Music Video of the Day: I Am The Walrus by Styx (2005, directed by ????)

Posted on April 6, 2024 by Jedadiah Leland

This is one of the better Beatles covers that I’ve heard. Styx does the song justice by not trying to add any greater meaning to John Lennon’s lyrics. Many people have claimed that this song was actually about the death of Paul McCartney in an auto accident and how the Beatles replaced him with a look-alike but Lennon always said that most of the lyrics were just meant to be nonsense. Lennon went as far as to cite Lewis Carroll as being the main inspiration for the song.

The trippy music video is fun and cheesy at the same time. Unfortunately, I have not been able to find the name of the video’s director.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Boat on the River by Styx (1979, directed by ????)

Posted on June 13, 2023 by Jedadiah Leland

It’s a funny story. My first choice for today’s music video of the day was I’m Just A Singer (In A Rock And Roll Band) by the Moody Blues. I wrote up a long and in-depth post about the history of the song, the history of the Moody Blues, and the history of the video. It was the type of post that I would hope to be remembered for.

Then I discovered that I had already featured the video in 2020.

With a deadline looming and not much time to find something new, I did what I think anyone would have done in my situation. I grabbed the first Styx video I could find.

This simple video is for Styx’s song Boat on the River. Boat on the River appeared on Styx’s 9th album, Cornerstone. It was only released as a single in Europe, where it proved to be very popular in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Like many of the music videos that were made in the days before MTV, the video for Boat On The River is a performance clip, with the emphasis less on what the song is about and more about the musicianship of Styx as a group.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: The Best of Times by Styx (1981, directed by ????)

Posted on September 1, 2021 by Jedadiah Leland

On August 1st, 1981, MTV premiered. Over the course of 24 hours, 166 unique music videos were played on MTV. Yes, there was a time when the M actually did stand for music.

The 33rd video played that day was this performance clip for Styx’s The Best of Times. This was one of the band’s biggest hits. It’s also a song that they haven’t played since 1999. When Dennis DeYoung left the group, he took the song with him.

Enjoy!

The First Videos Shown on MTV:

Music Video of the Day: Rockin’ The Paradise by Styx (1981, directed by ????)

Posted on August 10, 2021 by Jedadiah Leland

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuREpab44Kk

According to Styx’s Dennis DeYoung, this song was meant as a “working class take on what was wrong in America.”

it was also the first song on the Paradise Theater album. The Paradise was a real theater in Chicago. It opened in 1928 and, after years of neglect, it was torn down in 1958. DeYoung saw a picture of the dilapidated Paradise in an art museum and he felt that it was the perfect metaphor for the end of the American dream. Hence, the album and this song.

And, for that matter, this video. The video opens with DeYoung on a stage that could very well have been in the Paradise Theater. He wears a white tuxedo, the type that would have been popular when the Paradise Theater first opened. Of course, once he joined onstage by the rest of Styx, the video becomes a fairly standard performance clip.

This was the 10th video to be played on MTV on August 1st, 1981, the network’s first day of broadcast.

Enjoy!

The First Videos Shown on MTV:

Music Video of the Day: Come Sail Away by Styx (1977, directed by ????)

Posted on January 31, 2021 by Jedadiah Leland

Leave it to Styx to take a seemingly straight-forward song about sailing away from life’s trouble and suddenly end it with an alien visitation. Actually, I’ve read multiple interpretations of the film’s final verses. Some see it as the subject of the song being abducted by aliens. Others think that it means that he’s been taken into Heaven. Because it’s a Styx song, the lyrics are open to many readings as long as you accept that it’s either angels or aliens.

Considering all of the debate that’s been inspired by this song, the music video is a pretty simple affair. Like the majority of the videos that were released in the days before MTV, it’s a simple performance clip. If you were hoping to see either aliens or angels in this video, you’ll be disappointed. It’s good song, though. It’s impossible not to get that chorus stuck in your head.

Enjoy!