Music Video of the Day: Voulez-Vous by ABBA (1979, dir. Lasse Hallström)

Posted on April 26, 2017 by Valerie Troutman

I’ve done so many of these ABBA music videos that they are starting to blend together. Still, I’m pretty sure these are the best costumes I have seen the band wear for one of these videos. You’ve got Frida and Agnetha in unitards with matching jackets and little bowties. Björn looks like he’s ready for a 70’s sci-fi TV show. Benny is wearing his typical outfit. Let’s face it, Benny could be wearing just about anything, and it is still his face that attracts your attention–especially his smile.

I think the video captures the energy of the song well. Of the three disco club videos, I’d say this one easily beats Dancing Queen and is just a little better than Does Your Mother Know. The part that seals the deal for me is when Agnetha does a Saturday Night Fever move.

If her hand were any lower, then she’d be doing the Michael Jackson.

Fittingly–according to Wikipedia–this song was recorded at Criteria Studios where The Bee Gees made their disco records. Apparently this is the only studio track that ABBA recorded outside of Sweden. They happened to have been in the Bahamas at the time, so they hopped over to Miami and recorded the song.

Enjoy!

ABBA retrospective:

Music Video of the Day: Does Your Mother Know by ABBA (1979, dir. Lasse Hallström)

Posted on April 25, 2017 by Valerie Troutman

Björn on lead vocals? Amazing! What’s next, I’m gonna find an 80’s ABBA-like band named after a drink? That would only happen in the land of make believe.

Anyways, it’s about time Björn got a chance to sing a song. I love Frida and Agnetha, but we know Björn can sing. Yes yes yes, I know, sex sells. Yes, I have brought up that Agnetha’s butt was such a selling point for ABBA: The Movie (1977) that it was shown three times in the trailer. I will also get to how Frida and director Stuart Orme cleverly recreated the famous shot of Agnetha’s backside in the music video for I Know There’s Something Going On to announce to fans that she was coming out of the Agnetha’s shadow.

The video is very simple. Even Dancing Queen, which also took place in a club, had more going on. Still, it’s refreshing to see Björn, Frida, and Agnetha combine their vocal talents to make this song possible. While there isn’t much going on, it gets you in the mood of the song. For this, I don’t think I could ask for more.

There’s one last thing I think is worth mentioning. There’s an interesting submission about the title on Songfacts:

“Does your mother know you’re out?” or “Does your mother know that you’re out?” as in the song, is an expression sometimes used by a worldly wise older man to ward off the advances of Jailbait.

Enjoy!

ABBA retrospective:

Music Video of the Day: Gloria by Laura Branigan (1982, dir. Marty Callner)

Posted on April 24, 2017 by Valerie Troutman

I haven’t done a Laura Branigan video since last summer. That video was the one for Self Control that I will never stop referencing because of its edgy content. For some reason, in the last couple of months, a bunch of her music videos have gotten officially releases on YouTube. As a result, I thought I would spotlight one of her other big hits, Gloria.

It’s really just for the song because there isn’t anything especially interesting about the video. The only noteworthy thing for me is that a chunk of director Marty Callner’s early MTV music videos were for Laura Branigan even though he would go on to do a lot of work with Twisted Sister, Aerosmith, Poison, The Cult, and other bands you wouldn’t think of having any connection with Branigan. Then again, he also worked with Pat Benatar, Cher, and Belinda Carlisle. He even did a video for Tori Amos’ short-lived band called Y Kant Tori Read.

The Laura Branigan account appeared on YouTube last June. I’m not sure why exactly then, or if there was any special meaning to it. It isn’t the anniversary of her death or anything. That’s in August. Her birthdate is in July. It doesn’t coincide with her contributions to Flashdance (1983), Ghostbusters (1984), or Baywatch. Even 35 years from the release of her first album would mean you’d put the channel up this year since it came out in 1982.

The only thing I can find that changed concerning her in the last few months is her birthdate. I guess for showbiz purposes she would say it was 1957, but it turned out to be 1952. Even obituaries had it wrong, and some of been corrected. At the time of writing this, the one on Billboard magazine’s website still says 1957. Apparently this birthdate thing caused a furious debate on Wikipedia. If you go over to her brother Billy Branigan’s IMDb page, then you’ll find that his birthdate was thought to be 1961, but it was actually the year that Laura used as her birthdate.

The only guess I have that has any weight to it is that she was known for her connections to the gay community, and June happens to be LGBT Pride Month. It wouldn’t surprise me if the proper rights were obtained to put these videos up, and they went with June.

Whatever the reason, I’m glad they are up now. Hopefully they don’t fall victim to other officially released videos that get taken down later on.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Chiquitia by ABBA (1979, dir. ???)

Posted on April 23, 2017 by Valerie Troutman

It’s ABBA performing on a mountain in front of a giant snowman.

According to Wikipedia, this was filmed by the BBC for a show called ABBA in Switzerland.

Watching this video, I can’t help but wonder what was going through Benny’s head.

Why are we performing in front of a giant snowman? I really want to break down and laugh. However, Agnetha and Björn are keeping a straight face.

Frida only looks mildly bothered by the fan that keeps blowing her hair in her face.

Never mind that visible crew member in the background.

I can hold it together.

Enjoy!

ABBA retrospective:

Music Video of the Day: Conviction Of The Heart by Kenny Loggins (1991, dir. ???)

Posted on April 22, 2017 by Valerie Troutman

Happy Earth Day!

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Only The Lonely by The Motels (1982, dir. Russell Mulcahy)

Posted on April 21, 2017 by Valerie Troutman

I don’t know how long, or how I did it, but for a long time I thought this song, and Only The Lonely by Roy Orbison were the same song. If that isn’t dumb enough for you, my parents also used to watch the movie Only The Lonely (1991) when I was a kid, which prominently featured the Orbison song. Also, my mom is a big Orbison fan, so I grew up listening to his music. I guess that means it shouldn’t come as any surprise that it took till high school before I realized that when people were saying “ultimatum”, they weren’t saying “old tomato”.

Still, I am surprised it took me this many Mulcahy videos before I started noticing things he likes using. We get several of them in Only The Lonely. First, the use of tables.

Hungry Like The Wolf by Duran Duran (1982)

Second, liquids used as metaphors.

The Reflex by Duran Duran (1984)

Total Eclipse Of The Heart by Bonnie Tyler (1983)

She Loved Like Diamond by Spandau Ballet (1982)

The Thin Wall by Ultravox (1981)

He really seems to like liquids and tables. Finally, we get the most obvious–isolation. In Only The Lonely, it’s the person wandering around a place that may or may not be filled with people, but the person is alone regardless.

Total Eclipse Of The Heart by Bonnie Tyler (1983)

We also get a repeat of the ending of Bette Davis Eyes by Kim Carnes.

Bette Davis Eyes by Kim Carnes (1981)

Lead-singer Martha Davis won a Best Performance in a Music Video for this at the American Music Awards. The song also did well, but it looks like their biggest hit was Suddenly Last Summer, which also has its own music video. The band is still around today under the name of Martha Davis and The Motels.

The video was shot by Andrew Dintenfass, edited by Doug Dowdle, and produced by Jackie Adams. In other words, the usual crew you would expect on a Mulcahy video.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Words by Missing Persons (1982, dir. ???)

Posted on April 20, 2017 by Valerie Troutman

Coming off the Chrysta Bell & David Lynch stint, I thought I would knock off a couple female artists I haven’t gotten around to yet.

Before Lady Gaga was even born, we had…well…we had numerous artists. One of the most obvious is Missing Persons’ lead-singer Dale Bozzio. Much like David Lynch is nursing Chrysta Bell’s music career, Frank Zappa did that for Dale Bozzio. I can recall her coming to tears when discussing the passing of Zappa in an interview she gave for MTV and/or VH1.

I have to mention it since it is out there, so I’m just going to say that I am aware of the behind-the-scenes story concerning Bozzio and MTV. It’s in the book I Want My MTV. You can feel free to look it up. It just amounts to an example of how crazy it was at MTV headquarters in their first years.

According to Wikipedia, this particular music video was noteworthy for the visual effects it used. I’m assuming they’re referring to the use of the blurred white for framing the shots of the band. It creates an interesting look that would make the video stand out from the crowd.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Back Seat by Chrysta Bell & David Lynch (2016, dir. Sasha Samsonova)

Posted on April 19, 2017 by Valerie Troutman

This was directed by photographer Sasha Samsonova. She’s apparently well-known for her work with Kylie Jenner. I know I bitched and moaned, for lack of a better phrase, yesterday about the music videos that were being made for Chrysta Bell & David Lynch collaborations, but this one is different for me. The video doesn’t do a whole lot for me. The song does even less. However, I look at this video, and knowing that she is a photographer, I think of Killer Wolf by Danzig.

That video was made by Dutch director/photographer Anton Corbijn who got his start working with Joy Division, as the band’s photographer. He is best known in the field of music videos for his work with Depeche Mode, Echo & The Bunnymen, and Heart-Shaped Box by Nirvana. But it’s Killer Wolf by Danzig that I think of when I look at this video. Killer Wolf is a stripped down video that is a composition of short video segments that would be created by a photographer who leaves the video running for few seconds instead of shooting a still. I guess what I am saying, is that I see the same kind of raw talent that you can watch develop if you go from Corbijn’s earliest video and work forward.

Kylie Jenner appears to have jumpstarted her career. You can read a full interview with Samsonova on People magazine’s website. She seems to say that her ultimate goal is directing feature films. I say it that way since she differentiates film from music videos. That has me a little worried since the two mediums can be very different.

Regardless, this is the high point for me in going through these David Lynch related music videos. It also happens to be the last one I can find. It’s a good one to go out on, and I hope to see more from Samsonova.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Beat The Beat by Chrysta Bell & David Lynch (2017, dir. Sharif Nakhleh)

Posted on April 18, 2017 by Valerie Troutman

I think I would have preferred to hear more of the guy at the start. Not because Bell is bad. Not because Sharif Nakhleh did a bad job recreating the experience of watching a YouTube video of a VHS rip with hardcoded subtitles. Neither of those things are true. It’s just that it is yet another music video that visually screams David Lynch throughout–despite having been directed by yet another director. We’ve had Chrysta Bell reenacting a scene from Blue Velvet (1986). We’ve had her singing in a Lynch-room and a courtyard. We’ve had her singing while driving on the lost highway in order to have a sex scene. Now we have Bell singing in a nightclub. I guess I want some more variety. Maybe if this were a one-off video meant to remind us of One Eyed Jack’s from Twin Peaks with people living a ho-hum existence that Bell helps infuse with life that causes them to blink out of this bleak version of Fantasy by Aldo Nova, then I could enjoy it. But it’s not.

There’s a nice little description of the video over on IndieWire:

Directed by Sharif Nakhleh, “Beat the Beat” is a look into the cyclical nature of modern life and a “subdued anthem for Kafkaesque and mundane human existence.” The video is described as “a dirty dub VHS tape featuring a slice of Americana with Italian subtitles suggesting it could have been discovered in a second hand shop in Bologna.” The clip shows a grimy bar run by a bored looking bartender until Bell, wearing a black slip dress designed by Nima Shiraz, arrives and gets everyone moving with her hypnotizing voice.

Based on the YouTube comments, people love this stuff. More power to you! Also, if you haven’t watched those other videos, then you might enjoy this.

This one has a big listing of people who were involved:

Director/Editor – Sharif Nakhleh
Producer – Tasha Nesbitt
Cinematographer – Mike Epple
Assistant Director – Jason Halley
Assistant Camera – Lawrence Abad
Gaffer – Steve Griggs
Key Grip – Andy Hoffman
Swing – Sean Ly
Art Director – Garrett Lowe
Asst Art Dept – Aaron Pierce
Asst to the Producer – Spencer Collantes
CB Makeup/Hair Artist – Consuelo Lopez
Cast Makeup/Hair Artist – Nicole Kelleher
FX Supervisor – Ryan Bozajian
Additional FX – Joseph Skorman
Sound – Elliott Harris
Translation – Daniela Viezzer
Bar Fly 1 – Bettina Devin
Bar Fly 2 – Sherman Koltz
Bartender – William Rogue
Biker – Matthew Fuentes
Hillbilly 1 – Christina Meyers
Hillbilly 2 – Dominic Olivo
Punk Chick – Reneja’Net LaChapelle
Tourist 1 – Jessica Etheridge
Tourist 2 – Charles Parker
Drifter – Matt Patane
Bespoke Dress by Nima Shiraz

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Night Ride by Chrysta Bell & David Lynch (2016, dir. Joseph Skorman)

Posted on April 17, 2017 by Valerie Troutman

It’s another driving music video for a David Lynch collaboration. I could understand if they were both done by the same director, but they’re not. I’m Waiting Here was done by Daniel Desure, and this one is by Joseph Skorman. By the way, Skorman is the guy in the trunk.

I found the CGI holes at the end to be humorous. It was also interesting to see a music video shot in my neck of the woods. I’m not sure exactly where in the East Bay the windmill part takes place. Given that they drove over the Bay Bridge, I’m going to assume that’s it’s the Altamont Pass Wind Farm near Livermore. It makes more sense to me than her driving around the Birds Landing/Collinsville area just north of Suisun Bay, off of Highway 12.

According to the description on YouTube, the following people worked on this video:

Jonathan Mindes – Producer
Mike Revolvalcke – Director of Photography
Juan del Rio – Second Unit Director & Aerial Cinematographer
Hillary Andujar – Production Designer
Sam Sarraf – Visual Effects Director
Tony Lew – Camera Operator
Joe Mullen – Gaffer
Connor Vickers – Best Boy
Louis Shah – Key Grip
Ally Grace Esparza – Art Director
Consuelo T. Lopez – Makeup Artist/Hair Stylist
Joseph Skorman – Editor/Concept/Graphics/Visual FX

IMDb has some more people who worked on it. It also has a summary of the video by producer Jonathan Mindes:

To accompany the newly released “Night Ride”, the driving and darkly sensual track by David Lynch and Chrysta Bell, director Joey Skorman has created a cinematic world reminiscent of a modernized 1950’s monster movie. The lustful “Black Widow Queen”(Chrysta Bell) has a nasty habit of taking night rides in the country during which she seduces young drifters into her car and proceeds to feed on them. Danger is dressed in red lips, lapel pins, a motorcycle jacket, and a blood-stained back patch. We are given a glimpse of somewhere in-between lust, smoke, exhaust, steamy breath, burning rubber and burning desire. What tangled web has been woven with one question remaining… what is it that you desire?

It even comes with its own tagline:

Buried desires and a buried love slave come out for a ride in this B-horror-style night journey through the web of a demonic Black Widow Queen.

For me, the summary and the tagline are more interesting than the video. What’s also interesting is it appears that the majority of Joseph Skorman’s work has been as a post-production engineer on TV Shows such as I (Almost) Got Away With It, My Strange Criminal Addiction, Sex Sent Me To The Slammer, and Wives With Knives. It’s almost like he tried making a music video based on the TV Shows he has worked on. I approve–even if I didn’t care for the video.

I have one last thing to mention. Just like he did on I’m Waiting Here, Tom Breihan over on Stereogum is still not happy that Lynch isn’t directing all the videos for his music:

Now that David Lynch is making music, it drives me absolutely fucking nuts that David Lynch is not directing his own music videos.

He does go on to say that he enjoyed the video regardless of the fact that Lynch didn’t direct it. I just love that he seems to be so passionate about it.

Enjoy!