This song, of course, features a sample from David Bowie’s Heroes.
As for the video, I always assume that everyone here is having one last party before a gigantic meteor crashes into the planet and wipes out all human life. To be honest, I tend to assume that most music videos are about humanity’s attempt to ignore the fact that everyone’s life will eventually end in a combination of misery, death, and absolutely horror.
Enjoy!
Today’s music video of the day is for John Mellencamp’s cover of Van Morrison’s Wild Night.
Back in the day, the opening of this video was the most popular 40 seconds on MTV. I have traveled in a lot of taxi cabs and I regularly use both Uber and Lyft. I’ve been lucky enough to meet some very good drivers but none of them appeared in the 1992 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. The driver, in this video, is played by Shana Zadrick, a model who was often compared to Cindy Crawford.
Back in 1994, if you enjoyed this video, you could go down to your friendly neighborhood Musicland (or Suncoast Motion Picture Company) and, for just $19.98, you could see even more of Shana in this commemorative video:
The other good thing about this video is that bassline, which was provided by Me’shell Ndegeocello. Wild Night was released at the same time that Ndegeocello had her biggest solo hit, If That’s Your Boyfriend (He Wasn’t Last Night).
This video was directed by Jonathan Kaplan. A former film school classmate of Martin Scorsese’s, Kaplan got his start directing films like Night Call Nurses and The Student Teachers for Roger Corman. He eventually became a mainstream film and television director. His most highly regarded film is probably 1988’s The Accused, for which Jodie Foster won her first Oscar.
Love and Rockets was an English alternative band, made up of all of the members of Bauhaus who were not named Peter Murphy. From 1985 to 1998, before breaking up to pursue other projects, Love and Rockets released 7 studio albums. Though Love and Rockets always struggled to escape the shadow of Bauhaus, the band was still responsible for some of the best music of the late 80s and 90s.
Their best known song was So Alive, which was a number one hit in both the United States and Canada. The video is highly regarded by aficionados of long legs and backlighting everywhere.
The song was written by the song’s lead vocalist, Daniel Ash. As Ash explained in an interview with Xsnozie:
“I’d gone to a party on Saturday night, and I was married at the time, and I saw this woman over the other side of the room, and I was completely transfixed which is very odd because I was freshly married. It was very weird, but I was completely infatuated by her and so much so that I couldn’t go near her to even speak to her, it was just this overwhelming thing. I can’t explain it to this day. That’s why the first line is, ‘I don’t know what color your eyes are.’ Because I didn’t get that close, I just saw this person in the distance.”
The video was the first to be directed by Howard Greenhalgh, who would later direct the video for Soundgarden’s Black Hole Sun.
And yes, Love and Rockets did take their name from the comic book series by the Hernandez Brothers.
Lisa tells me that today is Tarzan Day so, in honor of the Lord of the Jungle, today’s music video of the day is Toy-Box’s Tarzan and Jane.
106 years ago, Tarzan made his debut in an issue of The All-Story. Created by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Tarzan was actually John Clayton, Viscount Greystoke. Born to British nobility, Tarzan was raised in the jungle by a tribe of apes. Tarzan’s great love was an American named Jane Porter. After marrying Jane, Tarzan would divide his time between England and Africa, always returning to the jungle whenever the hypocrisy of civilization became too much for him to deal with.
The character of Tarzan would go on to star in numerous films and television shows. He’s been played by everyone from Johnny Weissmuller to Buster Crabbe to Ron Ely. In the music video for Toy-Box’s Tarzan and Jane, he’s played by Amir El-Falaki. El-Falaki was one half of Toy-Box. The other half, Anila Mirza, plays Jane.
Toy-Box was a Danish pop group. They never achieved much fame in the United States but they were briefly big in Scandinavia. Tarzan and Jane was their biggest hit, especially after it was re-released in 1999 to coincide with the release of Disney’s animated Tarzan. Tarzan was not anything special but it will always be remembered for unleashing the Phil Collins ballad, You’ll Be In My Heart, on an unsuspecting world.
Four years after the release of Tarzan and Jane, Toy-Box broke up but they have recently reunited and performed for a series of 90s concerts.
Hearing this song transports me back to 2003, when life seemed so simple and the future seemed limitless… actually, that’s the way things still seem to me in 2018. I guess I’m a born optimist!
Anyway, I always think of this as being a song of liberation but that’s mostly just because of the title. The lyrics are actually about an independent woman finding the courage to let people into her life. But, ultimately, what matters is how a song — any song — makes you feel.
As for the video, I would say it features just about the safest house party that I’ve ever seen. Compare it to the video for Fiona Apple’s Criminal.
Enjoy!
This video from Phantogram (who are like one of my favorite musical duos of all time) puts me in the mood for apocalypse. The starkness of the interiors reminds me of David Lynch. The crashing waves reminds me of Jeff Nichols’s Take Shelter. And then, of course, you’ve got the whole Ex Machina thing going on as well.
This video was directed by Grant Singer, who has directed videos for pretty much everyone. Well, maybe not everyone by he has worked with Taylor Swift, which is just as good. He’s also done videos for Lorde, The Weeknd, Ariel Pink, Sleigh Bells, and Skrillex.
(Also, to all of our readers and to my fellow collaborators here at the Shattered Lens, rest assured that all of you still get me high.)
Enjoy!
This video reminds me of … well, almost every recent futuristic dystopia movie that I’ve ever seen. You’ve got the large but kinda messy apartment. You’ve got the virtual reality. And you’ve got the really, really bright sun.
Seriously, have you ever noticed that? Futuristic dystopias are always either extremely dark and rainy or extremely bright. It’s like, in the future, people aren’t allowed to close the curtains or pull down the shades on a sunny day. I don’t know if I’d be able to handle that. Hopefully, the robots won’t take over anytime soon.
Anyway, enjoy!
Today’s video is Keep Good Time by Tommy Tucker and the Supernaturals.
Like the two previous music videos of the day, this video was filmed in Baltimore’s red light district, the infamous Block. As Tommy dances down the street, be sure to keep an eye open for The Hustler Club. The Larry Flynt-owned establishment is often credited with revitalizing the Block.
For me, the best part of this video is the nonchalant reaction that the people on the streets have to Tommy’s dancing.
Like yesterday’s selection, today’s music video of the day was filmed on the Block, Baltimore’s notorious red light district.
Neal Coty, who hails from Thurmont, Maryland, makes good use of The Block in this video for his song, Tainted. Among the clubs highlighted are two mainstays of the Block, the Circus Bar and the 2 O’Clock Club.
Back in the day, both establishments were considered to be upscale gentlemen’s clubs. Blaze Starr got her starts dancing at the 2 O’Clock Club. Meanwhile, in 1961, the Circus Bar was featured in an episode of Route 66. Though both clubs have gone through several changes in management over the past few years, both the Circus and 2 O’Clock remain open to this day.
As for Neal Coty, he’s also still active. Along with performing his own music, Coty has also co-written songs for Mark Chesnutt , James Wesley, Craig Morgan, Blake Shelton, Flynnville Train, and Heartland.
They may be largely forgotten today but Baltimore’s own Bootcamp was one of the first bands to appear on MTV. Their video for Hold On To The Night was the 42nd video to ever be shown on MTV and appropriately it was filmed in Baltimore’s version of 42nd Street, The Block.
As you can see in this video, The Block was Baltimore’s red light district. In the 1940s, it was famous for its burlesque houses and, during World War II, many a soldier spent his last night before shipping out visiting the Block. It was here that Blaze Starr got her start. By the 1950s, The Block’s burlesque houses had been replaced by sex shops and strip clubs. The fact that Baltimore’s Police Headquarters sat at the east end of The Block didn’t keep it from becoming notorious as a center of prostitution, drug dealing, and general seediness. The story was that the police, realizing they could never stop either the drug or the sex trade, instead just tried to contain them to one section of the city. While that may or may not have been true, I always wondered if the Hamsterdam storyline in the 3rd season of The Wire was inspired by The Block.
Over the years, the Block has shrunk. Now, it’s only two blocks long and it’s best known for being home to a few strip clubs. The Gayety Theater, which is heavily featured in this video, burned down in 2010. Arson is suspected.
As for Bootcamp, they were briefly popular in the early 80s, playing with bands like The Tubes, Squeeze, The B-52’s and Split Enz, before breaking up in 1984.
Through the Shattered Lens