What in God’s name does this have in the slightest to do with rock as we’ve ever known it? This shit goes from Broadway to easy listening to him hollering over goddamn piano trills. Bruce Springsteen isn’t just Billy Joel with a cute butt, but apparently he can damn well be Billy Joel with a cute butt sometimes.
Bobby Sherman, “Little Woman” (The Very Best Of Bobby Sherman, 1991)
“A singer so blithely robotic and contrived he made Shaun Cassidy seem like Robert Johnson…showbiz fluff that doesn’t even hold up as kitsch.” Paul Evans, Rolling Stone Album Guide (1992)
Seems funny to reblog myself, but I wanted to bring this clip to the attention of folks who don’t normally follow shitty YouTubes of shitty bands. All I knew about Sherman before watching this clip is that Marge Simpson had a crush on him in high school - turns out he’s like a heterosexual Clay Aiken, only more smug. According to the song, you’re can’t help but chase rainbows in your mind, little woman, so you need to enter his world and leave your world behind. Btw, is there a picture of him hanging in your mind? Because that’s how it is in his world. This shit takes the cake - pretty sure the dude licks his finger and makes a sizzle sign after the first chorus. ALRIGHT NOW!
Everlast, “I’ve Got The Knack” (live)
This pre-House Of Pain flop (back in 1990 when Everlast was a member of Ice-T’s Rhyme Syndicate) samples the guitar hook of “My Sharona.” This means that, while the rest of the song consists of bragging, the refrain merely states a fact. Whether or not he’s really “number one,” there is no denying that Everlast, literally, on his turntable, has “got The Knack” for the length of the track.
(Also of note are the remarkably prescient interview clips bracketing the performance. First, he notes that there’s no guarantee one will get famous after their “first little record.” Afterward, he says he’d rather be thought of as a musician than a rapper. All that’s missing is an intimation that the DJ sharing his Beverly Hills, 90210 haircut will someday play an integral part in the merger of rap and metal.)
New Order’s “Touched By The Hand Of God” video, which has the band prancing around in hair-metal wigs and outfits (Barney twirls mic stand, Gillian rocks keytar) while Bill Paxton runs down the middle of the street for some reason. Directed by Kathryn Bigelow a year after the Martini Ranch stuff and two years after the release of Near Dark.
These people.
Martini Ranch’s video for “How Can The Labouring Man Find Time For Self-Culture?” Mark Mothersbaugh was involved, so it isn’t really a Devo rip-off, per se.
It should be remembered that “Wild” Bill Paxton directed the video for “Fish Heads” thirty years ago. Dude needs to let this side out again.
Okay, I just need to break this one down in point form:
- James Cameron-directed music video from the ’80s
- Song is by Bill Paxton’s band
- Band is named MARTINI RANCH
- Video features cowboys and CD-ROM technology
- Appearances by Lance Henriksen and Paul Reiser
- Most importantly, and weirdly, Kathryn Bigelow appears as sexy cowgirl
I feel like this video is a pretty good representation of what James Cameron’s life must have looked like in the ’80s. Mind is blown. Thanks, Movieline.
I was considering doing a bunch of Martini Ranch related posts earlier this week. Must be something in the air.
P.S. the whistling on this track is credited to Judge Reinhold.
![katespencer:
5 Reasons To Hate Taylor Swift
[Please don’t be mad, Tay-hards, but the backlash has begun. Genius GIF by Lauren.]
The worst I can accuse her of musically is banality, but I’ve basically been ready to join a backlash since her extremely overrated SNL performance. I know someone’s getting on my nerves when I’m calling her “that shiksa goddess” and it’s my fiancee—who loves Swift—that’s Jewish.](http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kx8dli0ZwZ1qz7qexo1_500.gif)
5 Reasons To Hate Taylor Swift
[Please don’t be mad, Tay-hards, but the backlash has begun. Genius GIF by Lauren.]
The worst I can accuse her of musically is banality, but I’ve basically been ready to join a backlash since her extremely overrated SNL performance. I know someone’s getting on my nerves when I’m calling her “that shiksa goddess” and it’s my fiancee—who loves Swift—that’s Jewish.
Jeremy Renner was so good (and relatively ignored - he did get an Independent Spirit Award nomination) in Dahmer a couple years ago that I’d be happy for him getting an Oscar nomination even if The Hurt Locker wasn’t my favorite film of 2009. His expression when he finds out is pretty priceless. Anthony Mackie’s a real champ about it, too.
