“Summertime,” DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince (1991; directed by Jim Swaffield)
“While you are looking, you might as well also listen, linger and think about what you see.” (Jane Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities) September 25: It’s Will Smith’s 56th birthday today. In a book where I’ve sometimes overextended myself trying to connect the videos I’m writing about to the news of…
“I Am Trying to Break Your Heart,” Wilco (2002; directed by Toren Hardee) / “Inspector Norse,” Todd Terje (2010; directed by Kristoffer Borgli)
Way back at the beginning of this blog, writing about the Bangles’ “Going Down to Liverpool,” I mentioned how a poll I had conducted on a message board was what initially got this whole project underway. Looking up my own list of videos for that poll, I see that these two were high: I had…
“Tomorrow,” Morrissey (1992; directed by Zack Snyder) / “He Would Have Laughed,” Deerhunter (2010; uploaded by Lazarus Taxon)
A difficult subject for me to write about: friendship. At the age of 62, it’s not supposed to be that way. You’re supposed to be happily retired, just entering your years as a doting grandparent, focussed on family and travel, and living out your days (to quote R.E.M., which is quite possibly the sorriest thing…
“Only Love Can Break Your Heart,” Psychic TV (1989; uploaded by Virgil Pink) / “Out of Time,” Blur (2003; directed by John Hardwick) / “Down on My Luck,” Vic Mensa (2014; directed by Ben Dickinson & Dimetri Hogan)
I don’t have a hook for this post, no way to link these three videos to the news of the day, some connection either serendipitous or entirely of my own invention.* I’ve been doing that with almost every post since I started, but, if I haven’t made this clear already, I’ll eventually be taking everything…
“I’ll Be Around,” Yo La Tengo (2013; directed by Phil Morrison) / “Halloween,” Wussy (2014; directed by Lincoln Messerly)
Richard and Linda Thompson have new albums out. Not sure if the timing (they were released three weeks apart) is entirely coincidental–having them come out so close together is a good story, which presumably makes it a little easier to generate media attention. Not that they necessarily need any help in that department, or if…
“Paper Bag,” Fiona Apple (1999; directed by Paul Thomas Anderson) / “1234,” Feist (2007; directed by Bibo Bergeron & Patrick Daughters)
After the grunge, a little glamour. Ain’t nothing but a ‘g’ thing. When I take everything here and put it all between covers in a few months, the requisite author photo will give you a good idea of my expertise on the subject of glamour. Which, in brief, amounts to 1) seeing a lot of…
“Teen Age Riot,” Sonic Youth (1988; directed by Sonic Youth) / “Molly’s Lips,” the Vaselines (1991; uploaded by Wonder Muddle) / “Violet,” Hole (1994; directed by Mark Seliger & Fred Woodward)
Another day, another widely-discussed* list–that’s partly what this entry is about, but mostly it’s Kurt Cobain who links these videos together. I missed the 30th anniversary of his death early in April, though–I was in the middle of the Arrested Development/Outkast entry–so I’ll start with that list: Apple Music’s Top 100 Albums. First question: didn’t…
“Cruel Summer,” Bananarama (1983; directed by Brian Simmons) / “They Don’t Know,” Tracey Ullman (1983; directed by Dave Robinson) / “Cloudbusting,” Kate Bush (1985; directed by Julian Doyle)
I don’t really have anything that links these three videos beyond the obvious–female artists, British, mid-‘80s–but I do have a starting point: Taylor Swift. If you write about the solar system, you’re going to have to bring up the sun at some point. As I sit down to write this morning, Swift occupies spots #1…
“Peaches,” the Presidents of the United States of America (1995; directed by Roman Coppola) / “Walking Contradiction,” Green Day (1995; directed by Roman Coppola)
If I had started writing about Arrested Development and Outkast (see previous entry) three days ago instead of last month, I suspect I would have used “People Everyday”’s proximity to the O.J. Simpson case as a flimsy pretense to work in Simpson’s death on April 10. Rodney King, Sistah Soulja, Anita Hill, Mark Fuhrman–“People Everyday”…
“People Everyday,” Arrested Development (1992; directed by Speech) / “Hey Ya!” (Charlie Brown Style) Outkast (2003; created by Ryan King & Dan Hess/Bill Melendez)
I don’t think this pairing would exactly mystify anyone, but I put them together for a reason other than what you might think. I’ve been reading The Freaks Came Out to Write, Tricia Romano’s oral history of the Village Voice, a publication where I got a few reviews published during the window that Chuck Eddy…
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