You might not guess it from the music video but YankeeRose was actually David Lee Roth’s tribute to the Statue of Liberty, which was going through major renovations for the 100th anniversary of its dedication when this song was released.
(Check out RemoWilliams: TheAdventureBegins if you want a close-up look at what was happening to the Statue at the time.)
Of course, Roth knew what sold on MTV so the music video doesn’t feature the Statue. Instead, it features Roth’s trademark humor, showmanship, and sexual innuendo. In typical Roth fashion, it also starts out with a comedy sketch that would probably get the video taken down if it were released today. Perhaps more than any other frontman, Roth is someone who truly epitomizes an era.
Roth directed this video, along with Peter Angelus. Angelus also plays the sleazy playboy who appears at the start of the video.
Today’s music video of the day is for David Lee Roth’s Stand Up. Stand Up was the second single to be released from Dave’s second solo album, Skyscraper. This video finds David Lee Roth driving an fancy car, picking up beautiful women, and driving to a fancy city. It’s just a typical day in the life of Diamond Dave and a reminder that Van Halen’s original success was as much about Roth’s showmanship as Eddie’s technical virtuosity.
At 70, David Lee Roth is still with us, though he says he’s retired from touring. Roth, by the way, is a state-trained emergency medical technician in New York, a pilot, a visual artist, and a martial artist.
I was trying to figure out what song to pick for song of the day when I happened to see that today would have been Eddie Van Halen’s birthday. I nearly picked Panama for our song but then I saw this video for a song called Mean Street on YouTube and I felt the video showed off Van Halen’s guitar playing a bit more than the video for Panama.
And that’s how Mean Street become today’s song of the day!
(Plus, I want to save Panama for whenever we get around to officially annexing it.)
At night I walk this stinkin’ street past the crazys on my block and I see the same old faces and I hear that same old talk and I’m searching for the latest thing, a break in this routine, I’m talkin’ some new kicks, ones like you ain’t never seen
This is home, well, this is Mean Street, it’s our home, the only one I know
And we don’t worry ’bout tomorrow ’cause we’re sick of these four walls Now what you think is nothin’ might be somethin’ after all Now you know this ain’t no through street, the end is dead ahead The poor folks play for keeps down here, they’re the living dead
Come on down, huh, down to Mean Street They’re dancin’ now, Lord, out on Mean Street Dance, baby
It’s always here and now, my friend, it ain’t once upon a time, it’s all over, but the shouting, I come, I take what’s mine We’re searching for the latest thing, a break in this routine, talkin’ some new kicks ones like you ain’t never seen
This is home, mmm, this is Mean Street, it’s our home, only one I know
See, a gun is real easy in this desperate part of town, turns you from hunted into hunter (yeah), you go an’ hunt somebody down, wait a minute, ah, somebody said fair warning, Lord, Lord, strike that poor boy down
Songwriters: Edward Van Halen / Alex Van Halen / Michael Anthony / David Lee Roth
How embarrassing, I wrote this post last night but I forgot to click on schedule. I guess we’re all goin’ crazy.
This song is from David Lee Roth’s solo album, Eat ‘Em And Smile and it features Roth and his band performing while being watched by two record executives, the Picasso Brothers. As you can see in the video, Roth put together an amazing band for his solo effort, with Steve Vai on guitar, Billy Sheehan on bass, and Gregg Bissonette on drums.
This video was directed Pete Angelus, who also did the music video for Van Halen’s Jump.
David Lee Roth, the greatest rock frontman of the 80s, is celebrating his 68th birthday! Here’s hoping that wherever Diamond Dave is right now, it’s just like paradise!
We take a small break from our annual Horrorthon to present, for your approval, the type of music video that most bands probably couldn’t get away with today, at least not without running the risk of getting cancelled on twitter. Hot For Teacher is both a song and a video that epitomizes both the 80s and Van Halen.
The video follows Waldo over the course of his first day of school. Waldo’s voice is provided by the one and only Phil Hartman. Hartman would join the cast of Saturday Night Live two years later, appearing on that show for ten years and then co-starring on Newsradio. He was also an unofficial cast member of The Simpsons, providing the voices of both Lionel Hutz and actor Troy McClure. Hartman was one of the of the funniest men to ever live. His 1998 murder is still something that I have a hard time accepting.
The teachers are played by models Donna Rupert (she’s the Chemistry teacher) and Lillian Muller (she teaches physical education). While the stripping teachers were considered to be controversial in 1984, what was even more controversial was a brief scene of the members of the band grabbing their crotch during the “so bad” chorus. When the video originally aired on NBC’s Friday Night Video, the crotch-gabbing was covered by a black censor box.
In 1985, during the Al Gore-inspired Senate hearings on obscenity in rock music (or “porn rock,” as Al Gore called it), the video for Hot For Teacher was cited as being a particularly bad influence on young listeners and viewers. The members of the committee took a break from the testimony of Tipper Gore and Frank Zappa to watch the video. After the video ended, U.S. Senator Paula Hawkins of Florida testified, “Much has changed since Elvis’ seemingly innocent times. Subtleties, suggestions, and innuendo have given way to overt expressions and descriptions of often violent sexual acts, drug taking, and flirtations with the occult.” Unfortunately, there doesn’t appear to be any record of Senators Ernest Hollings and Strom Thurmond thought about the video. Van Halen continued to rock long after all the members of that committee had either retired or been voted out of office.
David Lee Roth first came to prominence as the lead singer of Van Halen. Famously, he and Eddie Van Halen did not get along but the band’s early success was definitely due to the combination of Eddie’s technical virtuosity and Roth’s unabashed stage presence. For better or worse, Roth earned the right to be known as Diamond Dave. When Roth left Van Halen (for the first time) and embarked on his solo career, he made up for what he may have lacked in range with pure theatrical showmanship. Nowhere was that more evident than in Roth’s first solo hit, a cover of the Beach Boys’s California Girls.
Even before the video begins, we know what’s in store for us:
Assuming the opening quote hasn’t scared you off, the video proper begins somewhere in California, with a campy Twilight Zone-style narrator introducing us to a tour group of strange-looking tourists and Jane Leeves. (Nine years after this video, Leeves would be better known for playing Daphne Moon on Frasier.)
Fortunately, the world’s best tour guide is there to show them what California’s all about!
But first, Diamond Dave makes them all walk through a cemetery for some reason.
Of course, Diamond Dave loves the East Coast Girls. The Yo Mamma graffiti is a nice touch.
And Diamond Dave loves the Southern Girls, with the way they talk and hang their Confederate flags.
He also likes the Midwest Girls and, apparently, corn.
And don’t forget Northern Girls, with the way they kiss in the snow.
But you know what Dave really likes?
California Girls!
Jane Leeves is amazed!
The bodybuilder here is played by Kay Baxter, who was Dave’s personal trainer at the time.
The screenshot below is not only the epitome of Diamond Dave but also a good example of why he and Van Halen have always had such an uneasy working relationship. Eddie Van Halen could probably perform a technically perfect version of California Girls (or any other Beach Boys song) but he could never pull off an orange suit and a bowtie.
The video’s most famous (and most often parodied) moment comes when Dave dances down a runway of bikini-clad models, who are all standing still and posed like mannequins. It may be ridiculous put it’s also the epitome of David Lee Roth.
California Girls was one of Roth’s biggest solo hits and, much like him, it epitomizes an era. Roth would later rejoin and leave Van Halen several more times before finally joining again in 2007. When last checked, Roth was still a member and he probably still loves California girls.
Through the Shattered Lens 