Music Video of the Day: Radar Love by Golden Earring (1974, dir. ???)

Posted on August 7, 2017 by Valerie Troutman

I’ve done three Golden Earring videos at this point. However, I feel as if I have been talking about Orson Welles films from the 1950s onward as if Citizen Kane doesn’t exist.

If there is one song that people know by Golden Earring, then it’s Radar Love. This thing has been a staple of rock radio for decades. It’s one of those songs you can put on, and people instantly know what kind of station they have come across, as well as the decade the song comes from. It’s so 70s it hurts.

The song has been covered, used in games, on TV, and in movies so many times that there is an entire website devoted to this one song. I can’t say I have ever come across that before.

But we’re here for the video.

First things first, look at Barry Hay. Look at him!

The bolero jacket. The top. The pants. And that hair. The hair!

I’ve only seen him top that look with the one he had in the video for Something Heavy Going Down.

Something Heavy Going Down (1984)

The difference being that the red jumpsuit with the gigantic boombox was done on purpose for the video. By looking at another 70s Golden Earring video, that appears to have been Hay’s standard look back then. It’s glorious.

I like the fake freeze-frame this video opens up with. I have no idea why it’s there, but I think it’s a neat way to start off the video.

I’m assuming that since this appears to have been their musical introduction to the world, they did these closeup shots of the band members in order to visually introduce them to the world.

But why do that if you’re not going to put their names there? That seems a little weird.

Then again, this is something that happens.

Who exactly does he think he’s throwing that guitar to?

This is made even dumber by the fact that they immediately cut to him with the guitar back in his hands.

At least the leap over the drum set is a way of capping off the video.

Overall, I like the video. They didn’t just stick the camera in front of them while they performed on a stage. It’s edited in such a manner that brings you into the performance. They added some creative elements to it. Despite the lack of names under them, I think it was clever to use the instrumental opening portion of the video for that purpose before showing us them in action. I can see this video doing well going around the US and European TV shows that they couldn’t be on in order to stand in for a live performance.

So there it is. I now feel comfortable doing more Golden Earring knowing that I have spotlighted the video for the song that kicked off their career.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Hiroshima Mon Amour by Alcatrazz (1984, dir. ???)

Posted on August 6, 2017 by Valerie Troutman

After leaving Rainbow as their lead singer, Graham Bonnet and others formed the group Alcatrazz. While I didn’t know who he was until I sat down to write this, young Swedish guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen appears to have benefited the most from the group–as opposed to Graham Bonnet. He was only 20 when the album that had Hiroshima Mon Amour on it was released.

The following is from an interview Bonnet gave with Songfacts:

Songfacts: And then what are some memories of writing the song “Hiroshima Mon Amour”?

Graham: I saw a movie when I was in school called Hiroshima Mon Amour [a 1959 French film]. We played in Japan a lot, and I thought this would be a nice little tribute to what happened. I was always horrified by what happened. And Hiroshima, my love, it was like, goddamn, you know, I didn’t want that to happen again. So I read up a little bit about it, and that’s how that came about. It was something I thought should never have happened. It was just a horrible thing. I couldn’t believe that the Americans would do this, or anybody would do that to anybody. It was sort of a protest song in a way.

It’s been a little over a year since I watched Hiroshima Mon Amour, so I can’t speak to any potential similarities between this and the film.

Music Video of the Day: Clowny Clown Clown by Crispin Glover (1989, dir. Crispin Glover)

Posted on August 5, 2017 by Valerie Troutman

Move over, David Lynch. Decades before you and your Crazy Clown Time, George McFly did Clowny Clown Clown.

Glover brought us this glorious piece of songwriting and the corresponding music video to us earthlings in 1989. Well, at least that’s when his album, The Big Problem ≠ The Solution. The Solution = Let It Be, came out. I’m assuming the video came out at the same time.

I love the genre listed on Wikipedia: Outsider music. I had no idea that was a label given to some music.

That’s it! As much cult success as this video seems to have had over the years, much like David Hasselhoff’s cover of Hooked On A Feeling, I can’t find anything on this.

Enjoy!

30 Days Of Surrealism:

Music Video of the Day: Clear Nite, Moonlight or Clear Night, Moonlight by Golden Earring (1984, dir. Dick Maas)

Posted on August 4, 2017 by Valerie Troutman

First things first, the title. The official posting of the video lists the title as Clear Nite, Moonlight. However, both the greatest hits album I have and mvdbase list the song as Clear Night, Moonlight. That’s why I included both in the title of this post.

This song is from Golden Earring’s 1984 album N.E.W.S., that has what must not only be their most controversial song, but video–When The Lady Smiles.

I’m spotlighting this video for a few different reasons. The first is that I love the song, and wanted to share it. The second reason is that I like the darkness of the video–literally and figuratively–that is juxtaposed with an upbeat song that makes you want to sing along. The same is true with When The Lady Smiles, which probably explains how it got used in such a weird context, despite the lyrics. I’ll talk about that video another time.

The last is the ending.

We see the band abandon their beat-up vehicle after pulling up to a house.

They help a woman down from her room past her sleeping father.

They steal her father’s car.

They rob a car dealer, and kill him in the process.

They go to a cafe.

We see she is having a good time despite the murder.

In fact, when her father says, “Bloody murder,” we cut to her smiling.

They nearly die by crashing head-on into a truck.

They go to a drive-in theater where we see her cry, and Hay look confused and sad when the film eats itself. I’m assuming it is a film with Rudolph Valentino in it.

Then we some matching on action between Hay trying to start a lighter and people loading guns.

Then a kid is taken to sit on a tow truck.

The car stops.

We zoom in on the kid, and we can see and hear bullets filling the car, which presumedly kills everyone inside.

I have no idea why that last part happens. The kid doesn’t even look like he comes from the 1980s.

Edit: I messed up when originally posted this. I missed the “So Little Time” license plate at the start, which foreshadows this ending. It doesn’t come out of nowhere.

Clear Nite, Moonlight (1984)

I also think that the video is meant to take place in the 1950s, and not just have a retro look to it. That might explain the appearance of the kid.

The whole video has this otherworldly feeling about it that seesaws between comfort and unease, happiness and death, and then screeches to a halt with the cops unloading on the five passengers with what sounds like every gun they have, all in front of kid watching as he eats.

Enjoy!

30 Days Of Surrealism:

Music Video of the Day: Runaway by Bon Jovi (1984, dir. Michael Cuesta)

Posted on August 3, 2017 by Valerie Troutman

Back to the book, I Want My MTV, again. One thing I’d like to make clear before I start is that if there is one group that dominates that book, then it’s Bon Jovi.

Doc McGhee [managed Bon Jovi, Mötley Crüe, Scorpions, and Skid Row at the height of each band’s career]: I’d just starting to manage Bon Jovi when we did the video for “Runaway.” There’s a chubby girl who’s a runaway, but she has laser eyes, and the band is playing in a warehouse that’s burning. In the ’80s, every video had to look like Escape from New York. Something had to be on fire, and you had to be in an alley that was wet, or else you couldn’t shoot a video.

Seen here! A chubby girl.

Also, lasers!

Okay, so McGhee’s memory might not be so good. I can give him a break on both counts. I have to imagine that in 1984, he was bombarded with so many models trying out for these parts that Jennifer Gatti actually does look chubby reaching back around 30 years in his mind.

You might know Gatti from playing Ba’el on Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Star Trek: The Next Generation — Birthright, Part II (1993)

Cut to a few years later after the rocky start with Runaway:

Doc McGhee: I mean, MTV was playing so much Mötley and Bon Jovi, I’d have to tell them, “You’re overexposing my artists. If you don’t take them off the air, I’m not going to give you another video.” I was fighting to get less airplay, not more.

Len Epand [was a video production executive for PolyGram Records]: Once Bon Jovi established a winning style on “Bad Name” and “Livin’ on a Prayer,” we pulled their prior videos out of circulation. They were all deemed embarrassing, or at least not the right image. We notified all video outlets, including MTV, that they were no longer licensed for use. I doubt they ever appeared on broadcast again.

Luckily, the video is up officially on YouTube. While not being fond of the video, the band apparently still plays the song during concerts. It’s on the greatest hits album of there’s that I have. I can understand why they pulled this video back then. They had hit on a winning image with videos like Livin’ On A Prayer. They ran that formula into the ground, but still, it worked.

Len Epand: For “Runaway,” we used a commercial director named Michael Cuesta, who had no music-video experience.

I can’t only find one other credit for Cuesta–Crow Dog (1979). I’m not even sure that entry on IMDb is him because there is another Michael Cuesta who has been successful as a producer and director.

Bob Montgomery (Robert Mont) was the producer. I can only find a couple of music video credits for him.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Run Runaway by Slade (1984, dir. Tim Pope)

Posted on August 2, 2017 by Valerie Troutman

If you’ve ever heard of Slade, then it’s likely because their songs Cum On Feel The Noize and Mama Weer All Crazee Now were covered by Quiet Riot and The Runaways. I’m not sure what led me to find them, but I’ve enjoyed their music ever since. I had no idea they made it out of the 1970s in order to have music videos like this one out there.

The reason we have it is that Quiet Riot’s cover re-popularized Cum On Feel The Noize. This created attention in America for their music. Thus, we got Run Runaway, among other songs, which did well in the States. And we got this video to go with it.

If the Wikipedia article on the band is to be believed, then they are cited as an influence on just about everyone from the late-70s onward. I can understand that. For me, they fall into the same category as Sweet–ahead of their time, underrated, and influential.

Surprisingly, there is a fair amount of info about the video over on the Wikipedia page on the song:

A music video was filmed to promote the single, which was directed by Tim Pope for GLO Productions and cost £16,000 to make. It was shot at Eastnor Castle in Ledbury, Herefordshire. In keeping with the song’s celtic/jig sound, the video featured the band performing the song in front of an audience dressed in tartan. Other sequences showed a marching bagpipe band and a kilted Scot grappling with a caber.

The video was a big success in America, where it reached the top of the playlist charts. Its constant showing on MTV helped “Run Runaway” become Slade’s biggest American hit. Despite its success, the band were disappointed that the video did not feature any direct shots of Powell. In a 1986 interview, Lea said that the band’s only requirement in their music videos is that each band member is featured, however in the “Run Runaway” video, Powell is only seen in the background. In a 1986 fan club opinion poll, fans voted the video was the band’s best music video.

In 2011, the coat guitarist Dave Hill wore in the video sold on eBay for £295. The seller had bought the coat many years ago from the Slade Fan Club where Hill auctioned off a few items to raise money to build a home recording studio.

The only thing I would add is that I like that it captures the goofiness of the band. I especially love the part near the end when the camera is looking up at them. You keep thinking it’s going to cut away from them, but it doesn’t. They just keep going.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Suck You Dry by Mudhoney (1992, dir. Charles Peterson)

Posted on August 1, 2017 by Valerie Troutman

I didn’t think there’d be much to say about this video other than that Mudhoney–much like Meat Puppets–are one of those groups that get brought up if you want to go further than just Nirvana and the other members of the Big Four. In fact, they go back to another group that is part of those bands that are important, but aren’t household names–Green River.

The only other thing I noticed was Krist Novoselic in the video.

I wasn’t even sure when this video was done.

Then I came across an article over on the A.V. Club’s website. I can’t say I’m a fan of that particular article even if Sean O’Neal did seem to be writing in a style to mirror the video and career of the band–which I do appreciate. It did provide me with some useful information though. Most notably that this video wasn’t done in 1998 as the video would suggest, not only by it claiming to be celebrating 10 years of grunge, but by also looking like a video I would expect from that era by a band such as Mudhoney.

This was apparently done in 1992. It’s a joke. You’ve got the band playing at the Admiral Benbow Inn in Seattle. It has the commemorative posters, and the viewer can enjoy both the song and energy of the performance. But it’s sad. That shot of Novoselic above gets that across quite nicely.

I didn’t grow up on this particular song. But there is a song I did grow up on that sums up what I read in the aforementioned article concerning the band and this video–We Are Not Going To Make It by The Presidents Of The United States Of America.

I got the director from another posting of the video that was linked to from the Wikipedia article on their discography.

Peterson–like many music-video directors–is a photographer. His work has shown up in films such as 2015’s Cobain: Montage of Heck. Unfortunately, I can’t find any listings of music videos he’s done. He’s also written some books about the grunge scene. You can see some of his photographs on his website.

There’s one last thing I’d like to mention. Despite seeing the Sub Pop label all the time as a kid, I wouldn’t have recognized the founders of the label. Courtesy of the A.V. Club article, Bruce Pavitt is the one tending bar, and Jonathan Poneman is the one manning the door.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Sam by Meat Puppets (1991, dir. ???)

Posted on July 31, 2017 by Valerie Troutman

If you’re like me, then you learned about the Meat Puppets thanks to Nirvana’s cover versions of Plateau; Oh, Me; and Lake Of Fire from the album, MTV Unplugged in New York. Cobain even said their name during the concert. Also, the Kirkwood brothers were guest musicians during that performance.

Like numerous videos, I am guessing about the release date based on the release date of the album it was on–Forbidden Places. The band dates back to the early-80s, and saw a resurgence of popularity thanks to Nirvana. The songs Nirvana performed are from 1984’s Meat Puppets II. They are one of those bands that are brought up whenever you hear discussions about the groups that led to Nirvana, Soundgarden, and other bands of that sort.

Despite that this is the only video on the Meat Puppets Vevo channel, I can’t find any info on it.

It’s not a complex video. The only thing noteworthy is the editing that matches the machine-gun fired lyrics. I always like editing that matches the pace of the song. It draws you in without having to tell a story, but doesn’t simply point a camera at some people standing on a stage. Otherwise, it’s just them playing a catchy song inside of a building, and outside of it.

I decided to spotlight it because it has been my queue for a while, and I love the quick delivery.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Ah! Leah! by Donnie Iris (1980, dir. ???)

Posted on July 30, 2017 by Valerie Troutman

It’s tough when I hit a video like this.

I can’t ignore it. The song is huge while still being somewhat obscure.

There is ample information out there about Donnie Iris himself. You can read an article on Pop Dose that covers him in detail. You can read an interview with him over on Songfacts. And of course there’s the standard Wikipedia article as well.

However, I can’t find anything specific to this video. I’m guessing that it came out in 1980 because that’s when the single was released. I think the director might be Chuck Statler since he worked with Iris on several other videos, but I can’t find anything to make me feel comfortable enough to include his name in the title.

There’s the usual nonsense in the YouTube comment section. I only look on a video like this because once in a blue moon there’s something useful about the video. There wasn’t anything this time. The closest I came across was speculation about the identity of the woman in the video.

Just enjoy this simple video for a fun song.

Music Video of the Day: Bizarre Love Triangle by New Order (1986, dir. Robert Longo)

Posted on July 29, 2017 by Valerie Troutman

From the book, I Want My MTV:

Michael Stipe: Robert Longo was one of the premier painters coming out of New York. We wanted to upset the visual language of videos, and that’s what we got with “The One I Love.” He was referencing Renaissance paintings, rather than Madonna. I saw the video he did for New Order’s “Bizarre Love Triangle”–he interrupts it about two-thirds of the way through with a scene out of a movie, where a woman stands up at a table and says, “I refuse to believe in reincarnation, because I will not come back as a bug or an insect,” a guy goes, “Well you’re a real up person,” and then it slam-cuts back into the song. I don’t think anyone had ever interrupted a song, cut to something, and then cut back to the song.

That’s quite the memory Stipe has. He still misquoted the video, but he was really close. That part actually goes like this:

“I don’t believe in reincarnation because I refuse to come back as a bug or as a rabbit.”

“You know, you’re a real ‘up’ person.”

I can’t find out who the third person in the room is, but the other two are well-known.

The first is Jodi Long. She’s been in a bunch stuff, and is still acting today. She was in Paul Schrader’s Patty Hearst (1988), which Lisa reviewed yesterday. I didn’t pick out this video to go with that review. I didn’t know till I went to write this that there was even a record of who these two people are.

The second is E. Max Frye. He has done numerous things over the years. You probably know him best as co-writing the screenplay for Foxcatcher (2014), which earned him an Oscar nomination.

Stipe says that this part is from a movie. From what I’ve read in other articles, that part was shot for this video. If this was a film, it is still undocumented on IMDb. The only time I can find on IMDb where Long and Frye worked together was on the film, Amos & Andrew (1993). That film was written and directed by Frye.

Nightflight’s profile of New Order videos had this to say about Bizarre Love Triangle:

For the video for “Bizarre Love Triangle,” released in November of 1986, New Order turned to New York-based director and visual artist Robert Longo, who claimed that the music of Joy Division and New Order were very influential on his work.

Longo would end up giving New Order a very experimental film as a promotional video, with fragmented vertiginous fast cuts, infused with color, which were then merged together visually competing ideas.

One of those ideas included men and women in business suits are seen falling through the air, something he’d based on his own set of lithographs called “Men in the Cities.”

Another of the other ideas Longo pursued was the use of visually appealing panels of Longo’s own art, which are then interrupted by a “bizarre love triangle,” a black and white melodrama scene with Asian actress Jodi Long and Oregon-based screenwriter and filmmaker E. Max Frye arguing emphatically about reincarnation.

They also go on to say that the shots of the band were filmed when they performed live “in the hills of Italy.”

Director Robert Longo appears to have made only one feature film. He directed Johnny Mnemonic (1995).

The video was produced by Michael Shamburg. Shamburg produced quite a few videos for New Order. He’s also has producer credits for a lot of well-known movies such as The Big Chill (1983), Reality Bites (1994), Gattaca (1997), Garden State (2004), and Django Unchained (2012).

According to Peter Hook of New Order in the book I Want My MTV:

We met Michael Shamburg when he filmed us playing in New York, and we gave him more or less complete artistic freedom to do our videos. Michael’s a big producer now–he did Pulp Fiction and Garden State–and he introduced us to interesting directors: Robert Longo, Kathryn Bigelow, Philippe Decouflé, Robert Frank, William Wegman, and Jonathan Demme.

Enjoy!