Normally on Music Video Monday, we feature a music video by a Memphis artist. But today, the moon will blot out the sun, and we figure you’re going to need a soundtrack. So in this very special episode of Music Video Monday, we’ve got you covered.
Don’t let this be you. Wear your eclipse glasses.
The most obvious eclipse music comes with one of the most notorious videos ever created. “Total Eclipse Of The Heart” started life as part of a musical about vampires written by producer and Meat Loaf confidant Jim Steinman. He cut the song with Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler, and released it at the height of the MTV craze in the spring of 1983. The music video is one of the most bizarre made during the 1980s, and that’s saying a lot. It was the brainchild of Russell Mulcahy, who, directed both the first music video on MTV, The Buggles “Video Killed The Radio Star”, and one of the most notoriously awful films in history, Highlander II: The Quickening. Somehow, the video, which, in the YouTube era has inspired dozens of parodies. propelled the song to number one in five countries. Behold the glory that is “Total Eclipse of the Heart”!
Music Video Monday: Eclipse Special
Bonnie Tyler is not the only artist from the New Wave era to extoll the astronomical wonders of eclipses. Klaus Nomi was a classically trained singer who moved to New York City in the early 1970s and fell into the club scene, where he became famous for his psychedelic vaudeville act. He was a cult hit during the dawn of the punk era, and his visual aesthetic was influential on New Wave artists. In 1981, he appeared in the seminal concert documentary Urgh! A Music War, performing a song called “Total Eclipse”. You just have to see it to believe it.
Music Video Monday: Eclipse Special (2)
Today, in the shadow of totality, Bonnie Tyler will perform “Total Eclipse of the Heart”, but she’s not the first act to do that. In 2009, the infamous Japanese noise band The Boredoms performed on a cruise ship in the middle of the Pacific ocean, soundtracking a total eclipse. The band, who had a solar inspired album in 1999 with Vision Creation Newsun, performed a variation on their “77BOADRUM” composition, which includes a whopping 77 drummers.
Music Video Monday: Eclipse Special (3)
Have astronomical fun this afternoon! Music Video Monday will return with our regularly scheduled celebration of Memphis music videos next week. If you would like to see your music video featured on Music Video Monday, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com.
