Well, this post was meant for last week’s Music Video Friday but then Leonard Cohen passed away & I decided to post some of his fantastic songs instead. So, it’s a week late but here are some songs that I can’t seem to get out of my head. Have a great weekend, everyone! 🙂
AC/DC – Highway To Hell
Green Day – American Idiot
R.E.M. – It’s The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)
Creedence Clearwater Revival – Bad Moon Rising
Tears For Fears – Mad World
Buzzcocks – Oh Shit!
R.I.P. Leonard Cohen, who has died at the age of 82. I’ll be honest – I have Pump Up The Volume to thank for introducing me to Cohen as I’ve been a fan ever since Christian Slater’s pirate radio DJ played his music in that. What a voice! Yet another sad loss in 2016…
LOVE IT. Vimeo user DirectorDT has created a video with Studio Ghibli characters in front of real-life footage. You can read the article about it & watch the whole video here: IndieWire.
I’ll post the YouTube video but know they sometimes don’t work. This video is also missing some of the footage so watch it at the above link instead if you can. Enjoy! 🙂
Today’s video is Michael Jackson’s Thriller.
As usual, I’ll be posting nothing but horror reviews & horror top ten lists through all of October so I’ll be skipping Music Video Fridays. I’ve already started my “Halloween Month” a little early by posting My Top Ten Chocolate Bars yesterday so figured I’d post a Halloween-y video today. What better choice is there than Thriller? 🙂
I’m not going to write much about this video as I can’t exactly add any facts that won’t be known by most people anyway. Right??? I hope you’ve all seen this video, directed by John Landis after Michael Jackson saw his film An American Werewolf In London. And you all know that Vincent Price does the spoken word in the song, I assume. Everyone has seen this video. Thriller is probably the greatest & most well known video of all time. My kid keeps bugging me to see this video (I’ve told her she’s not old enough yet but she loves Jackson’s songs).
Here’s one interesting fact from Wikipedia that I didn’t know:
“To qualify for an Academy Award as a short subject, the film was shown in a theatrical screening along with the 1940 Disney animated feature Fantasia, in December 1983; however, the video failed to earn an Academy Award nomination.”
I’ll never forget this being shown all the time in the good old days of MTV when they actually showed music videos & the neighbor boy running out of his house one day & yelling “Thriller is on MTV!” at me & then running back into his house. I of course ran straight inside to watch it as well. I also remember the slight controversy when we watched the “Making of Thriller” documentary at school since we were maaaaaybe a little too young to be shown that. Ah, the good old days when people didn’t freak the hell out & sue people over every little thing! I turned out just FINE even though I saw that documentary. RIGHT??!?!!?!?! 😉
Well, here’s the video even though you’ve all seen it. See you next week for my Month Of HORROR!!!! *Insert Vincent Price laugh here*
Today’s video is Round And Round by Ratt.
I chose this video because I’m old and uncool. I was a teenager when pretty boy hair metal was popular & I loved it & I won’t apologize. Although, I wouldn’t really say that any member of Ratt was pretty. Not like Kip Winger! Or Mark Slaughter! Or even a little bit of Sebastian Bach! Hotties. I mean, I preferred heavier stuff like Metallica musically but I didn’t want to cuddle with them & exchange beauty tips.
Oh, but this video is a classic. WTF is the message, anyway? That Ratt are so cool they can turn women feral?? Haha! I love sexist Eighties hair band videos! I grew up with them & put up with them & actually thought nothing of them at the time. Hell, one of my absolute favorite videos was ZZ Top’s Legs (still is, actually). But I’ll probably never even let my own daughter watch that one. Different time, different values.
Anyway, this video is less sexist than most from that era so I feel comfortable posting it. It’s mostly just hilarious – how does the girl end up looking like an entirely different person just because she hears Ratt’s music playing? And how did she have time to get her hair cut & dyed on her way up the steps? It’s almost as confusing as the fact that Milton Berle is in this video. I always found that strange! But, hey – we didn’t have Wikipedia when this video came out (or, like, the Internet). Thanks to modern technology, I can now share 80’s music video trivia tidbits with the two people who read these posts! Yay!!! So tell us, Wikipedia, why the hell was Milton Berle in a Ratt video?!:
“The video briefly features comedian Milton Berle, whose nephew Marshall Berle was Ratt’s band manager at the time.”
Ah HA! So that’s why! Thank you, Wikipedia. And thank you as well for this interesting (and sad) tidbit too:
“The vixen in the video is model Lisa Dean who would play the lead character, Diana, in the 1988 Michael Jackson music video of Dirty Diana. Dean died in December 2009 at the age of 50 after a bout with colon cancer.”
Oh, and here’s a quick personal trivia tidbit that no one will find interesting but I’m going to share anyway: my cousin went to see Ratt & Poison together in concert in the Eighties & my grandma thought she was going to see a band called Rat Poison. Ha! I’m easily amused. And this video amuses me. And I kind of still love this song & will probably watch this video several times tonight after I get home from work. The song is already stuck in my head as I type this.
I love the metalhead butler… Punch that fist in the air!
Today’s video is N*E*R*D’s Rock Star.
Rock Star is from the 2001 album In Search of… A second version of the album was released in 2002. I’m assuming this second version of the album is what I had (on an actual CD!). I should dig the CD out again – I haven’t listened to it in ages. According to Wikipedia:
“For its 2002 worldwide release, N.E.R.D withdrew the original European version of In Search of… and in its place issued a re-recorded version of the album, also known as the “rock version”, with the electronic backings of the original version being replaced a more rock-oriented sound with the use of live drums and guitars played by American funk rock band Spymob.”
I don’t know how well the album is known, to be honest, but the singles certainly weren’t as big as member Pharrell Williams’ many later hits (pretty sure everyone knows Happy!). I think Williams is hugely talented. My personal favorites are Get Lucky with Daft Punk & the Despicable Me soundtracks. In all seriousness, those soundtracks are amazing & deserve more praise. Provider is also a great song from In Search Of… (I especially love the Zero 7 remix) but Rock Star was always my favorite.
Anyway, here’s the video if you never saw it. For some odd reason, it stars Randy Quaid. Huh. “Shitter was full!”
Happy Friday, everyone. 🙂
Today’s video is Robyn’s Dancing On My Own.
I already featured a Robyn video recently (Konichiwa Bitches) so won’t add anything to what I’ve already said about her & what I think of her great, underrated pop songs (you can see my post HERE). I just felt like posting this as the dreary cover by Calum Scott was a far bigger hit in the UK than Robyn’s fantastic original & it annoys me every time I hear the passionless cover on the radio.
I’m not going to bitch about all the horrible singer/songwriter bullshit covers of good songs that keep ending up so popular for some reason. If you want to read a good rant by someone who can actually write, I recommend this article by Grace Medford that says exactly how I feel about this sort of thing: When Will Awful, Downbeat Covers of Songs Stop Outperforming the Originals?
I’ll leave you with Robyn’s fantastic original version of Dancing On My Own… 🙂
Today’s video is De La Soul’s Me Myself And I. Great song from a classic album. I miss music like this! Why does music suck so much nowadays? I suppose I’m just making myself sound old… Oh well. I am! But at least I got to grow up with awesome music. 🙂
Me Myself And I is from De La Soul’s 1989 album 3 Feet High And Rising. Their use of samples throughout this album is absolutely brilliant. Not sure which song is my favorite… Probably Eye Know, which uses Steely Dan’s Peg & Otis Redding’s (Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay. And you know I adore The Magic Number since I grew up on Schoolhouse Rock! 🙂 Here’s a list of the samples used for Me Myself And I (thank you, Wikipedia):
“(Not Just) Knee Deep” by Funkadelic
“Funky Worm” by Ohio Players
“Rapper Dapper Snapper” by Edwin Birdsong
“Gonna Make You Mine” by Loose Ends
De La Soul actually just released and the Anonymous Nobody…, their 9th album, last Friday. It features some great guest artists such as David Byrne & Damon Albarn. You should check it out but, if you don’t know anything from 3 Feet High And Rising, start with that! I’ve gone with the video for Me Myself And I today simply because it was the biggest hit but the entire album is fantastic.
Have a great weekend, everyone! 🙂
Today’s video is Weinerschnitzel by the Descendents. Which doesn’t actually have a video… That’s okay – I’m the only one who likes my Music Video Fridays anyway! 😉
Yesterday was Christian Slater’s birthday (I posted My Top Ten Christian Slater Movies HERE) so I wanted to post a song from my favorite Slater movie today. My number one was so close between Heathers & Pump Up The Volume and, while I think Heathers is his best film, there’s just something special about Pump Up The Volume which speaks to me & makes me choose it as my favorite.
I won’t go into my love for Pump Up The Volume since I’ve already reviewed it but one of the many things that makes it so great is the awesome soundtrack. The soundtrack includes artists such as Concrete Blonde, Ivan Neville, Liquid Jesus, Pixies, Brad Brains With Henry Rollins, Soundgarden, Sonic Youth & Cowboy Junkies. However, like so many official soundtracks, it doesn’t include my very favorites from the film! These are the Leonard Cohen songs Everybody Knows & If It Be Your Will (the soundtrack only contains a cover of one of these) & Richard Hell And The Voidoids’ Love Comes In Spurts (a song title that I adore). Then there are the great clips played by Slater’s pirate DJ: Dad, I’m In Jail by Was (Not Was) & the 13 second Weinerschnitzel by the Descendents.
Ah, the Descendents! I’ve gone through a lot of phases in my life when it comes to music. I’ll have a favorite band for a while but then I’ll completely forget about them & never listen to them again. The Descendents are this way for me. But for a good couple of years in my early twenties, I played the above “compilation album” to DEATH. I don’t know why I’ve abandoned most of the bands that I listened to through the Nineties but I really have the urge to dig this CD out right now. Any other Descendents fans here? No? Probably not. And I doubt this clip will convince you to check them out… 😉 Well, their most famous song was Suburban Home so HERE’S a link to that one. And here are the lyrics to Weinerschnitzel:
“Welcome to Der Weinerschnitzel, may I take your order please?
Yeah I want:
Two large cokes, Two large fries
Chili-cheese dog, large Doctor Pepper
Super deluxe, with cheese and tomato
You want bill sperm with that?
NO!”
WTF is bill sperm?? Well, here’s the clip if you have a spare 13 seconds!
Today’s video is Madonna’s Material Girl.
Madonna’s 58th birthday is next week so I posted a list of My Top Ten Madonna Songs yesterday & figured I better post a video today. Obviously, there are loads of Madonna videos to choose from. I’ve chosen Material Girl because I have a huge soft spot for it since my best friend & I used to act out music videos together & this was one of our favorites. Shut up – I was young when this was out! It’s okay to be a dork when you’re not yet a teenager. 😉
I’m sure I had no idea at the time that Madonna was acting out Marilyn Monroe doing Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend from the 1953 film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. I’ve still not seen that film but I really should since I loved this video so much. Keith Carradine plays Madonna’s admirer who pretends to be poor to impress her since she’s NOT actually a “Material Girl” and wants a simple romance instead of a guy who showers her with expensive gifts. Riiiiiight. Okay, I have to admit that I’d go for the poor, sweet guy as well. I’m not a Material Girl either!
I always thought that one guy in this video was trying to bite Madonna’s boob (the one she whacks with the fan). You think weird things as a kid… Anyway, here’s the video! I still love it & all its 80’s cheesiness. Have a great weekend, everyone! 🙂
Today’s video is Iron Maiden’s The Number Of The Beast.
Singer & pilot & all-around awesome Bruce Dickinson turns 58 on Sunday so I figured now was a good time to post a video from my FAVORITE BAND. Happy Birthday, Bruce! 🙂
I wasn’t sure which video to choose as Iron Maiden aren’t exactly a “video” band so most of their videos are concert footage. Yes, I already did a list of My Top Ten Iron Maiden Songs in the early days of my blog & most of my favorites just have concert videos. Run To The Hills sort of has a proper video but that’s the only song that everybody knows so I didn’t feel like posting that.
I’ve gone with The Number Of The Beast since it’s a favorite song of mine. The video is a performance with some clips of classic movie monsters such as Nosferatu & Godzilla. Plus, we see a lot of Bruce! And, of course, there’s a big Eddie. I love Eddie! I think that Iron Maiden’s great imagery is what made me listen to them in the first place. And I’m so glad that I did as they’ve remained my favorite band for over 20 years now. Oh man, I feel so old…
Here’s the fantastic The Number Of The Beast:
Today’s video is Ben E. King’s Stand By Me.
Today is Wil Wheaton’s 44th birthday. Happy Birthday, Wil Wheaton! I’ve had a thing for Wil ever since the movie Stand By Me, one of my most-loved & most-watched movies. Then I of course loved him again in Star Trek: The Next Generation. Naturally, I also adored River Phoenix… I’ll forever be sad about his death. And Ben E. King passed away just over a year ago. R.I.P. River Phoenix & Ben E. King. 😦
Here’s the 1986 video for Stand By Me, featuring the boys dancing along with King (and River being all cool with his guitar). Yeah, the video is a bit cheesy in that 80’s kind of way. But I love 80’s cheese and I love this song. Happy Friday, everyone! 🙂
Today’s video is Drop by The Pharcyde.
I hate Coldplay. Seriously. I’m sorry if you like Coldplay. We can still be friends! 😉 But, man, I can’t stand Coldplay.
Spike Jonze has directed loads of great music videos. I don’t think I’ve featured any yet but I could easily spend the rest of this year posting only Spike Jonze videos every Friday. Not sure what my favorite is… I do love Beastie Boys’ Sabotage, Daft Punk’s Da Funk, and Fatboy Slim’s Weapon Of Choice. And of course Weezer’s Buddy Holly & Björk’s It’s Oh So Quiet are classics. Drop doesn’t seem to get mentioned as often as his other videos but it’s fantastic and it did the backwards thing long before Chris Martin added his brand of boring to singing backwards in The Scientist.
The video for The Scientist was directed by Jamie Thraves, another great director responsible for videos such as Just by Radiohead (which I posted HERE). Yes, Thraves fully credits Jonze for the backwards idea. The video is good. It’s just, you know, Coldplay. To watch the video means that you have to hear Coldplay. No thank you. I’d far rather watch & listen to The Pharcyde’s Drop.
The Pharcyde had to hire a linguist & learn to sing the lyrics to Drop backwards. Jonze filmed them performing & singing backwards then reversed the footage for the video. I find the original “forwards” clip fascinating and love that it sounds totally satanic. “Paul is dead! Paul is dead!”
You can see the original clip as well as a short “making of” documentary here: musicismysanctuary.com. You can also see the official video at that link as well. (Actually, watch the video at that link instead of the below YouTube clip as I could only find a low quality version or a good quality one that cuts off the ending. But I’ll still include it anyway… Here you go!)
Today’s video is Joan Jett’s Bad Reputation. Why? Because I’m finally watching Freaks And Geeks & this song has been stuck in my head for weeks since it’s the show’s theme tune.
I love Freaks And Geeks! Not sure why I missed out on it at the time as it’s a very “me” show. Set in an early 80s high school with an awesome soundtrack! Think I just had a lot going on at the time & wasn’t really watching TV. Plus I can’t say I’ve totally loved everything from most of the show’s stars & creators since, so I was never in a rush to check it out. I was wrong! If you happen to not like Paul Feig, Judd Apatow, Seth Rogen, James Franco, etc… Don’t let that put you off! Freaks And Geeks is great. (It’s on Amazon Prime in the UK, FYI)
So, onto Joan Jett. I like Joan Jett but admit that I’ve never really explored her music much beyond I Love ‘N’ Roll. I actually became a little more interested in her after seeing The Runaways. I still cannot believe that I like a film starring Kristen Stewart & Dakota Fanning… But I do! I loved it. I really should buy that one. Hey, I seriously recommend both Freaks And Geeks AND The Runaways even if you don’t like the people involved!
I never actually saw the video for Bad Reputation until now. When looking it up, I noticed that it was directed by David Mallet. Mallet has directed loads of famous music videos (including two I’ve featured previously for Music Video Friday: David Bowie’s Ashes To Ashes & Billy Idol’s White Wedding). I like how this video features various record labels all rejecting Joan Jett. I’m not sure why Bad Reputation didn’t make it as big as I Love Rock ‘N’ Roll as I think Bad Reputation is the better song. Odd. It looks like Freaks And Geeks has helped the song, though, as it has been featured in loads of things since the show used it.
Here’s the video if, like me, you’d never seen it before now. Enjoy. And have a great weekend! 🙂
Today’s video is Carly Rae Jepsen’s I Really Like You, which is not my sort of thing AT ALL. Anyone who knows me probably thought they were on the wrong blog for a second there…
Oh well! Tomorrow is Tom Hanks’ 60th birthday & yesterday I did a list of My Top Ten Tom Hanks Movies so it made sense to post this video for Music Video Friday since he (bizarrely) stars in it. I guess it’s a catchy pop tune if you like that sort of thing. My kid likes this song. That’s okay, though, since she also loves David Bowie. 😉
Here you go! Tom Hanks in a music video! Unfortunately, Justin Bieber is in it as well. I sincerely apologize for that…
Today’s video is Konichiwa Bitches by Robyn.
I won’t pretend to know much about Swedish singer Robyn (real name Robin Miriam Carlsson) but I loved her 2005 self-titled album.
The best song (and my favorite) was Robyn & Kleerup’s amazing With Every Heartbeat. I’ll never get sick of that one! Well, I haven’t gotten sick of any songs from this album – they’re all still knocking around on my iPod. My next two favorites are Cobrastyle & Konichiwa Bitches but Handle Me, Dancing On My Own & Be Mine are also fantastic pop songs.
I’ve chosen Konichiwa Bitches because I’ve always liked its attitude (plus it’s an awesome title for a song). The lyrics are a bit filthy so it’s not 100% “Safe For Work” but it’s all tongue-in-cheek & not extremely blatant like a song by Peaches or something. I remember seeing Robyn on Never Mind The Buzzcocks years ago talking about her cage fighter boyfriend & wishing I was as cool as she seems to be. I don’t know how famous she is in Sweden but this album was so damn good she should’ve made it bigger in other countries. Not sure which lyrics are my favorite from this song but I do like this bit where I think she’s singing about her boobs:
“Don’t even get me started on my bada-boom-booms. One left, one right – that’s how I organize ’em. You know I fill my cups no need to supersize ’em”.
Ha! I love this crazy song. Have a listen (and definitely check out her other songs at my above links as well if you don’t know her stuff). 🙂
Today’s video is Once In A Lifetime by Talking Heads. Because it’s one of the all-time greatest songs.
Screw it! I’m not going to keep saving up my favorites. I won’t have this blog forever so I might as well post the best stuff sooner rather than later. If I were forced to choose only a handful of “Desert Island Discs” songs, this would easily make the list.
I’ve always loved this song but wouldn’t say I was a huge Talking Heads fan until a little later in life. What I really love is David Byrne’s awesome voice. He’s done loads of great guest vocals as well. Two favorites of mine are X-Press 2’s song Lazy and especially Toe Jam by The BPA (aka Fatboy Slim). THAT has SUCH a great video! I’ve badly wanted to feature that one of these Fridays but it’s one of those age-restricted YouTube videos. I’m not sure why – is there a dirtier version I don’t know about? I saw it plenty of times on TV. I know it features naked people but their naughty bits are strategically (and geniusly!) covered…
I’d like to know more about Byrne but never can force myself to read much about people, even though he seems like a massively interesting guy. I’ve had his book, How Music Works, sitting on a bookshelf for ages. I doubt I’ll ever read that but his Bicycle Diaries book does sound okay. Anyone ever read either of these?
Okay – enough babbling. I have stuff to do (which is why my posts have been even shorter & shittier than usual this week!). 😉 Here’s the video for this awesome song….
Today’s videos are Clint Eastwood & Dirty Harry by Gorillaz to end my Clint Eastwood Week here at Cinema Parrot Disco. I spent the week reviewing some Eastwood films that I’ve just watched for the first time this year. These films are:
Play Misty For Me
A Fistful Of Dollars
For A Few Dollars More
The Dead Pool
Plus I also previously reviewed Unforgiven, Escape From Alcatraz & The Good, The Bad And The Ugly. I think I’ve now seen far more Clint Eastwood movies than any girl really should. 😉 Oh, and I also did a list yesterday of My Top Ten Clint Eastwood Movies HERE.
So! I’m Eastwooded out for a while. Instead of forcing myself to finally watch Million Dollar Baby to review today, I’ve decided to just stick with my Music Video Friday series and post these Eastwood tribute songs by the Gorillaz. Because I love them! Fantastic songs from a band that should have been far bigger.
I’m not going to say a lot about Gorillaz as I already did that HERE in my review of the Tank Girl comic collection that I read since Tank Girl’s co-creator (Jamie Hewlett) also helped create Gorillaz along with Blur frontman Damon Albarn. I love the virtual band’s style and, more importantly, they have damn good songs. Of the two below, I’d have to say that I like the Dirty Harry song slightly more but the Clint Eastwood video is better. They’re easily my two favorite Gorillaz songs, though. Funny how they have that Clint Eastwood link. That’s why I just had to end my Clint Eastwood Week with these videos…. Enjoy! And have a lovely weekend. 🙂
This week’s video is Cult Of Personality by Living Colour from their debut album Vivid.
I’ve chosen this video because, well, I just always really liked this song & was in the mood to hear it today! I don’t have a lot to say about it – I only knew one other Living Colour single (Glamour Boys) but, hell, they were never going to top Cult Of Personality. Having one awesome hit is better than all of us who have none! 😉
But I did learn one interesting thing while reading about this song: I now know what a cult of personality is! Huh. You learn something new every day (even at my age). Here’s Wikipedia’s description of a “cult of personality”:
A cult of personality arises when an individual uses mass media, propaganda, or other methods to create an idealized, heroic, and at times worshipful image, often through unquestioning flattery and praise.
And I’m going to be lazy & also let Wikipedia tell you a little about the song, too:
Cult Of Personality prominently includes several audio samples of speeches from 20th-century political leaders.
The song begins with an edited quote from the beginning of “Message to the Grass Roots”, a speech by Malcolm X. As it appears in the song, the quote is:
“… And during the few moments that we have left, … We want to talk right down to earth in a language that everybody here can easily understand.”
During a rest in the music at 4:35, John F. Kennedy’s inaugural address is heard (“Ask not what your country can do for you …”). The song ends with Franklin D. Roosevelt saying “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself”, from his first inaugural address. The lyrics also mention Benito Mussolini, John F. Kennedy, Joseph Stalin, and Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi.
Well, there you go! Now let’s shut up & just listen to this song. Because it’s awesome. 🙂
Today’s video is Faith No More’s Last Cup Of Sorrow co-starring Jennifer Jason Leigh in a fun take on Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo.
I should’ve posted this video the week I posted My Top Ten Jennifer Jason Leigh Movies. Then I thought “Well, I’ll wait until I finally see The Hateful Eight then I can update that Top Ten & post this video”. Okay, I’ve still not seen The Hateful Eight but I just really felt like finally posting this video. So many awesome things combined! Faith No More, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Alfred Hitchcock! If only Totoro & David Bowie had somehow been in this video, too – then it would be the coolest thing EVER. 😉
I love Faith No More & always thought they were an underrated band at the time. Their songs still stick around on my iPod to this day whereas I’ve moved on from a lot of the other music I listened to in the late 80s/early 90s. I mean, who still has stuff like Candlebox on their iPod these days?! Ha – I seriously can’t now name one Candlebox song but I swear I have an entire Candlebox album knocking around somewhere in my house…
Last Cup Of Sorrow came along in 1997, much later than the album with their most well-known stuff (1989’s The Real Thing). I think everyone knows Epic but Midlife Crisis may be my favorite song.
Singer Mike Patton also had another band called Mr. Bungle. They made some pretty damn weird stuff. I liked the above album but can’t say I’ve heard it in years. I remember Squeeze Me Macaroni & I was kind of fond of the song Egg. My ex used to love both Faith No More & Mr. Bungle and was quite proud of the fact that he & his friend picked up some chicks once but managed to scare them off since he was playing Mr. Bungle. I can understand why but clearly I was weird enough to not be scared away. 😉 Patton also did the “creature vocals” for the movie I Am Legend since he can do such crazy shit with his voice. I love that bizarre fact.
Come to think of it, that ex had a collection of all of Faith No More’s videos. I should really buy that if it’s still available… It may be where I first saw this video – I don’t remember if it was a big enough hit to get much play on MTV? That’s a shame – I can’t think of any other Hitchcock-inspired music videos! A video like this would never get made now. I really miss the creativity there used to be in music. Where has that gone?!
Well, here’s Faith No More’s Vertigo-inspired video for Last Cup Of Sorrow, co-starring the lovely Jennifer Jason Leigh: 🙂
Okay – I just had to Google Candlebox to see if I remembered any of their songs. I think I vaguely remember Left Behind!
Today’s video is Peter Gabriel’s Sledgehammer.
This song is filthy! On My Top Ten Songs That Are Actually About Sex list that I posted yesterday, this song was my number one. I love Peter Gabriel, although this wasn’t a favorite Gabriel song of mine overall (I prefer Games Without Frontiers, Red Rain & In Your Eyes).
I don’t think I realized that this song was about sex when it first came out & Gabriel was asking you to “open up your fruitcage“. I was a little bit too young at the time but I probably realized it at least subconsciously later on. Here are the lyrics from azlyrics.com:
you could have a steam train
if you’d just lay down your tracks
you could have an aeroplane flying
if you bring your blue sky backall you do is call me
I’ll be anything you needyou could have a big dipper
going up and down, all around the bends
you could have a bumper car, bumping
this amusement never endsI want to be your sledgehammer
why don’t you call my name
oh let me be your sledgehammer
this will be my testimonyshow me round your fruitcage
‘cos I will be your honey bee
open up your fruitcage
where the fruit is as sweet as can beI want to be your sledgehammer
why don’t you call my name
you’d better call the sledgehammer
put your mind at rest
I’m going to be-the sledgehammer
this can be my testimony
I’m your sledgehammer
let there be no doubt about itsledge sledge sledgehammer
I’ve kicked the habit
shed my skin
this is the new stuff
I go dancing in, we go dancing inoh won’t you show for me
and I will show for you
show for me, I will show for you
yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I do mean you
only youyou’ve been coming through
going to build that power
build, build up that power, heyI’ve been feeding the rhythm
I’ve been feeding the rhythm
going to feel that power, build in you
come on, come on, help me do
yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, youI’ve been feeding the rhythm
I’ve been feeding the rhythm
it’s what we’re doing, doing
all day and night
Feed that rhythm, Peter!
The ENTIRE SONG!!! Every line is ABOUT SEX. Yet he never says anything blatantly dirty. I love it.
Anyway, I think everyone has seen this award-winning video. I also just read at Wikipedia that “As of 2011, Sledgehammer is the most played music video in the history of MTV.” Here’s a little more info from that link:
The song’s music video won a record nine MTV Awards at the 1987 MTV Video Music Awards and Best British Video at the 1987 Brit Awards.
“Sledgehammer” had a widely popular and influential music video commissioned by Tessa Watts at Virgin Records, directed by Stephen R. Johnson and produced by Adam Whittaker. Aardman Animations (of Wallace and Gromit fame) and the Brothers Quay provided claymation, pixilation, and stop motion animation that gave life to images in the song.
Interesting to know that Aardman Animations was involved. I also looked up the video’s director, Stephen R. Johnson, to see what else he’s done. Besides Sledgehammer, he also did the videos for Gabriel’s Big Time & Steam plus Walk Of Life by Dire Straits & Road To Nowhere by the Talking Heads (another huge favorite band of mine! I’ll feature them one of these Fridays. Love David Byrne). But, on top of these great videos, he also directed the first season of Pee-wee’s Playhouse!!! Well, that’s just awesome. That show rules, man. And I still think that even at my current age. 😉 I’m not ashamed!
Anyway, here’s the video for Sledgehammer which you’ve of course all seen. Luckily it’s not filthy like the lyrics (not that it would’ve mattered to MTV considering the pervy videos they’ve played over the years…). 🙂
Today’s video for Music Video Friday is You Might Think by The Cars.
Most every band has been MY FAVORITE for at least a little while. I change my mind a lot. I’m indecisive! Or am I? Anyway, I’ve always gone through phases with bands & The Cars were MY FAVORITE for about two months when I was seventeen. I haven’t really listened to them much since…
Although their later albums were the ones I should’ve liked more due to my age, I didn’t really go for those as much. Their first album, the self-titled The Cars from 1978, was & still is the best. Great songs on that one! Just What I Needed, Best Friend’s Girl, Good Times Roll, Moving In Stereo, You’re All I’ve Got Tonight… ! I kind of feel like digging out that CD. No, wait – I think I only have that on cassette. 😦
You Might Think is from the 1984 album Heartbeat City and I’m sure everyone knows of the video as it was nominated for loads of awards. Actually, it won the very first MTV Video Of The Year award – I just read this at Wikipedia:
“The music video is one of the first videos to use computer graphics. The video features band leader Ric Ocasek and model Susan Gallagher in a series of encounters. You Might Think won the first MTV Video Music Award for Video of the Year and was nominated for five more awards (best special effects, best art direction, viewer’s choice, best concept video, and most experimental video) at the 1984 MTV Video Music Awards.
Jeff Stein, and Alex Weil and Charlie Levi of VFX company Charlex, directed and produced the video. Danny Rosenberg and Bill Weber served both as editors and video engineers, Kevin Jones was the lighting director, Danny Ducovny the cinematographer and Bob Ryzner the art director. The video cost $80,000 to make which was almost triple the average music video budget of the time.”
Well, here’s the video just in case some of the younger bloggers here never saw this one. I also know that The Cars weren’t nearly as successful in the UK as in the US (most people in the UK will only know the song Drive as it was used in a montage of famine footage for Live Aid in 1985) so it’s possible that some of you in the UK still haven’t seen this video. Witness Ric Ocasek being the creepiest stalker EVER! And I just dig the girl’s excessive 80’s make-up. So much pink & purple! God I miss that decade…
Today’s video is Metallica’s The Unforgiven. The first one. The good one. Hell, I didn’t even know there was a third Unforgiven until I looked this video up on YouTube for this post.
I was a huge Metallica fan in my teen years but I have to admit that I started losing interest after the Load & Reload albums. I was out of high school by that point and moving on somewhat from my headbanging days but, quite frankly, those albums were also really shit compared to their previous ones. Well, I believe Garage, Inc. came out just after those? I did like that album a lot but that’s because I already loved the songs that were on the original Garage Days Re-Revisited (The Wait & The Small Hours rule). A few of the new covers on Garage, Inc. were okay too but, mostly, it was the older re-released covers that were the best. Man, I remember how excited I was in anticipation of Load & Reload being released, though! What a massive disappointment.
It was the same way with Guns N’ Roses, Use Your Illusion I & II. Remember those?! Ugh. Although, more decent singles actually came out of those than Metallica’s Load or Reload… Unbelievable! I far prefer Metallica. I was actually just getting over mono, which I was convinced would be the death of me (mono sucks), when those Guns N’ Roses albums came out & I dragged myself from my death bed to go buy those fuckers. Dammit. Those albums were SO not worth setting back my mono-recovery for a few more days.
But I digress. Massively. Because The Unforgiven is from Metallica’s last truly good (although very mainstream & not my actual favorite) album. Master Of Puppets is probably my favorite album, followed by Ride The Lightning. Sorry… Reminiscing again! I miss old school metal. Ah, but Metallica’s Black Album (or self-titled if you prefer) came along when I was the perfect age for it & it ended up being the one I’ve heard the most by far as my friends & I would drive around constantly listening to it. I remember a friend & I going to a local fair and headbanging to the album being played loudly on one of the rides. The carnies saw us and decided it would be fun to leave us on the ride for f*^king ages while I screamed at them to stop the damn ride because all the headbanging ended up making me sick. Those bastards. Ahh…. The teen years…. *sigh*
Okay – should I actually talk about the video for The Unforgiven? I suppose One is Metallica’s most famous video (I love that too – I’ll post it one of these Fridays) but I became quite obsessed with this one. Why? Because I was an idiot teenager with too much time on my hands & I loved to analyze lyrics & videos and to think I was all deep & shit. I thought The Unforgiven video was all deep & shit too. I could totally relate to my interpretation of this video and I was all “Metallica understand me & my teen angst, man!”. Or something. I dunno but I don’t have time for overanalyzing anything anymore. You lose interest in that in old age (and when you have kids). I’m too tired for that shit now!
But, watching this again now and clearly remembering every single second of it despite not seeing it in decades, I do still think it’s a fantastic video. I always saw it as being about lonliness & desperately trying to reach out & open up to someone but never being able to. How teen angst is that! But according to Wikipedia:
“The song deals with the theme of the struggle of the individual against the efforts of those who would subjugate him.”
Bullshit. I like my interpretation better. Maybe that’s the meaning of the lyrics but not so much the video. There was a longer 11 1/2 minute version of the video but I don’t think the extra bits added to the story (you can watch that HERE if you want). Then of course there was The Unforgiven II from Reload and I appreciate the similar theme to that video (HERE) but it doesn’t make much sense plus I was too old by that point to care to spend time analyzing it. Finally, there’s The Unforgiven III, which I can’t seem to find a video for other than one showing clips of the first two. Does anyone know if one exists?
Well, this was a nice little trip down memory lane but it’s time for me to go take out my dentures & listen to Adele. Ha! Just kidding. Adele sucks. Here’s The Unforgiven video. Finally.
Today’s video is Prince’s song I Feel For You as performed by Chaka Khan. It won him the 1985 Grammy Award for Best R&B Song.
I think we were all shocked by the death of Prince yesterday. I’m not going to turn this into a big tribute post as I don’t really do those (I did a very short post for David Bowie but it was a struggle as I’m such a big fan). I’ll just say that I don’t have loads of knowledge when it comes to all of Prince’s work but there’s no denying that the man had a massive amount of talent that we rarely see in new artists these days. This really is a sad year for celebrity deaths as we’ve lost some absolute legends. And what are we left with? There are so few true originals anymore. Look at David Bowie. And Freddie Mercury. And Prince. True superstars. What’s the equivalent these days?! I feel kind of sad for the current generation of kids who have to grow up with those who pass as “music stars” nowadays.
As for Prince’s music, I’m of course most fond of his early & mid-80’s stuff because of the age that I am. Soon after that, I turned into more of a rock & metal fan so I left things like Prince behind. I’m not going to pretend that he was ever a favorite artist of mine musically but I really liked several of his songs from that time period. I’m not sure what my favorite would be… If I’m honest, it’s probably either Delirious or Raspberry Beret but those might seem like odd choices to most people. Well, I think they’re great. 🙂 My next favorites would be Little Red Corvette, 1999, When Doves Cry, Purple Rain & Let’s Go Crazy. Yes, it looks like those are all between 1982 & 1985 so it’s obvious what era I liked but he’s one of those artists where everyone will have their own favorite time period of his work.
Prince of course also wrote a lot of great songs which became huge hits performed by other artists. One of the biggest was Sinéad O’Connor’s Nothing Compares 2 U and I really like Manic Monday by The Bangles (and get super annoyed anytime I hear it played on the radio on a day other than Monday. That should be against the law!). My favorite, though, is his song I Feel For You as performed by Chaka Khan. That’s more my type of thing! Chaka Khan is awesome & the video was great.
Here’s a bit about the song & video from Wikipedia:
“Khan’s version featured an all-star supporting cast, with rapping from Melle Mel, keyboard and guitar by The System’s David Frank, and chromatic harmonica playing by Stevie Wonder. The video featured Khan with a disc jockey and break dancers Shabba Doo, Boogaloo Shrimp, Bruno Falcon and Ana Sánchez—all of whom appeared in the movie Breakin’.”
Yes! Breakin’ rules. This era of music was the best. I miss this kind of thing…
Finally, I’ll end with a clip of Prince performing a version of his classic Purple Rain. His videos aren’t available on YouTube, which is why I haven’t shared any, but I think this clip is the perfect way to end this post.
R.I.P. Prince Rogers Nelson (June 7, 1958 – April 21, 2016)
This week’s video for Music Video Friday is Moby’s In This World.
Is it cool to like Moby? Was it ever cool to like Moby? I don’t know (or care). He has a lot of fantastic songs. I especially love Porcelain & South Side with Gwen Stefani and, of course, the absolutely brilliant God Moving Over The Face Of The Waters from the end of the movie Heat (I can’t imagine any movie blogger not loving that).
In This World is from Moby’s 2002 album 18. It’s a great song but even greater video. This video couldn’t be more “me”. I must have had the biggest smile on my face the first time I saw these adorable little aliens just trying to be noticed on this crazy planet called Earth. I wanted to shout “Hi!” and give them all a big hug.
I suppose this video has a great message about how our lives are so hectic that we so easily miss all the special, little things in life (wasn’t that also the message in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off?!). Well, message or not, I just love these little alien dudes. If I ever get around to doing a list of My Top Ten Music Videos, I can’t imagine this not being in the list. 🙂
Cinema Parrot Disco 