Retro Video of the Week: "Bring The Noise" by Public Enemy

Monday marked the thirtieth anniversary of the release of the soundtrack from the movie Less Than Zero.  The film was an adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis's debut novel of the same name.  Written and released when he was still a student at Bennington, the novel was released in 1985, when Ellis was only 21.  The novel is a nihilistic look at the superficiality of '80s L.A., full of drug use and vapid, self-centered characters.  The film -- which, admittedly, I haven't seen -- was loosely based on the book, but apparently with some significant changes to lighten the mood a bit and take some of the more hardcore edges from the novel.  It starred Andrew McCarthy, Robert Downey, Jr., Jami Gertz, and James Spader, among others.

While the film did okay at the box office, its soundtrack was what many remember. Produced by Rick Rubin, the soundtrack featured a mix of original songs and covers by artists of varied genres:  Aerosmith, Roy Orbison, Slayer, Public Enemy, The Bangles, LL Cool J, Poison, Glenn Danzig, Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, Alyson Williams and Oran "Juice" Jones, and Black Flames.

I'm going with Public Enemy's "Bring The Noise" because I think it's the best original song on the soundtrack.  It would also be included a year later on the group's seminal album, It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back. And, of course, in 1991, Public Enemy collaborated with thrash metal stalwarts Anthrax for a metal version of the song. But I'm giving you the video for the original version, which has since become recognized as one of the best rap songs of all-time.  Chuck D slays on this song.  The video includes a lead-in and outro from a British video show, which is kind of funny, since I assume there weren't many Brits who were into Public Enemy.