years.
This video was directed by Adam Bernstein, who also worked with They Might Be Giants.
Enjoy!
This is one of the best-known of They Might Be Giants’s songs. Though the song was released first, it also appeared on their 1990 album, Flood.
Director Adam Bernstein was a frequent They Might Be Giants collaborator. He also directed music videos for everyone from Public Enemy to Dead Milkmen to BareNaked Ladies and Sir Mix-A-Lot. He’s also a television director, having won an Emmy for his work on Fargo.
Enjoy!
This was the first in a series of “Hotel Detective” songs to be performed by They Might Be Giants. The video was popular on MTV, though neither John Linnell nor John Flansburgh were reportedly happy with how it turned out.
The video is split between animated sequences and live action shots of Linnell and Flansburgh performing in a hotel room. The performance clips were directed by Adam Bernstein, who also directed music videos for Public Enemy and Barenaked Ladies (now there’s a double bill) and who is a frequent television director. (He also directed one of the worst SNL films, It’s Pat. We won’t hold that against him because it’s doubtful anyone could have made a good It’s Pat film.) The animated sequences were done by Joey Ahlbum.
According to this interview with Adam Bernstein, the video had a budget of $7,500.
Enjoy!
Through the Shattered Lens 