Tag Archives: music video

Music Video of the Day: Renegades of Funk by Afrika Bambaataa & The Soulsonic Force (1983, dir. ???)

Posted on by Valerie Troutman

I have no idea what year this video was released. Obviously it was early on in the 1980s, but this was an era when MTV was still scared to have blacks on the network. I know the song was released in 1983.

I would imagine a lot of people were introduced to this song via the Rage Against the Machine cover version. I also imagine that a fair amount of people were made aware of Afrika Bambaataa & The Soulsonic Force because of the inclusion of their song Looking for the Perfect Beat on the Grand Theft Auto: Vice City soundtrack. I was in both cases. I do like the Rage Against the Machine version. They stripped it down to the bare bones political portion of the song, which in doing so, made it their own. It’s something to keep in mind watching this video since you’ll see pre-Public Enemy all over it. Unfortunately, there is something else that you can’t possibly avoid having in your head while watching this music video. I mention that at the end.

Rap started at least in what we would call a fully-formed version in the 1970s with artists like DJ Hollywood, but it was never recorded until Rapper’s Delight came along. Then for a short period of a few years in the early 1980s there was a rather experimental period in rap before groups like Salt-N-Pepa, Run-DMC, Public Enemy, Beastie Boys, and N.W.A. among others would standardize it to a certain extent. One of the groups that existed during that period was Afrika Bambaataa & The Soulsonic Force. There’s a lot more to this story too. I know I am oversimplifying here. The group dates back to the 1970s themselves. I’m pretty sure that’s him at the very start before we see him in costume.

This video has just about everything in it. You’ve got the Public Enemy type political lyrics. Afrika Bambaataa himself looks like he is the funky rap child of George Clinton. It starts with kids off the street being drawn towards a 2001-like monolith to be pulled into another world. It is full of life, color, history, and a damn good time. However, I love how it never pretends reality doesn’t exist with it’s beginning and end. It’s in the middle that it takes you to another place that can be lost if you let your mind fill with nothing but what you see with your eyes. This music video takes your mind on an audio-visual tour before dropping you back into your life.

Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five’s wonderful song The Message tosses you into cold-hard reality. Afrika Bambaataa & The Soulsonic Force picks you up into the air, mesmerizes you with color and sound, delivers its message, and then asks you dance sucka, before letting you return back to reality.

Sadly, from what I’ve read just now on the night before this was scheduled to post, reality, or at least allegations, is exactly what has been coming out all over the place about Afrika Bambaataa. I actually wrote this post back on Tuesday of this week, and only came across it the night before it was scheduled to be posted. Oh, well. Just like anything else, you can’t avoid controversy and reality when talking about anything in the art and entertainment business. *Sigh*

Music Video of the Day: Self Control by Laura Branigan (1984, dir. William Friedkin)

Posted on by Valerie Troutman

We already looked at a video directed by someone who would then go on to make feature films. Here we have one made by a director who was already well established. That being William Friedkin. He helmed this kinky music video for Laura Branigan’s song Self Control. To my knowledge, it isn’t out there who played the man behind the mask. The video was controversial at the time. Wikipedia says it even had to be have a minor alteration made to it in order to air on MTV, which Branigan was not happy about.

This is also one of those rare videos where we know more than just the director. According to Internet Music Video Database, this was choreographed by Russell Clark who has done a few films you might recognize. The one that jumps out at me is Rockula (1990). The reason is that I reviewed it last October. It’s that other rock based horror film that has Toni Basil in it. He also did some of the choreography for Teen Witch (1989). Sadly, it seems that according to IMDb, it was not the famous Top That scene.

Also according to IMDb, famous Producer and Production Manager Fred C. Caruso produced this music video. He did movies like The Godfather (1972), Blow Out (1981), and Blue Velvet (1986) to name a few.

I can’t speak for everyone, but I was introduced to this song via the Grand Theft Auto: Vice City soundtrack.

Music Video of the Day: In Bloom by Nirvana (1992, dir. Kevin Kerslake)

Posted on by Valerie Troutman

Seeing as I did Weezer’s Buddy Holly yesterday, it seemed appropriate to do Nirvana’s In Bloom today. Instead of editing themselves into a retro TV Show, they set themselves into an actual 1960s style variety show as if they were The Beatles. Makes sense considering Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic would go on to work with Paul McCartney.

I really didn’t watch MTV in the early 1990s. I was certainly listening to Nirvana’s music on an endless repeat, but I wasn’t really familiar with any of their videos beyond Smells Like Teen Spirit and Heart Shaped Box. I like the parody on display of 1960s variety shows. I love the way the host appears oblivious at the end to what was going on onstage. As I recall, the song is about a drug dealer they knew who liked listening to their music, but really didn’t know what it meant. I’m guessing that’s who the host is supposed to represent.

The video would go on to win Best Alternative Video at the MTV Video Music Awards in 1993. That brings me to another argument I’ve had stated to me about why music videos don’t belong in movie databases. The whole thing about them not winning noteworthy awards. Obviously that’s not true, and MTV has as much vested interest in giving out such awards as the Oscars and the Grammys. They even accept music videos at film festivals. That being another argument brought up as reason for the exclusion of music videos. A simple Google search turns up such festivals.

I know I missed April already, but there’s always July 20th to do another Nirvana music video. That will also give me an excuse to link to one of Gary’s reviews as an apology for making him aware of the widely held theory that The Vapors’ Turning Japanese is about masturbation while he was just trying to help me pick out a video for the Japanese holiday Ocean Day.

Music Video of the Day: Buddy Holly by Weezer (1994, dir. Spike Jonze)

Posted on by Valerie Troutman

What is there to say about this video that everyone doesn’t already know? There was no way I couldn’t eventually hit it. I might as well do it now. It kind of seals the deal on what I do tomorrow seeing as Weezer was hardly the only major band of the era to do this kind of thing. That said, I do have two things to bring up:

1. Spike Jonze is a prime example of a director who got their start in music videos, then went on to make feature films. One of the arguments I have had launched at me for why music videos shouldn’t be in a movie database is because directors like Spike Jonze and Michel Gondry evolved into feature film directors after making music videos. I don’t know how this is different than any other director starting with short films, then moving into features, but it apparently was for this database admin. I guess they were thinking of it like shedding a skin or something. Of course, as I’m sure you’ve guessed or already knew, Spike Jonze and Michel Gondry never stopped making music videos. In fact, he did Weapon of Choice for Fatboy Slim two years after making Being John Malkovich. If anything, I would imagine that it just made them more prized directors to get to direct your music video.

2. Microsoft included this music video on the installation disc for Windows 95 back in the day to show the operating system’s video playing capabilities. I’m pretty sure that was the first time I saw it.

This song and video never really get old to me. If I need a little pick me up, then I put it on.

Music Video of the Day: 4th of July by X (1987, dir. ???)

Posted on by Valerie Troutman

It was either this, or Twisted Sister’s We’re Not Gonna Take It. I figured I might not have a good excuse to feature a video from X any other way while the other is easy to post for any day that can be associated with civil rights and/or independence. It’s interesting that a band known for emerging from the L.A. punk rock scene with songs like Johnny Hit and Run Paulene would go on to do a bluesy rock song like this. Then again, The Replacements went from songs like Johnny’s Gonna Die to Achin’ To Be, so maybe it isn’t so weird after all. When you take out the very 80s effects, you get a simple video of them performing to a small audience while fireworks go off. I like the relative darkness of the video because it adds to the idea that they are performing at a place where fireworks are going off with reflections cast upon them and the walls. It also adds to the intimacy of the performance. Look for the ‘X’ that appears in his eye at the very beginning of the video before they show the one on the ceiling.

Edit: I’ve since found out that editor Glenn Morgan edited this music video.

Music Video of the Day: It’s My Life by No Doubt (2003, dir. David LaChapelle)

Posted on by Valerie Troutman

Yesterday we looked at the Talk Talk version of the song It’s My Life. This time around No Doubt and director David LaChapelle stuck with the theme of the lyrics, but instead put it into a darker context. It screams 2002’s Best Picture winner Chicago all over it. It also has a fair amount of film noir elements in it except it’s the guys who are the ones who do her in rather than the other way around as it appears throughout the video. At least that’s the way it comes across at the end whether they some how arranged the appearance of their deaths or are looking at her execution from the afterlife. I can’t help but think some of the song and the video is the way it is because of Stefani’s relationship with the band and Gavin Rossdale at this time. That stuff certainly showed up in other videos and songs from the band going all the way back to Don’t Speak. But that’s for another day.

Music Video of the Day: It’s My Life by Talk Talk (1984, dir. Tim Pope)

Posted on by Valerie Troutman

Even by 1984, artists and the directors of their videos were rebelling against lip-syncing in them. That’s why you don’t see the lead singer doing that here. Sometimes even black bars go over his mouth to emphasize this fact while the video is primarily made up of nature footage. This discontinuity of image and sound was another example of early experimentation in music videos. There is another version of this video as well that apparently has them lip-synched, but doing other things to still make fun of the process. People of my generation learned of this song obviously because of tomorrow’s Music Video of the Day. Also, some may know it from the Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories soundtrack. Although, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City used their song Life’s What You Make It instead. Their hit songs seem to be rather positive and empowering. No doubt that’s why tomorrow’s post exists.

Music Video of the Day: Subdivisions by Rush (1982, dir. Grant Lough)

Posted on by Valerie Troutman

Seeing as it is Canada Day, I thought I would go with some of the best known Canadian musicians. This also happens to be one of my favorite songs by Rush and a good video that goes with its’ message of societal pressures to conform. I love how it opens with the slow synthesizer, then goes into a zooming out aerial shot like you are taking off into the song and the video. Then it ends on a Game Over screen from the game Tempest. Old arcade games make great analogies for unwinnable situations that everyone thinks can be accomplished if they try hard enough.

Music Video of the Day: Tarzan Boy by Baltimora (1985, dir. ???)

Posted on by Valerie Troutman

Why Tarzan Boy you might be asking yourself. Sure it’s fun. Sure it’s catchy. But as soon as it’s over you forget about it. That’s the point. At the time of writing this, the music video has been on YouTube since November 2nd, 2005. That’s only about 7 months after the very first YouTube video was uploaded for a current total of about 10 years. Also, it kind of fits to end LGBT month. So, enjoy this catchy fun Andy Warhol inspired music video of the 1980s.

Music Video of the Day: Tonight, Tonight by The Smashing Pumpkins (1996, dir. Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris)

Posted on by Valerie Troutman

One of the most common arguments I’ve seen about why music videos aren’t actually films is that they are just advertisements for a song. Right now Gary has just finished reading that sentence and is digging out his copy of Dewar’s-It’s Scotch (1898), Warner Bros. Silver Jubilee (1930), and other examples that destroy the illusion that even ads aren’t films. I think The Smashing Pumpkins video for Tonight, Tonight is one of the finest examples of why that argument is a bunch of BS. Why? Because it’s a remake of Georges Méliès’ A Trip To The Moon (1902). Even IMDb Data Editors agreed with me when I submitted it as such about a year ago. Tom Kenny and Jill Talley play the man and woman who go through their incredible journey. One that ends with them even being rescued by the S.S. Méliès. Not only have more people probably seen short films since the launch of MTV then since the pre-1915 days of cinema, but this video introduced many kids to Georges Méliès long before Martin Scorsese did with Hugo (2011).