Hi, everyone! Lisa here with today’s music video of the day!
July 14th is Bastille Day in France so it only seems appropriate to share a video from my two favorite French musical artistes, Daft Punk. That’s right — the robots are French!
Instant Crush was the fourth single to be released off of Daft Punk’s Grammy-winning fourth album, Random Access Memories. It’s a collaboration between the robots and Julian Casablancas. The video was directed by veteran music video director Warren Fu and it brings tears to my eyes every time.
I am a few years behind when it comes to recent films. I’m still working through 2015 at the moment. As a result, I only watched Suicide Squad (2016) recently. I don’t like to watch short films made with footage edited from a feature film–trailers. Therefore, when I watched the movie, I was expecting this song to be in it since I had at least heard of a connection between the two. No such luck. Instead I got what felt like random musical choices with the exception of Paranoid by Black Sabbath since it was on the same album as Iron Man. That’s something that I doubt many people picked up on or cared if they did.
Anyhow, I was guessing at the date for this video because while it did get a European release in 1973, it didn’t get a release in the US till 1975–according to Wikipedia. Then I found the video again, also on Sweet’s official channel, but as it was played on the German show Disco on October, 27th 1973. That’s why I went with 1973 for the video.
It’s a stage performance video. It is one of the better ones I’ve seen. I think they did a good job editing it to match the fast-pace of the song. That’s all I can say about the video itself.
As for the song, it was inspired by an incident in January of 1973 in Kilmarnock, Scotland at Grand Hall where the band had to flee the stage under a barrage of bottles being thrown at them by the audience.
As for where you know it from, it’s probably either the Suicide Squad trailer, Dancing With The Stars, or Wayne’s World (1992). Wayne’s World is what introduced me to this song. It wasn’t until around 2007 that I found out they did other songs too. I’ll get to some of those another day.
In another life, I wouldn’t have to spotlight this music video. But I might as well since it has made it all the way to the mass media. Plus, Jimmy Kimmel already beat me to a video that not only fits, but also ties in with the new Planet Of The Apes movie.
Land Of Confusion by Genesis (1986)
I’m sure you’ve all read or seen talk about EMIN’s involvement in the current controversy, the Miss Universe pageant, and Trump, Jr. However, the New York Times articles I read fail to talk about the music video itself. That’s disappointing. I guess that’s why I need to write this post.
EMIN is a Russian artist who was born in Azerbaijan as Emin Agalarov. He moved to Moscow as a kid, went to high school in New Jersey, and graduated from Marymount Manhattan College–according to Wikipedia. He said in an interview with The Irish Times back in 2015 that he went to college in Jersey–close enough. He says in that same interview that he started off singing at open-mic nights in bars. He would translate Elvis Presley songs into Russian so that he could sing them at home. Kinda like the kid in the Taiwanese film A Brighter Summer Day (1991) whose sister would translate Elvis songs for him.
After graduating with a Business degree, he went back to Russia and in 2005 started taking vocal lessons from a well-known Azerbaijani singer named Muslim Magomayev. Magomayev was famous enough that a few years before he died, he was given the Order Of Honour by Putin. Because of course that kind of connection would be there. After that, Wikipedia simply states facts about the success of his albums.
While he says otherwise, music does appear to be a hobby that he happens to take seriously. He works in the family business, because again, of course he does. According to that same interview with The Irish Times, he used to have an eBay store back in college where he sold Russian memorabilia. He also opened his own shoe store because of the success of the eBay store.
At least as of the date of The Irish Times interview, he identifies as Muslim. However, the most interesting part of the interview is as follows:
[Q:] Musically, you’d be on the Michael Bublé/ Enrique Iglesias end of the spectrum. Who were your heroes growing up?
[A:] My heroes were Elvis, Elvis and Elvis! One of my favourite Elvis songs is My Boy, and now that you’ve told me it was written by an Irishman [Phil Coulter] I love it even more.
With that background out of the way, let’s look at the video.
The video starts off in a boardroom where EMIN is being shown pictures of Miss Universe contestants because business connections. According to Wikipedia, Miss USA (2013)–Erin Brady–said that her and other contestants were not paid for their appearance in this video. Yet, if you go to the New York Times article it says that they weren’t paid for their appearance in EMIN’s video for Amor. But that same article also says that Trump made an appearance in that video. He doesn’t. I’m not sure what to make of that. I think the article has the two videos confused since Amor just has 2012 Miss Universe winner Olivia Culpo in it. Or the article was trying to say they were shot at the same time. That’s my best guess.
We see that it’s one of his co-workers who is showing him these photos.
EMIN isn’t interested…
but it is making this guy sweat.
EMIN falls asleep and wakes up back home.
For whatever reason, the video jump cuts to his head tilted to our left. He gets some coffee and spots a pretty woman in his kitchen.
Surprised, EMIN spills coffee on himself. Since he can’t go about his day with a metaphor, he goes and changes. Then he proceeds to leap on his couch…
and do a handstand like everyone does in the morning.
EMIN goes to brush his teeth when another woman appears.
He goes around and sings a bit before settling down at the piano where Miss Russia appears next to him.
She disappears too, which leaves EMIN confused. Luckily Miss USA straightens him out by hitting him in the head with a pillow.
This appears to turn him on when he realizes it was her.
Then EMIN realizes there are people behind him. That would be Miss Puerto Rico, Miss Poland, and Miss Switzerland. That means America attacked him, and behind him are people representative of a US territory acquired in the Spanish-American War, a country taken by Hitler during WWII, and one that is traditionally associated with remaining neutral in conflicts–particularly WWII.
They disappear on him as well, so he goes to look under the bed? Do women normally hide under there in his dreams?
After sitting in a chair, he is suddenly walking down some steps with Miss Spain, Miss Philippines, Miss Ukraine, Miss Turkey, and Miss Japan. We have a Russian singer walking in front of a country that once colonized the one behind it, that is followed by one that was part of the Soviet Union. Behind Miss Ukraine, we have Miss Japan representing a country who took the Philippines. To the side of Miss Ukraine, we have Miss Turkey. Interesting combination.
Now EMIN goes into his pool room and sees Miss Philippines and Miss Puerto Rico hanging out together. Makes sense, a former territory of the US with a current territory of the US.
We also see Miss Spain talking with Miss Switzerland. Two countries that were largely neutral during WWII.
Miss Turkey is walking on the other side of the pool while…
Miss Ukraine is poolside. Turkey having been one of the first countries to recognize Ukraine’s independence from the USSR. They still do as recently as January of this year as it pertains to Russia.
That’s when the co-worker from earlier jumps into the pool since she has the opposite body-type from the rest of the ladies.
EMIN wakes up and Donald Trump makes his cameo appearance to of course fire EMIN for showing up late and falling asleep at work.
That’s not bad. I still prefer claymation Trump firing Donner.
Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer by Regis Philbin (2006)
There you go! That’s the video that is currently in the news. It’s not a particularly good song. It wouldn’t be a noteworthy video beyond the inclusion of Trump but for the seemingly intentional choices of which ladies to use depending on the countries they represent, and their relations over the years.
I wasn’t kidding yesterday. Here is the music video where a band breaks into a data center to sing about games. To be more specific, they break into the then Control Data Corporation’s North Sydney center. Once inside, we see the games Speed Freak, Basketball, and Star Fire, along with code, a printout of the Mona Lisa, lots of paper, and tape storage.
I don’t think I’ve played any of the games. Although, while Star Fire looks familiar, I think I am confusing it for the Star Wars vector graphics game that a college near me had in its arcade when I did computer camp there one summer in the early 90s.
The band, Mi-Sex, is from New Zealand, and according to Wikipedia, started up just a year prior to this song. Aside from a history of the band, all I can find out about this song and video is that the song was a last-minute addition to the album, and what I already wrote above about the video.
There is one thing to mention about the band since it happened recently. On May 17th of this year, their guitarist and songwriter Kevin Stanton passed away.
If you want to take a trip back in time to late-70s computers and computer games, then this is the music video for you. It certainly makes me nostalgic. I also can’t get the song out of my head. It’s so catchy.
Yesterday I noticed that an old review I wrote on Hot To Trot (1989) was suddenly getting hits from a German website. Naturally I went there to find out what the deal was. Apparently they reposted the horse sex doll from the movie. I would tell you what they said about it, but despite having taken four years of German between middle school and high school, trying to read it is like trying to watch a movie through foggy glasses. Even Google Translate couldn’t piece it together. I have no idea what they said. Speaking of which, it’s been awhile since I watched that movie, what did I say about it?
Hot To Trot (1989, dir. Michael Dinner)
That’s right. I let Dabney Coleman review the film for me from within the film itself. I was pretty angry about that movie back in 2015 when I had just started writing here. I understand why as well. That was before things like Shannon Ethridge telling me that not having sex between being a teenager and getting married in my 20s would give me a life of “great sex that I could enjoy with my husband, without guilt, without remorse, without regret, without STDs, without unplanned pregnancies, without infertility.”
Every Young Woman’s Battle (2014)
There have been funny moments too that have kept me going–like watching Ex Machina (2014).
Ex Machina (2014, dir. Alex Garland)
Oh, Garland, you jokester. The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing people a movie that opens with an even worse version of the plot-hole that starts I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998) is one of the greatest films of a century. Brasília is the capital of Brazil (not Rio), and the Turing Test requires at least three human beings to perform. That means in both films the character would know right from the start that they were being lied to and it is counting on the audience’s ignorance in order to surprise them. It’s even worse in Ex Machina since he’s a graduate in Computer Science, so he’s supposed to know this stuff. They even bothered to have some of the code in the movie spit out an ISBN number for a popular textbook called Embodiment And The Inner Life: Cognition And Consciousness In The Space Of Possible Minds if you were to actually run it. I love movies! Even if I have to slog through propaganda such as Every Young Woman’s Battle.
Anyways, in honor of being recognized for a review of a juvenile update of one of the Francis’ movies, I decided I should spotlight the music video by the Australian band Models which features a moonwalking horse.
I don’t know anything about Models except that they have gone through quite a few members over the years, have had some tragic ends, and were inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association Hall Of Fame (ARIA Hall Of Fame). If this song is any indication, then I can understand why.
Aside from the use of black-and-white, and the comedy, I like when it pulls out of the black-and-white area…
to an eyeball…
before running us down a pier.
That’s some 120 Minutes stuff going on there. Not as good as the bit from Bizarre Love Triangle by New Order with the dialog, “I don’t believe in reincarnation because I refuse to come back as a bug or as a rabbit,” which receives the response to the person saying it, “you know, you’re a real up-person.” But I still appreciate the artsy touches this video has by switching the kinds of footage on us.
I wish I could find information on this video. There’s a Wikipedia article about the band. That’s it though.
I’m glad I came across this video. I hope you enjoy it. I need to be off to find a music video where a band breaks into a data center to sing about games in order to make up for going on another rant about computer science in movies.
Corbijn himself sums up this video in the booklet included with a DVD collection of his work. You can find it here.
David saw the Propaganda video on TV & subsequently approached me for this song, his first solo single since leaving the group Japan. I had photographed him a few times in that setting, he was often seen as a teenage-pinup, poster boy, very striking and introvert appearance. For him to ask me to direct this video was making a statement I think. Anyway, it is again a challenge for me to come up with ideas and I spent a couple of days in Bruxelles in a hotel room to concentrate on that. I found it so difficult to come up with anything worthwhile – I am glad that that part of the process is less of a chore these days. What I came up with was basically lots of images that have no connection to each other and the main image is based on a photo by Angus McBean. Angus was retired by this time but was a great surrealist and I called him up to get his permission to use the photo and we ended up with him in the video. He loved it, he was a great man to spend time with but I recall he couldn’t believe he was on Top Of The Pops at age 80 and David’s voice came out of his open mouth. I did one more video with David the same year and only photographs after that. The little boy in the video I found at the Lycie Frangais in London. Can’t remember the name.
Of course there are things that would be reused later: the leaves in front of the camera, the old man, the steps, and young and old. The only other common thing I can see are the flowers. There are numerous Corbijn videos with them. There are other things too if you really want to break this video down, but I don’t want to.
Below, you can see the picture that Corbijn is speaking of, the reproduction from this video, as well as similar photos that McBean did.
The latest season of Degrassi dropped on Netflix today. Val’s already watched it and I’ll probably watch it this weekend.
In honor of this occasion, today’s music video of the day comes from the Canadian band, Jakalope. Not only was Jakalope’s best-known song, Feel It, prominently featured in the classic Ghost in the Machine episode of Degrassi but Jakalope also performed Degrassi’s opening theme song from season 4 to season 7. Part of my ritual, before watching any season of Degrassi, is to spend an hour listening to Jakalope. It gets me just in the right mood. My Canadian friends understand.
Pretty Life comes from Jakalope’s debut album, It Dreams. (It Dreams was co-produced by Trent Reznor and his unmistakable influence in present in both the songs and the videos.) After watching Pretty Life, be sure to check out the videos for Feel It and Go Away.
As an extra bonus, here is Jakalope performing the Degrassi theme song during season 4:
And here is the instrumental version that was used during seasons 6 and 7. These opening credits are taken from season 7. (If the opening credits seem a bit crowded that’s because, during season 7, apparently every teenager in Canada had a role on Degrassi.)
What does this catchy song by a Swedish singer have to do with Spider-Man? Thanks to a bootleg called Spider-Man Motorcycle, the two are connected. If you turn him on, then he plays this song. I’ve included the Bootleg Zones review of it. It will take you right to the part where it is turned on.
I can’t find any other info on this, so just enjoy!
I wish there was more I could share with you about this music video. I needed something surreal, and I felt like doing the less common of the two David Sylvian videos that Anton Corbijn directed first.
Despite not finding anything out there on the video, there are still a few things I can point out. If you’re familiar with Corbijn videos, then you’ll recognize elements that he would reuse later on.
He seems to have a thing for birds.
Dr. Mabuse by Propaganda (1984)
Heart-Shaped Box by Nirvana (1993)
You can also see the singer-laying-peacefully shot in this and Heart-Shaped Box.
Heart-Shaped Box by Nirvana (1993)
Corbijn is known for his use of black-and-white, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t tint on occasion.
Do I Have To Say The Words? by Bryan Adams (1992)
You can go on and on with his music videos. They all seem to connect together through the use of some shot, element, theme, technique, etc. That includes showing up in at least three of his own music videos.
A few weeks ago when I did the music video for Twilight Zone by Golden Earring, I mentioned this video and how insane it is. With that in mind, let’s enumerate over the things in this video.
A concentration camp.
Bloodfist.
Our main victim of torture.
Visible camera crew.
A whole bunch of people who have been hung.
A gun to the head.
A child who is most likely going to be killed.
Comedic interruption of someone waiting to die.
Angels.
Fire-breathing as a metaphor for death-from-above.
Soldiers playing American Gladiators.
Belinda Carlisle reference hanging above the group–Heaven Is A Place On Earth.
The Nazi dancers from Twilight Zone.
A black man being beaten by Illinois police officers.
Hitler snapping his fingers along to the music while Jesus receives his crown of thorns in the background.
The comic relief coming out of a jukebox.
Paying a visit to our guy waiting to die.
Making sure we didn’t miss the nuclear weapons reference earlier.
Hitler and Napoleon dancing to the song. It connects someone who annexed the Netherlands from his younger brother–who was the leader of the Kingdom of Holland–with someone who took the Netherlands by force. My memory of Dutch history is too weak to go into any connections between the two as it pertained to Jews in the Kingdom of Holland. I’m sure the whole thing with the invasion of the Netherlands by Hitler and the Maas river wasn’t lost on the director.
Lead-singer Barry Hay looking confused as to what he is supposed to be doing here.
May foreshadowing the appearance of the devil.
I have no idea why they are punching their fists threw glass.
Two guys I’m sure I should recognize, but I don’t want to guess.
Remember, it’s a musical! And there’s an American flag in the background.
The little girl survives, but will always carry the memory–another Golden Earring video that appears to be referencing both the film The Assault (1986) and the book De Aanslag by Harry Mulisch that the film is based on.
We see that there are many numbered rooms where people are being tortured.
The colors of the Flag of Overijssel, which represents the province of Holland. The center river shaped stripe stands for the river IJssel.
The river was a natural line of defense that had to be crossed by Allied troops to liberate the Netherlands at the end of WWII. I’m sure it’s no coincidence that a river that has to be controlled–like so much water in the Netherlands–in order for the country to exist is in this video.
The last temptation of Christ.
A reminder that things like the Bombing of Rotterdam, Dresden, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki have happened.
Changing the channel from the news to a sitcom.
Hay, Castro, guy I should know, and Napoleon popping his head in to say hi.
Gunshot.
Did you know they did, or maybe still do sell Mussolini cologne? I had an Italian Studies teacher in college who brought it up, so I of course went to her office hours, and she showed me where online they sold it. The site got Neo-Nazi very fast, so we didn’t stay long.
Castro on the drums.
Hitler breakdancing.
Let them know it’s genocide out there.
I think May might be trying to remind us of the video for When The Lady Smiles.
Exit the jukebox and fade to black.
Dick Maas went on to do feature films such as the Flodder movies, Amsterdamned (1986), and the more recent, and apparently controversial film Saint (2010). It’s a killer Santa Claus movie–more specifically, a St. Nicholas killer movie. Bear in mind, this was several years before Kirk Cameron would also include a violent St. Nicholas in Kirk Cameron’s Saving Christmas (2014). It was still a touchy subject for people who hadn’t seen Christmas Evil (1980); Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984); and Santa’s Slay (2005). Or it was a publicity stunt as IMDb would suggest:
“Upon release the movie poster proved to be very controversial. Various organizations of concerned parents tried to boycott the poster, which features an image of a ‘zombie St. Nicolas’ as opposed to the friendly St. Nicolas the people in The Netherlands are used to. Dutch director Johan Nijenhuis became the spokesperson for the movement that tried to boycott the poster and he even went to court, claiming the poster would damage the festive season and cause trauma with young children.”
“In hindsight, the complaints by Johan Nijenhuis about the movie being inappropriate for young children seem to have been part of a publicity campaign.”
Through the Shattered Lens 