Skip to main content
GRAMMYs Breaking News
Breaking News
  • 62nd GRAMMY Awards Online Voting The Final Round of Online Voting is now open! Eligible members click here to log in and vote.
  • Recording Academy
  • GRAMMYs
  • Membership
  • Advocacy
  • MusiCares
  • GRAMMY Museum
  • Latin GRAMMYs
GRAMMYs
  • Advocacy
  • Home
  • GRAMMYs
  • GRAMMY Museum
  • Latin GRAMMYs
  • Membership
  • MusiCares
  • Login
  • Events
  • Governance
  • Press Room
  • More
    • Advocacy
    • Home
    • GRAMMYs
    • GRAMMY Museum
    • Latin GRAMMYs
    • Membership
    • MusiCares
    • Login
    • Events
    • Governance
    • Press Room

The GRAMMYs

  • Awards
  • News
  • Videos
  • Recording Academy
  • More
    • Awards
    • News
    • Videos
    • Recording Academy

Latin GRAMMYs

MusiCares

  • About
  • Get Help
  • Give
  • News
  • Videos
  • Events
  • Person of the Year
  • More
    • About
    • Get Help
    • Give
    • News
    • Videos
    • Events
    • Person of the Year

Advocacy

  • About
  • News
  • Issues & Policy
  • Act
  • Recording Academy
  • More
    • About
    • News
    • Issues & Policy
    • Act
    • Recording Academy

Membership

  • Join
  • Events
  • PRODUCERS & ENGINEERS WING
  • GRAMMY U
  • GOVERNANCE
  • More
    • Join
    • Events
    • PRODUCERS & ENGINEERS WING
    • GRAMMY U
    • GOVERNANCE
Log In Join
  • SUBSCRIBE

  • Search
Modal Open
Subscribe Now

Subscribe to Newsletters

Be the first to find out about GRAMMY nominees, winners, important news, and events. Privacy Policy
GRAMMY Museum
Membership

Join us on Social

  • Recording Academy
    • The Recording Academy: Facebook
    • The Recording Academy: Twitter
    • The Recording Academy: Instagram
    • The Recording Academy: YouTube
  • GRAMMYs
    • GRAMMYs: Facebook
    • GRAMMYs: Twitter
    • GRAMMYs: Instagram
    • GRAMMYs: YouTube
  • Latin GRAMMYs
    • Latin GRAMMYs: Facebook
    • Latin GRAMMYs: Twitter
    • Latin GRAMMYs: Instagram
    • Latin GRAMMYs: YouTube
  • GRAMMY Museum
    • GRAMMY Museum: Facebook
    • GRAMMY Museum: Twitter
    • GRAMMY Museum: Instagram
    • GRAMMY Museum: YouTube
  • MusiCares
    • MusiCares: Facebook
    • MusiCares: Twitter
    • MusiCares: Instagram
  • Advocacy
    • Advocacy: Facebook
    • Advocacy: Twitter
  • Membership
    • Membership: Facebook
    • Membership: Twitter
    • Membership: Instagram
    • Membership: Youtube
GRAMMYs

Linda Perry and Christa Hillhouse in "What's Up?"

News
4-non-blondes-pray-revolution

4 Non Blondes Pray For A Revolution

Facebook Twitter Email
Linda Perry tells you what's up in this week's Forgotten Videos
Crystal Larsen
GRAMMYs
Dec 2, 2014 - 4:06 pm

Welcome to Forgotten Videos. For some, these videos are forgotten, for others just filed away, and for others still, a totally brand-new discovery. Whichever category you fall into, each week we'll feature a video that's possibly been collecting dust when what it really deserves is a fresh look. Or vice-versa…. We're not here to judge, we just want to take you on a little trip down memory lane. Yep, you'll remember when hair was really that big, when drums were that up front in the mix, when video was young(er) and so were you.

4 Non Blondes
"What's Up?"
1992

The inclusion of combat boots, dreadlocks, oversized flannel, and facial piercings in the video for this Bay Area band's first and only Top 20 hit was enough to satisfy any '90s pop/rock-starved music fan's craving. But, style aside, frontwoman Linda Perry's howling delivery of lyrics such as "And so I cry sometimes when I'm lying in bed/Just to get it all out, what's in my head/And I, I am feeling a little peculiar," is more akin to the confession of 25-year-old who's unsatisfied with the world than a pop song, the latter description coincidentally being one of the causes for Perry's eventual departure from 4 Non Blondes in 1995.

The video is also a little peculiar, but maybe typical for its time. Not much happens of note, other than scenes of the band performing live in various locations both onstage and in a living room for an audience that is unseen, and shots of falling gumballs. If one thing is certain, the idea of waking "in the morning" is stressed as shots of Perry performing with the band in a living room feature her in heart-printed boxer shorts.

Formed in 1989 in San Francisco, this all-girl four-piece band — Shaunna Hall (guitar), Christa Hillhouse (bass), Perry, and Dawn Richardson (drums) — crashed onto the scene with their debut album, 1992's Bigger, Better, Faster, More! The album peaked at No. 13 on the Billboard 200 with "What's Up?" achieving similar success, just missing the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 14. The video gained significant rotation on MTV, propelling the album to platinum certification in the United States in 1993 and sales of more than 6 million copies worldwide.

The group found their way onto tours with the likes of Bob Dylan, Pearl Jam and Neil Young, and received recognition from their native San Francisco by earning an award for best song and Perry taking home top female vocalist at BAM magazine's now defunct Bammies in 1994. But the success proved too much for Perry, who felt the band had become too pop and left to pursue a solo career, subsequently releasing 1996's In Flight and 1999's After Hours. Nevertheless, Perry went on to write several pop hits for the likes of pop stars such as Christina Aguilera, Pink and Gwen Stefani, ultimately garnering a GRAMMY nomination for Song Of The Year in 2003 for the former's "Beautiful."

"If I hear another label tell me that they need a song for the radio I'm going to poke out their eyeballs with a fork," Perry told Rolling Stone in March.

Readers of Rolling Stone seem to share Perry's sentiment. In a recent poll conducted by the magazine, readers voted "What's Up?" one of the worst songs of the '90s, and Perry agreed, sort of. "I wasn't really a big fan of my band," she said. "I didn't like the record at all. I did love 'What's Up?' but I hated the production. I wanted to say, 'We're a f***ing bad-a** cool band. We're not that fluffy polished bulls*** that you're listening to.'"

If you're looking for more Perry, you can find it in her first group project since leaving the other three non-blondes — Deep Dark Robot.

4 Non Blondes - What's Up

Do you know what's going on? Got any Forgotten Video recommendations? Leave us a comment.
 

GRAMMYs

Robert Smith in the Cure's "Lullaby"

Feature
The Cure's Robert Smith on "Lullaby" cures-robert-smith-lullaby

The Cure's Robert Smith on "Lullaby"

Facebook Twitter Email
Video director Tim Pope discusses the ghoulish inspiration behind the Cure's "Lullaby" in this week's edition of Forgotten Videos
Bill Forman
GRAMMYs
May 15, 2017 - 2:36 am

Welcome to Forgotten Videos. For some, these videos are forgotten, for others just filed away, and for others still, a totally brand-new discovery. Whichever category you fall into, each week we'll feature a video that's possibly been collecting dust when what it really deserves is a fresh look. Or vice-versa. … We're not here to judge, we just want to take you on a little trip down memory lane. Yep, you'll remember when hair was really that big, when drums were that up front in the mix, when video was young(er) and so were you.

The Cure 
"Lullaby"
1989

As memorable as the Cure's "Lullaby" becomes after repeated listens, it only takes one viewing of the accompanying video to lodge it in your brain forever. Awarded Best British Video honors at the 1990 Brit Awards, "Lullaby" is an artfully nightmarish ode to arachnophobia, with the Cure frontman Robert Smith drawing a close comparison to Johnny Depp in Edward Scissorhands as he's serenaded by ghoulish bandmates, tormented by predatory versions of himself, and transformed in ways that would do author Franz Kafka and director David Cronenberg proud.

Director Tim Pope, who also directed videos for the Cure such as "High," "Friday I'm In Love" and "Just Like Heaven," among others, says the "Lullaby" video grew naturally (if you can call it that) from its source material.

"That song was particularly lurid and vivid," says Pope, "and it's got one of my favorite lines: 'And I feel like I'm being eaten/By a thousand million shivering furry holes.' My god, where can you go wrong with a line like that?"

The Cure - Lullaby

Pope says his work with Smith and the Cure fit nicely with his own early interest in filmmakers such as Alfred Hitchcock and Roman Polanski. "I had grown up with the films of Roman Polanski — you know, films like Repulsion and The Tenant [and they] were a great influence on me," he says. "They all tend to be kind of dark and obsessive. And that was something that went very well with the Cure's music and Robert's lyrics."

Meanwhile, devotees of the Cure continue to debate the source of the song's subject matter, which feels like a hallucinogenic take on Mary Howitt's early 19th century poem, "The Spider And The Fly" (an inspiration Smith makes explicit when he whispers something reminiscent of the poem's opening line near the end of the song). 

While Smith most often attributes "Lullaby" to childhood nightmares, fans have speculated that it's actually a metaphor for everything from depression to addiction and abuse. The latter interpretation was further fueled by a portion of an MTV interview where Smith talks about the song. "One particular night, my uncle burst through the window, and he did unspeakable things," said Smith, before adding with a laugh, "He didn't really."

Pope is quick to point out that his friend and collaborator's knack for imaginative storytelling often spills over into real life. "He's one of the hugest liars, but in a lovely cuddly sort of way," he says. "He frames his story however he wants to. So maybe that's one of his, shall we say, slightly made-up stories."

While Pope also spent decades making videos for artists such as David Bowie, the Cars, KT Tunstall, and Neil Young, he eventually moved into film and advertising work after MTV pulled the plug on its "music television revolution." More recently, he's worked with artists ranging from the Kaiser Chiefs to Fatboy Slim.

When asked about the age-old criticism that music videos somehow take away from the purity of the listening experience, the director points out that we have eyes as well as ears. 

"I don't think they ruined the songs," says Pope. "With all my videos, I tried to add to the song, but still allow the song to breathe — if the song was brilliant enough to be allowed to breathe."

(Bill Forman is a writer and music editor for the Colorado Springs Independent and the former publications director for The Recording Academy.)

Ready For The World's Melvin Riley in "Oh Sheila"

Melvin Riley in Ready For The World's "Oh Sheila"

Feature
Revisit Ready For The World's 'Oh Sheila' remember-ready-world%E2%80%99s-prince-inspired-hit

Remember Ready For The World’s Prince-inspired hit?

Facebook Twitter Email
A fresh look at Ready For The World's 1985 hit, "Oh Sheila"
Crystal Larsen
GRAMMYs
May 15, 2017 - 2:36 am

Welcome to Forgotten Videos. For some, these videos are forgotten, for others just filed away, and for others still, a totally brand-new discovery. Whichever category you fall into, each week we'll feature a video that's possibly been collecting dust when what it really deserves is a fresh look. Or vice-versa…. We're not here to judge, we just want to take you on a little trip down memory lane. Yep, you'll remember when hair was really that big, when drums were that up front in the mix, when video was young(er) and so were you.

Ready For The World
"Oh Sheila"
1985

The comments on this song's official YouTube page probably say it all. Like this one, for example: "For those that say this song sounds nothing like Prince you are out of your minds :) This song is very Prince influenced. You don't have to be a soundalike to be influenced. It was the hot sound at the time and this isn't the only band that did it. That being said, I love it and Prince."

Yes, Ready For The World were no doubt riding the Prince wave in 1985, just like, oh, say, Roy Orbison rode the Elvis wave or Gerry And The Pacemakers rode the Beatles wave. There's nothing wrong with riding a wave when you do it well.

Ready For The World was a microcosm of '80s R&B, evidenced by the Prince-flavored semi-mechanized funk, dapper suits and Jheri curls wrapped in headbands. But here are some props for RFTW's individuality: In two years they scored three singles that hit the Top 25 on the Billboard Hot 100 without turning to Hollywood-based production Svengalis. The Michigan-bred band wrote and produced their own hits. "Oh Sheila" was the big breakthrough for the group — featuring lead singer Melvin Riley along with John Eaton, Gregory Potts, Gordon Strozier, Willie Triplett, and Gerald Valentine — rising all the way to No. 1 on the Hot 100. They followed the same year with "Digital Display" and in 1986 with the ballad "Love You Down."

The video for "Oh Sheila" is a fairly ordinary performance clip. Later, for "Digital Display," having scored a hit, RFTW was allowed to create a video with a storyline, though apparently not with an exponentially greater budget.

To add a bit more spice to the Prince comparisons, there were rumors (at least according to Wikipedia, which may have started them), that the Sheila in question was Sheila E., a former Prince flame, though Riley says the song's subject was a fictional character.

Also like Prince, who just staged a 21-night Los Angeles stand in April and May primarily at the Forum, Ready For The World is still, well, ready for the world. The band has its own label and is available for bookings at www.readyfortheworld.net. Or, you can watch their videos on your digital display.

Ready For The World - Oh Sheila

Did you think "Oh Sheila" was a Prince song the first 438 times you heard it? Got any Forgotten Video recommendations? Leave us a comment.

Last week's Forgotten Video
 

GRAMMYs

Concrete Blonde in "Joey"

Feature
The inside story of Concrete Blonde's "Joey" inside-story-concrete-blondes-joey

The inside story of Concrete Blonde's "Joey"

Facebook Twitter Email
Concrete Blonde's "Joey" in this week's Forgotten Video
Crystal Larsen
GRAMMYs
May 15, 2017 - 2:36 am

Welcome to Forgotten Videos. Well, for some forgotten, for others just filed away, and for others still, a totally brand-new discovery. Whichever category you fall into, each week we'll feature a video that's possibly been collecting dust when what it really deserves is a fresh look. Or vice versa…. We're not here to judge, we just want to take you on a little trip down memory lane. Yep, you'll remember when hair was really that big, when drums were that up front in the mix, when video was young(er) and so were you.

Concrete Blonde
"Joey"
1990

The story of a love affair torn apart by alcoholism serves as the theme for Concrete Blonde's heart-wrenching "Joey." The video illustrates this love triangle in the truest sense, spotlighting frontwoman Johnette Napolitano performing for an audience of one in a dark, dungeonesque bar. The lone member of the crowd could only be Napolitano's lovesick lover…who's only sick for the bottle of alcohol from which he can't avert his eyes. But what Napolitano leaves behind is anything but bitter: "But if it's love you're looking for/Then I can give a little more/And if you're somewhere drunk and passed out on the floor/Oh, Joey, I'm not angry anymore…."

While the inspiration behind "Joey" has never been officially revealed (some speculate it could be about Joey Ramone or Wall Of Voodoo's Marc Moreland, with whom Napolitano later played in the band Pretty & Twisted) — the track was the band's most successful single, peaking at No. 19 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Formed in Los Angeles in the early '80s by bassist Napolitano and guitarist James Mankey, the duo originally called themselves Dream 6 until fellow I.R.S. Records labelmate Michael Stipe of R.E.M. suggested they change their name to Concrete Blonde. With a group of songs almost entirely written by Napolitano and Mankey, they released their self-titled debut with drummer Harry Rushakoff in 1987, followed by Free (1989) and Bloodletting (1990), which featured "Joey" and cracked the Top 50 on the Billboard 200. Concrete Blonde released several more albums, including Billboard 200 charters Walking In London and Mexican Moon before officially disbanding in 2006. Napolitano released her first proper solo effort, Scarred, in 2007. Three years later, Concrete Blonde regrouped for several performances in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the release of Bloodletting.

Concrete Blonde - Joey

Do you know a Joey? Got a Forgotten Video recommendation? Leave us a comment.
 

Last week's Forgotten Video

GRAMMYs

Living Colour's Corey Glover in "Cult Of Personality"

News
giving-cults-good-name

Giving Cults A Good Name

Facebook Twitter Email
Living Colour in this week's "The GRAMMY Nominations Concert Live!!" edition of Forgotten Videos
Tim McPhate
GRAMMYs
Dec 2, 2014 - 4:06 pm

Welcome to Forgotten Videos, "The GRAMMY Nominations Concert Live!!" edition, showcasing past GRAMMY winners and nominees. For some, these videos are forgotten, for others just filed away, and for others still, a totally brand-new discovery. Whichever category you fall into, each week until the nominations special on Dec. 1 we'll feature a video from a GRAMMY-winning or –nominated artist that's possibly been collecting dust when what it really deserves is a fresh look. Or, just for old times' sake. We just want to take you on a little trip down memory lane. Yep, you'll remember when hair was really that big, when drums were that up front in the mix, when video was young(er) and so were you.

Living Colour
"Cult Of Personality"
1988

In 1988 Living Colour, an African-American hard rock outfit, broke all the unspoken rules of the genre, namely that it was for white, middle-class, disaffected youth only. While the '60s gave rise to iconic rockers of color (Jimi Hendrix, Sly Stone), by the late-'80s (with the exception of Prince, who could go funk, jam band, quiet storm, and rock at his whim) rock was almost exclusively the province of head-banging, spandex-clad blonds. Enter Living Colour (drummer Will Calhoun, vocalist Corey Glover, guitarist Vernon Reid, and bassist Muzz Skillings), a band that, like the spirit inherent in the un-American spelling of its name, refused to be hemmed in by the preconceived notions of a stereotypical rock band.

The band won an early fan in Mick Jagger, who as much as any rocker understood the African-American roots from which rock sprang. The Rolling Stones frontman produced a demo and helped get the band signed to Epic Records. After a slow start, the band's debut album, Vivid, and the track "Cult Of Personality" became huge hits. Not only did "Cult..." climb to No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100, it made it to No. 9 on the Mainstream Rock chart. The song also earned a Best Hard Rock Performance GRAMMY in 1989. (Living Colour would win the same award a year later for the title track to their sophomore album, "Time's Up.")

Befitting of their name, the band drew upon a diverse palette of talent. A graduate of Boston's Berklee College of Music, Calhoun and his driving grooves were complemented by Skillings' complex bass lines to form a high-energy, adventurous rhythm section. Reid's inventive rock- and funk-laced rhythmic work, combined with his unpredictable and improvisatory soloing, landed him on the cover of respectable music publications such as Guitar Player. Rounding out the unique blend was Glover, whose vocals drew from elements of rock, rap, soul, and blues.

To seal their role as revolutionaries, Living Colour didn't shy away from social messages in their music. "Cult Of Personality" takes aim at world leaders' ability to win power and allegiance by creating unblemished public images for very blemished people. Name-dropping Benito Mussolini and Joseph Stalin, as well as John F. Kennedy and Mahatma Gandhi, the song cautions us to beware of ceding power to any one individual. (The song's intro also includes an edited quote from a Malcolm X speech, and the closing features the memorable quote from Franklin D. Roosevelt, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.")

Okay, so maybe some of the song's impact is overshadowed by Glover's tight yellow-spandex bike shorts. But, it was the '80s after all.

 

7xxgRUyzgs0%3Ffs%3D1%26amp%3Bhl%3Den_US

Who's today's cult of personality? Got a Forgotten Video recommendation? Leave us a comment. And don't forget to tune into "The GRAMMY Nominations Concert Live!! — Countdown To Music's Biggest Night" on Dec. 1 from 10–11 p.m. ET/PT on CBS. 

Last week's Forgotten Video

 

Top
Logo
  • Recording Academy
    • About
    • Governance
    • Press Room
    • Jobs
    • Events
  • GRAMMYs
    • Awards
    • News
    • Videos
    • Events
    • Store
    • FAQ
  • Latin GRAMMYs
    • Awards
    • News
    • Photos
    • Videos
    • Cultural Foundation
    • Members
    • Press
  • GRAMMY Museum
    • Explore
    • Exhibits
    • Education
    • Support
    • Programs
    • Donate
  • MusiCares
    • About
    • Get Help
    • Give
    • News
    • Videos
    • Events
  • Advocacy
    • About
    • News
    • Learn
    • Act
  • Membership
    • Chapters
    • Producers & Engineers Wing
    • GRAMMY U
    • Join
Logo

© 2019 - Recording Academy. All rights reserved.

  • Terms of Service
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Copyright Notice
  • Contact Us

Some of the content on this site expresses viewpoints and opinions that are not those of the Recording Academy. Responsibility for the accuracy of information provided in stories not written by or specifically prepared for the Academy lies with the story's original source or writer. Content on this site does not reflect an endorsement or recommendation of any artist or music by the Recording Academy.