Music Video of the Day: We Are The Champions by Queen (1977, directed by Derek Burbridge)

Posted on June 30, 2020 by Jedadiah Leland

“I was thinking about football when I wrote it. I wanted a participation song, something that the fans could latch on to. Of course, I’ve given it more theatrical subtlety than an ordinary football chant. I suppose it could also be construed as my version of ‘I Did It My Way.’ We have made it, and it certainly wasn’t easy. No bed of roses as the song says. And it’s still not easy.”

— Freddy Mercury on We Are The Champions

According to scientists, this is the most catchy song every written.

In 2011, a team of scientific researchers actually conducted a study to determine the catchiest song ever recorded and this is what they decided upon. Don’t ask me how they actually made that determination. Maybe they were all football fans. If you’re fan of football — whether it’s American football or association football — you know this song by heart. You also probably know what it’s like to hear the other team sing it after your team loses. As great as it feels to be one of the champions, it really sucks to be one of the losers who they don’t have time for.

This video was filmed at the New London Theater. The audience was made up entirely of members of Queen’s fan club. The video was directed by Derek Burbridge, who also directed yesterday’s music video of the day.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Runaway Boys by Stray Cats (1980, directed by Derek Burbidge)

Posted on April 10, 2020 by Jedadiah Leland

“‘Runaway Boys’ being a little more of a song, song, not just a turnarond song, that took us a while to put together. Jim Phantom helped with the lyrics and it took a while to get right. I came up with bass going chunk, chunk, chunk, chunk, and wrote the song around that. I mean there’s no set rules, I’ll have an idea in the shower, I’ll come up with the riff or something, I’ll have it floating around in my head, I’ll get an idea and I’ll get inspired to write some lyrics, I’ll get a real catchy phrase that I like. I’ll hear someone saying something and I think, oh that’s great and he actually said something else. I don’t know, there’s no way of putting any, it doesn’t make any sense, it just comes to you.”

— Brian Setzer on Runaway Boys

Since today is Brian Setzer’s birthday, it just seems right that today’s music video of the day should come from Stray Cats. Runaway Boys was the band’s first big hit in the UK, though it would take the U.S. a little longer to get with the program and embrace the genius that is Setzer.

This video was directed by Derek Burbidge, who directed a number of videos in the 80s. In fact, most of the videos for The Police were done by Burbidge. He also did the famous video for Gary Numan’s Cars.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Cars by Gary Numan (1979, directed by Derek Burbidge)

Posted on July 28, 2018 by Jedadiah Leland

One of the first great hits of the new wave era, Gary Numan’s Cars was inspired by an incident of road rage. As Numan explained in an interview

“I was in traffic in London once and had a problem with some people in front. They tried to beat me up and get me out of the car. I locked the doors and eventually drove up on the pavement and got away from them. It’s kind of to do with that. It explains how you can feel safe inside a car in the modern world… When you’re in it, your whole mentality is different… It’s like your own little personal empire with four wheels on.”

From this humble beginning came the song that not only became synonymous with post-punk new wave music but which also inspired an untold number of teenagers to switch from learning how to play the drums to wanting a keyboard for Christmas. Cars may have been about something as modern as road rage but its futuristic sound and video made it a science fiction anthem.

(Sorry, you’re probably going to have to go to YouTube to actually watch this video.)

Cars starts with what I like to call a Doctor Who shot.

Anyone who has ever seen classic Doctor Who or really any science fiction movie from the late 70s knows how important neon was to decorating any villain’s intergalactic lair. When Gary Numan approaches the microphone, he could easily be mistaken for a militaristic alien who had made the mistake of falling under the influence of the Master.

Once Numan starts to perform, it becomes more obvious that he was more inspired by David Bowie than Doctor Who:

The video features several close-ups of Numan’s tambourine. The effect may seem cheesy now but in 1979, it undoubtedly blew a lot of minds.

Of course, no new wave video would be complete without some synthesizer action.

Cars became an unexpected hit and remains popular today. Anyone who has played Grand Theft Auto: Vice City knows the pleasure of fleeing the police while listening to Cars on Wave 103.