It’s David Byrne’s birthday today — he’s 60 — and while he’s made it perfectly clear he wants nothing to do with his old Talking Heads bandmates, it’s certainly fun to look back at what a mighty band they once were. So here’s a killer ‘Remain in Light’-era concert filmed in Rome in 1980 for your viewing pleasure.
Today we mark the 50th birthday of Dave Gahan by looking back at the man’s, and band’s, 30-year career with this selection of seven full Depeche Mode concerts for your viewing pleasure, filmed on tours in 1981, 1985, 1986, 1993, 2001, 2006 and 2009. Enjoy.
Twenty-five years ago today, U2 cemented itself as one of rock ‘n’ roll’s giants, releasing its epochal album ‘The Joshua Tree.’ To celebrate this milestone, we present the band’s infamous “Save the Yuppies” concert from Nov. 11, 1987, when U2 set up in Justin Herman Plaza at San Francisco’s Embarcadero Center for a free concert.
Long one of rock’s most unique and iconoclastic frontmen, Mark E. Smith — the only constant member of The Fall — turns 55 today, and to celebrate, we, for the second straight year, offer up this hour-long documentary called ‘The Fall: The Wonderful and Frightening World of Mark E. Smith’ that aired on the BBC back in 2005.
Twenty years ago tonight, U2 opened its ZOO TV Tour in Lakeland, Fla. — debuting a high-tech stage show that not only redefined the Irish rockers, but changed the way arena and stadium tours have been staged ever since, incorporating dazzling visual imagery and extending the performance space out into the audience.
David Bowie turns 65 today, and while he’s hitting what’s traditionally seen as retirement age, the Thin White Duke seemingly ended his musical career a few years ago. So to celebrate this peerless musical legend, we present eight full Bowie concerts, filmed between the years of 1978 and 2004.
Twenty-five years ago today, The Smiths performed what would prove to be the band’s final concert, a 15-song set at London’s Brixton Academy as part of a rescheduled benefit for Artists Against Apartheid. Watch that full Dec. 12, 1986, concert here.
Depeche Mode’s debut ‘Speak & Spell’ was released on Oct. 5, 1981 — exactly 30 years ago today. To mark the occasion, we present the band’s first few appearances on ‘Top of the Pops,’ which find a group of very young men — introduced as ‘Depech-ay Mode!’ — miming along to their early hits.
Thirty-five years ago today, a nascent Siouxsie and the Banshees — with co-founders Siouxsie Sioux and Steven Severin joined by Sid Vicious on drums — played their first concert at the famed 100 Club Punk Special, opening for The Clash and the Sex Pistols. Hear it here.
Twenty years ago today, first-time director Samuel Bayer gathered several dozen fans and three young musicians on a Culver City, Calif., soundstage to film the video for Nirvana’s ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit,’ a soon-to-be iconic clip — the infamous high school pep rally from hell — that ultimately would be as era-defining as the song itself.
This is a little more mainstream than what we usually cover, but it’s hard to deny the significance: Thirty years ago today, on Aug. 1, 1981, MTV went on the air (‘Ladies and gentlemen, rock ‘n’ roll…’), changing the course of music in the ’80s and beyond.
Daniel Ash — he of ’80s darkwave trifecta Bauhaus, Tones on Tail and Love and Rockets — turns 54 today, and to mark the occasion, we present this little nugget: It’s a promo for MTV’s ’120 Minutes’ featuring a cue-card reading Ash and his Love and Rockets bandmates David J and Kevin Haskins that aired sometime around 1986.
Twenty years ago today, the Perry Farrell-spawned Lollapalooza festival — which, in retrospect, joins Nevermind as perhaps the best historical encapsulation of ‘the year punk broke’ — made its debut in the sun-baked Arizona desert with performances by Nine Inch Nails, Living Colour, Siouxsie and the Banshees and Jane’s Addiction.
Today we commemorate the birthday of Peter Murphy — he’s 54 — by turning the clock back to the Bauhaus era and presenting “Shadow of Light,” a 40-minute film released on VHS in 1984 that includes live performances mixed in with music videos.
Today marks the birthday of Neil Tennant — he’s 57 — and we celebrate by presenting the Pet Shop Boys’ earliest concert film, ‘Highlights.’ Released on VHS in 1990, this short film — which has yet to be released on DVD — features eight songs performed at London’s Wembley Arena in July 1989 during the duo’s MCMLXXXIX Tour.
The Fourth of July isn’t just the anniversary of this nation’s birth, it’s also the day now recognized as marking the break-up of perhaps the greatest of all the ’80s college-rock acts: The Replacements, who performed their final concert exactly 20 years ago today in Chicago’s Grant Park.
Today we mark the 56th birthday of punk legend Mick Jones — leader of the newly reactivated Big Audio Dynamite — with a look back at that other band he was in, with a full 1980 concert by The Clash. Watch it here.
Thirty years ago today, 2 Tone ska kings The Specials released their landmark single ‘Ghost Town,’ a haunting soundtrack to England’s early-’80s economic despair and civil unrest. Check out several video version of the unforgettable U.K. No. 1 hit.
Twenty-five years ago today, The Smiths released their third — and, arguably, best — album, ‘The Queen is Dead,’ a note-perfect marriage of Johnny Marr’s peerless pop songcraft and Morrissey’s pointed political commentary, lovesick laments and wicked humor.
We’ve got a rare double milestone today, as not one but two members of the Pixies — bassist Kim Deal and guitarist Joey Santiago — celebrate their birthdays (she’s 50 and he’s 46). We celebrate with this complete 29-song ‘Trompe le Monde’-era set filmed 20 years ago this month.
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