Tag Archives: Richard Lowenstein

Music Video of the Day: Mediate by INXS (1987, directed by Richard Lowenstein)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

INXS plays tribute to Bob Dylan in today’s music video of the day!

Some members of the band did a better job than other when it came to keeping up with the cards but they all still did a pretty good job considering that this is a 2 and a half minute music video with no visible edits. This video was originally included on the backend of the video for Need You Tonight. Richard Lowenstein directed both videos and it was a definitely a canny move to combine the two and basically get MTV to promote two songs for the price of one.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Need You Tonight by INXS (1987, directed by Richard Lowenstein)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Need You Tonight was the first single released off of INXS’s sixth studio album, Kick. The video, which made use of several different types of animation, was extremely popular with MTV’s audience and, as a result, the song went on to become one of INXS’s biggest hits. The video went on to win 5 awards at the MTV Music Video Awards. This was back when those actually meant something.

Director Richard Lowenstein directed a total of 16 videos for INXS, including this one. He also directed a film called Dogs in Space, which was not about actual dogs in space but which was instead about the Australian post-punk scene. INXS’s lead singer Michael Hutchence played Sam, the leader of a band called Dogs in Space.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Suicide Blonde by INXS (1990, directed by Richard Lowenstein)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Despite the title, Suicide Blonde is not about suicide.  (That, of course, still doesn’t make it any less difficult to watch Michael Hutchence sing a song with the word suicide in the lyrics.)  Instead, it’s about a woman who colors her own hair, literally “dyeing by hand.”  It was a phrase that Hutchence first heard used by his then-girlfriend, Kylie Minogue.  Minogue said she was going to dye her hair “suicide blonde” and Hutchence was so taken with the phrase that he crafted a song around it.

This video was directed by Richard Lowenstein, who directed several videos for the band and often made use of the type of composited imagery, in which the band members seem to travel across the screen separated from what else is happening, that appears in Suicide Blonde.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: What You Need by INXS (1985, directed by Richard Lowenstein and Lynn-Maree Milburn)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Today is Australia Day and today’s music video of the day comes from one of the biggest Australian bands of the last century, INXS.

What You Need was the leadoff track from their 1985 album, Listen Like Thieves.  It was the first single off the album in Australia and New Zealand while, in the US, it was released after This Time.  It also went on to become the band’s first top ten hit in the United States.  That shouldn’t be a surprise as the song was recorded after the album’s producer expressed concern that Listen Like Thieves was good but didn’t have a “hit.”  The band wrote and recorded the song in one day.

The song’s popularity was undoubtedly helped by this music video, which came out at a time when rotoscope was still a fairly exotic animation technique.  The video was named Best Video at the 1985 Countdown and Music Video Awards.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Never Tear Us Apart by INXS (1987, dir. Richard Lowenstein)

Posted on by Valerie Troutman

A couple of weeks ago a relative of mine passed away. He had serious issues in his life that brought it to a close far too early. I wasn’t close with him, but nevertheless. A week later we lost Chris Cornell under similar circumstances. Now we have the concert bombing, among other things.

When I heard of Cornell’s passing, I thought of this song because lead-singer Michael Hutchence also died of an apparent suicide 20 years ago in 1997. I thought it was an appropriate music video to spotlight at this time.

It was shot in Prague. It was directed by Richard Lowenstein, who directed many videos for INXS. It was edited by Bruce Ashley.

I’ve included numbers below that you can call if you find yourself in these kinds of situations. Thank you, Patrick, for listing them on your Twitter account.

24/7 Suicide: 800-273-8255
DV: 800-799-7233
Crisis: Text START to 741-741
Trans: 877-565-8860
TTY: 800-799-4889