Tagged: videodrome

Even though Cocksucker Blues, Robert Frank's legendary film of the Rolling Stones circa 1972, is routinely referred to as a "documentary," that's not quite accurate. Frank himself tips his hand right in the opening moments: "Except for the musical numbers the events depicted in this are fictitious. No representation of actual persons and events is [...]

Taken from the excellent Earl Scruggs: The Bluegrass Legend: Family and Friends -- the 1972 flick that captures Scruggs and his two sons playing with the Byrds and Dylan, then taking a pilgrimage to Joan Baez's Laurel Canyon home. Get your mind off the wintertime. words/ m garner

In December of 1978, Tom Waits recorded an episode of Austin City Limits. The now-mainstay music program was in its relative infancy - only its fourth season - and had built a solid fanbase of Americana music fans. As the ACL website notes: "...the show came in through the back door, so to speak. Terry [...]

(Videodrome is a recurring feature in which we highlight exceptional videos and/or performances.) Stop Making Sense may have the Big Suit, but if you're looking for the pinnacle of live Talking Heads footage, I'd point you in the direction of this unbelievable show from Rome, 1980. Completing the Heads' journey from minimalist to maximalist, it [...]

The grey curtain is starting to fall over the Upper Midwest, and in an effort to stave off winter's cruel vibes, I've been spinning Desmond Dekker's Super Best hits package. Here he is crossing through "Israelites" nine years after that song brought reggae and ska from the island to the isle, much to the mods' [...]

In an effort to get away from the cycle of recording and touring, the Rolling Stones put together the Rock and Roll Circus in the winter of 1968, inviting along Taj Mahal, Jethro Tull (featuring Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi), Marianne Faithful, and a one-off supergroup called the Dirty Mac that was comprised of John Lennon, [...]

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In his recent memoir, Waging Heavy Peace, Neil Young comes across this ancient Scopitone on YouTube. "I looked at it maybe twenty times in a row," he writes. Why such interest in this fuzzy piece of video from the mid-60s? Because it's a rare vision of Danny and the Memories, featuring Danny Whitten, Ralph Molina [...]

When I was a kid, this is what I assumed punk-rock shows looked like: dudes in leather jackets, tough-looking ladies with homemade haircuts. Check out the dude sitting up by the speaker cabs, dancing like his ear’s attached to one of the cones. Other people stand around, passersbys look bemused or confused. Someone hands out [...]

Try to think of someone cooler than Bob Wills. You cain’t. That’s not him singing-that’s him shouting over the verses like a real jazz cat and dancing with his fiddle like it’s a sack of money. Then he tosses in a solo just because he wants you to know that he can. Charlie Daniels’ Johnny beat [...]

Early on in this clip from The Old Grey Whistle Test, Kevin Coyne admits that he “knicked” his version of “I Want My Crown” off the song’s originator, Big Joe Williams.  Coyne’s interpretation is more spritely, melodic, and memorable than the bluesman’s—it’s the work of an art-school lifer caught in a moment of mainstream success. [...]

Dan “Bee” Spears was all of nineteen years old when he joined Willie Nelson’s Family Band as a bassist, a post he would hold until his death in December 2011. Marshall Grant’s tubthumping time in the Tennessee Two notwithstanding, country music bassists tend not to draw attention to themselves. Given Willie Nelson’s fast and loose [...]

Frank Ocean - Pyramids An official video's emerged this weekend for one of the many standouts on Frank Ocean 's Channel Orange - the exquisitely overblown nine minute centrepiece 'Pyramids'. Don't expect to hear the track in full in the clip below - it's a cinematic and suitably over-the-top take on the song that focuses on the track's spaced out, slow-jammed second half. We get shots of Frank on a motorcycle and looking a little hysterical in a strip club, as well as a guest appearance from Channel Orange guest John [...]

When was the last time we did a video post? One year, one month and approximately one week ago. Been waaaay too long if you ask me. In order to remedy this situation, here are two fantastic videos that have slid into my periphery over the last few weeks. WhoMadeWho are a band that is not only maturing release by release into something quite magnificent, but also a band that consistently crafts music videos with wonderfully high production values and zany/insightful narratives (see " Inside [...]

• Seekae - 3
• WhoMadeWho - The Sun

Here’s a favorite piece of choice vintage footage: legendary Ethiopian singer Alemayehu Eshete decked out in his trademark butterfly collars, sporting a sly grin and sultry shoulder shimmy, gesticulating along with the lyrics. Ticking octaves are picked out on blippy guitars, and the majestic melody comes via a pair of saxophones–a classic Ethiopian arrangement. The [...]

Here’s a favorite piece of choice vintage footage: legendary Ethiopian singer Alemayehu Eshete is decked out in his trademark butterfly collars, sporting a sly grin and sultry shoulder shimmy, gesticulating along with the lyrics. Ticking octaves are picked out on blippy guitars, and the majestic melody comes via a pair of saxophones—a classic Ethiopian arrangement. [...]

We were expecting much more of a spectacle for this song's video treatment. We imagined them to bring back the voguers and the strutters - like a Paris Ball 3000. But instead we settle for a one shot video where an adorable  Babydaddy accidentaly drops a drumstick and continues non-chalantly. Here;s for hoping that there's another video for this magnificent song. Related articles Madonna, Lady Gaga Biggest 'Gay' Stars, Scissor Sisters' Babydaddy Says (ontopmag.com) WATCH: Videodrome Discothèque Werks The [...]

Doubt this is will be available long, but you can now view everyone's favorite 'revenge flick' and Grindhouse cinema classic, Rolling Thunder, in its entirety via YouTube. "Let's clean 'em up!"

Javeon McCarthy by Elle Sheriff Bristol's Javeon McCarthy recently released a new single - 'Precious' - a track that combined the still-very-much-in-vogue elements of '90s R&B with an attention to dance textures on the production that places him firmly in the lineage of his current hometown. On a new remix of the track, Chicago producer Brenmar drags McCarthy into the club, daubing lurid shades of 2-step and rave across the original - it sounds a bit like what Usher's new album probably sounds like in Usher's head, and it's very good. Have [...]

First families of American music? While a number come immediately to mind, none more so than the Carter Family and Staples Singers. Truly lasting pillars did they build. I spent part of Sunday night in an ocean of Staples related videos and performances, but it's this one, the group doing "Wade In The Water" live [...]