Tag Archives: Tony Maxwell

Music Video of the Day: Da Funk by Daft Punk (1996, dir. Spike Jonze)

Posted on by Valerie Troutman

Sorry for keeping this short. Just before I sat down to write this yesterday, I became so dizzy that I collapsed. I am going to try and stay in bed all day. Luckily, there isn’t much to say that I haven’t already in my posts for Dog Police by Dog Police and Old Timer by That Dog.

You have a music video that uses similar dog makeup and themes from Dog Police, but without the humor. It is played straight. You have Spike Jonze collaborator and drummer for That Dog–Tony Maxwell–playing Charles. Charles comes to the big city obviously different from everyone else because he is a dog person–much like someone moving from the country or suburbs to the big city. That makes him in the process of trying to adapt to a new place. He also has the physical handicap of a broken leg that that doesn’t really come into play except to complement the mental handicap that the radio represents. We see that not only does it have a sentimental tie to his youth as shown by the picture with his dad, but we also see that he literally can’t turn it off because of the missing buttons. He does run into an old friend and would be able to follow her on the bus were it not for the radio he can’t turn off yet and the bus doesn’t allow radios. It also means he will have a tough time getting people to accept him in much the same way that the band did to get to this music video that included a review of a pre-Daft-Punk album by Melody Maker that called the music they made as “a dafty punk thrash.” There’s more you can read in the “history” section on Wikipedia that ties into this video as well.

It all sounds quite depressing. However, we know throughout, and at the ending, that the short time we have spent with him is only a rough patch–he’ll make it through. I guess you could look at the ending as him going out into the street as a suicide attempt. I don’t see it that way. I see tough times ahead for Charles. Tough times that Charles will be able to overcome as we can see that he has a strong spirit despite the barriers to entry that the big city throws at him.

A stylistic choice that is interesting here is that it is shot on the streets rather than the studio music videos people are typically familiar with even from Spike Jonze.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Old Timer by That Dog (1994, dir. Spike Jonze)

Posted on by Valerie Troutman

I don’t have much to say about this Spike Jonze music video. This was the same year Jonze did Buddy Holly, Sure Shot, and Sabotage. It’s a simple little indie music video. They probably had an afternoon to shoot in a little hotdog stand, so they made this video.

The reason I am spotlighting it is because I felt it was necessary to do this in between Dog Police and Da Funk. I am not sure whether Spike Jonze and drummer Tony Maxwell were already friends at this time. Maxwell would go on to do other things including playing Charles from Da Funk by Daft Punk that was directed by Spike Jonze two years after this video.

Let’s do the Erics in one batch. Eric Zumbrunnen edited the music video. He also edited Buddy Holly by Weezer, It’s Oh So Quiet by Björk, Where It’s At by Beck, and Weapon Of Choice by Fatboy Slim, among a couple of other music videos. He would go on to edit some feature films like Being John Malkovich (1999), Adaptation (2002), Where The Wild Things Are (2009), and Her (2013). Eric Matthies was the producer of the music video. He shot two music videos for Nine Inch Nails that were both directed by Eric Zimmerman. Matthies also has a bunch of producing and directing credits on IMDb. Yep, there’s three Erics tied to this music video for some reason.

Speaking of “for some reason”, Tony Maxwell is credited at the start of this music video as “Yoga”. You got me. However, that means Weapon of Choice had a “Philosophical Consultant” in K.K. Barrett, and this one had someone credited as “Yoga”. Maybe Jonze just likes to oddly credit people. Again, you got me.

That Dog would last till 1997 before reuniting in 2011. There are at least two more music videos for them where the band turns more and more into late-90s groups like Garbage and No Doubt in terms of looking polished and colorful. I feel like if I did Never Say Never and He’s Kissing Christian, then I’d need to do the two versions of Ready To Go by Republica and Don’t Speak by No Doubt respectively to go along with them.

Enjoy!

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.