The Most Indelible Live TV Performances From The 90's!

Getting the chance to grow up as an impressionable teenager in the 90's was pretty darned awesome. Not even going to front. Especially considering the explosion of good music that was happening in the wake of Nirvana's success. 

To give context, we were literally discovering new bands every week. Normally the artists that the big ones would cite as their musical influences, or bring along as opening acts for their tours would be the ones we immediately had to seek out.

But long before You Tube, the Internet or DVD's, there was something special about just catching a band live on TV. I'd wait up for 120 Minutes on MTV (back when they actually played music videos) or the MTV Music Video Awards, or David Letterman, or hell - the Jon Stewart Show! He had a great little talk show on MTV long before The Daily Show days where he'd get so many great up and coming bands to perform. Because they were always struggling to fill seats for the Jon Stewart Show, which filmed in New York City, my friends and I would go regularly for free. I got to see L7 on one episode in person. Maggie Estep on another. The luck of the draw was usually pretty strong for us in terms of musical guests when we went.

The unpredictable nature of live TV also added to the strange excitement of watching one of your favorite bands perform, as you'll see in some of my examples below. Now, I don't want this to come across as me reminiscing about the good ol' days or anything. Sure, I can distinctly remember seeing all of the below as they happened and still have them on VHS tapes in boxes in my closet. What I find amazing is how easily accessible these performances are these days on places like You Tube. Our natural inclination to tape them as they happened was because of a strange sense to preserve what was happening, not realizing in the moment that this stuff was destined to live on in future formats. I mean, there are gigs I remember being at very specifically, and 20 years later, I can watch a bootleg clip of it on You Tube from a completely different angle. It's truly amazing.

Nowadays, as soon as an act performs live on the Late Show, we can jump on You Tube or Hulu the next day and see it. That's why I like the low-fi quality of the following. It reminds me of a time when I felt like if you missed it, you missed out! I wanted to try to share that feeling with all of you. So from that era, here are some of my absolute favorite live performances from the 90's.

THE BEASTIE BOYS "Sabotage" Live from the David Letterman Show (1994)

I was sitting in the Chinese Theater earlier this summer enjoying STAR TREK BEYOND in 3D IMAX. And now with this new incarnation of Star Trek, The Beastie Boys most famous track "Sabotage" has become synonymous with the franchise. But quite frankly, the way they incorporated it into STAR TREK BEYOND is probably the best usage we'll ever get of the track! That, coupled with the recent interview I conducted with Money Mark for my new documentary project, put this particular performance back in my brain. They played a lot in support of "Ill Communication," but there's a vibrant punk rock energy & aesthetic to this David Letterman performance that has remained unmatched. They played "Sabotage" again a few months later on the MTV Music Video Awards, and it was good, but this is by far their best performance of this song. Check it!



NIRVANA "Rape Me/Lithium" MTV Music Awards (1992)

This is one of those examples of the unpredictable nature of live TV! All future airings of this particular performance were edited, but thankfully, it's on You Tube and a part of rock history. Nirvana had hit big with "Smells Like Teen Spirit," which was up for several award nominations here. And they'd already released music videos for "Come As You Are" and "Lithium," which had just debuted on the network. They wanted to come out and perform a brand new song "Rape Me." MTV apparently freaked and forbid them for doing so, threatening to pull the plug if they play anything other than "Teen Spirit" or "Lithium." After much reluctance, the band had opted to play their latest single. Behind-the-scenes, in the back stage area prior to the show, the members of Nirvana had gotten into an altercation with Guns N Roses. So when this originally aired, Nirvana played the first few chords of "Rape Me" before switching into "Lithium." I remember this was the first time I heard "Rape Me" and thought, "whoa, what song is THAT?!" At the end of the performance, Chris Novoselic did his infamous bass toss and for the first time in the band's history, missed and hit himself in the head, hard! Dave Grohl, still angry about their Guns N Roses scuffle, is pounding the drums harder than he ever has, and while Kurt destroys his gear, comes up to the mic to call out Axel Rose on live TV! All of this was cut out later, but watching it live was truly something else. Have a look for yourself.



PEARL JAM "Animal" MTV Music Awards (1993)

Pearl Jam were in a similar situation as Nirvana the year prior where they wanted to play their cover of The Dead Boys "Sonic Reducer" and were forced by MTV execs to instead perform "Jeremy," their big hit at the time. A whole lot can change in the span of a year! By 1993, they were given carte blanche to do whatever they wanted, so they debuted a brand new song from their upcoming album "Five Against One," which was at the last minute changed to VS. As soon as they wrapped "Animal," they brought out Neil Young and performed "Rockin' In The Free World" with him. While that's cool too, I was more blown away by the furiosity of this "Animal" song! Plus, Mike McReady plays a completely different solo here than what ended up on the official studio recording, and I like this solo better, especially when the final chorus kicks in. This actual performance was released as the B-side to a cassingle (that'd be a cassette single for you youngans out there), but I can't recall the A side, and I've since sadly lost that tape. This still remains one of my favorite by the band from this era.



L7 "Pretend We're Dead" Live From David Letterman (1992)

There's something hilarious about watching David Letterman's band, led by Paul Shaffer, play along with the riotous L7 on their hit single "Pretend We're Dead." I mean, very few bands at that time rocked as hard as L7 did. And I saw them several times, so I know! But this in particular always stood out as my favorite performance by them, complete with Letterman's quirky jokes about hoping that "the girls aren't neglecting their studies." Don't worry, Dave! They weren't. I've gotten to know Jennifer in the last year and a half and she's one of the smartest, most well-versed people I've ever been friends with. Oh, and her and the girls rock harder than just about everyone.



HUM "Stars" Howard Stern Show / 120 Minutes (1995)

This is a two-parter because they go hand in hand and are both just beyond awesome. I remember first hearing HUM's single "Stars," and just being blown away by it. I also remember speculating with my friend (and bandmate at the time) Pete that there's no way they could sound as good live as on the recording. We figured there would be feedback galore, and the heaviness would get lost in distortion. And boy were we wrong! I caught them playing the track on 120 Minutes (below) and they were the real deal! But also strange and of note, their biggest fan was Howard Stern! I listened to Howard in those days and his tastes were always a bit puzzling, but I loved how much he loved this band, and in particular the song "Stars." So he had them on his morning talk show, and although it was not even remotely set-up for a proper live performance, he insisted they play "Stars" live on the air. So below is that performance, with the members of HUM literally scattered throughout different rooms of the studio. It's a bit messy considering their set-up, but the heart is all there. So below are both the Stern appearance and 120 Minutes performance.





OASIS "Live Forever" at Glastonbury (1995)

Ah, Oasis! I've always loved them. From the moment I read about them and heard the track "Supersonic," I knew this was right up my alley. They came across as The Beatles meets The Sex Pistols and had tremendous attitude before they were rock stars! I bought the "Supersonic" single before "Definitely Maybe" came out, and also on that CD5 was the track "Live Forever," which immediately became one of my all time favorite pop rock tunes. With the exception of their first NY gig at the Wetlands, I caught every single one of their New York shows and watched them outgrow The Academy, then Roseland, then Jones Beach and ascend to Madison Square Garden. They really hit their peak when they released "(What's The Story) Morning Glory?" and got a new drummer. The first single before that 2nd album came out was "Roll With It," and the B-side was this live version of "Live Forever" from Glastonbury. Now, I'd never seen this performance until putting together this blog, but I used to listen to it over and over, because the way drummer Alan White elevated this track and turned it into an arena rock anthem is astonishing. Just listen to his drum roll fills leading into each chorus! Magnificent. They were always a stellar live band, in particular when you got to hear an entire audience belt out "Don't Look Back In Anger," but this recording of "Live Forever" is my personal fave.



THE TOADIES "Possum Kingdom" Live on 120 Minutes (1995)

Despite being considered a "one-hit wonder" from the grunge era for this particular song, The Toadies were so vastly underrated. Hell, they are probably the only band I've seen live that could cover "Where Is My Mind?" by The Pixies and give the original song a run for it's money! I also loved bassist Lisa Umbarger, a bad-ass that usually would wear a hockey Jersey and just rock the F out. To see just how good they were, here they are performing "Possum Kingdom" on 120 Minutes. (Side-note: ever notice how darned creepy and weird the lyrics are? Pretty sure it's from the perspective of a serial killer. Just sayin'!)



JAWBOX "Savory" Live on 120 Minutes (1994)

One of those bands in the mid-90's that never got their proper due, and yet were so highly influential, let's give it up for Jawbox, shall we? And although "Savory" was their "single," there were so many epic tracks between their 2 Atlantic Record releases that I liked more. However, in recent years, I've grown to appreciate this as a perfectly written and executed post-hardcore "indie" song. Members of The Deftones and FAR later did a kick-ass cover of this, but really, you can't top Jawbox! I also recall a performance of "Motorist" from this same live studio session, but sadly it's nowhere to be found on You Tube. One of these days, I'll transfer all of my VHS tapes to digital and share. But until then, check out this version of "Savory" live!



SUNNY DAY REAL ESTATE "In Circles" 120 Minutes / "Seven" The Jon Stewart Show (1994)

The forefathers that were credited with inventing "emo," nothing compares to the original incarnation of Sunny Day Real Estate!!! I used to order random 7 inch singles from the Sub Pop store, even if I'd never heard of the band, because I figured a few bucks to sample 2 tracks from an up and coming band was a low-risk gamble. And I'll never forget when "Thief Steal Me A Peach" by Sunny Day Real Estate showed up at my door. It came with an elaborate booklet, and the tracks were simply titled "Song #8" and "Song #9." There was a raw intensity to the band that I immediately called over my friends and told them, "you have to hear this!" We were lucky enough to see them a few times during their initial run. And although they got back together with the original line-up a few years back, it was a whole different animal in 94-95. The energy in the room was intense. It felt like a band, seething with all this animosity for each other, barely able to keep themselves together. Let alone, in tune! And yet, it hit the audience like a ton of bricks when they actually played. Below are two examples, "In Circles" live from 120 Minutes and then "Seven" live from the Jon Stewart Show.





SMILE "Jack Shrimp" Live at Brownies, NYC (1995)

Now we're delving into bands that I sadly never got to see, but later got to vicariously enjoy via the magical world of You Tube! For example, SMILE! I was only 19 years old when they performed in NYC in support of their epic debut album "Maquee." And Brownie's was a NYC bar with a very strict "21 and over" only policy. So I was crushed that I never got to see SMILE until only a few years ago on their reunion tour opening for OZMA. Alas, I stumbled upon this video from the very show I remember being so bummed I had to miss, and nothing quite matches the manic energy of "Maquee." They went "surf rock" for their follow up album "Girl Crushes Boy," which I don't really like nearly as much as their first record, but I mean, look at them. This drummer is insane! And they were one of the biggest influences on my band at the time Pretty Polly.



FAILURE "Smoking Umbrellas" Live 1997

Another band I completely missed out on was Failure. "Fantastic Planet" was this amazing concept album from start to finish filled with dreamy, catchy rock songs. It also became a huge influence on myself and my bandmates because it was beyond what anyone was doing at the time. I got to see them perform that album last week as part of it's 20th anniversary celebration, but before that, I had to watch the below clip in awe. So glad they're back together. If you don't know them, seek out "Fantastic Planet" asap. A Perfect Circle covered the track "The Nurse Who Loved Me," and we can thank Maynard from TOOL for getting them back together. He apparently asked them to reform and play at his 50th birthday bash.



THE MUFFS "Agony" Live at CBGB's 8/23/95

For everyone, there are probably 5 or so shows that will forever stand out in your mind as the most epic things you've ever been able to experience as a music fan. For me, one of those gigs will always be the first time I saw punk-pop trio The Muffs at CBGB's. I was up front when the drummer Roy McDonald asked me if I'd run across the street and pick them up a few bottles of bottled water, in exchange for a T-Shirt. I complied! And the thing is this, I loved The Muffs on record. But I had no idea just how raunchy and punk rock they would be live! So when they took the stage, lead singer/guitarist Kim Shattuck was spitting all over the place and screaming like a banshee. Bassist Ronnie Barnett fell backwards into the crowd during the 2nd track. I will never, ever forget the experience of standing there and being blown the F away by the sheer punk rock power of The Muffs. Cut to 20 years later, I'm prepping for an interview with Kim for my doc, and going down the You Tube rabbit hole. Low and behold, I find the exact show I was at, only from a different angle! And it's so surreal to have this memory for 2 decades and then to get the opportunity to relive it all these years later when the thought never crossed my mind that you could do that. Below is that entire show, but I'd recommend at the very least watching the first 2 songs from the set list, "Agony" and "Lucky Guy."



THE BREEDERS "Cannonball" MTV Studios 1993

Really, what can I say about The Breeders? I came to them thanks to constant mentions from Nirvana. Loved their first album "Pod." Loved "Last Splash" even more. And forever had a crush on Kim Deal from the moment I first caught the music video for "Cannonball." She reminded me so much of my friends older sister that I also had a crush on, and I think that's basically who she was to a lot of impressionable teenagers in the 90's. That cool older sister your friend had that everyone was in love with. Here's their 2 singles "Cannonball" and "Divine Hammer," the perviest single to ever play on MTV!



CONCRETE BLONDE "Heal It Up" Live on The Jon Stewart Show

This is top of my list in terms of performances. I loved Concrete Blonde, but sometimes, you come across a voice that just makes your soul ache because it's that great. Johnette Napolitano was that voice. From the moment I heard her belt out the chorus to "Heal It Up," I knew I had to up my game as a singer, and then realized I just suck compared to this amazing woman. "Heal It Up" could be in my top 5 songs of all time and it's all because of Johnette's emotional performance. See for yourself!



STABBING WESTWARD "Shame" Live at the MTV Studios 1996

I literally can go on and on and on with examples of more live performances from this era, but I've got to try be productive with my day in other areas! So I'm going to wrap it up with a slightly off-kilter choice. And who knows? Maybe I'll do a "Part Two" to this eventually. Stabbing Westward were kind of a Nine Inch Nails knock-off in the mid 90's. They were pretty darned good, even if now in retrospect, the lyrics are a bit silly and immature angst-ridden non-sense. But I'll tell you one thing, they were amazing live. I got to see them do a tiny club gig at Coney Island High (RIP) in NYC in celebration of their 3rd album "Darkest Days," and when they got to their encore of "Shame," the place was pure pandemonium. I recall distinctly a guy jumping up on stage and headbanging along with singer Christopher Hall before joining him in screaming the chorus into the mic. I wish a video of that gig existed somewhere but sadly it does not, unless someone shot it and is holding out! But instead, here they are performing "Shame" on 120 Minutes.



Hope you enjoyed this stroll down memory lane, and perhaps we'll do it again! I still get lost occasionally in the You Tube rabbit hole, so if there are any performances you remember from this time period that had as profound an impact on you as some of these did for me, please feel free to comment them below so I can check them out! Until next episode...

The Follies And Rewards Of Mid-Life Show Going

In the great words of Roger Murtaugh, "I'll too old for this shit."

At least that's how I feel these days when it comes to going to concerts, which is why I rarely go! But alas, somehow, because of my naivety in planning, I managed to purchase tickets to two shows that happen to fall consecutively two nights in a row.

I mean, I went to a lot of shows in my youth. I've seen just about everyone I've ever wanted to see. I saw Nirvana, both electric and at their infamous MTV Unplugged show. I got to see David Bowie perform all his greatest hits at Queens College. Members of Nine Inch Nails and Marilyn Manson playing Twisted Sister songs with Dee Snider at the Elbow Room in Manhattan. Portishead's legendary Roseland show that became their live album. The Ramones. Morrissey in Central Park. Not to mention all the amazing shows at CBGB's: The Melvins, The Muffs, Vision Of Disorder.

So, it's rare I'd feel the need to see shows these days, because I've already seen it all. But when these two came up, I couldn't pass them up.

First up, SURVIVE, the electronic act that I first discovered for their music in the 2014 flick THE GUEST, were doing a gig at the Echoplex. And several months back, my buddy Mike Williamson alerted me to the return of 90's grunge prodigal sons FAILURE, who would be playing in it's entirety, their album "Fantastic Planet" from start to finish in celebration of it's 20th anniversary. Failure is not only one of my favorite bands that inspired me back in my late teens / early 20's, but "Fantastic Planet" in particular is essential listening. There were a handful of albums that became so indelible and influential to me as I was learning to hone my own craft of songwriting. (That's for another blog!) And for whatever reason, Failure always alluded me live. I don't recall them coming around to New York that often, if at all, during the height of my fandom for them. So up until now, I'd never seen them.

If you're reading this, then you no doubt know that horror is my business, for better or worse. And being that I write about horror movies on a daily basis, October becomes somewhat of a problematic month in terms of properly rationing my time. But again, I bought these concert tickets ages ago, and didn't think about how they'd fallen directly at the beginning of the busy Halloween season.

Another sting was that I had to attend both shows on my own. I normally don't care about that sort of thing. I go to movies by myself all the time, but I'm a little anxious when it comes to going to shows. You have to time it out so perfectly. You have to plan for expensive parking lots, unless you're lucky enough to stumble upon an open street parking space. A damned rarity for Hollywood. I've sat through enough opening acts in my day that I just don't have the energy, patience or stamina to stand in the same spot for hours on end anymore.

So, with SURVIVE, I tried to arrive as late as possible in the hopes I'd make it just in time. My date for the evening was feeling ill, and had to bail last minute, which was OK, because then I could just wing the entire evening. After a few strolls around the sketchy neighborhood that harbors the Echoplex, I miraculously found free parking in a small outdoor lot! It was already just past 9PM as I arrived and that was exactly when the parking time was up! I walked into the packed venue to learn that my timing wasn't nearly as spot on as I'd hoped. I would have to sit through one opening act before SURVIVE took the stage. I managed to find a predominantly uninhabited spot to the right of the sound board, which was in the center of the venue. As I got settled leaning up against the booth, MAJEURE took the stage and settled up behind a full drum kit.

I don't have any problem with electronic music, but it's a bit weird to see it performed live because for the most part, all you're going to see is some really, really high guys standing still behind a laptop and keyboard occasionally bopping their head, and maybe someone in the audience will actually dance to it rather than foolishly just staring at a guy playing a loop. But alas, you never know what you're going to get, and in the case of MAJEURE, it turned out to be a pleasant surprise! MAJEURE is actually Anthony Paterra, whom along with Steve Moore make up the prog-y band ZOMBI. Here, he played live drums over a series of synth programmed samples and selections. So, although it was something that required a laptop and a keyboard, it benefited greatly from watching this guy pound along on the drums the entire time too. He was wrapped before I knew it, and I patiently waited for SURVIVE to make their 11PM call time. (Is it me, or is is it... yawwwwn... getting late?)

As the minutes went on, of course my safe haven spot had been invaded by crowds of people trying to get a closer look. A couple next to me got a little too close for comfort, but I was already up against the wall of the sound booth, so there really wasn't anywhere else I could go. And then directly next to me, a large 6 and a half foot man suddenly appeared who would periodically cough aloud, as the neurotic in me started freaking out that I hadn't taken enough Vitamin C that day.

It was a bit late, but finally SURVIVE took the stage and my excitement immediately waned. It was 4 dudes, behind 4 keyboards that were cranked really, really loud, not doing much else except occasionally sipping at a beer. The energy level was low, and no one around me was really dancing. The second track in the set was "Hourglass," one of my personal favorites and most well know as the song playing in the bar scene of THE GUEST. And... it sounded kind of puny in comparison to the album version. I mean, it was loud, for sure. But it just didn't sound... right.





Regardless, I stuck it out, and the next song was both equal parts loud and drastically out of tune. Look - maybe I was already in a bad mood coming into the venue. It was late. It was an inconvenient time. I not only had to eat the 2nd ticket I paid for for this show, but a few weeks back, I ate an additional ticket to see DJ Christian James Hand perform his shtick. And later this month, I have to miss a special charity screening of CARRIE that I already paid for. So I guess I wasn't in the best of moods, but these guys weren't blowing me away either. At all. At least with John Carpenter's band it was a full on band, all playing their respective instruments and making each track sound even better live than it ever did on record. Here, it was the opposite. It made me want to go home and just crank my SURVIVE LP's. So halfway through the set, that's exactly what I did. I went home.



I started to wonder, is something wrong with me? Have I seen too many shows? Have I finally hit the age where this doesn't excite me anymore? Am I too old for these hip young electronic acts? I don't know. All I knew was I was still going to see the mighty FAILURE, even though I had to brave that show alone as well.

The ticket for that show said 8PM doors and 9PM show time. There were no opening acts listed anywhere online, including The Roxy's webpage. And since this was advertised as the band playing one of their fairly epic albums from start to finish, I assumed I wouldn't have to make it there until just before 9, and I was right. I bit the bullet and paid for the $10 dollar parking in the lot next door, which coupled with the hefty $45 ticket price brought this evening up to a $55 dollar street value. The venue was tiny, and already pretty full, but even being in the far back as I was, wasn't too far from the main stage and would be totally suitable to enjoy the performance. It didn't help that literally all of the tallest guys in Los Angeles had decided to attend this gig, and felt their height had earned them the right to be closer to the stage than the other mostly vertically challenged patrons.

At about 9PM, we were treating to a 20-some-odd-minute short film produced by the band to coincide with their 20th anniversary. It had some pretty spacey visuals including a close up of a couple lying on a blanket in the park as the camera view pulled back and back and back until we were in the vast emptiness of cold space, millions of meters away. Then some random movie clips started playing, some with subtitles that were impossible to see because this tiny venue was packed and the screen was stage level. THE SPY WHO LOVED ME opened credits played inter-cut with members of the band in the montage sequence, followed by a few creepy moments of HAL in 2001. And then, finally... FAILURE took the stage.

Again, I had never seen this band live before. And they were among my biggest musical heroes. I had waited a long time for this moment. I hope I was ready for it. And then, the first few chords of album opener "Saturday Savior" began. Ken Andrews voice couldn't have been crisper, cleaner or more perfect. And when the distortion and drums kicked in for the chorus, a wave of sound hit me head on, and I was truly swept away. They were amazing. And the power of a good live act was well in tact, after the previous night's disappointment.



That's not to say there weren't the usual obstacles present when it comes to sharing confined space with large groups of sweaty, beer guzzling people. I had already mentioned the over population of tall people, right? Well, yet again, there was a rather large gentleman standing directly next to me with long shoulder-length curly hair. As the band rocked the pillars, he was headbanging furiously and on the first head swing, his sweat hit the side of my face. Sure, it was kinda gross, but after all this is a rock show. And when a few minutes later in between songs, he cried out, "this is the best thing of ever and I'm loving it!" His like-minded enthusiasm won me over.



I usually hate when people spend an entire show with their phone in the air documenting the whole show, and I didn't want to be one of those assholes. But fuck it. I paid $45 bucks. And I was standing pretty close to the back. I wanted to at the very least document a few seconds of my favorite tracks off the album. So I tried to time it for a chorus here, or a guitar solo there, very sparsely through out the show. But again, those tall peeps. So I had to put my arm up pretty high to get the decent quality video you see here in this blog. After this one from "The Nurse Who Loved Me," some semi-drunk guy behind me with a beer in his hand yelled at me to put my phone away, man. I promised him it was just for that solo, and he still gave me a dirty look. Shrugs. Screw you, man. I'm 40. And this is my first time seeing FAILURE!!!

Joke's on both of us, I guess! I noticed they were in fact taping the evenings gig, so maybe there will be a live DVD or Blu-Ray of this sucker coming out in the not-too-distant future. And against all better judgement, the merch table has something I couldn't pass up. Original vinyl copies of "Fantastic Planet" for $50 bucks. I know, I know. That's steep. But jump on Discogs and you'll see the lowest it is on there is usually in the $160 dollar range. These were brand new sealed copies of one of my favorite albums of all time! I had to have one as I left the venue.

And that's when all these random thoughts from the previous two nights began swimming around in my head, and inevitably were destined for this blog. Because one night I thought I was too old for this shit. And the next, I'd witnessed one of the best shows I'd ever seen in my life. In the top 10 and one I'll always tell people about.

I guess you're never too old for this show going thing. For all the follies that surround them, including parking and the people around you, the reward is sometimes a life long memory to cherish forever.

The Shocking Suicide That Inspired Pearl Jam’s “Jeremy”

By the time Pearl Jam had released their third single and video from their debut album, TEN, in late 1992, they were already on the cusp of super stardom, following in line with a long list of Seattle-based bands that the media and record labels were hoping would be “the next Nirvana.” They’d already successfully made two well-received live music videos for their previous singles “Alive” and “Evenflow.” But “Jeremy” marked the first (and only) time they delved into narrative storytelling to enhance their music visually. It was a long & turbulent road to make the “Jeremy” music video a reality, but when the dust settled, the video clip ended up winning 4 MTV Video Music Awards, opened up the floor to serious discussions about the troubles of our youth and simultaneously catapulted the band into the stratosphere of rock fame.

In the summer of 1991, frontman and lead singer Eddie Vedder struck up a friendship with photographer Chris Cuffaro and invited him to direct their next music video based upon whichever song he wanted off of TEN. Cuffaro chose “Jeremy,” but Epic Records was against both the song as the next single and Cuffaro as the helmer. Hence, Cuffaro raised the money himself and shot the original video version of “Jeremy” in a warehouse in Los Angeles in October of 1991. The clip featured the band performing the song on a circular moving platform, cut with quick sections of Jeremy, played by Eric Schubert, being pensive in his room.



The video was rejected by Epic, but they had a change of heart regarding “Jeremy” being the 3rd single & suggested another attempt with Mark Pellington at the helm. Vedder hopped on the phone and had a conversation with the up-and-coming director, and immediately, the two were on the same page about the vision for the short. The Pellington version would primarily focus on Vedder singing the main parts from the song, while cutting to a narrative story featuring the inner turmoil of teenager Jeremy, played by Trevor Wilson. Ignored by his parents, and shunned by his teachers & classmates, Jeremy lives in his own world, until that burden becomes too much. At the close of the video, Jeremy enters his classroom, throws an apple at his teacher, puts a revolver into his mouth and takes his own life in front of his peers. The powerful story from Vedder’s lyrics became fully realized in a commercial pop music video that was intended to air to the masses on MTV.



Although the music video was cut by Bruce Ashley, a veteran in the professional editing world, the biggest challenge came in properly articulating the ending. Due to MTV’s strict restrictions and personal issues with a gun physically being seen on screen, the conclusion of the short as it aired on the network has become confusing. It’s something that has frustrated the director and editor ever since its release. Closing on a shot of fellow students covered in blood, people assumed that Jeremy had raised his gun and killed his fellow students, when in actuality, they filmed the young boy putting the gun into his mouth; a shot which had to be zoomed in on to meet airing regulations. The intention is that his blood is literally on their hands. (The original uncensored director’s cut is above.)

Regardless of people’s interpretations of the video, the lyrics themselves are clear, and the message, potent. “Jeremy spoke in class today.” The one time everyone finally listened. “Try to forget this. Try to erase this. From the blackboard.” His last act of desperation, forever embedded into the psyche of these kids. And the saddest revelation was that the story of Jeremy was in fact based on a real teenager that Vedder had read about in the newspaper.

Jeremy Wade Delle was a shy 15-year-old sophomore at Richardson High School in Richardson, Texas; just outside of Dallas. His parents, Joseph R. Delle and Wanda Crane were divorced. Jeremy lived with his father and was described by his fellow classmates as “real quiet,” yet funny. Classmate Sean Forrester told The Dallas Morning News, “He never looked like he had anything wrong with him. He always made a joke over everything.” He also frequently passed notes with Lisa Moore, whom he’d often see in detention. “He signed all of his notes, ‘Write back.’ But on Monday he wrote, ‘Later days.’ I didn’t know what to make of it,” she said. “But I never thought this would happen.”

On the morning of January 8th, 1991, Jeremy Wade Delle walked into his classroom late. His teacher insisted he go get a tardy slip. He returned at 9:45am, said aloud, “Miss, I got what I really went for,” put a .357-calibur Magnum into his mouth, and killed himself in front of his class. The stunned students and teacher didn’t have any time to react. He died instantly.

What really happened to Jeremy to drive him to suicide? Was it incessant bullying from his classmates? A broken home? Or depression? Although unconfirmed, it’s said that Jeremy wrote several hand-written suicide notes to close friends, along with recording an audio cassette outlining his plan, but none have ever been made publicly available, nor do any give much insight into why he did it. His suicide was no doubt intended to traumatize his classmates, some of whom may have been the bullies. Sheryl Pender, a counselor with Willow Park Hospital in Plano told The Dallas Morning News that the witnesses will likely never get over this ordeal. “They are going to go through a ton of sadness, anxiety and fear.”

What’s more shocking than Jeremy’s death is that this wasn’t an isolated incident or the first time this had happened there. The history of suicides in Richardson is a strange one. Prior to Delle’s 1991 suicide, three Richardson students took their lives during the first half of 1988. In 1985, a 17-year-old Arlington student had shot himself in front of his drama class. Eight youths killed themselves in Plano between 1983 and 1984. In 1982, the year prior, 28 suicides were reported.

With “Jeremy,” Pearl Jam had tapped into something in the public subconscious and brought to the surface issues that no one wanted to talk about. Bullying. Depression. Suicide. Gun Violence. “Nobody was talking about kids and guns then,” Pellington told Smashbox Studios in a recent interview. “This was seven years before Columbine.” I think what “Jeremy,” both the song and video, show is that anyone could easily become Jeremy.

The middle section of the song is actually inspired by another teen that Vedder knew in junior high school. In a 1991 interview, Vedder talked a bit about a kid named Brian he knew in San Diego and would often get into fights with in the halls. Brian brought a gun to school one day and shot up the oceanography room, thankfully not hurting himself or anyone else. “A lot of people interpret it different ways and it’s just been recently that I’ve been talking about the true meaning behind it,” Vedder said in this vintage interview. “I hope no one’s offended and believe me, I think of Jeremy when I sing it.”



Because of the massive success of the video, which helped push Pearl Jam to the top of the billboard charts, the band slowly began withdrawing from their public persona. They decided to stop making music videos for MTV to promote their albums (with the one exception of the 1998 animated video for "Do The Evolution"), and picked battles with corporate giants like Ticketmaster over monopolizing the monetization of the concert going experience. For a few years there, they even tried to omit “Jeremy” from their set list or play alternate versions of it live. As a fan, I initially felt a bit of disappointment that they ran from the attention that video & song garnered as opposed to embracing it. If anything, it showed the power that a piece of art can have on the general public, and it opened up discussions that otherwise wouldn’t have been brought up.

Then again, maybe there was more to it than not wanting to play their “big hit” anymore? There comes a certain responsibility with putting out any art into the world, and perhaps “Jeremy” was too much, too soon for the band. In my research for this article, I stumbled upon this letter drafted by Jeremy Delle’s father that made me take pause and look at both the song & story slightly differently.

For director Mark Pellington and editor Bruce Ashley, they’ve maintained their working relationship and continued to collaborate on things that raise awareness, like this Coalition To Stop Gun Violence public service announcement video.

Nearly 25 years later, “Jeremy” is still just as powerful a song & video as the day it was released, and if anything, should continue to elicit & inspire conversations. September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month. If you or anyone you know is suffering from depression, there is always help and there is always someone to talk to. There are several great organizations linked below, or you can chat anonymously with someone at this link.

American Foundation For Suicide Prevention
Suicide Prevention Lifeline
Suicide Prevention Resource Center

Oldies But Goodies! The Return Of The Annual Gift Mix CD!

Whew! It's been a while, hasn't it? And apologies. For those of you that don't follow my exploits outside of this music related blog, about a year ago I was hired to be the senior editor of the Blumhouse.com website. A place where you can find articles on horror toys, retrospectives on classic and contemporary movies, music, true crime, real life scares and beyond! Basically, Blumhouse.com is "a celebration of all things scary."

And it's been great thus far! But also time consuming and a lot of work to maintain. But alas, in between that gig, I've still been trucking along, slowly but surely making great progress on my new documentary project with the great Buz Wallick and Joe Maddrey. And I've still got music on the brain every single day. My 40th (!) birthday just passed earlier this week and as I've grown accustomed to doing, I decided I wanted to yet again gift all my friends with a new mix CD.

2 years ago, I kicked it off with my epic "80's Movie Music Mix." (Read the full details on that one here.) Last year, I waited until October to unleash my "Halloween Hits!" mix. This year, I set my sights on a sub-genre that is near and dear to me. Oldies! Primarily, the majority of my selections are from the late 50's with one minor exception. (More on that in a minute.)

This all came to be a few short months ago when I got together with my buddy Robbie Ikegami. Robbie and I used to work together at Amoeba Music over in Hollywood and our constant back & forth banter amused most of our fellow co-workers. Enough so to inspire the collective nick name of "The Rob Couple," a play on "The Odd Couple." We both embrace our similarities and differences, and play up to this comedic persona. Every couple of months, we'll get together for a catch up session. Last time he picked me up in his convertible, I believe he had an Amazon Playlist set to all oldies music. Jackie Wilson's "To Be Loved" came on, we cranked it while cruising on Ventura Blvd with the top down, and I was reminded of just how great of a pop song it really is.


From that afternoon on, I became obsessed with re-discovering all my favorite "oldies" artists and songs. A big part of it plays into the music I myself have been writing over the course of the last year. I used to be so used to starting with a guitar riff or musical idea, building on that, and my last step would be to figure out melodies and lyrics. But because of this oldies kick, I instead have reverse engineered all my latest songs, starting first with the catchiest melody I can think of and working backwards to figure out what chords or music should compliment it.

In doing so, I started really analyzing and breaking down some of my favorite late 50's hits. They're so simple, straight forward, rather brief and often build these gorgeous harmonies between several singers. While this style and academic breakdown have influenced my songwriting as of late, it also inspired me to collect the best batch of feel-good songs. Literally, a new CD mix filled with non-stop good vibes. And after months of testing, I think I finally got it!

If I bumped into you in the last week or so, then you would've been treated to my latest:

"Oldies But Goodies: A Rob G Mix Vol. 3"

Track listing:
1. Hound Dog by Elvis Presley
2. Rock Around The Clock by Bill Haley & His Comets
3. Come On Let's Go by Ritchie Valens
4. Be My Baby by The Ronettes
5. Wouldn't It Be Nice by The Beach Boys
6. Oh Boy! by Buddy Holly
7. Earth Angel (Will You Be Mine) by The Penguins
8. Johnny B. Goode by Chuck Berry
9. To Be Loved by Jackie Wilson
10. Tutti Frutti by Little Richard
11. Danke Schoen by Wayne Newton
12. Twist And Shout by The Beatles
13. Lollipop by Chordettes
14. Come Go With Me by The Del-Vikings
15. Yakety Yak by The Coasters
16. Respect by Aretha Franklin
17. Do You Love Me by The Contours
18. December, 1963 (Oh, What A Night) by Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons
19. Stand By Me by Ben E. King
20. Great Balls Of Fire by Jerry Lee Lewis
21. Shout, Pts. 1 & 2 by The Isley Brothers

I can think of no better way to kick off an "oldies" mix than with "The King" himself, Mister Elvis Presley. "Rock Around The Clock," believe it or not, has been floating in my mind for a potential mix ever since I made the 80's Movie Music one. It's on the soundtrack of THE KARATE KID PART 2 and I always had it in the back of my mind for one of these collections eventually.

Can't have an oldies mix without some of the absolute greats like Ritchie Valens, Buddy Holly and Jerry Lee Lewis. I, of course, have a few movie-themed/inspired selections through out. The original version of "Earth Angel," followed immediately by Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode" is of course an homage to BACK TO THE FUTURE. I was debating between the Beatles version of "Twist & Shout" and The Isley Brothers one, but while driving around and testing this mix with my buddy Dave Parker, he suggested "why not Danke Schoen, then the Beatles version?" Of course! A perfect nod to FERRIS BUELLER.


Also, did you realize that "Danke Schoen" was originally performed by Wayne Newton? And that Wayne Newton has the voice of a woman?! I had no idea!

Tracks 13-15 were not on my first version of the mix, but then I revisited STAND BY ME on Blu-Ray in honor of that film's 30th anniversary and knew I had to cull some tracks from that soundtrack.


The one cheat is "December, 1963," which technically is a single from the 70's. BUT, the Four Seasons have a ton of late 50's oldie classics including "Walk Like A Man," "Big Girls Don't Cry" and "Sherry." And they're often associated as an "oldies" act. I just love that song, and think it fits perfectly among these other selections. And how else can you close an "oldies" mix out than with "Shout?"

I'm pretty proud of this particular mix and absolutely encourage you to either draft up your own, or make a Spotify playlist! Sometimes it just feels good to rock out to some old-school positive tunage! Enjoy. And I promise I'll be back on here much sooner rather than later.

The Unsolved Yogurt Shop Murders That Inspired Okkervil River’s “Westfall”

I have a great sense of respect for any artist or musician that is able to tell an entire story within the confines of a 5 minute pop song. The first time I heard the band Okkervil River, it was on an unlabeled mix CD gifted to me with the track “Westfall.” I was immediately blown away and had to know who this was and exactly what all the lyrics were.

Appearing as the 5th track on their first album “Don’t Fall In Love With Everyone You See,” the band’s debut record was released on January 22nd, 2002. After some mild investigation, I was surprised to find out that the song itself, a story where our narrator is a murderer being brought in by the police, was in fact loosely inspired by a real-life crime; the still yet-to-be-solved Yogurt Shop Murders that took place in Austin, Texas.

In an interview dating back to 2002, singer/songwriter Will Sheff explained, “Westfall was based on a few different stories, but mostly upon something that happened here in Austin a few years ago when some college-age boys broke into a frozen yogurt shop and then killed and disemboweled the young women working there. The authorities caught one of the guys who did it recently and before long the local news networks started airing courtroom footage of him, the secret reason – to my mind – being so that the folks at home could scan his televised face for the evil hiding behind it. I recall thinking that evil isn’t as easy to detect as that. But when I wanted to write a song about that idea, I fictionalized the narrative because that’s the only way I could write it from the first person perspective and feel OK about singing it.”

While the story in the song is both a fictionalized account and told from the point of view of one of the killers, what really happened that inspired this idea?

On the evening of December 6th, 1991, while surveying the area, local Austin police came upon the scene of a “I Can’t Believe Its Yogurt” shop located on West Anderson Lane in a full blaze. After the fire department came and extinguished the fire, they were shocked to discover the remains of 4 bodies inside, 3 stacked on top of each other, all of them bound & gagged and evidence that they had all been murdered before the fire broke out.

The victims were Sarah Harbison (15), Amy Ayers (13), Sarah’s sister Jennifer (17) who worked at the shop with Eliza Thomas (17). The 4 were planning on closing the store after the late shift and having a sleepover that night. Customers that were questioned attested that all 4 girls were seen alive as late as 10PM on the night in question. Because it took thousands of gallons of water to put out the fire, most usable evidence had been literally washed away, but police were able to determine that some of the victims were raped and shot in the head execution style.

Investigators later admitted to over 50 people confessing to the crime, but after interviewing potential witnesses, they set their sights on 4 teenage boys for the murders: Maurice Pierce, Forrest Welborn, Michael Scott and Robert Springsteen. The suspicions of their involvement began a mere 8 days after the murders when Maurice Pierce was picked up at Northcross Mall for carrying a .22-caliber hand gun. Pierce said he’d lent the gun to his friend, Forrest Welborn. Welborn denied this, but did admit to taking a joyride with Springsteen and Scott in a stolen car not too long after the crime took place. None of the 4 boys realized they were considered suspects, until they were arrested in late 1999, eight years later.

After hours of questioning, both Springsteen and Scott confessed to the crime, and because of this, they were the only 2 cases to go to trial. The confessions in question were obtained by homicide investigator Hector Polanco, who had a notorious history of getting coercing confessions out of innocent suspects. For example, Polanco secured a confession from Christo­pher Ochoa that put Ochoa and Richard Danziger behind bars for a 1988 murder that neither committed. They were both exonerated in 2002 after the real killer came forward. (Have you seen MAKING A MURDERER? It happens more than you’d think.)

In October of 2009, the convictions against Springsteen and Scott were overturned when new DNA evidence found on one of the victims was proven to not match any of the 4 suspects. In a public statement, Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg said that she still believed these men to be guilty of the crime, but the new DNA evidence added a “fifth man” to their initial theory. Or… have they been wrong all along?

The entire case had been built on the premise that these 4 boys were the ones responsible. Most involved believe the only proper way to move forward on solving this mystery would be to go back to the very beginning with objective eyes and re-examine all the original evidence and case files. Multiple interviews with customers that were at the yogurt shop on the night in question all claim to have seen two suspicious men sitting at a booth in the corner. One couple that was questioned claimed these men, “made them uncomfortable.” Dearl Croft, a former police officer who at the time ran a security company stopped by the shop at approximately 10pm and recalled a man wearing a military fatigue-style jacket, who was loitering in the customer line, ushering other customers ahead of him, before finally decided to buy a can of soda. Croft was unable to identify any of the 4 official suspects in a police line-up as the man he described from the night in question.

Each of the lawyers for Springsteen and Scott are convinced these two described men could be the key to unlocking the mysteries of this case. They argue that it’s unlikely that the way these girls were murdered – in a cold, calculated way, execution style, could’ve been perpetrating by 4 teenage boys. A more believable scenario is this act was done by ruthless adult criminals. From the evidence photos, you can see that the one table doesn’t have an overturned chair on it was the one these suspicious two sat in. And yet, the detectives all working on the case now are still convinced that all 4 boys were somehow involved in the crime.

In a strange twist of fate, one of the accused, Maurice Pierce was forever haunted by this crime and had several run-ins with the law after, often claiming police abuse against him. He was shot and killed after slashing at a police officer who pulled him over for rolling through a stop sign in 2010. Meanwhile, Springsteen is suing for a wrongful conviction, and wants $700,000 and to be declared innocent of all charges.

Because the severity of this crime, and the fact that it still to this day remains unsolved, the yogurt shop murders continue to draw speculation, unproven theories and fascination among true crime buffs. Below you can watch the full “Cold Case Files” segment on the case.



And we’ll leave you with the song (and lyrics) that inspired this entire article, Okkervil River‘s “Westfall,” which argues that “evil” don’t look like anything.



“Westfall” Lyrics:

I’m surrounded, each doorway covered
By at least twenty men
And they’re going to take me, throw me in prison
I ain’t coming back again
I ain’t coming back again

When I was younger, handsomer and stronger
I felt like I could do anything
But all of these people making all these faces
Didn’t seem like my kith and kin
Didn’t seem like my kith and kin

Colin Kincaid from the twelfth grade
I guess you could say he was my best friend
Lived in a big tall house out on Westfall
Where we would hide when the rain rolled in
Where we would hide when the rain rolled in

We went out one night and took a flashlight
Out with these two girls Colin knew from Kenwood Christian
One was named Laurie, that’s what the story
Said next week in the Guardian
Said next week in the Guardian

And when I killed her it was so easy
That I wanted to kill her again
I got down on both of my knees and
She ain’t coming back again
She ain’t coming back again

Now, with all these cameras focused on my face
You’d think they could see it through my skin
They’re looking for evil, thinking they can trace it, but
Evil don’t look like anything
Evil don’t look like anything

Evil don’t look like anything
Evil don’t look like anything
Evil don’t look like anything
Evil don’t look like anything

Evil don’t look like anything
Evil don’t look like anything

How Legendary Composer Ennio Morricone Ended Up Scoring John Carpenter’s THE THING

It’s been amazing to see the sudden renascence of the work of John Carpenter, not just as a director and arguably the “master of horror,” but in particular for all the music he’s composed for his movies. He’s currently in the middle of a world tour in support of his two albums “Lost Themes” and “Lost Themes II,” where he’s also performing live reinterpretations of some of his most famous film themes. I was fortunate enough to catch his “warm up” show at the Bootleg Theater here in Los Angeles, which kicked off the tour and I was pleasantly surprised by one of the evening’s set list picks.

Toward the latter half of his show, Carpenter paid tribute to legendary composer Ennio Morricone and performed his main theme for John’s 1982 remake of THE THING. It was one of those surreal moments where I never thought I’d hear someone pull off a cover of a Morricone tune, let alone it being Carpenter, himself! It got me thinking about how special THE THING is, both in John’s filmography, but also musically. For the most part, only on the rare occasion did Carpenter not compose his own score.

In the case of THE THING, his first major studio movie for Universal, Carpenter had his hands full with the complexity of the actual shoot, itself. Keep in mind, we’re all familiar now with the finished product, and we’re used to the jaw-dropping FX done by Rob Bottin and the gorgeous compositions of Dean Cundey’s photography that capture the cold, isolated feeling of their shooting locations, but imagine trying to pre-visualize how to pull that all off before shooting began! The last thing Carpenter needed to worry about was scoring the film too.

Producer Stuart Cohen shed some light in a very detailed post on his personal blog. He says, “In a perfect world, given unlimited time and resources, I think John would have preferred to compose the music for THE THING himself. The realities of the work yet to be done, however, combined with the need for a more expansive and layered approach to the score led us to consider other options. We initially offered the film to Jerry Goldsmith who was unavailable, doing both POLTERGEIST and TWILIGHT ZONE for Spielberg. Availability on musician John Corigliano (ALTERED STATES) was checked. The legendary Alex North read the script, had ideas, and wanted to meet but at that point I felt the only composer John would possibly entrust his film to other than himself was Ennio Morricone.”

The composer and director only met once, and Morricone saw a very early version of the film without any of the exteriors or completed FX. Partly because of this and because of the language barrier between the two, approaching the score was a challenge. Producer Cohen explains that John had a brief 2 day trip to meet with Morricone in Italy, “In early January, 1982, a conversation was done through translators which made things difficult. Matters improved slightly when John sat down at the piano and began tinkering, searching for a way of communicating the feeling of what he was after, with Morricone listening intently. This was the first time John had ceded control of the music to any of his films, and I believe the experience was extremely difficult. It was agreed that due to the shortness of time Morricone would provide the music in a series of thematic suites, with both electronic and orchestral elements present, that we would then later edit to fit – this would simplify things, save time and eliminate the need to conventionally “spot” the film.”

“John played for Morricone the score we did for ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK,” explained Alan Howarth in a 2011 composer roundtable interview as part of the Sound Of Fear event at London’s Southbank Centre. “Ennio gave it out two passes. John comes from the other side; he says: ‘Hmm, there’s a couple of things I really need. You mind if we just kind of go to the studio for a day and sneak this one in?’ We did three more cues, making it more John Carpenter-esque…'”

Morricone himself said the following about his work on THE THING: “Regarding THE THING, by John Carpenter, I’ve asked him, as he was preparing some electronic music with an assistant to edit on the film, “Why did you call me, if you want to do it on your own?” He surprised me, he said – “I got married to your music. This is why I’ve called you.” I was quite amazed, he called me because he had my music at his wedding. Then when he showed me the film, later when I wrote the music, we didn’t exchange ideas. He ran away, nearly ashamed of showing it to me. I wrote the music on my own without his advice. Naturally, as I had become quite clever since 1982, I’ve written several scores relating to my life. And I had written one, which was electronic music. And [Carpenter] took the electronic score.”

In the book JOHN CARPENTER: THE PRINCE OF DARKNESS by Giles Boulenger, John himself clarified his and Alan’s contributions as compared to what Ennio had done. “[Morricone] had written several pieces for THE THING, and I told him that he was using too many notes for the title track and that he should simplify it. He did simplify it, and the title track that you hear is his. He did all the orchestrations and recorded for me 20 minutes of music I could use wherever I wished but without seeing any footage. I cut his music into the film and realized that there were places, mostly scenes of tension, in which his music would not work.”

“Since we needed something, I secretly ran off and recorded in a couple of days a few pieces to use. My pieces were very simple electronic pieces – it was almost tones. It was not really music at all but just background sounds, something today you might even consider as sound effects. I used these pieces as unifying moments because structurally we had to redo THE THING at one point in the center. I put them in there to glue together the film, but in no way was I trying to compete with Ennio’s score. The score is his.”

Interestingly enough, the cues that Morricone did for THE THING that weren’t in the actual film did get used eventually – in Quentin Tarantino’s 2015 feature THE HATEFUL EIGHT. In a post-screening Q & A with fellow director Christopher Nolan, Tarantino explained (and paraphrased Morricone), “‘I wrote a whole orchestra score [for THE THING], and I wrote a whole synthesizer score, because I knew that was what [John Carpenter] was used to and I gave him everything, and the only thing he used in the entire movie was the synthesizer main title [track].’ So basically, if you stay away from the synthesizer main title, all that music that’s on the soundtrack album has never been used in a movie ever. So, he goes, ‘What I can do is I’ll write the theme… and with the other THING pieces of music, now you have your original score that’s never been used in a movie before.'”

Morricone composed 25 minutes of new music for THE HATEFUL EIGHT, paired up with his un-used cues from THE THING, along with some other of Tarantino’s favorite bits of music, including one of Morricone’s pieces from THE EXORCIST II: THE HERETIC! Morricone won his first Oscar for his score on THE HATEFUL EIGHT.

When I think back to THE THING, one of the aspects that is forever embedded in my mind is that melancholy, bleak theme. It’s one of those rare cases in cinema where everything works. While the movie wasn’t well received by critics or audiences when it came out in 1982, it is now most certainly celebrated as a masterpiece of sci-fi/horror cinema. Let’s enjoy Ennio Morricone’s main theme for John Carpenter’s THE THING!

10 Horror Director Cameos You Probably Didn’t Know About

Horror directors get to have all of the fun! Because of the very nature of the type of material these filmmakers are shooting, things can get a little wild, messy and ludicrous, but often times, the general vibe on a horror movie set is predominantly positive. Some directors like to go the extra mile and cameo in their own features. The “Master Of Suspense” Alfred Hitchcock was famous for making casual walk on appearances in his movies. For PSYCHO, he opted to cameo as early in the film as possible so as to not distract the audience that had come to expect seeing him pop up in his own films.

The comradery among the “Masters of Horror” directors coming out of the 80’s was something that even fans could feel a part of. So for example, when Clive Barker, Stephen King and Tobe Hooper all share the same scene in Mick Garris’ 1992 cult flick SLEEPWALKERS, it’s hard not to grin from ear to ear.

When watching the John Carpenter anthology film BODY BAGS, you can’t help but giggle at the sight of Wes Craven, Sam Raimi or Roger Corman when they briefly show up.

So, because I watch a ton of movies, here are a few cameo appearances that famous horror directors have made, mostly uncredited, that you may have completely missed!

Tobe Hooper in COMING TO AMERICA (1988)

Director John Landis is primarily known for his comedies, but with titles such as AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON and INNOCENT BLOOD (which in itself has a ton of fun cameos!), he’s definitely among the “masters of horror.” So it was fun revisiting one of his funniest movies, 1988’s COMING TO AMERICA and suddenly seeing Mister Tobe Hooper, looking baffled at the eccentric Reverend Brown (Arsenio Hall) doing his spiel. Hooper of course is the director of THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE, THE FUNHOUSE and POLTERGEIST. And speaking of Landis…

John Landis in SPIDER-MAN 2 (2004)

John Landis and director Sam Raimi have been buddies for a long time and both have worked within the giant Hollywood studio system. So it should come as no surprise that the EVIL DEAD director used Landis as one of the doctors operating on Doctor Octopus (Alfred Molina) in SPIDER-MAN 2! But wait, there’s more…

John Landis in DARKMAN (1990)

Perhaps Landis is just reprising a doctor role from an earlier Sam Raimi feature? In 1990’s DARKMAN, Landis can be seen among this group of medical students, led by none other than his AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON star Jenny Agutter on their way to examine their “John Doe” burn victim, aka Peyton Westlake.

Mick Garris in THE HOWLING (1981)

Prior to creating the anthology series MASTERS OF HORROR, and directing several Stephen King adaptations, Mick Garris hosted an interview show for the Z Channel that featured chats with many of his future cohorts. He also made a few documentary featurettes (referred to as EPK’s back in those days) for titles such as THE FOG, THE GOONIES and Joe Dante’s THE HOWLING. It just so happens that if you pay attention to the final scene in THE HOWLING, you’ll spot Mick Garris (with his then-wife) watching the werewolf transformation on live TV and wondering what the hell is going on!

Mick Garris in THRILLER (1983)

Speaking of Garris, were you wondering about the header image to this article? Well, Michael Jackson’s THRILLER was directed by none other than John Landis and featured the FX work of Rick Baker. Among the zombies in the crowd is Mick Garris himself! The little red arrow points to him in disguise!

Rick Rosenthal in BETTER OFF DEAD (1985)

This one is so obscure, I had to email director Savage Steve Holland to confirm it! In the 1985 comedy cult classic BETTER OFF DEAD, when Layne (John Cusack) goes to pick up his skis and the owner of the shop is mangled for having attempted to ski the K12, it turns out that’s Rick Rosenthal! The director of HALLOWEEN II and HALLOWEEN: RESURRECTION! Turns out he had an office next to Holland’s while he was on pre-production for BETTER OFF DEAD, the two struck up conversation and Savage asked him to be in the movie!

Sam Raimi in MANIAC COP (1988)

This one is fun because it’s the very beginning of production on William Lustig’s MANIAC COP! As told on the Blu-Ray documentary, the St. Patrick’s Day parade was happening in New York City and Lustig wanted to shoot it even though he didn’t have a script yet for MANIAC COP. It was just a matter of getting great production value for nothing with the parade! And so he had his friend Raimi, in town at the time, do this little newscast that ended up in the actual movie. EVIL DEAD star Bruce Campbell ended up also being the lead in MANIAC COP!

Peter Jackson in HOT FUZZ (2007)

At the opening of Edgar Wright’s wacky homage to action cinema HOT FUZZ, Nicholas Angel (Simon Pegg) is recounting the select few times he’s ever had an incident on the job. One of those times was being stabbed by a “Father Christmas,” who is played by none other than Peter Jackson, the director of BAD TASTE, DEAD ALIVE and those little LORD OF THE RINGS and HOBBIT movies.

Leigh Whannell in THE MATRIX RELOADED (2003)

A year before SAW came out and become a huge success, leading to a franchise, as well as DEAD SILENCE and eventually the INSIDIOUS franchise, the writer of all of the above Leigh Whannell appeared in THE MATRIX REVOLUTIONS! Whannell has since made plenty of appearances in front of the camera and stepped up to direct the latest in the INSIDIOUS series, INSIDIOUS: CHAPTER 3 but again, it’s fun to see him here in a huge blockbuster sequel a year before the original SAW was unleashed upon an unexpected audience!

Tim Burton in SINGLES (1992)

It’s been 24 years (!) since Cameron Crowe’s Seattle based apartment complex love story SINGLES came out, which believe it or not went on to inspire the televisions series MELROSE PLACE. At one point, Debbie (Sheila Kelley, THE GUEST) attempts to give a video dating service a try. For an extra $10 bucks, the service is willing to let Brian shoot it because “he’s like the next Martin Score-sez.” Good ol’ Brian is actually Tim Burton who helmed SLEEPY HOLLOW, SWEENEY TODD, BATMAN & BATMAN RETURNS as well as a handful of your other favorite movies!