Music Video of the Day: And The Beat Goes On by The Whispers (1979, directed by ????)


The Whispers were first formed 1964 but they had to wait 16 years before scoring the first top 20 hit in both the U.S. and the UK with And The Beat Goes On.  This song was co-written by Leon F. Sylvers III, Stephen Shockley, and William Shelby.  Sylvers felt that the song had little potential to be a hit.  The Whisperers felt differently and they turned out to be correct.

As befits an old school song, this is an old school video, a simple performance clip of the band doing what they did best.

And The Beat Goes On is another song that I have fond memories of listening to while stealing cars in Vice City.  If you haven’t been chased by a police helicopter while listening to And The Beat Goes On then what were you doing back in 2002?

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Blow Away by George Harrison (1979, directed by Neil Innes)


Believe it or not, this song was inspired by a leaking roof.

One a rainy day, George Harrison discovered that the roof of his Friar Park home had a leak.  Harrison said that while watching the rain water leak through the roof, he realized that by surrendering to the problem and declining to make the effort to fix it, he was merely making the problem worse and this led Harrison to the realization that he “loved everyone.”  (That’s really a classic George Harrison story, isn’t it?)  Those feelings inspired Harrison to write this song, which went on to be the lead single off of his 1979 album, George Harrison.  I assume that he also fixed the roof though I have no way to be sure.

This video was directed by Neil Innes.  If that name sounds familiar, it’s probably because of the work that he did with Monty Python and the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band.  Interestingly, Innes was also a member of the Rutles, a pastiche of the Beatles in which Innes played lead singer Ron Nasty.  More recently, Innes was a member of the brilliantly named Idiot Bastard Band.  This video is a good mix of Innes’s sense of humor and Harrison’s spiritual nature.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: We Don’t Talk Anymore by Cliff Richard (1979, directed by Brian Grant)


Though he had his occasional hits, Cliff Richard has never made a huge impact in the States.  However, in the UK, Cliff Richard is practically an institution.   He’s been performing for 60 years straight and has had 14 number one singles in the UK.  He’s also the only singer to have had a number one single in five consecutive decades.  Before there was the Beatles, there was Cliff Richard.

We Don’t Talk Anymore was Richard’s biggest worldwide hit and it was released during one of his brief periods of American popularity.  The video is simple as most music videos were back in the day.  Today, music videos are usually mini-movies but, back in the 70s and 80s, they were often just performance clips.  This video was the sixth to be played on MTV, airing in between Ph.D’s Little Suzi’s On The Up and The Pretenders’s Brass In Pocket.

As for Cliff Richard, he’s Sir Cliff and he’s still performing.  Every December brings a new Christmas song from Sir Cliff Richard.

Enjoy!

 

Music Video of the Day: Benny Goodman by Saint Motel (2012, dir by A/J Jackson)


Let’s get this week off to a good start with this video from Saint Motel!

If this video doesn’t make you want to dance, I don’t know what to tell you.

That is Miles Brown, also known as Baby Boogaloo, dancing.  At the time of this video, he was around eight years old.  He’s currently a part of the cast of Black-ish, playing Jack Johnson.

Enjoy!

Music Video of The Day: Too Much To Ask by Moonchild (2019, dir by ????)


I like this video because it has a a sort of creepy retro feel to it, as if the band has traveled through time, from the early 70s to the 21st Century.  Why have they traveled through time?  Who can say for sure but it’s probably going to lead to the end of the world.  You know how much I love my apocalyptic musings.

Personally, I don’t think that anything is too much to ask, as long as you understand that my answer might very well be “no.”  When I was younger, I used to agree to do anything that was asked of me but, as I’ve gotten older, I’ve discovered that sometimes, you just have to refuse to be helpful.  Or, at the very least, you can be helpful in a practical way.  For instance, this woman who works in the office across from me recently had a dead car battery and when she asked me if I knew anyone who knew how to jump a car or who had jumper cables, I said that I didn’t but I did look up an informative YouTube video for her.  Apparently, the video didn’t really help her with her problem but the important thing is that I was helpful in a way that didn’t require me to spend an extra hour standing out in the middle of a hot parking lot.

Anyway, where was I?

Oh yeah!  Enjoy!

Music Video Of The Day: Unglued by Big Data (2019, dir by Maggie Levin)


Today’s music video of the day is the latest from Big Data!

With each passing day, Big Data’s style of paranoid artistry becomes more and more relevant.  I mean, just consider what happened this week.  Thousands of people used a Russian-made app to see what they would look like once they were elderly and, in the process, they gave tons of information to …. well, the Russians!

I mean, it’s amazing,  You go on twitter right now and everyone’s like, “OMG, I HATE RUSSIAN BOTS!  Oh, hey, a new app!  Let’s send the Russians all my info!”

Big Data is all about how we’re living now.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Miracle Pill by Goo Goo Dolls (2019, dir by Ed Gregory and Dan Cooper)


I’m a bit torn on this one.

On the one hand, I like the song and I certainly understand the need to add some color to an otherwise bland room.

On the other hand, I feel bad for whoever is going to have to clean up after these guys.

Enjoy!