Wayback Whensday: Nostalgic Music Videos!

Its been a while since I've done one of these, so to make up for some lost time I'm going to post not one, but three music videos I've been nostalgic for lately. Time to get the popcorn ready.


Genesis - "Land of Confusion" (1986?)



Released during the middle of Ronald Regan's second term, this video is a mishmash of social and political commentary, and not necessarily a bad one considering this is 1980s Genesis. I was a bit young when this video was first aired, so some of the references escapes me even now. However, one thing that is pretty clear is that the band is having a good time poking fun at the aging President's senility (it's okay to laugh, Regan was still alive then). Of course, the reason this video stuck out to me even as a child is because of the twisted looking puppets. Seriously. I mean, Phil Collins was already a mess to look at normally, but his puppet manifestation is like watching Pan's Labyrinth on some really bad acid. I'm pretty sure this video gave me nightmares as a kid, thankfully I don't have to sleep alone tonight.

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Blur - "Coffee & TV"



You know you're watching a good music video when the song itself becomes secondary to what's happening on the screen. I'm not sure if I can think of a better example of this than the video for "Coffee & TV." One of the rare Blur videos in which Damon Albarn isn't the focus, the story instead revolves around an animated milk carton, dubbed by fanatics as Milky, as he searches far and wide for the missing Graham Coxon (which in hindsight is an eerie foreshadow to his eventual departure from Blur). Both hilarious and heartwarming, director Nick Goldsmith (one half of the directing/production duo Hammer & Tongs) solidified himself as a creative visionary, thus paving the way to other high profile music video gigs (R.E.M., Beck, and most recently, Vampire Weekend), not to mention feature films (The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, the upcoming Son of Rambow). I like this video so much I plan on dressing up as Milky for Halloween someday.

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Nirvana - "In Bloom"


"In Bloom" was never one of Nirvana's most popular songs or videos, but it was always a hit with me. In fact, it was probably the first track on Nevermind that I was able to get into on my own terms, whereas "Smells Like Teen Spirit" I pretty much acquiesced myself into liking after hearing repeatedly on MTV and the local radio. The video is notable for its early use editing a current performance in with older footage, in this case an old spoofing the Ed Sullivan show and the classic episodes in which the Beatles performed. If this seems a bit familiar, its probably because this very same concept would be used to an even greater effect a few years later, with the Spike Jonze directed clip for Weezer's "Buddy Holly." Compare, contrast, watch, listen, and enjoy.