Music Video of the Day: Now You’re Gone by Whitesnake (1990, directed by Wayne Isham)


“I remember shooting the video with Wayne Isham in front of a sold out crowd at the Spectrum in Philadelphia, unfortunately it received minimal airplay as MTV was changing its format… still, I think it’s one of the best videos we’ve done…”

– David Coverdale on Now You’re Gone

Whitesnake was one of the top bands of the 80s but, by the time they released this video, their popularity was in decline as both rap and grunge eclipsed hair metal.  Now You’re Gone is one of Whitesnake’s best songs but, when it was first released, it barely charted in the United States.  Shortly after this video, Whitesnake broke up.  After a 1994 reunion, the band officially reformed in 2002.  Here I Go Again is now used in motorcycle insurance commercials, proving the circle of life.

The video for Now You’re Gone was filmed in Philadelphia, before and during an afternoon show.  It’s one of Whitesnake’s best videos, though the presence of Tawny Kitaen is missed.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Tragic Comic by Extreme (1993, directed by Paris Barclay)


Tragic Comic was a third third and final single to be released off of Extreme’s third album, III Sides to Every Story.  This was Extreme’s last single to crack the UK Top 40, reaching #15.

The video for Tragic Comic features Extreme’s lead singer, Gary Cherone, trying to have the perfect date with his neighbor and failing in almost every way.  Even when things look like they’re finally going right, she ends up falling down an elevator shaft.  Unfortunately, I have not been able to find the name of the actress who played Cherone’s neighbor in this video.

As for Gary Cherone, he is probably best known for being Van Halen’s third lead singer.  Cherone joined the band in 1996, replacing Sammy Hagar.  He stuck with Van Halen for three years, recording one album with the band.  Though Van Halen III was a success by most standards, it still didn’t sell as much as previous Van Halen albums and Cherone and the band amicably parted ways in 1999.  If nothing else, Cherone is probably the only person to ever leave Van Halen on relatively good terms.

This video was directed by Paris Barclay.  Today, Barclay is best-known as an Emmy-winning television director.  Among the shows that he’s worked on:  NYPD Blue, ER, The West Wing, CSI, Lost, The Shield, House, Law & Order, Monk, Numb3rs, City of Angels, Cold Case, Sons of Anarchy, The Bastard Executioner, The Mentalist, Weeds, NCIS: Los Angeles, In Treatment, Glee, Smash and The Good Wife, Extant, and Manhattan, Empire, and Scandal.  Barclay also served two terms as the president of the DGA.

Enjoy!

 

Music Video Of The Day: Feeling That Way by Journey (1978, directed by ????)


Like many Journey songs, Feeling That Way went through several different versions before it became the song that was eventually released.

It started out as an instrumental called Velvet Curtain that stayed on the shelf because the band wasn’t satisfied with the results.  Eventually, while the band was recording their third album, keyboardist Greg Rolie pulled it off of the shelf, wrote some lyrics, and renamed the song Please Let Me Stay.  In that form, the song nearly appeared on the Next album but, because the band was again not fully satisfied with the end result, it eventually went back on the shelf.  It would remain there until Steve Perry joined the band.  Perry rewrote the lyrics, added a new chorus, and the song — now called Feeling That Way — finally appeared on Journey’s fourth album, Infinity.

Like most early music videos, the video for Feeling That Way is a performance clip, featuring the band doing what they did best.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Wheel In The Sky by Journey (1978, directed by ????)


Wheel in the Sky started out as a poem, written by Diane Valory, the wife of Journey bassist Ross Valory.  The poem was re-written by the band’s second lead singer, Robert Fleischman, and guitarist Neal Schon worked out the melody while the band was driving from show to show.

Though Fleischman may have written the lyrics, he had left the band by the time the song was recorded for the Infinity album.  Fleischman’s replacement was Steve Perry, who would go on to become Journey’s best-known (though not final) lead singer.  Wheel in the Sky would be the first Journey single to be released after Perry joined the band and it was also the first first single to chart, reaching #57 in the United States.  It remains one of their most popular songs and it’s also one of the few songs to have been performed by every iteration of Journey.

As was Journey’s style, the video for Wheel In The Sky is a performance clip.  As Steve Perry put it when discussing their later video for Separate Ways, the members of Journey were proud to be musicians and not actors.

Enjoy!

 

Music Video of the Day: Lights by Journey (1978, directed by ????)


Though this classic Journey song eventually became a tribute to the band’s hometown of San Francisco, it didn’t start out that way.

As Steve Perry explained in an interview, “I had the song written in Los Angeles almost completely except for the bridge and it was written about Los Angeles. It was ‘when the lights go down in the city and the sun shines on LA.’ I didn’t like the way it sounded at the time. And so I just had it sitting back in the corner. Then life changed my plans once again, and I was now facing joining Journey. I love San Francisco, the bay and the whole thing. ‘The bay’ fit so nice, ‘When the lights go down in the city and the sun shines on the bay.’ It was one of those early morning going across the bridge things when the sun was coming up and the lights were going down. It was perfect.”

Lights was the third single released off of their Infinity album, which was the first album to feature Steve Perry as lead singer.  Though Lights would only reach #68 on the charts, it’s popularity increased over time, to the point that it became one of Journey’s signature songs.

Like almost every Journey video, the video for Lights is a simple performance clip, though some very 70s special effects are included as almost an afterthought.  This would be Journey’s style until they tried something different with the infamous video for Separate Ways.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Paranoid by FARR (2019, dir by Roméo, Max Junk & Justin Bretter)


The main character in this video has good reason to be paranoid because seriously, real life is just kicking his ass.  Maybe he should have blown off that interview and taken those boxing lessons….

Or maybe, in another reality, that’s what he did.  Maybe the two realities are becoming one and our unfortunate protagonist is having to both go to an interview and a boxing lesson at the same time.  It’s totally possible.  Universes collide all the time.

Anyway, this is a good video, a paranoid film for paranoid times.  Let’s be sure to give some deserved credit to Max Wilbur, who gets beaten up with panache and who gives a very good underdog performance in this video.  You can’t help but hope that things work out for him.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: 2099 by Charli XCX featuring Troye Sivan (2019, dir by Bradley and Pablo)


I don’t swim and I have a morbid fear of drowning but I still absolutely love jet skis.  I’ve only been on one a handful of times and every time I was the passenger as opposed to the driver but still, it was a blast.  Of course, I was scared senseless the whole time but still.  It’s kind of like riding a motorcycle, except you’re in the water and you can pretend like you’re in a movie or something.  As this video shows, jet skis are very cinematic.

Enjoy!

 

Music Video of the Day: Anxiety by Chastity (2019, dir by Justin Singer and Brandon Williams)


When you’ve got three ghosts following you around on a bicycle, it’s going to make you a little anxious.

Actually, in all seriousness, I’m sure everyone can relate to this video.  We all have our ghosts following us.

Enjoy!