Where did my brain damage come from? Ah now I remember. It was during the very late 1970s and early 1980s. You see before MTV, folks were making all kinds of weird music videos and short films. These shows were just nuts. Some were good, some were bad, but there was little or no corporate influence at all. Artists could do whatever they wanted. Remember Devo? They’re a good example. This creative free-for-all continued for a short time when MTV first started up, they pretty much played any old weirdo thing (except videos by most nonwhites) because nobody cared, nobody looking for huge profits that is. I would guess that this golden age of music videos was from about 1979 to 1982 at the most.
Childhood friends ridiculed me during the first half of the eighties because I called music videos “clips” after the show Pop Clips, the forerunner to MTV. They played a lot of weird stuff too; just watch a Kim Carnes’ video, or better yet David Bowie’s Fashion. Talk about warping a young mind! The strange thing was how normal we thought it all was, and now, thanks to youtube, we can rediscover this strange tiny era before the goons had descended.
Well, there was quite a bit of wacko stuff. But the one that really takes the cake is Fish Heads. This short film was first broadcast on Saturday Night Live but was quickly picked up by MTV. The song was made by Barnes & Barnes and the project was directed by Bill Paxton. At the time, we thought it was an odd, funny little short. Watching it now, I realize this is one of the most subversive, mind crushingly, dangerous videos ever… and I viewed it as a child. Enjoy! …Oh, Also, you won’t be able to get the tune out of your head. Ahh ha ha ha
-Swinebread
8 comments:
"Fish Heads, Fish Heads, Eat them up, YUM!"
That was one of my favorites, I especially like how he sneaks it into the movie theater....
...."Drinking cappaccino with oriental women!"
My kind of video.
It reminds me of a short film in the 70's. A guy walking along a beach finds a sandwich wrapped in wax paper. It looks really good, so he takes a big bite. Then a big hook rips out of his cheek and he is dragged, kicking and screaming into the ocean.
I remember seeing "Fish Heads" on Saturday Night Live and getting a kick out of it.
I also liked the various parody versons people came up with in my high school days (but I shan't quote them here...).
DEVO!!!!!!!!
LB You hit all my favorite spots
panda That sounds really familiar, let me know if you can think of a title…
moody I might have seen it on SNL too, but I can’t quite remember. It’s very infectious isn’t it? DEVO forever… until forever is too long.
I remember Pop Clips and I also liked USA Networks Night Flight. MTV was good, but they lost their zeitgeist after a few years.
USA Night Flight had some wonderful bizarre stuff, I miss that . . . not that I could stay awake any longer. Anyhow, I remember they had a whole special on The Residents one night.
I have a VHS collection of Barnes and Barnes videos and, yeah, "Fish Heads" is just one of the many.
Of course it is on YouTube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-TfOcu9S2Q
snab Yeah I didn't mention Night Flight did I... it was jus this short little period wasn't it.
john Wow, sounds like you got the good stuff alright. I never saw a lot of Night Flights but I sure liked what I did see. thanks for the link
Oh I forgot, one of the main networks had friday night videos too right?
Damn. I missed my sanity roll.
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