"Fantastic Animation Festival," the first widely-released collection of animated films, which became a hit with midnight movie lovers, was the first exposure for dozens of respected animators, and spawned like-minded follow-up compilations for decades to follow. It premiered on television as one of the earliest episodes of “Night Flight” in July 1981.
Travel way back to the Halcyon days of Night Flight with tonight's New Arrival from the vault: a 1982 Video Profile of Adam Ant. This early episode format gives an uncut feel to the interview in which Ant talks about meeting the Queen, what it takes to break in America and taking inspiration from the fashion of the French Revolution.
This Night Flight segment from one of our early seasons ('81-83 era) features a 1955 episode of "Showtime at the Apollo," featuring an ensemble of African American performers live from the the landmark Apollo Theater in Harlem. The show is hosted by "Mayor of Harlem" Willie Bryant and features incredible performances from Bill Bailey, Ruth Brown ("Have a Good Time"), Cab Calloway and his Orchestra ("Minnie the Moocher"), Lionel Hampton ("Cobb's Idea"), Leonard Reed, "Big" Joe Turner ("Oke-She-Moka-She-Pop") and Sarah Vaughan ("Perfidio").
One of Night Flight's most revered segments returns on Night Flight Plus this weekend. This episode of The Video Artist follows Stephen Beck, who creates abstract analog visuals with his direct video synthesizer. Beck was an inventor, video artist and writer who was a pioneer in the video synthesis medium. "My interest is using the video synthesizer as a compositional tool," he says as he walks Night Flight through his process. His hallucinatory and beautifully surreal videos stand up to anything you see today, it's not surprising his work is collected by the MOMA and other major institutions.
This almost 2 hour special episode of Night Flight includes a documentary on filming Pink Floyd's The Wall, "They went to the stars" an excursion through 1950s space adventures, videos from The Residents, Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Neil Young, Bob Marley and so so much more. Includes the following content: Take Off to Special Effects Tom Tom Club - Genius of Love Rod Stewart - Sweet Little Rock and Roller The Residents - Land of 1000 Dances They Went to The Stars: Science Fiction When TV Was Live! Count Basie and His Orchestra Bob & Doug McKenzie skit The Doors - People Are Strange The Doors - Light My Fire Jimmy Hendrix - The Star Spangled Banner / Purple Haze Neil Young - My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue) Bob Marley - No Woman, No Cry The Other Side of the Wall The Residents - Act of Being Polite
An unfamiliar voice welcomes us to the proceedings in this Night Flight Original episode: “Tonight, we introduce you to the men behind the masks with an exclusive interview as well as concert films from their Inner Sanctum and Japanese tours.” By now, you must know this voice is NOT regular host Pat Prescott and the band he IS talking about is Kiss. Put it all this together, and you realize this is one of the early uncut lost episodes of Night Flight! Sure, clips from this interview pop up here and there (like in last year's IFC Time Capsule's) but never in the long-form version that appears before us today. This is where the Night Flight saga began, folks. You can almost smell the potential! (And flammable hairspray).
Tonight, we bring you another episode of "The Video Artist," an original Night Flight segment exploring the work of pioneers in New Media art. This episode highlights the self-proclaimed "TV Artist" Kit Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald creates abstract expressionist video collages featuring impossible landscapes and non-linear time. In an interview with Night Flight, Fitzgerald explains that her work "derives from Duchamp, the idea of artwork being made complete not by the artist solely, but by he or she who encounters it and what they bring to it." Her collaborative music video with Jon Sanborn for King Crimson's "Heartbeat" is the standout.
The Doors Are Open is a 1968 black-and-white documentary first aired in the United Kingdom on 4 October 1968 and shown regularly on Night Flight. Combing footage of the Doors playing live at London's Roundhouse venue, interviews with the band members and contemporary news snippets of world current affairs. Watch Night Flight's original broadcast tonight!
Tonight’s original episode comes from 1983, i.e. the early days of discovery on NF that often featured uncut performance footage. Here, we see Toyah’s 1981 show at London’s Rainbow Theatre with the irrepressible performer at the top of her game. Listen up for excellent tunes like "War Boys," "Neon Womb" and more.
“Theatre’s what I really wanted to do,” Grace Jones tells Night Flight host Al Bandiero in this early interview with the art pop provocateur from 1983. Jones covers her rise to fame, turning down roles in “Blade Runner” and “Flashdance” and LIVE TIGERS in her LIVE show. Incredibly candid, unfiltered Jones. Watch this episode in our growing collection of Video Profiles!
Traffic's Jim Capaldi sat down with Night Flight for a 1983 Video Profile to promote his new solo record, Fierce Heart. He talks about meeting Steve Winwood in a record shop, coming from a musical family, and his love for Little Richard. Capaldi reminisces about the "16-century cottage" years and a jam session with Bonzo: "I stood in the room and it was another world." Indeed.
Video art innovator and collagist Stan Vanderbeek is profiled in this segment of Night Flight's The Video Artist. Vanderbeek studied at Manhattan's Cooper Union in the 50s where he began a career in experimental video that eventually lead him to Bell Labs, where experiments in computer animation and holographics was greatly expanded in the 60s. “Video is a medium of illusion” he tells Night Flight as he describes his creative mission in a candid interview.
Night Flight goes down under for an early Australian cultural invasion circa 1983. We look at the land of Oz for deep cuts from Olivia Newton John, Brisbane natives the Bee Gee's, INXS, Jo Jo Zep, Mental As Anything and of course, how could we miss General Hospital's Rick Springfield. Bonus: check out the short section on Australian Film!
In 1965, as leader of the NY Band: The Velvet Underground, Lou Reed became Rock's first leather-clad social outcast. At the age of 20, Reed took violence, drugs, sadomasochism, and sang about them in a rock context creating music as painful as it was compelling. He set the stage for the punk revolution. Night Flight tells the story of Reed with music videos, live footage and amazingly candid interviews discussing his love for performance, writing and his unique approach to recording.
Sex in music video form featuring censored and uncensored videos from David Bowie, Mary Jane Girls, Miquel Brown, Duran Duran, and more...
Strap yourself in as Night Flight blasts off with a cult theatre segment of Space Patrol: high adventure in the wild, vast reaches of space. A regular on Night Flight's late night circuit, this classic '50s show is a blast from the future-past.
This episode of Night Flight favorite New Wave Theater features musical acts Bad Religion, Red Wedding, Monitor, Party Boys, Brainiacs and your ghost host Elvira.
Where else on television could you find 1950s cult video segments like 'Space Cadet' followed by a pure Lynchian unknown filmmakers showcase into Kaiju Midnight Movie trailers? Blue Oyster Cult interviews back to back with Depeche Mode videos or Black Sabbath’s iconic Beat Club performance following The Belle Stars? Where on television could you be challenged, excited and inspired all at once? Night Flight of course!
Blue Oyster Cult stops by the Night Flight studio in this fantastic early NF special from 1983. Band members Allen Lanier and Joe Bouchard (we know, we know, their names are spelled wrong!) sit down for a lengthy and informative conversation about the band with tracks including the somewhat controversial and oft-banned “Joan Crawford” and “Veteran of the Psychic Wars,” a dark, brooding track featured on the Heavy Metal soundtrack.
Where else on television could you find 1950s cult video segments like 'Space Cadet' followed by a pure Lynchian unknown filmmakers showcase into Kaiju Midnight Movie trailers? Blue Oyster Cult interviews back to back with Depeche Mode videos or Black Sabbath’s iconic Beat Club performance following The Bell Stars? Where on television could you be challenged, excited and inspired all at once? Night Flight of course!
The reassuring voice of Pat Prescott is summoning you through the TV into an alternative dimension of wonder that is... Night Flight. “Def Leppard is still out on tour supporting the Pyromania album, and Night Flight has ALL the latest information.” Tonight's episode contains a lost Alan Vega video for “Video Babe,” a new “Video Artist” segment with analog experimenter Steve Sattler, Space Patrol and more. P.S. Make sure to check out the interactive component of the episode, where viewers could call toll-free numbers to vote on their favorite segments!
In this 1983 Video Gallery, Night Flight Take’s Off to Politics. “Rock Music has always had a strong political connection,” Pat Prescott says. This tour of rock politics takes us through the '60s with Bob Dylan, Hendrix, and The Plastic Ono Band’s “Give Peace A Chance.” After this tour of protest rock Night Flight, takes on Politics in the Nuclear Era with campy twist, fast forwarding to the ‘80s where we find ourselves enjoying the incredible experimental animation of Donald Fagen’s “New Frontier,” Men at Work’s ominous tune “It’s A Mistake,” and a little known promotional clip for the 1982 film WarGames by Crosby, Stills and Nash.
This review of the early 80s Aussie rock scene on video features the likes of Jo Jo Zep, Men At Work, Divinyls, Midnight Oil, Inxs and New Zealand's Tim Finn (of Split Enz fame) and more.
"1983 was the year music video and music television revolutionized the way America listened to and looked at Pop Music." Need a refresher course on the world of pop culture in 83? Look no further than Night Flight's 1983 Playback episode, original air date 11/14/83. The episode is a perfect survey of the best music, fashion and films of the year featuring Stevie Nicks, Billy Idol, Prince, Donna Summer. Playback '83 shows you the explosion of music videos, the hottest selling tours of the year, the latest fashions, dance crazes and so much more.
It’s a music video investigation of the "Male Mystique" in rock tonight, circa 1984. You can probably guess the cast: Prince, Bowie, Springsteen and for added drama, a million dollar (pound) dystopian music video for Duran Duran's “The Wild Boys,” a song inspired by the 1971 surrealist sex novel The Wild Boys: A Book of the Dead by William S. Burroughs. Of course, we couldn’t start this survey without a brief history lesson in Rock's Male Mystique from a key pioneer, The King himself.
“Heavy Metal is a musical reaction against the mellow love generation of the 1960s,” Pat Prescott tells us. Tonight’s 1984 Night Flight Original takes us away from this world for a history lesson in Metal with classics from Black Sabbath and Judas Priest and '80s arrivals in Heavy Metal of different varieties: German, (Accept, Scorpion), Woman-Fronted (Rock Goddess, Girlschool) and much more. Watch in our “Take Offs” section tonight!
“Here’s a look at the second British Invasion of America…” says Pat Prescott ahead of this brand new arrival from the vault featuring music videos from Adam Ant, Heaven 17, and Eurythmics. The first British music invasion was of course lead by The Beatles in 1964, so we start the show tonight with a rare performance from a 1982 documentary called The Compleat Beatles.
Tonight we "Take Off" to Violence in Music Videos in this 1984 original episode of Night Flight; perfect for triggering your local PMRC chapter. “The following program contains controversial material…” Pat Prescott warns before contrasting the "psychological violence" of the Ramones against the "comic book violence" of Iggy Pop in this '80s time capsule that also features music videos from Golden Earring, and a piercing scream from the infernal beyond courtesy of Alcatrazz.
Check out segments from our interview with the always classy Lemmy. Lemmy sat down with Night Flight host Al Bandiero in 1984 to talk about Motörhead's upcoming US tour, how he maintains his no-sleep, hard-drinking lifestyle and much more.
Tonight we present another edition of Politics in Music Video with John Lennon, Nena, U2, Men at Work and the Fixx. As we dig through the massive vault of Night Flight tapes, we see more and more that politics were a recurring theme for our 1980s writers. This doesn’t come as much of a surprise if you read Night Flight creator Stuart S. Shapiro’s recent book "Identifi Yourself" where he reminisces about his time as “one of the go-to concert organizers from D.C. to Boston for the anti-war movement.” Night Flight was born from the inextricable connection between art and politics.
Tonight, Night Flight’s “Take Off” goes around the world in 1984. “It’s a rock ’n’ roll travelogue” Pat Prescott says, before introducing an eclectic mix of videos united by their on-location shots in unique and famous places around the world. Featuring Juluka's "Umbaqanga," Blancmange in Egypt, a tour of the US with Randy Andy and a new age city flight with Jean Luc-Ponty’s “Individual Choice.”
Thirty-six years ago to the day. Tonight’s Night Flight original mixes chart-toppers and heatseekers to provide a complete snapshot of music circa January 20th, 1984. With the top-ten countdown, you get a suite of the year’s trending music videos and tucked inside the Rising Stars section, a peak at bands on the rise like Sons of Heroes, Howard Jones and Wendy and The Rockets.
"Take Off To Animation" takes a colorful look at the use of animation in music video over the previous few years in styles ranging from experimental camera technique to 'Saturday morning cartoon'. Many of the videos compiled for this episode first became well-known due to their repeat exposure on Night Flight. Bona fide Night Flight classics here include Tom Tom Club's "Pleasure of Love", Randy Andy's "The People (Livin' in the USA)", Machinations: "Pressure Sway" & Will Powers: "Adventures In Success". Night Flight's innovative "Take Off" series dispensed with playlists, bland VJ set-ups and the usual tired video countdown format and instead cleverly programmed music videos and performance clips by theme. The series regularly featured hits from Eighties pop icons juxtaposed against obscurities from not-ready-for-MTV cult favorites. Music videos included: Chuck Berry - Maybelline (set to Disney Animation) Elvis Costello - Accidents Will Happen Tom Tom Club - Pleasure of Love Randy Andy - The People (Living in the USA) Machinations - Pressure Sway Will Powers - Adventures in Success George Clinton - Atomic Dog Herbie Hancock - Autodrive Donald Fagen - New Frontier Adrian Belew - Big Electric Cat Jean-Luc Ponty - Individual Choice Will Powers - Smile Rush tour dates superimposed over Limelight
When you think of party time in the '80s... what comes to mind? It's totally understandable if a dark void exists for those of you who really found the time party. If the faint lingering echo of Gap Band's "Party Train," or Madness' "Our House" is ringing in your ears, then welcome - please step inside our time capsule to Night Flight's "Take Off To Party Time" from 1984. This version of Party Time mixes the elegant side of the soirée, with cuts from Lionel Richie and Huey Lewis and The News to the get out of your chair dance tunes from Men Without Hats and the Pointer Sisters. From the Kinks, to Prince, this is not a Party Time you want to miss!
This episode takes a provocative peek at gender-bending styles and comic cross-dressing in vintage video from the vaults featuring many pop icons such as David Bowie, Eurythmics, Grace Jones, Culture Club & Queen.
Highlighting European rock including videos from Peter Schilling, Nina Hagen, Scorpions and more.
"Rockabilly is a strange brew," Pat Prescott announces, "part Rhythm & Blues, Country & Western, Gospel and even Pop. It's a style that takes us back..." Continuing with our recent theme of looking at the history of rock and roll, this week we've got Night Flight's 1984 Take Off To Rockabilly. With Jerry Lee Lewis, Stray Cats, Robert Gordon, The Blasters and X, this episode is pure americana music history, Night Flight style.
"In the past 3 years, Night Flight has kept pace with Music Video revolution in its own unique style." - Pat Prescott. Night Flight's 1984 Anniversary Special is a fine collection of all that the original series had to offer. "Take Off" to Video Art? Check. Dog Police? Double Check. Epic episode-long Ghostbusters giveaway with the grand prize winner getting 1984 Isuzu P'up Truck? TRIPE CHECK!!
Night Flight’s full episode from June 30th, 1984 kicks off hot and heavy with a bold “Take Off” to Sex. “Music videos use phallic and vaginal symbols,” Pat Prescott tells us as she introduces videos from INXS, Berlin, Mary Jane Girls and of course, Prince. Then we get into a Heavy Metal Half Hour with Ratt, Divinyls and Def Leppard. Dig into more music videos from Rush, The Go Go’s, Nick Lowe, and a strange short film called The Speed of Light, starring Sally Norvell (later cast by Wim Wenders as “Nurse Bibs” in Paris, Texas).
Starting off with Michael Jackson's iconic Pepsi commercial, this full 3 hour special of Night Flight from 1984 truly has it all with a top ten video pick featuring Dead or Alive, The Cars and George Kranz and an excellent Radio 1990 clip with a Van Halen profile and interview. We finish with a cult classics section of UBU, Space Cadet, Santana and Stephen Stills' Manassas
New Wave Theatre, Heavy Metal Heroes, Radio 1990 (featuring Eurythmics) and much more.
Tonight we Take Off to Cameos with “guest shot” appearances from Rodney Dangerfield, Milton Berle, Father Guido Sarducci, and more. Originally airing in 1984, tonight’s original episode features an eclectic music selection featuring the likes of Sons of Heroes, Tracey Ullman, Ratt, Ebn Ozn; all defined by their high-profile cameos.
“In the ‘80s, America rediscovered the Body” Pat Prescott tells us. “We jogged, we danced, we exercised and put our bodies back into shape.” Right in time for that gym membership, we're kicking off another year of Night Flight Originals with "Take Off to Body Language," an excellent 1984 special featuring tunes from Thomas Dolby, Berlin, The Gap Band, Herbie Hancock and of course, Queen.
Title says it all, inquire within for Night Flight's Duran Duran feature.
Music videos featuring flashy female rock icons such as Debbie Harry, Grace Slick, Tina Turner, Wendy O. Williams & Stevie Nicks.
We begin this 3 hour As-Aired episode with an excellent selection of videos from Eurythmics, Jermaine Jackson, Prince, and Prince produced The Time. Night Flight's Rising Stars covers songs from classic acts Psychedelic Furs, Slade, and Night Flight's Discovery Segment features Milk 'N' Cookies' Ian North and Eva Everything. Hour 2 brings an incredible selection of new film and video art featuring experimental animation and video from Chel White.
Tonight we take off to Sex in Music Videos, and a suite of experimental video animation starting with Shalom Gorewitz's Subatomic Babies, Ian Snow Carpenter’s cosmic existential film, The Lessons an opera commissioned and produced for television by The Kitchen and finally wrapping up with a video retrospective, 20 years of the Kinks.
This episode features profiles on Rolling Stones, The Psychedelic Furs, surreal 80s video art and a strange New Wave love story called White Lies from director Marion Cajori starring a young Willem Dafoe with stellar music by Peter Gordon. We’re all but certain this doesn’t exist anywhere else, so dig in and enjoy!
Video hits from Prince and affiliated acts such as Morris Day and The Time and the late, great Vanity. Music videos included: Dirty Mind Uptown Controversy Sexuality 1999 Little Red Corvette When Doves Cry (long version) Clips from the film Purple Rain Morris Day interview The Time - Ice Cream Castles Vanity - Pretty Mess Let's Go Crazy
Night Flight’s full episode from September 1984 starts off with a Lou Reed’s wild dancing in his video for “I Love You Suzanne,” and doesn’t stop until way past your bedtime. Night Flight’s Video Picks give you selections from Art of Noise, Billy Idol, Sheila E. and Elvis Costello. Cut away to some classic commercials, and we’re back with AC/DC, Hendrix and Judas Priest on Heavy Metal Heroes. Finally stick around for a full episode of Radio 1990 featuring Billy Squier, as he releases his video for "Rock Me Tonite", the clip that may or may not have torpedoed his career.
“Their music was devil’s music: high decibel, tortured, frenzied songs about Death, Destruction and Black Magic.” Welcome to Night Flight’s 1984 Take Off to Heavy Metal History with a look at metal forgers Black Sabbath. We go back to the 1970s for classic Sabbath, trace the development of Ozzy Osbourne and Ronny James Dio from their days as Black Sabbath’s lead singers to their solo careers in the mid 80s as “Rock’s Top MadMen.” We’ve heard from many of you that your first exposure to BS was late at night on Night Flight, so consider this your return trip home to some 35 years ago. If you are a Black Sabbath original line-up purist and Dio isn't your thing, may we suggest the Black Sabbath Video Profile for another excellent episode?
Music Video's directed by feature filmmakers for The Cars, Lionel Richie and Bruce Springsteen. Music videos included: clip from Five Easy Pieces, directed by Bob Rafelson Lionel Richie - All Night Long (directed by Bob Rafelson) Laura Branigan - Self Control (directed by William Friedkin) Billy Idol - Dancing With Myself (directed by Tobe Hooper) clip from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, directed by Tobe Hooper clip from Body Double, directed by Brian DePalma Frankie Goes to Hollywood - Relax (uncensored version)(directed by Brian DePalma) Bruce Springsteen - Dancing in the Dark (directed by Brian DePalma) clip from Get Crazy, directed by Alan Arkush Bette Midler - Beast of Burden (directed by Alan Arkush) The Cars - Hello Again (directed by Andy Warhol) clip from Tango - directed by Zbigniew Rybcynski Art of Noise - Close to the Edit (directed by Zbigniew Rybcynski) Belfegore - All That I Wanted (directed by Zbigniew Rybcynski)
A look at those performers who had a profound influence on popular music including Chuck Berry, Elvis, Smokey Robinson and more classics. In true Night Flight fashion, this episode explains the influences and cultural context of Rock and Roll through the decades and up to more contemporary (for the time) artists. This is an original episode not to be missed.
Welcome to Night Flight, where we're showcasing the directors behind some of the top music videos of the time. We'll look at the people who directed the videos of Duran Duran, The Police, Kenny Rogers, Billy Joel and Bette Midler. Starting with Russell Mulcahy, director of "Video Killed The Radio Star" heralding in a new era.
Hot videos from heavy headliners Madonna, Rod Stewart, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Queen and Van Halen are highlights from this epic installment of Night Flight's "Take Off" Music videos included: Prince - Dirty Mind Malcolm McLaren - Madame Butterfly Madonna - Burning Up Madonna - Lucky Star Rod Stewart - Infatuation Laura Branigan - Self Control Frankie Goes to Hollywood - Relax (original version) Queen - Body Language Van Halen - Hot For Teacher The Rolling Stones - She Was Hot The Mr. Bill Show - Tubing
“Hot Music and Hollywood Movies are coming together in the new phenomena of Movie Music Videos” - Pat Prescott. Night Flight’s Film Music special is a bonafide who’s who of movie soundtrack anthems from 1984. Whether it’s a close look at Prince’s Purple Rain ("the hottest movie film of 1984)," a heartfelt Karate Kid soundtrack video from Survivor or Police guitarist Andy Summer’s update to the 2001: A Space Odyssey anthem, this episode is a stylish, free-form recap of the merge between Hollywood and the music industry.
It's 1984. A Friday night. Maybe you're flipping through the channels thinking about how to crush it at the upcoming High School formal and BAM, you stumble upon Night Flight's special "Take Off to Dance," a special segment exploring dance in pop and rock through the ages. Featuring Electric Light Orchestra, Kool and the Gang and more, this episode is just what you needed.
In 1985, SPIN Magazine asked Bob Dylan "What movies do you wish you'd been in?" One of his answers was "I Was a Zombie For the F.B.I," which had aired for the first time on cable TV on "Night Flight" earlier that same year (it was originally offered up with "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes" for a cult double-feature). "I Was A Zombie For the F.B.I." is low-budget, black & white sci-fi/serial/adventure film, recreating the early 1950s with lots of deadpan humor and ironic tongues-in-cheek. The plot follows what happens after agents of the F.B.I. get involved with a pair of criminal brothers who've survived an airplane crash, only to uncover a plot by aliens from outer space to conquer Earth by turning human beings in zombies. It had been shot in 1982 and directed by Marius Penczner, who pooled together some of the $4000 prize money he'd won a year earlier for a short film he'd made that had just won an Emmy. Penczner found some more money (the final budget was about $27,000 total)
Your perfect Oscar weekend companion has arrived... 35 years late. Tonight's Night Flight Original Episode is a preview for the 1985's Award's show! Ray Parker Jr. tells us about writing the Ghostbuster's theme, master filmmaker David Lean discusses Passage to India, up for Best Picture (lost to Amadeus) and much more.
Night Flight’s 1985 “Take Off” to Animation Vol. 4 is a perfect mid-decade snapshot of the remarkable evolution of technology and creativity in animation happening in the 1980s. Featuring super-group The Power Station's composited cutout acid trip for their T-Rex cover, Machinations rotoscoped “Pressure Sway” (above), Steve Miller’s early 3D animation effort “Bongo Bongo," and even some interview segments with animators working on Disney's The Black Cauldron.
Kicking off with a rock and soul temptress Tina Turner, host Pat Prescott presents an eclectic selection of female trailblazers and provocateurs including Wendy O. Williams, Patty Smyth's Scandal, Sheena Easton, Sheila E. and more tonight. "Take Off" to Women In Rock explores the pop-rock voices that left us with some of the best music of the 1980s in their wake. Strut!
Tonight on Night Flight, we feature masters of rock and roll comedy genr, including Weird Al, Dog Police, The Muppets, Mr. T., Doug and The Slugz and a whole new set of commandments from the bible of Mr. T! There are a bunch of hidden treasures in this hour long episode from 1985 that also includes the British TV show “Spitting Image.”
Tonight, we "Take Off" to the Motown Sound, the most successful independent record label in the world. Former boxer and auto mobile assembly line worker, Berry Gordy Jr. founded Motown in 1959 and created the sound of young America with Smokey Robinson, The Temptations, Marvin Gaye, Little Stevie Wonder (pictured above), and Diana Ross and the Supremes. Gordy ran Motown like an assembly plant, churning out hits all through the 1960s, eventually making Motown the largest black-owned corporation in America. Unlike most music television programming, Night Flight went beyond genre when curating and tonight’s episode is one of our crown jewels!
Tonight’s Video Profile of Bryan Ferry is tonight’s special arrival on Night Flight Plus! This episode is one of Night Flight’s finest, featuring a candid interview with Lisa Robinson at the Night Flight studios and a myriad of classic videos. With a perfectly curated mix of Roxy Music art pop and the decadently romantic solo work, this episode provides a compelling survey of one of popular musics most elegant frontmen. Watch it tonight!
Night Flight's Fourth Anniversary show, featuring a Special Top Ten video countdown from NF’s panel of music experts. Focusing more on the artistry of the filmmaking than the song’s themselves, Night Flight honors videos from The Cars, Art of Noise, Jean-Luc Ponty, Herbie Hancock and more. Little bit of trivia: Night Flight was the first television program to add the names of the Director’s to the music video Chyron.
Welcome to Night Flight’s exclusive Video Profile of Kate Bush. “This multimedia performance artist has combined dance, music, literature and mime on her way to becoming Britain’s most popular female star,” Pat Prescott says to introduce the pop polymath. Featuring Bush’s candid interview from the Night Flight studios (recorded in November 1985), this episode is an immersive survey of her creative vision and premiered as “Running Up That Hill” was topping the charts.
Welcome to a very special Night Flight Video Profile! In 1966, a seventeen year old sweet-voiced blonde schoolgirl became British rock's first authentic pop princess, only to lose that aristocratic status when she was caught with The Rolling Stones in a sensational drug bust. Nearly 20 years later, Faithfull sits down in the Night Flight studios for a candid conversation with Lisa Robinson about her comeback. Songs like "Broken English," "Sweetheart," "Truth, Bitter Truth," set the mood for a candid conversation with Robinson about the trials and tribulations of Faithfull's storied career.
We've seen the comments on Facebook and Instagram. It's clear that for many of you, Night Flight was the point of discovery for The Police. Let us just say (1) we’re honored by that fact and (2) tonight you can watch the official Video Profile (1985) that may have introduced you to them! Explore our collection of over 40 Video Profiles on Night Flight Plus tonight!
Tonight, fly around the globe with us while sampling the sounds of (nearly) every continent circa 1985 along the way. In this two hour block (featuring a treasure trove of original commercials) we ride the wave of cultural globalization as it arrives in Jamaica, Japan, Australia, and South Africa. Featuring global hits and b-sides from Nile Rodgers, Malcolm Mclaren, Juluka, Sipho "Hotstix" Mabuse, and many many more.
Everyone's invited to this massive survey of 80s music and fashion. Jump right in to relive the iconic movements represented over the decade.
Everyone's invited to PART 2 of this massive survey of 80s music and fashion. Jump right in to relive the iconic movements represented over the decade.
Night Flight profiles rock’s 'rude boy' Billy Idol in this classic segment from 1985. “I don’t want to see the no flabby, boring old Billy Idol trying to be what he was when he was 21… I’m young, I need to move about.” he tells Night Flight in an excellent, candid interview, in which he talks about the role of New York City on his art, how he views his critics, and what inspired his name change. Classic and essential Night Flight right here folks.
"Rock n Roll is a Blues euphemism for sex," Pat Prescott tells us at the beginning of this 1985 episode of Night Flight. "Take Off To Sex" is a provocative look at video eroticism with Apollonia 6, Berlin, Southside Johnny, Pointer Sisters, Van Stephenson, Fred Schneider, Helix and more. Stick around after the show for a special Mr. Bill segment too!
A special preview of some of the films Night Flight showed in 1985 including Rude Boy (starring the Clash), Breaking Glass, Smithereens, Debbie Harry in Union City, Warhol's Frankenstein and more...
Two back-to-back classics in one from the Night Flight vault. First up- Night Flight teamed up with Hit Parader magazine in the mid-80s for the series "Heavy Metal Heroes". This installment features legends like W.A.S.P., Triumph and Accept along with cult-favorite also-rans Vandenberg, Raven and Van-Zant. Next on deck is a spotlight on Eighties movie soundtrack tie-in videos! Late greats David Bowie and Glenn Frey both make a showing with their hits from "Falcon and The Snowman" and "Beverly Hills Cop" respectively. A rare cut from "Porky's Revenge" by Dave Edmunds, El DeBarge's contribution to the "Last Dragon" soundtrack and a rarely seen video promoting "Amadeus" starring the inimitable David Lee Roth round out the set.
In tonight’s original episode of Night Flight (Air Date 4/19/85) we Take Off to Rock Documentaries. Hop on board for a journey through some of the most famous Rock Films in history starting with the 1964 T.A.M.I. Show up through the Talking Head's Jonathan Demme-directed classic "Stop Making Sense." In between we'll cover Rock Docs like Neil Young's Rust Never Sleeps (Distributed by Night Flight creator Stuart Shapiro), Bob Dylan's "Don't Look Back," and much more.
"This sassy rocker's radioactive red hair, junk shop chic, up-beat personality and pitch perfect vocals make her one of the hottest performers of the '80s," Pat Prescott tells us. Tune in tonight for our 1985 profile of Cyndi Lauper, featuring music videos and history in true Night Flight style.
Back in 1985, Night Flight produced a candid backstage interview with Tom Petty while he was on tour promoting Southern Accents.
In this original episode of Night Flight, we have an episode of 1950s Sci-Fi show "Space Patrol" and a profile on infamous Sex Pistols manager and artist Malcolm McLaren.
1985's "Take Off" to street music featuring Chaka Khan, Grand Master Flash, Run DMC and more...
Part 1 of this special 2 hour original Night Flight episode, where you’ll see the people who made headlines in 1985, the latest trends in video music from the year’s top performers. This is a bona-fide who’s who of what was popular in the mid ‘80s scene. Featuring interviews with Lionel Richie, Peter Wolf and music, and clips from Phil Collins, Julien Lennon, Til Tuesday, Chuck Mangione, Wham, and Frankie Goes to Hollywood.
Part 2 of this special 2 hour original Night Flight episode, where you’ll see the artists who made headlines in 1985, the latest trends in video music from the year’s top performers. This is a bona-fide who’s who of what was popular in the mid ‘80s scene. Featuring interviews with Lionel Richie, Peter Wolf and music, and clips from Phil Collins, Julien Lennon, Til Tuesday, Chuck Mangione, Wham, and Frankie Goes to Hollywood. Part 2 Bonus: Sade tells Night Flight how to correctly pronounce her name.
This segment features traditional Hollywood animation, stop motion, pixelation, and computer animation. Featuring videos from Cyndi Lauper, George Clinton, Jean Luc Ponty and more...
Welcome to part 1 of Visions of Platinum! We look at the top selling artists of today (1985!). You'll see videos from best selling artists Madonna, Bruce Springsteen, Tina Turner, Huey Lewis, Cyndi Lauper, ACDC, and Kiss. We also speak to the producers behind some classic records Nil Rodgers producer of David Bowie and Duran Duran, Phil Ramone, the main producer of Billy Joel and Julian Lennon, and Madonna's producer Jellybean Benitez.
Welcome to part 2 of Visions of Platinum! We look at the top selling artists of today (1985!). You'll see videos from best selling artists Madonna, Bruce Springsteen, Tina Turner, Huey Lewis, Cyndi Lauper, ACDC, and Kiss. We also speak to the producers behind some classic records Nile Rodgers producer of David Bowie and Duran Duran, Phil Ramone, the main producer of Billy Joel and Julian Lennon, and Madonna's producer Jellybean Benitez.
Fresh from the vault, an original episode of Night Flight that surveys early TV performances and visuals from rock canon, before the music video revolution. Check out some legendary Beat Club performances.
Heavy Metal Heroes profiles Dokken, Keel, Raven and Def Leppard.
Pat Prescott let's us know its "party time in the sun, with food, sand, women and water." Night Flight Take's off to Summer Fun is an eclectic mix of classic Night Flight Zannies, summer-centric music videos and a Mr. Bill segment tucked inside. Dive in!
Visions was an original series of 'Yesterday and Today' type music video features covering Sting, Beach Boys, Robert Plant, Bob Dylan and David Bowie/Mick Jagger. Hidden David Lynch interview inside as well!
Night Flight’s 1985 Video Profile of The Eagles begins with Pat Prescott introducing an epic performances of “Hotel California,” the ultra-hit that was the beginning of the end for the band. What follows is likely the most comprehensive and thorough review of the former member's solo careers before the band’s reunion in 1994. Patt Prescott takes us through Glenn Frey’s Miami Vice spin-off special single “Smugglers Blues,” Timothy Schmit’s 1983 “Playing It Cool,” Joe Walsh’s psychedelic cowboy odyssey “The Confessor,” (above) and of course Don Henley’s French New Wave-influenced video for the massive hit “Boys of Summer.”
In 1985 Night Flight launched its own spin on the top ten countdown format. This short lived regular Night Flight feature was hosted by Joie Gallo and featured tasty celebrity interview bites from revered rock journalist Lisa Robinson. In this episode see big hit videos from A-ha, John Cougar Mellencamp, UB40 with Chrissie Hynde and WHAM
In 1985 Night Flight launched its own spin on the top ten countdown format. This short lived regular Night Flight feature was hosted by Joie Gallo and featured tasty celebrity interview bites from revered rock journalist Lisa Robinson. In this episode see big hit videos from A-ha, John Cougar Mellencamp, UB40 with Chrissie Hynde, WHAM and even a few hilarious original 1980s commercial spots.
Dance music, sounds from the national club scene, with Peter Brown, Feelabelia, Goon Squad, and more. Also in this episode, a hardcore video profile on Metal's leading lady, Wendy O. Williams.
Join us as Night Flight "Takes Off" to the Sounds of South, from the Bayou and beyond. A mix of country music, blues and old time religion: the sounds that define the south are echoed in many of Rock’s key pioneers. Tonight, Night Flight takes this geographic prompt to explore a broad range of ‘80s acts that carried the torch and established a sound inspired by southern roots, including: Jason and the Scorchers, Blackfoot, Molly Hatchet, 38 Special and more.
This installment Heavy Metal Heroes features mind-melting video classics from the likes of April Wine, Alcatrazz, Girlschool & W.A.S.P. Videos of the finest vintage from David Bowie, The Clash, Fleetwood Mac, Blondie & The Police
This week, Night Flight puts the focus on the visionaries behind some of the most experimental and interesting music videos of the 80s. This unique ‘Take Off’ takes music video directors as it’s subject, focusing specifically on the work of Creme & Godley and Zbigniew Rybczyński, including candid and creative interviews with the directors. Lol Creme and Kevin Godley (originally of the band 10cc) discuss the videos they created for Visage, The Police, Herbie Hancock (the excellent robotics video for "Rock-it"), the uncensored Night Flight favorite “Girls on Film” for Duran Duran and gorgeous video for their own song "Cry." For Part 2 of this special, Night Flight takes off to the work of Academy Award winning Polish director Zbigniew Rybczyński, featuring videos the surreal, groundbreaking music video classics for Art Of Noise, Chuck Mangione, Grandmaster Flash, and mysterious Columbia Records supergroup Iam Siam .
Get ready for an epic border-crossing original episode of Night Flight. In this Take Off special from 1985, Night Flight heads north for a special survey on Canadian Rock. Featuring Bryan Adams, Corey Hart, Platinum Blonde, Honeymoon Suite, Parachute Club, Idle Eyes, Rush, Loverboy, and Canadian super-charity-group Northern Lights. This episode is rich with Canada’s unique input in ‘80s music landscape. Enjoy!
Here's a Night Flight original episode featuring the Music Video show "Heart Light City," with videos from Billy Joel, The Motels, Air Supply and The Eagles.
In 1979, Sara Dallin and Siobhan Fahey were students at the London College of Fashion and Keren Woodward worked at the BBC. The flatmates decided to get together and with the help of their downstairs neighbors former Sex Pistols Paul Cook and Steve Jones and their friends Fun Boy Three, they formed a band and called it Banarama. "Banarama’s trademark is a happy go lucky lite approach," Pat Prescott calls it. Dive into a selection of the band's classic cuts and state of the art (for the time) videos.
Ann Magnuson's performance art video piece in character as "Fallopia," the latest in a line of sexy Prince protégés — which she describes as "a classroom lesson in "How to Become a New Wave Video Slut"-- was produced exclusively for Night Flight in the 1980s, and you can now watch it in its entirety in this episode from 1986. "My rise to the top was pretty much standard stuff, same as everyone else's. First there was the live sex acts, then the stag parties, then the sleazy piano bars and conventions, then "Star Search." And then after, gosh, I don't know how many 'dates' with record company executives, I was signed to a major label, and my own rock video, and today I'm one of the BIGGEST New Wave Sluts in the industry!!"
Culture is political on tonight’s original episode of Night Flight where we return to 1986 to “Take Off” to Politics. Kicking off with Edwin Starr’s “WAR,” Night Flight navigates the polarizing music terrain of the ‘60s and ‘70s with a visual backdrop of global conflict from the time period, highlighting the electrifying politics that power rock and roll. A couple ‘80s cuts sneak into this episode, with a focus on those songs affecting a more poetic political outrage: X’s “I Must Not Think Bad Thoughts”, New Model Army’s “51st State” and Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s Dylan Thomas inspired “Rage Hard.” Viewer discretion is advised. This episode features graphic footage of war.
“Welcome to tonight’s feature film” the familiar voice of Pat Prescott says before a 1986 Saturday night main event: Invisible Ghost, a 1941 thriller starring Bela Lugosi about hypnotism, amnesia, and insanity. Make sure to stick around after tonight's feature presentation for animation segments from "The Mascot" by Russian stop motion pioneer Wladyslaw Starewicz.
Well folks, the Night Flight library never ceases to amaze us. It is literally a treasure chest of nostalgic gold. This week we’re incredibly excited to share a full, uncut interview with Mark Hammil conducted by Lisa Robinson in 1986. He dons a rare mustache for his theatre production role in Room Service. In the interview, Hamill talks candidly about knowing from his first reading of the Star Wars script it would be a success (“at least as popular as James Bond”), how not being allowed to read Comics as a kid lead him to obsessively collect them as an adult, the 33 1/3 birthday party he celebrated and much, much more. Watch this tonight! It’s an absolute joy.
This 1986 episode of New Sounds brings you a survey of Great Britain’s music geographies of the 1980s. The lineup includes Two Minds Crack, who rose from the industrial ashes of South Wales in 1981 to create some of Britain’s freshest techno-pop, video-vèrite innovators Cabaret Voltaire, Gene Loves Jezebel, Joe Strummer’s Sid and Nancy track “Love Kills,” and The Housemartins' “Happy Hour.”
Conceived by the creators of the successful USA cable program "NIGHT FLIGHT," this light-hearted, off-the-wall exposé includes the unlikely supporting cast of Queen Elizabeth, Richard Nixon, Colonel Kaddafi, Yasser Arafat, Jayne Mansfield, Margaret Thatcher, the Ayatollah Khomeini, and many more. America's Leading Man, Ronald Reagan, is the subject of this hilarious, tongue-in-cheeck scrapbook on our most colorful president. ROCKIN' RONNIe takes a deliciously irreverent look at the life and times of America's smiling hero — from smooth-talking actor to silver-tongued politician. Watch the screen as we throw darts at Ronald Reagan "the calvaryman," "the slugger," "the fighter pilot," "the priest," "the sailor," "the football player," "the Fighting Marshall," "the detergent salesman," "the gangster," "the ballroom dancer," and "The Mystery Date. With unforgettable on and off-screen bloopers as well as superb animation and puppetry, ROCKIN' RONNIE exposes Ronald Reagan like no program has
On the planet Ygam, the Draags, extremely technologically and spiritually advanced blue humanoids, consider the tiny Oms, human beings descendants of Terra's inhabitants, as ignorant animals. Those who live in slavery are treated as simple pets and used to entertain Draag children; those who live hidden in the hostile wilderness of the planet are periodically hunted and ruthlessly slaughtered as if they were vermin.
English imports arrive on Night Flight's New Sounds. Videos include Blancmange's Zbigniew Rybczyński directed video for "Lose Your Love," Kate Bush classic "Cloudbusting," Paul Hardcastle and Big Audio Dynamite.
Various segments including Night Flight's "Divine Video Profile".
In this original episode of Night Flight, we take a look at the mysterious art rock project the Residents and have a profile of the San Francisco Rock scene that includes. music videos from Santana, Starship, Grateful Dead and more.
Tonight we Take Off to some of the "best bets of ’86!” That’s right, we’re talking about the mid-decade buzz bands (was that even a term in the '80s?) that landed on our radar. As you'll see, Night Flight was prescient in it's curation—many of these prospects went on to become massive acts. The episode includes The Hooters, Waterboys, Charlie Sexton, Tom Petty approved Del Fuegos and we think this episode is pretty special for its interview with Mr. Mister. Watch it tonight!
Welcome back! It's time to climb into the video vault for Devo, and follow the band's career through their experimental clips. Night Flight looks at the hottest metal in 1986 with new Twisted Sister, Black 'n Blue, Autograph, Kiss and more metal masters. Includes the following content: Devo profile: Satisfaction Whip It Love Without Anger That's Good Beautiful World Peek-A-Boo Worried Man Time Out For Fun "Weird" Al Yankovic - Dare to Be Stupid New Metal: Twisted Sister - Leader of the Pack Black 'n Blue - Miss Mystery Dokken - The Hunter Aerosmith - Let the Music Do the Talking Motley Crue - Home Sweet Home Autograph - Blondes in Black Cars KISS - Uh! All Night
Night Flight's "Take Off" special featuring video profiles on the 1986 Academy Awards acting and music nominees.
"Take Off" to "Rock in America"; Academy Award "Best Song" nominees; Night Flight at the Movies: Crossroads, Smooth Talk and Lucas.
Night Flight’s tribute to the 1986 Oscars which explores nominees for Best Original Song. For that year, nominees included Quincy Jones for The Color Purple, "Surprise Surprise" by Greg Burg, Huey Lewis and The News #1 hit from Back To The Future “The Power of Love,” all of which are covered within. An interview with director Taylor Hackford about White Nights, which is one of the few films in Oscar history to receive two nominations for best song ("Say You, Say Me" by Lionel Richie was the eventual winner). Then Night Flight looks ahead to some of the upcoming films from 1986 in the genre that Pat Prescott lovingly refers to as The Sensitive Years. It’s a Who's Who of '80s child actors with looks at Crossroads, Pretty in Pink, Smooth Talk, and Lucas, which offers the bonus clip of an exclusive interview with none other than Corey Haim.
It started in 1960 with Psycho, and ever since movie fans' appetite for blood and gore has grown by leaps and bounds. Today's movie slice, dice and spew geysers of blood. Featuring interviews with Nightmare on Elm Street star Robert Rusler, and House's William Katt with previews of Terrorvision, Critters, Nomads and more. On the B side of this episode is a classic cut of New Sounds featuring music videos from Violent Femmes, Golden Palominos, and Public Image Ltd.
In Take Off To Self Destruction (1986), Night Flight focuses on some of the darker elements that defined the 1980s, looking at music that dealt with topics like drug abuse and crime. Featured songs like “Stop The Madness” and “Just Say No” convey a conflicted range of emotion when watched today. The videos are definitely humorous in their categorically ‘80s presentation but they also require a somber reflection of the ineffective and corrosive drug policies promoted by the Reagans. Along with artist interviews and PSA style interstitials (including a brilliant one from Frank Zappa), this episode features videos from Armband, Jazzy Jeff, Fine Young Cannibals and more. A closing video of David Bowie’s “Ashes To Ashes” for this segment proves that Night Flight was willing to take on uncomfortable topics like drug abuse and suicide with an elegance you couldn’t find anywhere else on TV at the time. That’s a fact.
Only Night Flight could find a way to program classic Devo cuts with soothing mystical New Age. Relive that original programming style tonight by climbing into Night Flight's video vault for a Devo retrospective featuring some of the best Devo videos using the pioneering experimental video techniques they did so well. For part 2, sit back and relax as we explore angelic hymns and soothing visuals from Kitaro, Jean Luc Ponty and Private Music. Revisit the much lampooned genre as it was earnestly presented, Night Flight style.
Welcome to Night Flight's 1986 exclusive video profile of Black Sabbath. "They were the most successful and controversial metal band of the mid ‘70s. Hated by critics, adored by their fans, Black Sabbath mixed a taste for the occult with bone crushing volume,” Pat Prescott proclaims. This special episode features Night Flight’s iconic interviews with both Ozzy and Tony Iommi, and covers over a decade of the band's output and individual members' solo careers. Absolute essential viewing for Night Flight and Sabbath fans alike!
From Boston to LA, New York to DC, a musical explosion is taking place in Rock and Roll. Traditionally, success for bands came from touring, but today, the video explosion has given local bands national exposure sparking a renaissance in music and reinforcing the original roots of Rock 'n roll. Featuring 'Til Tuesday, Run DMC, REM and more...
This newly added special segment from our 5th year anniversary goes deep. Featuring hilarious two-bit animation from Stop's "Wake Up," Columbia University grads The Special Guest's cubist anthem "Paul Cezanne," the sample-based ratings controversy inspired "Explicit Lyrics," by Blackwell Project, and a reverb drenched vocal take on techno-pop from act Growing Up Different.
"Tonight we bring you your favorites!" "Over the last couple months you've written in to tell us what you want to see most," Pat Prescott says, explaining the viewer-requested curation behind this classic episode of Night Flight. Unsurprisingly, it turns out Night Flight viewers had great taste. Among the top requested artists are Kate Bush, Prince, Culture Club, The Thompson Twins, and Duran Duran. Check out this exceptional episode of that turns the attention back on the fans and viewers, who in 1986 were the ones making the Night Flight dream a reality.
This video profile on Simple Minds features backstory on the Scottish act and multiple videos throughout the bands career arc. Night Flight mines the video vault for select cuts from the Pretenders.
Night Flight's Friday Evening Comedy Cuts, with an added bonus of summer blockbuster previews of the Science Fiction variety. Watch Pat Prescott discuss the hot films of the time including Aliens, Maximum Overdrive and more...
We suggest you Take Off To The Beach with this Night Flight episode from 1986. This segment takes you through a video vignette series covering the land of the surf, sand and sun with videos include Y&T, The Beach Boys, Joe King Carrasco and Beastie Boys. Side B of this episode is a mix of videos loosely held together by the theme: 'Crime.' There's a topnotch selection of videos ranging from Art of Noise, Paul Hardcastle, Golden Earring, Tony Powers and David Bowie's Labyrinth cut "Underground."
Welcome back to Night Flight, in 1977 four London based musicians scraped together $180 to make a demo tape of their songs which prompted a friend to call their band "Dire Straits." Ten years later, with more than ten million albums sold Dire Straits stood at the forefront of the mid-80s music scene. Here's Night Flight's Video Profile.
For this short film series, we have “Double Exposure” a true hidden gem that aired on Night Flight in 1986. Starting with scenes of industrial Chicago, this short film takes you into a suburban household where a wayward artist-types stop in at home for family dinner. Later on in the evening the nervous suburban awkwardness explodes into pure energy (a la Pere Ubu) in a raucous club show at the end of the film that feels like a pretty authentic document of a Chicago Saturday night in the 80s. Not to be missed. Next up is Night Flight’s “Directions in Jazz.” We begin with Chuck Mangione who makes “sex and jazz willing partners” according to Pat Prescott, which is followed by one of our favorite archive discoveries yet! The #1 horn player in the world of Jazz, Miles Davis, uses the animation of Annabel Jankel (of Max Headroom fame) to illustrate his classic tune “Decoy.” This is an absolute stunner of a video, and it isn’t even on youtube. Moving on, we’ve got Stanley Jordan, who electrified the Jazz scene with his revolutionary neck guitar technique. Bass Player Stanley Clark gets involved with an experimental animation video for his avant-garde cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA,” and then we’re onto new age Eco-Jazz from Paul Winter Consort. Classic Night Flight indeed.
"Tonight, a trip into terror, a journey through the macabre," Pat Prescott explains at the beginning of tonight's episode. In this 1986 Halloween special, Night Flight looks at the past and future of Horror. Part 1 finds in-depth previews of multiple cult films of that year including "From Beyond," "Deadly Friend," metal monster movie "Trick or Treat," and "Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2." Next, Night Flight presents an hour-long mashup session of Horror throughout 40 years of film history, titles range are as exotic as "Beast With A Thousand Eyes," surreal as Buñuel's "Un Chien Andalou" and classic as "Nosferatu."
Take off with an hour long special episode of New Sounds from 1986, starting off with Sigue Sigue Sputnik, Big Audio Dynamite, BoDeans, Hüsker Dü, Jane SiBerry and provocative political rockers, Lords of The New Church.
"Welcome to Comedy Cuts, the most original comedy show on TV today starring Nancy Parker, Dennis Blair, Adrianne Tolsch, Night Flight brings you new sounds with Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Human League, Level 42, Art of Noise and so much more.
The Ramones, Cabaret Voltaire, J. Geils Band, Rockwell, and The Monsters all make an appearance in Night Flight's Take Off to Rock and Horror from October 25th, 1986. On the flip side of this seasonal episode, Night Flight includes filmmaker Dan Carbone's post-apocalyptic title DOT in its short horror film collection of "Mini Chillers" a surrealist b&w film sought after by Night Flight purists.
Kicking off with a clip from the U.S. Senate's 1985 "Porn Rock" hearings, Night Flight Takes Off to Right-Wing Rock in this classic episode. "Parents hate it and politicians ban it, but ironically today's Rock is not the subversive cry of revolutionaries it once was..." Pat Prescott laments, while pointing to the right-wing co-option of rock in the '80s. The episode weaves a unique tongue and cheek video playlist featuring Van Halen/Blue Angels, the "Top Gun" Anthem, Christian Rockers Stryper and unabashed capitalist image makers Sigue Sigue Sputnik's homage to the Military Industrial Complex "Love Missile F1-11."
"First there was Emperor Franz Joseph, then came Muscle Man Arnold Schwarzenegger, now another superstar from Austria…” Welcome to Night Flight! Tonight’s original episode is the 1986 Video Profile of Falco. Featuring the massive hits of the mid '80s, older cuts like “Der Kommissar” (later covered by After The Fire) and candid interviews with the Austrian superstar, this episode is a Night Flight classic. Watch tonight!
Night Flight looks at the roots of Irish rock 'n' roll tonight in this original “Take Off” special from the mid-1980s. With Bodhrán, Fiddles, Uilleann pipes and Irish Harps in hand, we kick off with the Chieftans' "Irish Anthem" before looking at the Ireland’s strong music tradition. Dating back to Celtic culture, when poets were elevated to the status of aristocrats, we take a closer look at the island that produced '80s era acts like the Pogues, Van Morrison, Cactus World News, Bob Geldof, Zerra 1 and more. Stick around afterwards for some very rare animated cartoons & short films, including Ellen Foley in "Headshot."
Featuring Chris Rock, Lorne Elliott, Rosie O'Donnell and more...
Night Flight’s 1987 episode of New Sounds is teeming with deep cuts and lost treasures. Mondo Boffo with Scorpio (!), Prince proteges Wendy and Lisa's excellent tune "Waterfall," Squeeze's Dali-esque video painting and more.
Tonight’s original Night Flight episode is Video Profile of The The, featuring the broadcast premiere of the band's video-album, Infected. Matt Johnson’s 1986 music video opus, described by host Pat Prescott as a “hard-hitting musical statement shot around the globe,” features the work of directors Tim Pope (The Cure), Peter Christopherson (Coil), Mark Romanek (Michael Jackson's "Scream") and many more. “Infected” is our anthem in these unreasonable times right now.
One of the most memorable episodes of Night Flight canon and the purest example of the original series' commitment to avant-garde music and experimental video. Stream the official Video Profile of musical groundbreaker trio, Art Of Noise: The low profile, high tech wiz’s of British music. A production trio with whose unique sonic approach defined the advent of sampling and whose background sounds enhanced the megahits of Yes, Pet Shop Boys and Kate Bush. Featuring an incredible lost interview with Art of Noise founders J. J. Jeczalik and Anne Dudley and a suite of the groups iconic music videos including those by Zbigniew Rybczyński, Anton Corbijn and more. (Yes, we’ve got both versions of “Close (To The Edit)”).
Hand-picked and re-edited in 1986 by David Jove, the man who created "New Wave Theatre."
Welcome to the Best New Sounds of 1986 on Night Flight! In ’86, England’s unabashed Sigue Sigue Sputnik went Snap Crack and Fizzle, Simply Red cemented “red-haired soul,” The Cure firmly establish neo-gothic rock and Pete Burns of Dead or Alive became every dance fan’s brand new lover. What a year. Inquire within to relive the best in sound from a knockout year.
“Wind up your Television, Dementites and Dementoids, it’s time for Dr. Dementos’ Comedy Classics on Night Flight!” On this original 1987 episode, you’ll be seeing and hearing some favorites from the Dr. Demento radio show in a promo episode for his upcoming six-record Rhino Record’s release ““The Greatest Novelty Records of All Time.” Featuring selects like Demento discoveree Weird Al Yankovic, Barnes and Barnes “Fish Heads,” and more.
This 1987 episode of Night Flight features classic Comedy Cut segments and England's favorite comedy team: Assaulted Nuts. Then Night Flight goes to the movies with features on Angel Heart, The Good Wife, Tin Men and John Hughe's Some Kind Of Wonderful.
Featuring Fine Young Cannibals doing Elvis, Cyndi Lauper's best Marvin Gaye impression Chrissie Hynde discusses covering Hendrix, Communards streetline dance remix of Don't Leave Me This Away, Boomerang takes on Nancy Sinatra, and many more.
Eclectic music video magic from Amazulu, The Clash, Big Audio Dynamite & Thrashing Doves
Highlights from R.E.M.'s career to date in music video form are shown with some great interview bites from the group members. Whether or not you approved of the direction Kenny G, Branford Marsalis, Bobby McFerrin & Herb Alpert took this beloved genre back in the heady days of 1988, that was pretty much the best of what the mainstream had to offer and here it is in all of its pre-fab, slick and kid-friendly glory. Call it "Jazz" or what you will, you cannot deny the brassy entertainment value of the music videos you will see in this edition Night Flight's "Direction In Jazz"! Miles Davis does make an appearance, so there is a bit of credibility thrown in the mix, too.
L.A. Rock: Since the ‘60s, LA’s been a mecca for the music industry. Night Flight brings us up to date (1987) with LA’s bustling music scene that finds us watching and listening to videos from The Untouchables in their award-winning video for “Free Yourself,” Oingo Boingo, Concrete Blonde, Suicidal Tendencies, and Thelonius Monster. Sports Rock: “Today’s fitness craze even spreads to rock,” Pat Prescott declares, as she introduces the first videos, including the Los Angeles Rams’ theme song, questionably named “Let’s Ram It,” and The Chicago Bears’ “Super Bowl Shuffle.”
Seasoned Night Flight viewers always knew to expect the unexpected; this unique approach to curating our content and exposing underexposed artists, musicians and filmmakers of the era was built into the show's DNA. In this week's new arrival from the archive, we deal in the latter with a look at independent filmmaking. Kicking off with Academy Award winning animated short "Special Delivery," and ending with a long-form dance off performance video for UTFO deep cut, this episode is FULL of surprises.
Night Flight's independent filmmaker showcase featuring Ilene Segalove's "Why I Got Into TV and other stories," Daniel Reeves' "Thousands Watch," "Mirage" and a special directions in Jazz special, featuring members of Steely Dan's live band.
Night Flight's 6th Anniversary special from 1987 hosted by Judy Tenuta relives some of the best segments from Night Flight's history including moments from Mr. Bill, J-Men, Tunnel Vision and more...
"Take Off" to Country Jam features Nashville faves such as Ricky Skaggs, Dwight Yoakam, KD Lang, Hank Williams Jr and others. Following that is Night Flight's Video Profile of the most glamorous pop stars to come from Birmingham, England- none other than Duran Duran.
In this excellent Flash Tracks episode from June, 1987 Night Flight covers Women in Rock including Siouxsie and the Banshees, Yazoo's Alison Moyet and Suzanne Vega. Born Susan Janet Ballion in a London suburb, Siouxsie Sioux cut her musical teeth on rock legends the Sex Pistols and David Bowie. Siouxsie Sioux brought unrestrained fashion and rock together, (what Night Flight's Pat Prescott calls a modern day "Mata Hari") with a style imitated all over England. Performing since 1976, Siouxsie and the Banshees unique sound smacks of their fascination of the bizarre.
In this original episode from October 30th, 1987 Night Flight presents two independent shorts as a part of our "Short Film Showcase" segment. The first up is the criminal-comedy “The Lemon Man,” by Super 8 auteur Michael Legge, followed by the mysterious experimental animation called “Xidu,” by Australian filmmaker Michelle Mahrer.
Tonight's Night Flight original comes in the form of a 1987 Short Film Showcase and Classic Video Medley. Kicking off with directors Michael Nankin and David Wechter's short film "Gravity" (the pair created another Night Flight Plus exclusive Junior High School) and eventually arriving at an alien abduction psychedelic fever dream called "Skin Deep From Outer Space," Night Flight once again delivers the ultimate rarities. Stay tuned for Side B of this episode which is a Video Classic segment featuring videos by the Buggles, Devo, Falco, the Pretenders, Talking Heads and much, much more!
This 1983 relic of pride and passion for America features videos from Bruce Springsteen, Jackson Brown, John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band and more.
Night Flight highlights one of the most important music icons of the 20th century with this 1987 feature on which includes "Ashes to Ashes," "Let's Dance", "Day-in Day-out" and more.
This edition of Night Flight Goes to The Movies looks at the holiday new releases for 1987 including "Throw Momma From The Train", "The Last Emperor" & "Overboard". Latin Sounds features sizzling South-of-the-border inspired music videos from Miami Sound Machine, Kid Creole & The Coconuts, Madonna and more!
Rapid-fire stand-up from unsung comics like Steve O, Adrienne Tolsch, Stevie Ray Fromstein, Frankie Pace and future Conan O'Brien talk show producer Mike Sweeney, taped on-location at the world famous Comic Strip in NYC.
"Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from all of us at Night Flight!” Pat Prescott says at the beginning of our 1987 Christmas Special, featuring the most eclectic collection of Christmas sounds ever to grace late night television. Inquire within for Christmas tunes from Run DMC, David Bowie and Bing Crosby, Max Headroom, Timbuk3, Weird Al Yankovich and in Night Flight’s classic elegant style, a little Tony Bennett for the closer. We suggest you gather around the TV this holiday with the entire family and travel back to a snowy Christmas night in 1987.
“It’s a quiet storm…” Nigerian-born fashion designer turned singer Sade is the subject of tonight’s Video Profile. Pat Prescott starts us off with an introduction to the “smooth and sexy high priestess of soul,” before jumping into a Sade mega-mix cut with exclusive interviews with the artist from the Night Flight studio (originally filmed in 1985). In her interview segment, Sade talks about her record Diamond Life and finally provides instructions to the American audience on how to pronounce her name.
Sports! Tonight, we're kicking off with a 1988 “Take Off” to Sports Rock and Roll that is pure Original Night Flight. Almost every popular sport, from Basketball to Boxing get’s it’s ‘80s anthem in this 50 minute classic segment. You could say that Wrestling is over-represented in this episode, but that really all depends on how much you love or hate ‘80s wrestling. Here at Night Flight, based on our selection of specifically that genre, you could say we love it. A lot. With slam dunks like Dazz Band’s “Let It All Blow,” Pro Wrestling’s supremely weird “Land of 1000 Dances,” Kurtis Blow’s “Basketball,” Manfred Mann's Earth Band’s “Runner” and of course, the timely Chicago Bears’ “Super Bowl Shuffle," we really can't recommend this enough.
Welcome to tonight’s "special investigation" into Satanic Metal circa 1988 (peak Satanic Panic!). Ever since the days of Paradise Lost, Faust and Hot Stuff Comic Books, the devil has been folk antihero numero uno and when Rock & Roll finally came along, he had his soundtrack (according to outraged fundamentalists). Kicking off with Ozzy's "Miracle Man," join us as we descend into a realm of dark hymns from Damien, Iron Maiden, and much more…
“Ultimately, cult movies transcend all categories, and give their audiences something they’ve never seen, but always wanted to," says Night Flight's Pat Prescott towards the end of our 1988 "Cult-O-Rama" episode. "Cult movies appeal with a sense of special community. No matter how warped your vision, you're not alone." This special original episode of Night Flight surveyed a spate of post-modern cult film classics, including Pink Flamingos, Liquid Sky, Eating Raoul and Suburbia. Tonight’s "Cult-O-Rama" episode reminder of Night Flight’s ability to provide a necessary public service of being an invaluable source of discovery discovery for pillars of avant-garde art, music and cinema.
This weekend, Night Flight delivers one of it’s classic Video Essays: “Dating Do's And Don’ts.” Joining the likes of Atomic TV and Rockin’ Ronnie, Dating Dos and Don’ts is an exhaustive video mashup combining romantic pop from Lynn Goldsmith’s rock alter-ego Will Powers, Dolly Parton, Apollonia 6, Berlin, ‘60s instructional videos, ‘50s B-movie sci-fi and, oh yeah, a visit from an old friend: Dr. Ruth Westheimer! For any viewers of the original Night Flight, Dating Do's and Don'ts will put you right back on the family couch, 2AM in the ‘80s. It’s one of the best examples of our prescient, pre-internet video mashup style.
Welcome to Night Flight. Tonight we Take Off to Rock and Roll Cowboys, original air date 1988. Sharpen your spurs and saddle up as Night Flight shows you how many of today’s rockers take their musical and visual style from the Wild Wild West. Kicking off with Martini Ranch’s “Reach,” The Damned’s Cinescope spaghetti-western themed cover “Alone Again Or,” and more from Robbie Robertson, Kool Moe Dee, and more!
"Viewer discretion is advised" Pat Prescott tells us at the start of tonight's 1988 Take Off episode to Controversial Videos. "Sex, Drugs, Religion, Politics..." what more can you want from Night Flight's curated collection of controversial music videos. Everyone knows that while other fledgling music networks from the era avoided controversy, Night Flight actively courted it. Just ask creator Stuart Shapiro about what happened the first time we aired The Clash's "Rude Boy" completely uncut :). This episode brings you music from Billy Idol, Motley Crue, Slovenian avant-gardists Laibach, Sheena Easton's fantastic "Sugar Walls", the always classy George Michael and maybe one of the best sequencing decisions ever: a transition from the "Ballad of Jim and Tammy Bakker" to a Raucous Dead Kennedy's performance with Jello Biafra compelling the audience to "Shoot Up With God." Then, stayed tuned for two films from the Glasshouse Production Team, Tom Stern & Alex Winter: "Aisles of Doom"
The segment is guided by a candid Radio 1990 interview with Robert Smith about the inspiration for the "Close To Me" video, fame and more. In true Night Flight fashion, the British band's ever evolving visual is explored through director Tim Pope's videos throughout the piece. Includes the following content: Previews from She's Having a Baby, Julia and Julia, and The Unbearable Lightness of Being, plus a look at new home video releases courtesy of Coming Attractions magazine for No Way Out, In the Mood, and Spaceballs The Cure video profile including the following videos and interview segments with Robert Smith: - Let's Go To Bed - The Walk - Dear Prudence (Siouxie & the Banshees) - Caterpillar - Close To Me - On a Night Like This - In Between Days - Just Like Heaven
Night Flight and Coming Attractions magazine celebrate Valentine's Day with some of the greatest love scenes, and greatest lovers, in movie history.
Welcome to Night Flight goes to the movies, a. Tonight we look at the growing emergence of black leading men in a variety of film genres including Carl Weather's "Action Jackson" and Spike Lee's "School Daze" including interviews.
Your original Night Flight programming returns with a 1988 episode of Flash Tracks. Tonight we have neo-60s psychedelia Australian style with Hoodoo Gurus, gritty english rock Flesh for Lulu, and from Bradford, England it's "Sanctuary” for your soul with The Cult! And for a timely bonus, stay tuned at the end of this episode for Australia's roaming reporter Norman Gunston who pays a visit to the 1979 Grammys!
This 1988 installment of Night Flight Goes to the Movies looks at John Waters' nostalgic look back at 1960s teen dance TV shows "Hairspray" along with the forgettable yet forgivable remake of "And God Created Woman" starring Rebecca DeMornay and a completely forgotten Rob Lowe/Meg Tilly thriller entitled "Masquerade". The Cars video profile features many memorable hits songs interspersed with rare juicy interview bites from Rik Ocasek. Includes the following content: Previews from Hairspray, And God Created Woman, and Masquerade, plus a look at new home video releases courtesy of Coming Attractions magazine for Beverly Hills Cop II, Stakeout, and Maid to Order, plus a video tribute to Divine (Harris Glenn Milstead) who had just recently passed away. ----- Encore presentation of a video profile on The Cars who had recently disbanded. Music videos (some are just snippets) include: You Might Think Why Can't I Have You Drive Hello Again Magic Tonight She Comes True To You - Ric Ocasek (Wearing Down) Like a Wheel - Elliot Easton Stay the Night - Benjamin Orr Strap Me In
Night Flight's 1988 New Metal Special spans the globe - covering bands from Japan, Germany and at home in the USA. Acts included in this essential Night Flight Take Off are Megadeth, Zodiac Mindwarp, Ezo, Warlock and more... Not to be missed!
In "Take Off To Crime," get ready for greed, gunshots and gangsters with David Bowie, Tony Powers, Madhouse and more... Unlock this week's video vault with Toni Basil, Paul Simon and other groundbreaking music video moments from the 80s.
"Hi, I'm Divine. And tonight we're going to be taking a looking at my career, from the early years in Pink Flamingos, to my performances and right up to my current hollywood film." He was one of america's most glamorous, campiest, and outrageous movie queens and Night Flight's interview is one of the most treasured parts of our library. Watch Divine discuss the legacy of Pink Flamingos, meeting John Waters and more.
Night Flight's take off special feels uniquely 80s in its exposure of videos from Madonna, The Talking Heads and more relating to the culture of wealth and excess that defined the time.
Night Flight's Atomic TV is a classic featurette from the original series and fan favorite. This early, trend-setting 'video mashup' takes the pop music scene of 1986 and early public domain safety films to create a pre-internet psychedelic supercut for the ages. It's like Dr. Strangelove met Koyaanisqatsi at the bar of Ramones concert. It's a hypnotic, and surreal homage to nuclear hysteria with a comedic twist and a testament to Night Flight's dedication to experimenting with the formats of the music video and television. Sort of sad that regardless the decade, the threat of Nuclear domination never seems to escape the news cycles, Luckily, Night Flight is still around and can serve as your virtual time capsule of Nuclear History.
Night Flight rocks regional tonight as we travel to Asbury Park and beyond to explore the sounds of The Garden State. Featuring music from, of course, the Boss, blues revivalist Southside Johnny, Hackensack’s Joe Lynn Turner, Clarence Clemons and more!
Features music videos from legendary British goth rockers Bauhaus and their spin-off group Love and Rockets along with dark entries from singer-gone-solo Peter Murphy. Videos from the Attic revives several classics from Blancmange, Eurythmics, Billy Idol, Fine Young Cannibals and More. Includes the following content: Bauhaus - Bela Lugosi's Dead Peter Murphy - Final Solution Peter Murphy - All Night Long Love and Rockets - Ball of Confusion The Bubblemen - We Wish We Were Bubblemen Love and Rockets - No New Tale to Tell Love and Rockets - Mirror People Billy Idol - Dancing With Myself Romeo Void - Never Say Never Eurythmics - Missionary Man Blancmange - Living on the Ceiling Peter Gabriel - Shock the Monkey Falco - Rock Me Amadeus Fine Young Cannibals - Johnny Comes Home
A "Take Off" series on Politics and Progressive Rap. Also, an extra special bonus feature on 'Movie Villains.'
Welcome to Night Flight's new filmmaker series, featuring short films from America's most talented writers, directors and producers. Tonight, two films from the Glasshouse production team Tom Stern and Alex Winter, Squeal of Death and Aisles of Doom.
Another classic cut of summer themed Night Flight programming featuring The Cars, The Untouchables, Jimmy Cliff, and Pat Prescott trivia time: "What happens when the original surf rockers trade places with 900 pounds of rap?" The Fat Boys' Wipeout!
Welcome to Night Flight's video profile of one of Rock's greatest vocalists and song stylists, Robert Plant and Night Flight goes to the movies with Arnie Action Thriller Red Heat, Bull Durham and more
Night Flight salutes the Women of Rock in this excellent original episode from June, 1988. "Today," Pat Prescott tells us, "women's voices are more powerful than ever in new music, neo-folk and down & dirty Rock n Roll." Featuring Sinead O'Connor's incredible video with MC Lyte, Joan Jett, Lita Ford, and Annie Lennox.
Night Flight's celebrating Independence Day (in 1988 and today!) with a Red, White and Blue Take Off Special to Freedom. We'll take a musical look at the many faces of Freedom, at home and abroad with Billy Bragg, Robbie Robertson, Hulk Hogan, and Aztec Two Step.
Tonight we head to Ventura, California 1987 for Night Flight’s special segment on a Motorcycle Rodeo. Like a Heavy Metal Parking Lot for the great American Biker community, this feature takes an intimate look at the customs of the leather clad, bearded, booted men of the Highway. Featuring such events as the Slow Race, Motorcycle Tug Of War, Keg Derby, and the couples competition Weenie Bite, (which features a mustard slathered Hot-Dog that you’ll just have to watch for yourself to truly understand) tonight’s episode gets you all need to know about “the modern day cowboys of the American Highway!” Stick around after the Easyriders motorcycle mayhem for a vintage episode of "Night Flight Goes to the Movies," where we featured clips from Hollywood movies released in 1988: "License to Drive," "Dudes" (featuring a young Jon Cryer!), "Arthur 2: On the Rocks," "Wall Street," and "Siesta." "And now the Summer of Love returns" Pat Prescott tells viewers next, "with this week's home video pick.
Night Flight's 1988 "Poets of Rock" special is a celebration of some of the greatest songwriters of the era. "Rock and Roll lyrics are the poetry of the masses" Pat Prescott tells us, before giving us a brief history lesson in rock lyricism that includes Bob Dylan, Lou Reed and Lennon. Then we move into the 80s with a look and listen to the lyrics Patti Smith, Tracy Chapman, 10,000 Maniacs and more.
A half hour tour of Hollywood, America's most famous, glamarous, and heartbreaking town.
1988's "Take Off" to Hardcore (and more!) You gotta hand it to the original Night Flight writers. Every weekend for over seven years, the team put together 8 hours of cutting-edge television—mixing a complex blend of avant-garde, undiscovered and obscure visual/audio art. The amount of work this took on a weekly basis back in the 1980s is staggering. Tonight’s episode is a one-two punch of amazing Night Flight curation. Take Off to Hardcore begins fittingly with Bad Brains and Bl'ast!’s “Surf and Destroy,” before taking a detour off the Hardcore Highway into Euro-Industrial tracks from Alien Sex Fiend and Nitzer Ebb, only to end with an awesome Peter Murphy clip and solo track. It’s disorienting for sure, but one hell of a watch!
“What do you do when a guy puts Mayonnaise on your shoulder?... Do the Watusi!" — Howie Mandel circa 1986. And so goes 3 minutes of towering cringe (even by '80s standards) in tonight’s "Take Off" episode to Comedy in Music Videos from 1988 that also features the legendary Max Headroom, Father Guido Sarducci, Bette Midler, Will Smith and more!
A selection of innovative, landmark 1980s music videos from Devo, Tony Powers, Will Powers, Elvis Costello, Grace Jones, Chaka Khan, Peter Wolf & David Lee Roth. Includes the following content: WHIP IT - Devo DON'T NOBODY MOVE (THIS IS A HEIST) - Tony Powers ADVENTURES IN SUCCESS - Will Powers ACCIDENTS WILL HAPPEN - Elvis Costello ONCE IN A LIFETIME - Talking Heads WARM LEATHERETTE / WALKING IN THE RAIN - Grace Jones I FEEL FOR YOU - Chaka Khan OO-EE-DIDDLEY-BOP! - Peter Wolf HEY DJ - World Famous Supreme Team I AM A DJ - David Bowie GOD BLESS VIDEO - Alcatrazz JUST A GIGOLO / I AIN'T GOT NOBODY - David Lee Roth
Night Flight "Take's Off" to the once and future glory of Acid Rock. The original catalytic agent for Acid Rock faded away, but Night Flight tracked the visual cues and sonic elements of Acid Rock making a major flashback for the '80s through artists like S'Express, The Cult, The Psychedelic Furs, Nina Hagen and The Mission.
It's time for more video flash tracks. Presenting video portraits of The Style Council, Fields of The Nephilim and Aztec Camera. First, we point the viewfinder at Glasgow act Aztec Camera's folk fusion of jazz chords and bossanova rhythms. Then it's on to our next act: Rising like ghosts from a swamp, the London band Fields of the Nephilim combine the dusty, lawless legacy of the west with a lot of post apocalyptic dread. Councilman Paul Weller lead one of England’s original punk band’s: The Jam. By 1983, he needed a new direction so formed The Style Council, whose videos cap this excellent episode of Flash Tracks.
Night Flight's video profile of John Carpenter arrives! The master of horror sits down with Night Flight for this special 1988 director profile and talks his influences, the role of music in his filmmaking and much more. Featuring clips from his films to help tell the story of the auteur's unique vision, this special episode is peak Night Flight and not to be missed!
Night Flight's Video Flash Tracks, with rapid fire bios and rock videos from Sisters Of Mercy, Timbuk3, and "Junkers," an international award winner about a trusting yuppie on the backroads of America.
Night Flight profiles quintessential rock video director Bill Fishman, on the debut of his film Tapeheads (1988) with John Cusack and Tim Robbins. This tour de force of his work explores videos by Suicidal Tendencies, The Ramones, and more.
In "Take Off to Comedy IX," enter Jackie Mason's mind with the brilliant compilation “The World According To Me,” Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi get Brian Wilson out of bed to go surfing in a long forgotten clip that was one of our most popular stories on the blog last year. Other gems include Divine’s “These Lips Were Made For Kissing,” Dweezil Zappa, Weird Al Yankovich and an original segment with comedian Ritch Shydner’s hilarious bit in the Night Flight studios.
The sun has risen on the Aquarian Age. Tonight we return to 1988 for an intergalactic sojourn through the New Age movement. “A fascination with the eternal truths permeates New Age music…” Pat Prescott tells us, before jumping into an eclectic mix of Philip Glass, Ravi Shanker, Kitaro, and Yanni. Prepare your Pan Flutes, and ready yourself for New Age hour on Night Flight.
A special feature on politics.
Part of Night Flight's "20 Years of Rock N' Roll Style" series from 1988, this episode highlighting Punk Rock focuses on the careers of the Johnny Rotten, The Clash, Jello Biafra of the Dead Kennedys and more.
Classic dance videos from Robert Palmer, The Clash, Devo and more.
Night Flight's 1988 video tribute to John Lennon includes "Instant Karma," "Stepping Out," "Living on borrowed time" and more, with introductions and back story from Pat Prescott.
Night Flight profiles sonic wizard Thomas Dolby in this special episode of Video Flash Tracks. Cut with some of Dolby's best tracks, Pat Prescott brings us up to speed with Thomas Dolby's history in pop and status as one of its best collaborators with the inclusion of his 1988 George Clinton collaboration Hot Sauce. This episode also features extra coverage on White Lion and Level 42. Night Flight gets some Metal In Your Face with clips and stories from Suicidal Tendencies, Britny Fox, Nuclear Assault, Overkill and more. Enjoy!
Tonight Night Flight profiles one of Rock’s great renegades: Neil Young. The essential episode features a candid NF studio interview with Young discussing his origins and inspirations and features some of Young’s more esoteric deep cuts on Geffen Records in the '80s including 1982’s techno track “Sample and Hold” and his Rockabilly ballad “Wonderin'.” Night Flight creator Stuart S. Shapiro's independent film distribution company International Harmony distributed Young's film "Rust Never Sleeps," a regular title in our early days on the air. It’s great to have the icon back on Night Flight.
In this original episode from 1988, Night Flight features the beat-box, syncopated rhythm of Rap. “Born in the inner-city, now commercially accepted the world over rap made its social statement with a look, as well as a sound," Pat Prescott explains. Dig in with a classic tune from Jamaican born Shinehead, Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five’s “The Message,” Run DMC’s heavy guitar hybrid track “Rock Box,” Night Flight favorites The Fat Boys and more.
Tonight, we go back to 1988 to Take Off to Futurism in Music Videos. "The future is upon us, with Robots, Computers and new technologies" Pat Prescott informs us at the top of tonight's episode. Kicking off with Bonnie Tyler scored supercut of Fritz Lang's Metropolis this episode shows a multitude of visions of the future through music. Re-flex is "Hurt," the Earons explore "The Land of Hunger," Tangerine Dream's Peter Baumann signs of "Strangers in the Night" and DEVO tell the tale of the "Worried Man." This episode on the future has the special honor of being bookended by a good friend from the past, Mr. Bill.
What’s on the menu for tonight? Fish Heads! Our 1988 “Take Off” episode of Night Flight is a special salute to… Food? “Whether you slice it or dice it, chew it or spew it” Pat Prescott proclaims, “you can’t live without it!” Kicking off with Weird Al Yankovich’s “Eat It,” and including tunes from The Fat Boys, Tom Petty, Barnes and Barnes and a myriad of food-related, public domain interstitials, this episode is a pure cup of instant weird. Including the the notorious 'pot brownie' recipe from 'The Alice B. Toklas Cookbook!
Welcome to tonight’s new original arrival: a 1988 special profile of The Traveling Wilbury’s. The a British–American supergroup consisting of Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison and Tom Petty, gets the complete Night Flight treatment with a look at the groups signature songs and individual output from the 80s.
Watch the director discuss "tired" comparisons to Hitchcock, the importance of beauty in horror, and the potential pitfalls of directing music videos all while seeing pivotal scenes from Carrie, Phantom Of The Paradise, Body Double and more...
Afro Beat: A look at Africa's music and politics. It's no secret that Rock and Roll is based on African Rythyms. Africa created tempo and 4/4 time, the basis for all our generation's popular dance music. Today, another sound is coming from Africa as the world turns to the political abuses on the continent. African-born musicians are crying out for their civil rights. Featuring preeminent pan-africanist Fela, Senegalese brothers Toure Kunda, Nigerian Juju music leader King Sunny Ade, South African Apartheid activists Juluka and much more. This is Night Flight at it’s absolute finest: musical, cultural and historical.
Side A: Welcome to New Sounds highlighting the burgeoning acts and micro-genres of the late 80s with Belgian synth act Front 242 (with a video from iconic photographer Anton Corbijn), Australian punk act Lime Spiders, Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians massive hit “What I Am,” and some fantastic Joy Division inspired coldwave from Siglo XX. Side B: Time for some rapid fire Flash Tracks featuring the masters of party anarchy: Fishbone, the brilliant vocal contortionist Bobby McFerrin, and finally the big sounds from Scotland’s Big Country.
Night Flight's 1989 Video Profile of "The Man and The Band" Bon Jovi, who made "Metal-lite safe for teenage consumption" according to Pat Prescott, arrives tonight on Night Flight Plus. The late-era Night Flight special episode covers all the essential Jovi Cuts, including the original videos from the New Jersey native for "Runaway," "In And Out Of Love," and more.
Night Flight's video profile of one of the seminal bands of the 1980s, Manchester England's innovative New Order. Highlights include their music video for "Confusion" which contains scenes filmed inside legendary NYC nightclub 'The Funhouse' along with rare footage of revered dance music producer Arthur Baker at work in the studio.
Welcome to Night Flight’s video profile of the clown princes of Glam Slam Metal Rock: Poison. Pat Prescott explains how the Brett Michaels fronted outfit went from an LA club scene staple to platinum recording artist. Featuring interviews with drummer Rikki Rockett, guitarist CC DeVille, and all the POISON music you need!
Tucked away inside this 1990s Syndication episode is Night Flight's "Take Off" to Reggae. Night Flight has always been proud of exposing our audience to Reggae music early on by being one of the first music shows to put the genre's music videos into heavy rotation. Tonight's "Take Off" episode is a perfect example of this. Featuring interviews and music with Jimmy Cliff, Peter Tosh, Third World, and Bob and Ziggy Marley, this classic episode is not to be missed and still serves as an excellent entry point to the incredible genre. Be sure to also stick around long enough to see Laurie Anderson's performance of "Language is a Virus (From Outer Space)."
This episode kicks off with a Colin Quinn bit (Night Flight exclusive), a Louis Armstrong/Kung Fu-mashup, Rudy Vallée’s “The Musical Doctor” (with a guest appearance from Chaka Khan?!), a Fellini parody by Renée Taylor and Night Flight original video essay “Sci-fi Monsters.” Stick around for Mouseferatu!
Tonight we dive into the dark underworld of Gothic Rock! Rising from the ashes of late 70s punk, Goth Rock mixed the batwing style of Bram Stoker's Dracula with bizarre sentiments, black humor and a big beat. This classic episode (part of the Night Flight Series 'Twenty Years of Rock N' Roll Style') is a tour de force of goth bands and their myriad solo offshoots. Fittingly kicking off with Bauhaus' "Bela Lugosi's Dead," this episode also features music from Peter Murphy, Love and Rockets, The Damned, Sisters of Mercy, Fields of the Nephilim and more. Hope all you post-punk ghouls enjoy!
This two-hour 1990 broadcast features Julee Cruise’s performance for David Lynch's “Industrial Symphony No. 1,” a Night Flight original Twin Peaks parody called "Twin Geeks" and an interview with music video director Tim Pope, whose work includes videos from Talk Talk, Siouxsie and the Banshees, David Bowie and much more.
Tonight we’re thrilled to add another Night Flight Original mashup, “What To Do On A Date.” This original episode follows Night Flight’s signature style of repurposing 1950s educational films into a manic fever dream of experimental video. The episode takes a darker turn with John Auerbach (Liquid Sky, TerrorVision)’s Hitchcockian short “The Phone Call.” Stay tuned for more public domain gems like Curly Howard’s “Disorder in the Court” and select scenes from the 1937 exploitation classic: "Cocaine Fiends!" And wait, there's more: Larry Amoros on Night Flight's "Comedy Cuts"!
In 1977, the Sex Pistol’s Johnny Rotten was the most famous man in Rock 'n' Roll…” Pat Prescott tells us, “then he went to work on Public Image Ltd… a group that called everything to question.” A cadre of PiL’s music videos and candid interview segments with Lydon are the backbone of this epic episode. Let John's disdain for music industry and all it’s hypocrisy, bureaucracy and bullshit be your guide to this episode of CLASSIC NIGHT FLIGHT. “You feel pressured into being outrageous… and that’s not good at all is it? It’s unhealthy.
Tonight we salute the overworked and underpaid women who made it all possible, our Mothers! We bring you two hours of original Night Flight in the form of a 1991 Mother’s Day Weekend Special. This episode joins our “As Aired,” section, which means the commercials are Intact. (And WOW are there a lot of late night call in commercials!). Anyone who watched Night Flight in the 90s know that the syndication episodes took on an almost manic, break-neck editing speed. Look out for a myriad of strange 90s animation, oddball short films and video mashups, with the episodes top billing goes to the special feature: Mothers of Punk, looking at the music of Patti Smith, Chrissie Hynde, X’s Exene Cervenka, and Nina Hagen. Sit back and tune in for Night Flight, the show that tucks you in at night (just like your momma!)
"All my life growing up as a kid, I either wanted to be in a Rock band or a baseball player," Johnny Ramone tells us from the dugout of tonight’s special episode on the Ramones. If Rock is a religion, then the Ramones are the high priests of Punk, and in this treasure from the archive, Night Flight provides an in-depth profile of the band with video excerpts from the Ramones' cover of the Chambers Brothers' "Time Has Come Today," plus excerpts from "Psycho Therapy," "Something To Believe In," "I Wanna Be Sedated," "Merry Christmas" and "I Believe in Miracles," all intercut with interview excerpts with Joey, Johnny, Joey's Mom, members of Anthrax and much more from "Lifestyles of the Ramones," (1990), directed by George Seminara. This 1991 syndicated episodes also features Pat Benatar, "Love that Bob!" - Church of the SubGenius, and more!
This rare 1991 number from the library is definitely a unique entry for Night Flight Plus. During the era of VHS video magazine, every genre got had it's one, including Country. May we present, Country Music's Video Magazine: Christmas Special. Yep, if you love late ‘80s country then we're certain you’ll know what to look for in this unearthed video magazine produced by Night Flight creator Stuart Shapiro.
Welcome back to Night Flight! “In a world where musicians bend over backwards to carry message of social responsibility, the wild and raucous Jane’s Addiction sings of personal freedom and non-conformity." - Pat Prescott. In tonight's 1991 original episode of Night Flight, find out why Jane's Addiction had become the most talked about band of the early ‘90s by going behind the scenes with lead singer Perry Farrell's Home Movie "Soul Kiss" This uncut original episode also features all the original 1-900 commercials, Night Flight comedy cuts, and clips from the 1938 exploitation movie, "Sex Madness."
"You're watching Night Flight: where music, movies, cartoons and comedy collide with the unexpected!" - Pat Prescott Tonight’s a mystery box of uncut Night Flight. First up? A long-lost “adult” cartoon from Bob Godfrey, famed UK animator and ideas man on the Beatles' "Yellow Submarine." The main act for this episode is a New Edition Video Profile, which covers their myriad off-shoots and solo projects, including Bell Biv Devoe’s “Poison,” a heavy dose of post-modern R'n'B and New Jack Swing.
Metal? Mostly. “You asked for a Metal night in your letters, so now you’re going to get it,” Tom Juarez announces before an episode that is mostly Metal. Metallica, Megadeth, and White Zombie represent the evolving sound of the early '90s, but Butthole Surfer’s Who Was in My Room Last Night? steals the show. You’d be hard pressed to call the Surfers Metal, so we’ll just assume the late-era Night Flight original producers were just looking for an excuse to play Wes Archer’s insane animated trip of a video. We’re not mad at it!
Tonight we find out what gives a six string its zing! We look at the origin of some of the most soul-stirring, far out guitar sounds with a special "Take Off" to Guitar Heroes. We salute the creme-de-la-creme of guitar playing with a look at virtuosos like Jeff Beck, Pete Townshend, Jimmy Page and the Firm, Stanley Jordan, Stevie Ray Vaughan, B.B. King and more on this special trip to Valhalla of Guitar Gods. Tune Up, and Take Off. Then, stay tuned for European import videos from Peter Schilling, Nena, Nina Hagen, the Scorpions, George Kranz, Taco, Telephone, Chagren d'Amor, Yello and Krokus!
Welcome back to Night Flight. Tonight, we jump into the world of Slapstick Comedy. “Drawing on the theatrical tradition of Vaudeville, Slapstick Comedy is one of America’s most enduring traditions in cinema history,” syndication host Tom Juarez tells us. Its visual, it’s physical, and tonight we present collected the masters of the genre: Chaplin, W.C Fields, The Three Stooges, Jerry Lewis in drag and more.
Tonight, we look at the progenitors of the music video genre. Night Flight was born at bleeding edge of the music video era, and tonight's exhibit of gorgeously preserved early adopters shows it. Within you'll find slices of video brilliance from some of the pioneers of the genre including Michael Nesmith (whose "Rio" kicked off the music video art form), Devo, David Bowie and Todd Rundgren.
“They said Rock n Roll would never last… They said it was a fad.” Tonight, we’re going to spend time with some alleged geezers who’ve stood the test and made a lot of kids look pretty limp by comparison. We're talking about the 1980s iterations of Rock 'n' Roll legends like George Harrison, Mick Jagger (in an incredibly bizarre video for "Let's Work"), Robert Plant, Robbie Robertson and Pink Floyd.
Good evening high-flying fans, and welcome to Night Flight. Tonight, we share another edition of our distinguished Video Profile series with Van Halen. Wherever you stand on Sammy Hagar v. Diamond Dave, you’ll love tonight’s special episode, with videos and concert footage from both. The group's winning combination of charismatic frontmen, Eddie’s phenomenal guitar playing and insanely epic live shows made them an essential act of the era. Dig in.
Ya'll are watching Night Flight, the late night place to be. In this original episode, we saddle up and Take Off to Country Music with Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, Crystal Gayle, Ronnie Milsap, the Judds and much more. Let Pat Prescott be your guide, reliving the classics and bringing you up to speed on peak ‘80s country and crossover.
"All through the rich history of Rock N Roll, artists have claimed the material of others..." says Night Flight syndication host Tom Juarez at the start of tonight's Take Off to Cover Songs. The hour long episode salutes the great musical tradition in what turned out to be the golden decade of covers, featuring Fine Young Cannibals covering Elvis, Cyndi Lauper's best Marvin Gaye impression, and The Pretenders' Jimi Hendrix reinvention. Chrissie Hynde sits down at the Night Flight studio to talk us through how she created the tune, while additional cuts from Boomerang, Club Nouveau and more follow.
"The sound of surf, sand and Sunset Strip..." Coming to you direct from the nerve center of the entertainment industry, tonight Night Flight "Takes Off" to the City of Angels. In this special syndication episode from 1992, we explore the troubadours and minstrels that help shape the musical legacy of Los Angeles and the California sound, from Folk to Surf, Rockabilly to Punk. Featuring The Beach Boys, The Doors, LA Guns, The Motels and more!
Tonight we’re going to turn your living room into the after hours club of your dreams. Not only are you on the A list, you’ve got a ringside seat to the hottest talent The Big Apple has to offer. That’s right, tonight we “Take Off” to New York City Rock, featuring Lou Reed, The Ramones, Blondie, Grandmaster Flash, Yoko Ono, Run DMC and more. From the Velvet Underground in the ‘60s, to the Punk Explosion in the ‘70s and the ascendance of Rap in the '80s, let Night Flight be your guide to the metropolis that has it all.
Ever since “Rock Around The Clock” was heard on the soundtrack of the film Blackboard Jungle, rock music has targeted the classroom as a constant enemy of all that is fun and good in music. Tonight we look at the bands revolting against school authority and classroom discipline with tunes from The Stray Cats, Ramones, Twisted Sister and more. The 1980s had no shortage of music videos set in High School classrooms, so believe us, this episode DELIVERS. Who was your homeroom angel?
For three magical days in 1969, the Woodstock Music and Art Fair was a "Rock 'n' Roll City" half a million strong. Get ready for one of the headiest retro-television experiences of your life as Night Flight flashes back to Woodstock, with live documentation, concert footage and music from the iconic festival's key sets.
Tonight on Night Flight Originals, we’re prepared the best slice of nighttime TV you’re going to find anywhere on the dial. Put down that remote! You’re about to experience Video Profile’s of two of 1980s most intriguing dance rock bands: The Thompson Twins and OMD. Packed with rare deep cuts, sentimental favorites and behind the scene’s interviews, this two for the price of one special is a knockout!
Tonight we embark on an hour long special which kicks off with Night Flight's "Take Off to Irish Rock," which features videos by U2, Sinead O’Connor, That Petrol Motion and the Pogues, who we recently featured in an excellent documentary. Then, about 25-minutes in, we arrive at our video profile of the work of songwriter, actor, playwright and authentic American troubadour Tom Waits, which features key Waits deep cut videos and a candid back seat interview with the man himself, where he describes the “showbiz” family that raised him and his vision of God, (“God's a short guy… he started in the mailroom and worked his way up, invested well”).
Tonight, we’re opening Night Flight’s closely guarded vaults and dedicating a full hour to Video Classics. “The diamonds, emeralds, pearls, gold, frankincense and myrrh of video history” host Tom Juarez explains in one of his interstitial antics.
"Connoisseurs of the weird and wonderful" that's how host Tom Juarez describes the audience of the 1990s Night Flight syndication episodes. This episode is essential Night Flight and includes a video profile of Sting with a handful of essential Police hits and a bunch of solo deep cuts. Next, we're onto a deep look at the progenitors of art rock: Genesis and its solo project progenies. We're talking videos from Phil Collins, Peter Gabriel, Mike Rutherford, and even some of the late Genesis cuts from the '80s, culminating with an intense and maniacal rendition of 1983's "Mama." Phew, peak Night Flight indeed!
"Good Evening, ladies and gentlemen," 1990s syndication host Tom Juarez exclaims, "and welcome to Night Flight: a beacon of fun, fantasy, and pure entertainment..." What follows is a hand-picked rerun of some classic Night Flight segments including a Bruce Springsteen Video Profile and an hour of cult classics. "You may as well put on another cup of coffee, because no matter how sleepy you think you're feeling, you're going to want to stay up for tonight's wild ride." You bet!
Tonight we’ve got a comprehensive survey of the music and visuals of Australian band INXS. (“The band from down under who've come out on top!” - Pat Prescott.) In 1983, Farriss brothers and co. came out of Sydney to become part of America’s “Aussie Invasion.” This episode tracks the band’s rise to the top with excellent visuals (like Director Richard Lowenstein's clip above), concert footage and a one-off interview with the the Farriss brothers brainstorming a future music video. Watch with us tonight.
Welcome to Night Flight circa 1993. “Ten years ago,” Pat Prescott tells us “The Replacements played their first ragtag gig in a church basement in Minneapolis. Much to everyone’s surprise, including their own, the ‘Mats became one of the hottest underground bands in the world.” Tonight’s Video Profile shows off some of the band’s finest moments and features ultra-candid interviews with Paul Westerberg. Part B of Night Flight's Original Episode tonight is the German-surrealist short film "Balance." Created by twin brothers Wolfgang and Christoph Lauenstein, this stark experimental animation allegory won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short in 1989. Another treasure of the archive.
“Tonight, we introduce you to the men behind the masks with an exclusive interview as well as concert films from their Inner Sanctum and Japanese tours.” By now, you must know this voice is NOT regular host Pat Prescott and the band he IS talking about is Kiss. Put it all this together, and you realize this is one of the early uncut lost episodes of Night Flight! Sure, clips from this interview pop up here and there (like in last year's IFC Time Capsule's) but never in the long-form version that appears before us today. This is where the Night Flight saga began, folks. You can almost smell the potential! (And flammable hairspray).
By the early 1990s, the tyrants of mediocrity had successfully infected the TV airwaves with the scourge of the banal. One of the only transmissions keeping the Punk spirit alive was the syndicated episodes of Night Flight. In this special "Off The Wall" episode from 1993, Night Flight calls on it's most eccentric short films and videos in it's mission of Punk Justice, featuring The Residents, Divine, Frank Zappa and Wes Archer.
Good evening Night Flight Fans. Tonight, get ready to experience a profile of John Cougar Mellencamp, a "nobody from Seymour, Indiana, who fought his way to the top of the rock heap and stayed there..." syndication host Tom Juarez tells us. The Rock Balladeer Of America's Heartland was one of the first and most endearing of all video stars and tonight we share a biography in music videos hosted by Pat Prescott, featuring the hits, deep cuts and some exclusive interview segments.
Kicking off with 1984’s “Ooh Ooh” song, Night Flight takes you on a complete tour of the artist’s numerous smash hits. Ten years before this episode aired, Benatar was “working as a bank teller and supplementing her income while singing in motel lounges,” host Pat Prescott tells us.
Night Flight’s classic “Video Essays” were a completely unique programming concept for the era. Lead by Night Flight’s writer Stuart Samuels (an instructor at the Cannes Film Festival), editors crafted hypnotizing video collages sourced from public domain archive footage and lost video artifacts - all linked by a common theme. Tonight’s original episode is the Video Essay “Machine Medley,” an adventurous mix of industrial sights and sounds featuring SPK’s “Machine Age Voodoo,” Swinging Piston’s “I Love The Sound Of Machines “ and more.
Tonight, we present esteemed animator Bill Kopp’s original short “Mr. Gloom,” from an episode of "Toone Theatre." The psychedelic animation is hand-drawn theatre of the absurd. Kopp’s credits myriad credits include voice over work for none other than Night Flight animated “freak-out” classic, Jac Mac and Rad Boy Go! Also in this episode, the experimental animation “Machine Song,” a video collage from Chel White, who back in 2015, described the film to us as "as a minimalist vision of the post-industrial human condition, depicted in xerox cutout animation."
“Hello all you Night Owls, and welcome to Night Flight!” Tonight’s original episode finds us exploring the animal kingdom through a menagerie of short films, music video compilations and lost docu-comedies. Featuring experimental shorts like “Grinning Evil Death” an early 3D CGI project about an oversized cockroach, a video profile of Knoxville, TN’s The Judybats, and “Hush Hoggies Hush,” a film about Tom Johnson's remarkable talent of teaching his pigs to pray before they eat. (A Night Flight classic) Inquire within for one of the most eclectic hours to come out of the vault recently. “Remember,” Pat Prescott tells us, “we’re on until the cows come home.”
Resurrecting the sizzling pre-punk R&B attitude of British pub rock, The Godfathers came slamming onto the scene in 1986. Tune in for an interview with founders the Coyne brothers and hits from the band's discography, including '87's existential anthem "Birth, School, Work, Death."
Tonight, we return to 1994 for a Night Flight syndication episode covering the rise of iconic synth band Depeche Mode. "Of all the synthesizer bands that rose in the 1980s, one band has enjoyed repeated success in both their music and popularity while still retaining their unique sound and style." Syndication Host Tom Juarez tells us.
Night Flight finally makes it to Alt Rock this weekend in a new addition to our “Take Off” features. This 1994 showcase appeared in the twilight (sorry) of Night Flight’s 90s syndication. The music videos and concert footage included (Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Afghan Whigs, Rage Against the Machine, and more) is as accurate a snapshot of the era as one could ask for, but it’s still a bit uncanny to see the NF Chyron next to quintessential 90s acts. Nothing wrong with a bit of the Breeders on Night Flight though am I right?
Tonight, Night Flight Take’s Off to Eclectic Ladies in music in a 1994 syndication special. This Night Flight original episode is a tribute to female artists whose musical missions and video visions are what syndication host Tom Juarez refers to as “the most interesting, the most unusual and well… the most Night Flight.” Inquire within for music and videos from all stars Kate Bush, Juliana Hatfield, Bonnie Raitt, Siouxsie and the Banshees, a very special public service announcement from Laurie Anderson and here’s a bit of surprise: BJORK.
Night Flight's "Take Off" to Guitar Rock is a syndication special with host Tom Juarez from 1994. This video mix includes Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jeff Beck, John Lee Hooker and more. Roots guitar music was probably the last thing on a young person's late night TV mind in the grunge era, but Night Flight could always be relied on to celebrate culture and not follow trends. Right?
Tonight, we "Take Off" to iconic solo careers and the band's they left behind in this 1994 special Syndication episode of Night Flight. Ahh, the solo career: the proving ground for artists who uncouple from the bands that made them or simply want to blow off some creative steam. Hosted by Tom Juarez, we take a journey through the solo songs of Mick Jagger, Phil Collins, Stevie Nicks, and finally Morrissey (see below for our additional offerings from The Smiths this week) all while giving credit to the original bands that made them.
In tonight’s original episode of Night Flight, Annie Lennox shape-shifts through the video work of Eurythmics and own her own. The gender-bending music videos featured tonight find Lennox portraying an 18th century dilettante, 1960s-era flip wig singer, and in "Little Bird," a Cabaret performer playing her most challenging role yet: a confederacy of all her previous personas! Tonight, we salute a pop music chameleon of the highest order. As syndication-era host Tom Juarez tells us, Night Flight was the only TV show that dared to spend an entire hour one artist’s music video efforts. This episode is a perfect example of that!
Tonight’s Night Flight Original Episode is a mystery mix of lost video treasures; a rapid fire sampler of short films, animations and music videos. This full episode with commercials intact kick offs with Rik Carter’s 1987 short “Horror Brunch,” a long forgotten cult masterpiece that Bloody Disgusting had the following to say about: “If you love gory ’80s flicks, you absolutely need to watch this one, as it’s essentially a blood-soaked love letter to the era… and it was actually made during that era!” Couldn’t agree more! We'll let you discover the rest of the episode yourself.
American alt-rock and blue-eyed soul. Escape to "unreality" with late '80s alt rock and get hooked on love with a stylish soul soloist. Feature Presentation: Kiss Loves You.
One of pop music's most seductive voices and elegant rock lovers who don't kiss and tell. Features revealing interviews with music icons and concert clips. Feature Presentation: Life On The V: The Story Of V66.
A close look at an anonymous group of video experimenters and two influential blues guitarists. Late Night TV from the 80s never felt so good. Featuring new music videos, rare performance footage and more. Feature Presentation: Arise!: the SubGenius Video.
Legendary hard rock metal and video music pioneers talk shop. Late Night TV from the 80s never felt so good. Features cartoons, pop culture icons, and a divine drag queen. Feature Presentation: Devo - The Men Who Make The Music.
Watch rare footage of groundbreaking hardcore punk and get to know Australia's biggest rock band with exclusive interviews. Late Night TV from the 80s never felt so good.
Classic Interviews featuring legends of heavy metal and punk rock. Late Night TV from the 80s never felt so good. Features animation, rock gods, pop culture icons, and other surprises. Feature Presentation: Sad Vacation - The Last Days Of Sid and Nancy.
Cult films, retro animation and a visit from the Shock Rock Goddess herself. Late Night TV from the 80s never felt so good. Features retro animation, cult video, and candid interviews. Feature Presentation: Wendy O. Williams and The Plasmatics - 10 Years Of Revolutionary Rock & Roll.
Two titans of modern music stop by with candid interviews and rare performance footage. Late Night TV from the 80s never felt so good. Features revealing interviews with music icons and concert clips. Feature Presentation: Brian Eno - 1971-1977: The Man Who Fell to Earth.
Lyrical sophistication and songwriting elegance define two of modern music's most compelling figures. A fever dream of classic clips including iconic pop magic, cult animation, and legendary lyricists. Feature Presentation: Looking For Johnny.
Guitar tips from a master of the art and tour footage with a powerhouse vocalist and her conflicted partner. Classic Interviews and rare documentary footage featuring legends of rock music. Feature Presentation: Style Wars.
A look at the pioneering sounds of electronic music and the bands that defined the genre. Late Night TV from the 80s never felt so good. Features music videos, pop culture icons, and a divine drag queen. Feature Presentation: Heavy Metal Parking Lot.
Rock Photography and NYC Hip Hop. One of Rock n Roll's most iconic image makers stops by and a Grandmaster walks us through the culture of New York Hip-Hop.
A close look at a recently lost rock icon and a glam-punk bard. Both were known to have broken a heart or two. A fever dream of classic clips including legendary frontmen, animation, and punk heavyweights. Feature Presentation: The Who, The Mods, and The Quadrophenia Connection.
A fever dream of classic clips including iconic 60s rock, animation, and punk heavyweights. A trip back to the boundary-pushing music and videos of the 1980s.Feature Presentation: Anthrax on Dr. Ruth.
Night Flight opens the vaults to reveal candid interviews with to virtuosic front men who carved their own path in modern music. Late Night TV from the 80s never felt so good. Feature Presentation: Depeche Mode - The Dark Progression.
A pop heir charts his own course and a look at the career of Rock's vanguard vocalist and song stylist. A fever dream of classic clips including iconic rock stars, cult animation, and bewitching vocals. Feature Presentation: US Festival 1983 Part 1.
Heavy Metal and Punk. Classic Interviews featuring legends of heavy metal and punk rock. Late Night TV from the 80s never felt so good. Features animation, rock gods, pop culture icons, and other surprises.
Hard Rock Metal and Video Music Pioneers. Featuring cartoons, pop culture icons, and a divine drag queen.
Movie Star President and Shock Rock. Cult films, retro animation and a visit from the Shock Rock Goddess herself. Features retro animation, cult video, and candid interviews.
NY Punk and Spaceman. Two titans of modern music stop by with candid interviews and rare performance footage.
Avant-Garde Experimenters and the Blues. A close look at an anonymous group of video experimenters and two influential blues guitarists.
Hardcore Punk and Australian Invasion. Watch rare footage of groundbreaking hardcore punk and get to know Australia's biggest rock band with exclusive interviews.
Iconic Horror and D.C. Punk. A Jekyll and Hyde-like interview with one of Horror's most infamous villains and a retrospective of the Washington D.C. punk scene of the 1980s.
A look at N.Y. from Jazz to Rap to Underground Pop
We lost a close member of the Night Flight family on January 8th, 2022. Michael Lang and NF creator Stuart Shapiro were twin counter-culture spirits. Best friends since 1970, Michael and Stuart were at the center of the key revolutions that shaped the musical landscape in second half of the century: Michael, in the advent and supremacy of the music festival and Stuart, of course, at the inception of film, video and music television. Eventually the two would connect on projects like Woodstock.com and one of the first ever live streams broadcast over the internet for Woodstock ’99. To celebrate his life, we are sharing a fascinating unreleased interview with Michael conducted by Night Flight’s original writer, Stuart Samuels, in 2019. Lang gives a rich historical perspective on the festival and the time period, covering the lineup’s original conception and all the dark and light of the '60s that made the event such a defining moment. Thanks for being here to celebrate his life with us.
In early 1980s Finland, Belaboris were in their own peculiar, undefinable no-woman’s-land between the Finnish Futu and Gothic scenes.
Bézier is the moniker of all-live-analog electronic wizard Robert Yang from San Francisco. Yang’s studio set up includes a variety of vintage Roland and Korg synthesizers as well as the Italo Disco favorite LinnDrum.
Axis: Sova began as the experimental psych-rock solo project of Chicago artist Brett Sova, who wrote and recorded much of the bands early output before settling on a full lineup. Since 2018 the band has consisted of Sova with Tim Kaiser on guitar and Jeremy Freeze on bass.
Bill Callahan's new album YTI⅃AƎЯ arrives via Drag City on October 14th, '22. Night Flight's official video profile now includes the visual for lead single Coyotes, a so-called "lyric video" with a dark twist. After years of releasing acclaimed lofi folk-rock albums under the name Smog, Bill Callahan has been recording and releasing music under his own name since 2007. This critically-acclaimed work has mixed his largely acoustic sound with elements of gospel, soul and pop.
Black Marble, Chris Stewart’s 80s influenced synth-pop group, began releasing music in 2012 with the EP The Weight Against the Door and later the gloomy full length A Different Arrangement. This moody atmosphere, created by an arsenal of analog synths, would later give way to lighter and warmer sounds on Stewart’s successive releases, including 2019’s Bigger Than Life and 2021’s Fast Idol, both on Sacred Bones.
"An experiment in the identity of creativity…" Tune in for an exclusive visit to Night Flight from Drab Majesty's Deb Demure: a unique delight and another timeless entry to Night Flight cultural canon.
“Take Off” to Anthology Recordings, the reissue imprint of Brooklyn-based independent label Mexican Summer featuring music from Karen Black, Keith Mansfield, and more.
“Take Off” to independent label Dais Records featuring music videos from Space Africa, Choir Boy, Xeno & Oakland and Death Bells.
“Take Off” to independent label Dais Records featuring music videos from ADULT., Choir Boy, Body of Light and Getting The Fear.
“Take Off” to independent label Dais Records featuring music videos from Death Bells, SPICE, Choir Boy, and Death of Lovers.
“Take Off” to independent label Dais Records featuring music videos from Riki, Private World, SRSQ, and SPICE.
“Take Off” to independent label Dais Records featuring music videos from Cold Showers, Pierce with Arrow, ADULT., and Xeno & Oaklander.
Resuscitating The '80s Underground. Inspired by the DIY nature of the 80s underground, Dark Entries founder Josh Cheon launched the label in 2009 to release out of print and unreleased underground music as well as contemporary bands, with a mission to preserve sound quality and respecting the aesthetics of its artists. With over 100 releases under our belt from Severed Heads, Crash Course In Science, Patrick Cowley to the Dark Entries Editions series focusing on hard to find Italo Disco and Synthpop 12”s. And yes, Josh took the name from Bauhaus's first 7″release,
“Take Off” to San Francisco-based independent record label Dark Entries featuring music videos from Ski Patrol, X-Ray Pop, From Nursery to Misery, and more.
“Take Off” to Chicago-based independent label Drag City featuring music videos from Joanna Newsom, Palace, Silver Jews and White Fence.
“Take Off” to Chicago-based independent label Drag City featuring music videos from Eiko Ishibashi, Rangda, Ty Segall and Bill MacKay.
“Take Off” to Brooklyn-based independent label Mexican Summer featuring music videos from Cate Le Bon, L'Rain, Hayden Pedigo, and Iceage.
“Take Off” to Brooklyn-based independent label RVNG Intl. featuring music videos from Holly Herndon, Greg Fox, Helado Negro, and Kate NV.
“Take Off” to Brooklyn-based independent label RVNG Intl. featuring music videos from Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe, Sign Lbira, Kate NV, and Ka Baird.
“Take Off” to Brooklyn-based independent label Sacred Bones, featuring music videos from Black Marble, Marissa Nadler, Boris, and Spellling.
“Take Off” to Brooklyn-based independent label Sacred Bones featuring music videos from John Carpenter, Black Marble, Molchat Doma, and Zola Jesus.
“Take Off” to Brooklyn-based independent label Sacred Bones featuring music videos from Moon Duo, John Carpenter, Alan Vega, and Amen Dunes.
“Take Off” to Brooklyn-based independent label Sacred Bones featuring music videos from Caleb Landry Jones, John Carpenter, Anika, and DJ Muggs the Black Goat.
“Take Off” to Seattle-based independent label Sub Pop featuring music videos from Chai, Mudhoney, clipping., and Ya Tseen.
“Take Off” to Seattle-based independent label Sub Pop featuring music videos from Weyes Blood, Metz, Wolf Parade and Bully.
“Take Off” to Seattle-based independent label Sub Pop featuring music videos from Orville Peck, Shannon Lay, Father John Misty and Lael Neale.
“Take Off” to Seattle-based independent label Sub Pop featuring music videos from Father John Misty, Tad, The Jesus and Mary Chain and more.
“Take Off” to Seattle-based independent label Sub Pop featuring music videos from Shabazz Palaces, Sunny Day Real Estate, Weyes Blood and TV Priest.
Dark analog dance songs for the post-modern era.
Meat Loaf's full, uncut interview from the original Night Flight series. It's extremely rare for us to show an official Night Flight interview in its raw form (these interviews are the most precious tapes in our library), but when we heard Meat Loaf had passed away on January 20th, 2022, we rushed to the vault, digitized the 2" master and added it to Night Flight Plus, completely unedited. Enjoy this fascinating and candid interview with the legendary artist.
Salvador Dali, Bob Dylan, The Velvet Underground and other denizens of Andy Warhol’s netherworld make an appearance in this long-lost footage from the Factory for Nico's "Frozen Warnings." Featuring the gorgeous, droning arrangements of John Cale's pipe organ, and the otherworldly voice of Warhol’s muse, this The Marble Index deep cut is a perfect backdrop to some of the best looking footage of The Factory you can find. “Somewhere along the line, punk and disco got all mixed up in the pulsating metal machine music of Industrial sounds.” Hell yeah, Pat Prescott. Sign us up. For Night Flight’s industrial dance mega-mix, our editors creatively synced footage of ‘60s Go-Go Dancers with crackin’ edits from Meatbeat Manifesto, Renegade Soundwave, KLF and 9 Inch Nails [sic].
In the early 1980s, the hugely popular ’50s TV show “Space Patrol“ began airing on Night Flight. The show, which was set in the 30th Century, paved the way for all the TV space operas to follow. These segments tend to pop up here and there in the library, and for the holiday weekend we decided to add an episode called “A Christmas Present for Happy,” which aired 25 December 1954. Return to the 50s via the 80s for a retro Christmas feel.
Brian Hansen’s Speed of Light (1980) is a strange, surreal 40-minute 16mm short about a neurotic blonde-bewigged mother and her young Oreo-munching daughter on a harrowing road trip across Central Texas in a beautiful red T-bird convertible. Speed of Light — using Apollo mission footage later seen in For All Mankind (1989) — was Hansen’s graduate thesis film and stars Sally Norvell, who memorably played “Nurse Bibs” in German auteur Wim Wenders’s film Paris, Texas.
Welcome to Night Flight's feature film presentation of "Terror of Tiny Town," an epoch in cult history and a staple of the Night Flight circuit. When it debuted in 1938, it was dubbed as the world's only musical Western with an all-dwarf cast. It may well still hold that title. Revisit this classic tale of "little guys with big guns!"
Highlights the Night Flight celebrity interviews
Paul Stanley Interview
WASP interview on Night Flight
Like a Black Mirror episode from 1980, here’s Sing For Your Life the kind of Night Flight vault discovery we love the most. What kind is that you ask? The kind that has absolutely no internet trail whatsoever. This 18 minute short finds an out-of-town Rockabilly crooner hoping to hit it big on a talent show that gives the “Axe” to the bad act! We won't give any more away!
"One of the sturdiest trends in rock videos," Pat Prescott says, "is the use of 'high art' to elevate down and dirty Rock 'n' Roll." Tonight's original episode of Night Flight from the archives is a "Take off" to Art in Music Videos! The episode highlights art and music collaborations like New Order and William Wegman (and the dog supermodel Fay Ray), Grace Jones's cadre of counter-culture luminaries in "I'm Not Perfect," Warhol's video for The Car's "Hello Again," and Roberto Longo's for The Golden Palominos (feat. Michael Stipe).
