If you’re anything like us, you’ve been waiting impatiently for this day: “The Hunger Games” has finally arrived in theaters! (We’ve seen it, and it’s awesome.) In honor of the film, we are doing a double shot that only tangentially relates to the movie itself. But a tangent is all we need. First up, Duran Duran.
This is the one that started it all for them. Gorgeous, luscious clip, with an interracial kiss, horrors! (Seriously, that was kind of a big deal at the time. Isn’t that silly?) Duran Duran lost their way a few times over the years, but their 2011 album All You Need Is Now is damn good, as in ‘their best since Rio‘ good.
As for the second clip, well, this one’s for a certain Bullz-Eye spouse. Al right, it’s my wife.
Julie Brown wouldn’t last five seconds against Katniss Everdeen – at least while Katniss has a bow and arrow on her – but we love her anyway, because she has large breasts. Hey, just being honest. By the way, if you think you’re too manly to watch this clip, you should know that it ends with Brown and a cute blonde wrestling in a kiddie pool filled with whipped cream. Score!
They’re one of the last bands, if not the last band, on this writer’s ‘must see before you die’ list. And they’re playing Coachella, along with Pulp, Squeeze and the Kaiser Chiefs. We’ve seen the other three, but Madness has become the (*whispers*) Great White Buffalo of live shows. If only we lived in southern California. Sigh.
The real reason we’re posting this song, of course, is because the NCAA tournament started yesterday, and whenever we hear March Madness, we think of Madness, plain and simple. And speaking of the NCAA tournament, the Bullz-Eye staff would like to say “Go Bobcats,” as several writers and editors are Ohio University graduates. Doug Gottlieb seems to think that OU can take down Michigan. Man, wouldn’t that be sweet.
This was the #1 album in country when the terrorist attacks on 9/11 took place. Funny what a difference a decade makes.
It wasn’t one of those fly-by-night #1 records, either; this puppy sold three million copies. That will probably never happen again, certainly not in the current climate of popbots, and fake, well, everything.
Here’s the one question that we can’t shake while watching this clip, though: why were so many kids so angry back then? Remember, this was shot before 9/11 happened, so that’s not to blame. Thanks to the internet, the country had just experienced financial boom like no other. What the hell did they really have to be upset about? Is it like the Ben Folds song “Rockin’ the Suburbs,” where someone cut them off in line at McDonald’s? “You better watch out, because I’m gonna say ‘fuck’!”
All questions and kidding aside, this song, which was originally called “Suicide” and was included on Clear Channel’s post-9/11 list of banned songs, kicks some serious tail. Hey, nearly 90 million YouTube plays can’t be wrong…unless you’re talking about Rebecca Black. Then it’s wrong.
Here’s our Single of the Year, for the moment. It is also one of the most difficult videos to watch, ever.
Not unwatchable in the normal sense of the word, mind you – just extremely challenging on the eyes. See, the director had this crazy idea to keep running the camera on repeated bullet cam-type zooms towards the members of synth rock trio Bear in Heaven, kind of like a hyperkinetic blend of the videos for Beck’s “Devils Haircut,” which employed the off-center zoom, and Simple Minds’ “All the Things She Said,” where the band members repeated a certain movement while staying in sync with the audio, which must have involved dozens upon dozens of lip sync jobs put together. The key to watching this clip, we learned, is to keep blinking. Stop blinking while watching this clip, and you’re probably going to fall out of your chair. Those susceptible to siezures, just press play and close your eyes. It’s for your own good.
Why post such a polarizing and potentially life-threatening video, you ask? Because the song is AWESOME. The drums tell you something’s different from the very beginning, as the snare drops on the 1 and 3 beats rather than the standard 2 and 4. The keyboard tracks, meanwhile, should serve as an instructional manual on what keys should sound like (M83 and your yip dog synths, we’re looking in your direction). Gorgeous stuff. We can’t wait to hear the rest of the record. Happy Friday, everyone.
If you’re wondering what Depeche Mode has to do with the Academy Awards, the answer is: they don’t. Ah, but silence, that is another matter.
If you haven’t filled out your Oscar pools yet, take this to the bank: “The Artist” is going to win Best Picture. Not because it’s particularly the best film of the year – truth be told, the movies of 2011 are as weak a batch as we’ve seen in ages – but because it has a lot of things working in its favor, namely two captivating performances by the two leads Jean Dujardin (he’s this writer’s pick for Best Actor) and the lovely Berenice Bejo, but that’s not all. It has the advantage of being the one movie that is truly like no other nominee in any category – seriously, a black and white silent film in 2011, that takes balls of steel to make – and most importantly, it’s being distributed by the Weinstein Company, and if anyone can turn a film like this into an Oscar winner, it’s Harvey Scissorhands.
There is a great story surrounding the arrangement for “Enjoy the Silence,” which serves as the best argument anyone will ever need for why Alan Wilder was the most significant contributor to Depeche Mode’s success. (We even told him as much when we interviewed him in 2010.) As they were recording the tracks for their then-new album Violator – in a studio housed in rural Denmark – principal songwriter Martin Gore had turned in a tender ballad called “Enjoy the Silence” But they couldn’t get it off the ground; each time they tackled the track, it didn’t work. Finally, Wilder and producer Flood told the rest of the band to get out, hit the town and have some fun. We’ll figure this out. When the rest of the band came back, Wilder and Flood had taken Gore’s demo – which consisted of a vocal and a harmonium – and transformed it into a dance track. Immediately, the band realized that this was going to be massive. Flood got Gore to play that signature guitar line, and the rest was history, as “Enjoy the Silence” became the band’s biggest hit to date, hitting the Top 10 in eight countries.
For those who are curious to hear what Gore’s original version sounded like, check this out. Pretty, but holy cow, Gore should give Wilder a co-writing credit for his contributions.
