Ever since the dawn of MTV and Friday Night Videos, the music video has significantly impacted musical tastes and pop culture. It might not be as extreme as when the Buggles declared that "Video Killed the Radio Star", but there is no arguing that the music video certainly could make or break a song's popularity. So this regular Flashback Video feature will serve to remember some of the music videos from the great '80s decade that made an impact on me in one way or another.
This issue we will cover "Just A Gigolo/I Ain't Got Nobody" by David Lee Roth. "Just a Gigolo" was first adapted in 1929 by Irving Caesar into English from an Austrian tango. It has been recorded by many artists but became popular from a 1956 recording by Louis Prima and arranged by Sam Butera where he paired it in a medley with another old standard, "I Ain't Got Nobody". The Village People covered the medley in 1978, but most people now know David Lee Roth's version from his 1985 solo EP titled Crazy From the Heat. Roth's first single from that EP was a cover of "California Girls" released in December of 1984 which went to #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in March of 1985. The music video for "California Girls" was quite popular and played regularly on MTV, but I also really enjoy the music video for his second solo single.
"Just A Gigolo/I Ain't Got Nobody" was released as a single in March of 1985 and kept the momentum of "California Girls" going. It climbed the U.S. pop charts quickly to peak at #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 in May. The music video was once again conceived and directed by Pete Angelus and Roth himself. Pete Angelus had worked closely with Van Halen on everything from graphic design, to live show design to music videos. He became Roth's solo manager and collaborator on fun, unique music videos. Roth and Angelus had a falling out after managing his solo career for six years, but while together they created some fun videos. The video for "Just a Gigolo/I Ain't Got Nobody" starts with Roth hosting a fictional music video television show called Dave TV and showing the end of his "California Girls" video. Dave then seems to be daydreaming while moving between hallways and soundstages featuring parodies/impersonators of several pop music artists such as Michael Jackson, Cyndi Lauper ("Girls Just Wanna Have Fun"), Billy Idol ("Dancing with Myself"), Willie Nelson and Boy George. As with his last video, this one also includes a bevy of scantily-clad sexy women throughout. It also features at least fifteen outrageous outfit changes for Dave as he makes his way through each scene. Enough reading about it, enjoy watching the music video for "Just A Gigolo/I Ain't Got Nobody" by David Lee Roth...
Both videos for "California Girls" and "Just A Gigolo/I Ain't Got Nobody" were nominated for multiple MTV Video Music Awards in 1985 including Video of the Year, Best Male Video and Viewer's Choice. It did not win any of them, but to have two videos nominated in each of those categories is quite an accomplishment in itself. We have Roth's love of quirky songs from a bygone era (which stemmed from his childhood and listening to the underground radio station KPPC out of Pasadena, California) to thank for these fun covers. We have Roth himself to thank for creating such fun and entertaining music videos especially for his solo work. "Live all day and all night. Only right here on Daaaave TV!"
Hope you enjoyed another trip back to the '80s thanks to Flashback Video!