Retro Video of the Week: "Tootsee Roll" by 69 Boyz

Friday will mark the 30th anniversary of Miami hip hop group 69 Boyz's (I think that's how the possessive of that would work) debut album, 199Quad.  The album would peak at #59 on the Billboard album chart and #13 on the Billboard R&B album chart, and it eventually went platinum in the U.S., behind the success of their hit single, the now-classic "Tootsee Roll."

The Tootsee Roll was a dance, presumably created collaboratively by all 69 of the boyz, and the song basically tells you how to do it.  This was definitely one of those songs that was playing at high school dances and frat parties back in the mid to late '90s.  It spent four months in the Top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100, reaching #8, and it was also #1 on the Billboard Hot Rap Singles chart and #9 on the Billboard Hot R&B singles chart.  If they left us with nothing else, any time you hear someone say "to the left," you're probably thinking in your head "to the right, to the right, to the front, to the front, to the back, to the back, now dip, baby, dip." Or at least you will now.

Hair Band Friday - 5/24/24

1.  "Edison's Medicine" by Tesla

2.  "Trouble" by Shotgun Messiah

3.  "14 Years" by Guns N' Roses

4.  "Without You" (live) by Mötley Crüe

5.  "My Way" by KISS

6.  "Bones in the Gutter" by Dangerous Toys

7.  "Need Your Love So Bad" by Whitesnake

8.  "Push Comes to Shove" by Van Halen

9.  "Cross Me and See" by Bonham

10.  "Hold the Dream" by FireHouse

Retro Video of the Week: "Undone - The Sweater Song" by Weezer

Last Friday marked the 30th anniversary of the release of Weezer's eponymous debut album, which we all know and love as "The Blue Album."  Rightly heralded as one of the best albums of the '90s and one of the best debut albums of all-time, The Blue Album is basically perfect from top to bottom.  In the thick of grunge, this was a little different.  Produced by Cars frontman Ric Ocasek, it was certainly "alternative," but there was a great blending of power pop, hard rock, punk, emo, and alt rock -- sometimes crisp, sometimes feedbacky, sometimes hooky, sometimes gnarly.  And, of course, the album cover is iconic, with the four band members just standing there, not quite smiling, in front of a light royal blue background.  I saw Weezer play The Blue Album in its entirety back in early 2011, and it was awesome.  They're done it again on tour this year, and I'm seeing them in September.

Anyway, I could go on and on about the album, but let's just get to the damn Retro Video of the Week already.  The band released three singles from the album:  "Undone - The Sweater Song," "Buddy Holly," and "Say It Ain't So."  I featured all three on Retro Video of the Week at some point, but it's been a longer time since I featured "Undone - The Sweater Song" than the other two.  In fact, it was ten years and one day ago.  This was the band's first single, and it was the only one of the three that charted on the Billboard Hot 100, though it only reached #57.  It also went to #6 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart.  The video is directed by Spike Jonze, who was just getting his start, before going on to become one of the most in-demand video directors of the '90s and then directing, writing, and producing feature films (and winning an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay in 2014 for Her).

It's a single shot video with the band playing on a blue stage in a studio, with Rivers Cuomo looking like a mod wearing a t-shirt version of the Greatest American Hero costume.  And then a bunch of dogs run through.  But there's one thing you won't see in the video:  a sweater.

Hair Band Friday - 5/10/24

1.  "VOA" by Sammy Hagar

2.  "Faith" by Spread Eagle

3.  "The Green Manalishi (With the Two-Pronged Crown)" by Judas Priest

4.  "Loco-Emotion" by Kix

5.  "Night Music" by Dio

6.  "Dirty Movies" by Van Halen

7.  "Over the Mountain" by Ozzy Osbourne

8.  "Sailing Ships" by Whitesnake

9.  "Wanted Man" by Ratt

10.  "Goin' Crazy" by David Lee Roth

Retro Video of the Week: "Heart-Shaped Box" by Nirvana

As you may have heard, legendary grunge and alt rock engineer/producer Steve Albini unexpectedly died yesterday from a heart attack at age 61.  In addition to making plenty of his own music with various bands -- including with his band Shellac, whose next album is set to be released next week -- he produced some of grunge and late '80s/early '90s alternative rock's biggest names and albums.  A small sampling includes Pixies' influential 1988 debut album Surfer Rosa, PJ Harvey's 1993 album Rid of Me, Nivana's third and final studio album, 1993's In Utero, Bush's 1996 album Razorblade Suitcase, and Jimmy Page and Robert Plant's 1998 album Walking Into Clarksdale.

Aside from those I just mentioned, among the many artists he worked with over the years, be it as producer, engineer, or mixer, included The Breeders, Cheap Trick, Flogging Molly, Foxy Shazam, Fugazi, Gogol Bordello, Guided By Voices, Helmet, Jawbreaker, The Jesus Lizard, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Ty Segall, Superchunk, The Stooges, Umphrey's McGee, Urge Overkill, and Veruca Salt.

Initially, I didn't want to go with Nirvana's "Heart-Shaped Box" off of In Utero because that and  "All Apologies" -- both songs the band intended to release as singles (and did) -- were remixed by producer Scott Litt to apparently make them more radio friendly, much to Albini's chagrin.  But at the end of the day, it was still Albini who recorded the song, even if the mix isn't the same as the original recording.  It's also the only music video the band made for any of the songs off of In Utero.  Plus, I haven't used a Nirvana song on Retro Video of the Week in over seven years.  It's also a super weird video that is about as 1993 grunge as it gets.

Hair Band Friday - 5/3/24

1.  "Unskinny Bop" by Poison

2.  "Flight to Nowhere" by Tesla

3.  "Don't Turn Away" by Whitesnake

4.  "Hellion" (live) by W.A.S.P.

5.  "Just For You" by Bang Tango

6.  "Tear Down the Walls" by Kix

7.  "Song and Dance Man" by Warrant

8.  "Streamer" by Krokus

9.  "Social Disease" by Bon Jovi

10.  "I Can't Drive 55" by Sammy Hagar

Retro Video of the Week: "Living After Midnight" by Judas Priest

Last week, I was delinquent on posting a Retro Video of the Week, but I shan't make the same mistake two weeks in a row.  Last night, I had the pleasure of seeing Judas Priest live for the first time.  They played at the Rosemont Theatre, with Sabaton opening.  Both bands were awesome.  It's truly amazing that Rob Halford still has his voice and can still hit those notes at 72!  Then again, he is the Metal God.  And with his massive white beard, he looks like a Metal Santa.

Anywho, in honor of my first Priest show, this week's Retro Video of the Week is one of my favorite songs by the band, "Living After Midnight," off of the seminal 1980 album British Steel.  It's a classic, and it reached #12 on the UK pop chart, tying it for the band's highest-charting single ever (matched by the follow-up single, "Breaking the Law").  Enjoy this bit of NWOBHM heaven tonight, for tomorrow is Hair Band Friday.