Retro Video Unit (8/21/15)

I've been a week behind on these since, oh, late June. So this is my attempt, however feeble, to get back to my previously established timetable.

About a month ago I happened to catch the 1985 movie To Live and Die in L.A. on TV. Directed by William Friedkin, it's an underrated, gritty crime movie starring William Petersen in an early lead role as a Secret Service agent on the trail of a suave, cocky counterfeiter (a fascinating performance by William Dafoe). I've seen it a number of times, and if you have not had the opportunity, I do recommend it.

I mention it here because the soundtrack was done by the band Wang Chung, whom Friedkin specifically sought out to do the music. As a result I've had the band's songs in my brain on and off since, and I think it's time to feature a song here.



"Everybody Have Fun Tonight" was not used in the movie (it would have been wildly out of place with the film's dark tone), but it's kind of the band's signature song. Be warned, though: the video might make you dizzy, or give you a headache, if you are sensitive to rapidly changing imagery.

(There's a story about this song and a live show by The dB's that I saw way back in 1987 with Just Bud Fox, but it's kind of a "you had to be there" thing.)