Our good friend Sal Nunziato, propriertor of the invaluable Burning Wood blog put a link to the audio of that up of as one of his Songs of the Week yesterday, and I must confess I still haven't quite recovered. I hadn't thought about that clip in what feels like half a lifetime (hey wait -- it actually is!) but watching it again after all those years I was just as blown away as I was when it was all but ubiquitous on MTV. I mean, the song is terrific, but the video is in a whole other dimension; I don't know who choreographed it, but it's like the greatest Temptations or Four Tops performance they never gave -- I can't watch the damn thing without simultaneously a) getting goose bumps and b) nearly jumping out of my seat and attempting to dance (pretty dangerous at my age, obviously).
In any case, one of the most unjustly overlooked/underrated artifacts of its era and if you were wondering, yes,, the tall skinny backup singer to the right of the other two is the fabulous actor and comedian Robert Townsend (and where has he been lately?).
Thanks, Sal!!!
7 comments:
Streets of Fire was my guilty pleasure movie of that year. Schlocky, yes, but in a good way, not sad. Helped that I got to see it in 70mm in a perfectly presented old theatre. Just a good looking film. Not sure how I would feel watching it on a television.
just a fantastic song...
This is one of my favorite unintentionally goofy movies of all time. Plus, the soundtrack features TWO gems by the Blasters.
Had to hit the Wayback machine as Hartmans name seemed familiar.
Caught him with the Edgar Winter band, White Trash, Greenville SC, 1973. Wasn't aware he wrote "Free Ride"
I commented on this song at Sal's saying Dan Hartman was a TALENT. Check out his Led Zep impersonation "Queen of My Dreams" from Edgar Winter's Shock Treatment LP. That whole LP (except for "Animal" where Edgar toys around with his new synth) is full of great tunes.
Bob in IL
That's a pretty magical piece of music. The group has some good moves.
Captain Al
And, of course, there's the bass suit.
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