We had the Rapture yesterday courtesy of Blondie, so today we go to Hell. I probably shared this story at some point, but I’ll do it again. I remember back during this time when my mom used to watch Regis & Kathie Lee. On one episode they had Squirrel Nut Zippers on there to perform. I don’t remember if it was this, Prince Nez, or Blue Angel. Shortly after, I went to Tower Records looking for their album. The people there had no idea who I was talking about. Eventually I did find the album. It’s one of the most unusual albums I own. It didn’t come in a regular plastic case, but half paper and half plastic. According to the cover, I was supposed to light it on fire because it says “do not hold in hand after lighting.”

It has some pictures of Satan in it. One is in the hole where you press to release the CD.

The disc was even one of those enhanced albums that came with content for your computer. It won’t work with my modern Mac, but the readme file still opens and has some backstory on the album:

When I first heard Katharine, Jimbo and Tom singing their hot songs off the “Inevitable” album on the radio last year I was taken back and amazed by the tremendous diversity and quality of the Squirrel Nut Zippers’ music. I felt like they were the “missing link” in the lost imagination of contemporary music and were successfully bringing together all that is old and all that is new and making it their own. I rushed out and bought “The Inevitable” album and immediately began trying to think up some way of doing something creative with the group. I wrote to Jimbo and Katharine asking them if there was anything that I could do for them in the way of a film or video project.

Luckily they were going to perform here in Atlanta just a few days after I sent them my letter. I went early to “The Point” that evening hoping to talk with someone from the group before the show. I had memorized their names from the album and thought I could easily recognize any of them. However, when I arrived, there were people dressed in ’20’s attire everywhere I looked and I didn’t have a clue as to who was actually in the band and who wasn’t. It wasn’t until Don made a move for the stage that I was able to distinguish a Zipper from the rest of the crowd. I talked to Don for a few moments and he introduced me to Jimbo. That is when this all began.

We didn’t exactly know whether this project would turn out to be a documentary film, video or enhanced CD-ROM but the important thing was to get started in documenting their shows while they were touring extensively last year. Last July, my wife, Leah and our daughter, Sydney, went with me up to Charlotte and Asheville where I began shooting the Zippers’ shows and becoming a permanent fixture in their crowds. Everywhere I went with the Zippers from North Carolina to California, I would overhear people in the audience and even the club owners commenting that it was the largest turnout they had ever for a music performance at their place. The Zippers were starting a glorious craze that I feel will intensify even more with the release of the “Hot” album.

I have always known while I have been making this project that I have been a part of something very special. This has always been the motivation that has kept me burning the midnight oil for days on end to get this project finished in time to make it onto the “Hot” album. I can only hope that what I have done captures at least a fraction of the wonderful experience of seeing the Squirrel Nut Zippers perform live and the diverse and comical personality, brilliant talent and dedication that makes up the band.

I cannot thank everyone in the Zippers enough for their extreme amount of cooperation, patience, openness and trust that they have shown Leah and myself. I also want to thank Lane Wurster and Mammoth Records for taking a chance with my project and Lane’s tireless effort in helping to get it completed.

And of course, this project would never have been what it is without the never-ending support of the one and only Shorty Brown.

Clay Walker
April 28, 1996

I don’t really have anything to say about the music video itself beyond mentioning that it was inspired by Twin Peaks. It does capture that throwback to the swing dance days that bands like Squirrel Nut Zippers were part of in the mid-90s. Out of the bands I remember from the time, they were the ones that really tried to sound like bands from that time period rather than having a more modern take on it.

There seems to be a little bit of disagreement between two sources about the directors of the music video. No one disagrees that Norwood Cheek and Grady Cooper directed it. Cheek directed a few music videos as well as working in other capacities in film. Cooper has done many things over the years including directing 67 episodes of Survivor. According to IMDb, Cooper also appeared in the music video. Cooper edited it as well. Both Cheek and Cooper produced it. I think we can even thank Grady Cooper himself since he appears to have been the one to make a high quality version of this music video available on YouTube.

John Leuba shot the music video and has the usual handful of credits on IMDb.

The part that there is conflicting information about is whether Tom Maxwell had anything to do with directing the music video. Whether he did, or he didn’t, he did write the song. More recently in 2014 he published a book called Hell: My Life in the Squirrel Nut Zippers about the history of the band. He also wrote a post over on Medium about why he wouldn’t be joining the band on their 20th anniversary tour in honor of this album.

Enjoy this throwback to a throwback!