Aerosmith and music video director Marty Callner were always a good combination, as seen in today’s music video of the day.
Enjoy!
Tag Archives: Aerosmith
Music Video of the Day: Lightning Strikes by Aerosmith (1982, directed by Arnold Levine)
Lightning Strikes was one of Aerosmith’s first videos to be created for MTV. (It was also their only single to chart during the Jimmy Crespo years.) The video switches back and forth from Aerosmith performing in a club and Aerosmith in a hallway, about to go to battle with a bunch melons.
Director Arnold Levine also directed the video for Aerosmith’s Chiquita, as well as videos for Cheap Trick and REO Speedwagon.
Enjoy!
Music Video of the Day: I Don’t Wanna Miss A Thing by Aerosmith (1997, directed by Francis Lawrence)
The video for this song, written for the film Armageddon, was filmed at the Minneapolis Armory. Along with featuring clips from the movie, the video pays tribute to the real-life American space shuttle program. When this song came out in 1997, it was inescapable. As with any popular song, there was a backlash but I defy anyone to get the chorus out of their head after they hear it.
Director Francis Lawrence directed music videos or just about everyone before starting a career as a feature film director, directing Constantine, I Am Legend, Water For Elephants, Red Sparrow, and the sequels to The Hunger Games.
Enjoy!
Music Video of the Day: Chiquita by Aerosmith (1979, directed by Arnold Levine)
Today’s music video of the day comes to us from the time when Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler and Joe Perry were both truly living up to their reputation for being the Toxic Twins. It can be easy to forget now that they are both rock luminaries and both have, more or less, cleaned up their acts as far as hard drugs are concerned but it’s something of a miracle that the two of them survived the 70s and the 80s.
Chiquita was recorded for Aerosmith’s 6th studio album, Night of the Ruts. The recording of this album found Aerosmith on the verge of breaking up. Joe Perry actually did leave the band halfway through recording, saying that he wanted to get back to what the band used to be about before it all became about making money for the record companies. The album was panned when originally released but its critical reputation has improved over the years, with Steven Tyler calling it his favorite Aerosmith album.
The video was directed by Arnold Levine, who also directed videos for Cheap Trick and REO Speedwagon.
Enjoy!
Music Video of the Day: Love In An Elevator (1988, directed by Marty Callner)
Lovin’ it up when I’m goin’ down
I don’t think anyone has ever accused Aerosmith of being a particularly subtle band when it comes to the subject matter of their songs. That’s one reason why their fans love them. Love In An Elevator is one of their least subtle songs and, not coincidentally, it’s also one of their most popular.
The elevator operator is played by Brandi Brandt, who was Playboy’s playmate of the month for October of 1987. She had a brief acting career, one that largely consisted of this video and an appearance on Married With Children. Many years later, in 2014, she pleaded guilty to smuggling cocaine into Sydney and she did some time in prison in Australia. Fortunately, she received an early parole and is now safely back in California.
The video was directed by Marty Callner, who directed several videos for not only Aerosmith but almost every other popular band of the period as well.
Enjoy!
Music Video of the Day: Dream On by Aerosmith (1993, directed by Marty Callner)
Dream On has been one of Aerosmith’s signature tunes since the band’s early days in the 70s but it didn’t get its own music video until 1993, when it was included on the soundtrack for Last Action Hero.
You may remember Last Action Hero as being the notorious box office disappointment that forced Arnold Schwarzenegger to start thinking about what he might be interested in doing if his film career ever came to an end (like entering politics, perhaps). It was also one of the first films to show Hollywood that Aerosmith’s music can literally be plugged into almost any scene in any movie. Despite its reputation, Last Action Hero is not that bad. The F. Murray Abraham cameo alone is worth the price of admission.
This video is made up of footage that was shot for MTV’s 10-year anniversary celebration in 1991. It was directed by Marty Callner, who directed music videos for everyone in the 90s.
Enjoy!
Music Video of the Day: Livin’ On The Edge by Aerosmith (1993, directed by Marty Callner)
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: Sweet Emotion by Aerosmith (1991, directed by Marty Callner)
Remember the old chat lines?
I don’t know if they’re even still around but back in the late 80s and the 90s, they were the only thing advertised on TV after midnight. All you had to do was dial the number and then, for only three dollars a minute, you could get a custom psychic reading or hear Ice Cube’s thought of the day.
The most popular chat lines were the ones that were advertised as being used by “hot singles waiting to talk to you!” The commercials all featured insanely hot girls in their underwear, usually lying in bed with a landline phone. Common sense should have told everyone that anyone that hot wasn’t sitting at home on Friday night, waiting to hear from some teenager in Canton. Still, 1-800 numbers were a big business back in the day. They were the original chat rooms.
They weren’t cheap, either. “3.99 for the first minute, 0.99 for each additional minute.” Those minutes added up fast, especially when the operators had been trained to draw things out. For some people, it was worth it for the chance to fantasize about the voice at the other end of the line.
The video for Aerosmith’s Sweet Emotion centers around that fantasy. On one end, the teenager from Canton who says he’s an entertainment lawyer. On the other end, his fantasy. In the middle of it all is Aerosmith, performing at an old warehouse in the Charleston Navy Yards.
Sweet Emotion is one of Aerosmith’s most enduring songs. Some fans think that the song was inspired by the band’s mutual dislike of Joe Perry’s then-wife but Steve Tyler has said that it was actually inspired by a feud between the wives of both Perry and bassist Tom Hamilton. The song was a big hit when it was originally released in 1975 and then it was an even bigger hit when it was re-released in 1991.
My Favorite Super Bowl Commercial 2018
Well, this year there was slim pickings far as Super Bowl ads go, with the exception of some of the new film trailers (can’t wait for AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR ). The one ad that did stand out for me had a decidedly New England flavor, featuring Steven Tyler of Boston’s own Aerosmith travelling back in time in – no, not a Delorean, but a Kia!:
Dream On indeed, Steven!
Through the Shattered Lens 