Neil Young, "Needle And The Damage Done"

If you're looking for a catchy song about heroin abuse, you just found it!  (The Velvet Underground's "Heroin" is more upbeat, but it's 7+ minutes long--and really, no one has time for that).  Plus, this performance is from "The Johnny Cash Show," which is always a plus.

Karen Elson, "The Ghost Who Walks"

Being married to a famous musician (in this case, Jack White), it's probably tough to establish oneself as a credible musician.  Especially when you started out as a model.  But Karen Elson makes a good case for her musical chops here.

Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway, "The Closer I Get To You"

Just a heads up: This video heavily features Roberta Flack.  It's actually--the whole thing, really--is Roberta Flack.  Maybe Donny Hathaway was in the director's cut or something?  So... enjoy.

Paul Simon, "You Can Call Me Al"

The Al Gore scandal pretty much dominated the back half of my work week in the newsroom.  So here's my homage to this very strange story...

Dire Straits, "Money For Nothing"

This is one of the first music videos I remember ever watching.  I watched it with my parents.  I eventually grew to dislike MTV, but now I like it a little more since they've started airing "The Hard Times of R.J. Berger."  Good show.

St. Vincent, "Jesus Saves, I Spend"

This is delightfully strange.  I wish the "mind sandwich" merit badge would have been around when I was a Boy Scout.



Other St. Vincent performances on Justin's List: "Marrow"

Tech N9ne, "O.G."

Having a tough time deciding on your favorite Kansas City barbeque?  Tech N9ne is here to help you.  

"May I help you?"  Gates is classic.

Paul Anka, "Smells Like Teen Spirit"

To me, this is the absolute delight of listening to music.  When a guy like Paul Anka can cover a song like this as well as this is, it makes me realize well all have a lot more in common than meets the eye.

Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, "The Tears Of A Clown"

I'd like to express my gratitude toward Smokey Robinson & The Miracles for not actually featuring a crying clown in this live performance.  Through this blog alone, you've probably seen enough music videos from the '70s to know that such a creepy thing wouldn't be unheard of.  So I'm glad they kept it classy on this one.

Duice, "Dazzey Duks"

I mentioned in yesterday's post that I'm driving around with a handful of cassette tapes from my childhood, listening to them and rekindling some awkward memories.  My Jeep, having been built not long after these cassettes were made, sadly, can still play them.  And this is one of them.

P.S. You may need to adjust the volume of the song for optimal '90s awesomeness.

Charles & Eddie, "Would I Lie To You"

I recently traveled back to Kansas City, where I grew up, and went through several boxes of my childhood belongings to determine whether I wanted to bring any of these memories back with me to the Pacific Northwest.  Buried deep in one of the boxes was this gem, on a "single" cassette, when such a thing existed.  Perhaps it wasn't buried deep enough; a hole in the ground probably would have been better.

So now I'm driving around with tapes like this and Wreckx-N-Effect in my vehicle, feeling the love of the mid-1990s and remembering all of my awkward middle school moments all over again.

But you know what: This song isn't all that bad.  I can think of a lot worse from that era. *Cough* 4 Non Blondes *Cough*.

Cornelius Brothers & Sister Rose, "Too Late To Turn Back Now"

It's sad to me that this group didn't record more live performances (that's assuming that YouTube has offered up all the live performances available--a foolish assumption).  But here they are, performing under some kind of tent or something.

Lena Philipsson, "Teach Me Tiger"

I'm not sure she needs to be taught anything.  She seems to have it all figured out.

Jimmy Dean, "Big Bad John"

RIP, Jimmy Dean: 1928-2010.

Billy Joel, "Uptown Girl"

I forgot Christie Brinkley was in this vid.  But what am I saying: Of course Christie Brinkley is in this video!  She was huge at the time, also starring in "National Lampoon's Vacation."  And she looks the same today as she did 25 years ago.  Crazy... 

Heart, "What About Love"

I love '80s-era Heart almost more than the '70s-era Heart.  I recently heard this while waiting to buy barbeque sauce.  Awesome.

Pearl Jam, "Jeremy"

How in God's name haven't I posted any Pearl Jam until now?

So, this is one of the greatest rock videos of all time.  Enjoy.

P.S., It is absolutely mind-numbing to think this was written 20 years ago.

Extreme, "More Than Words"

I think it's kind of funny that a group named Extreme sings a song like this, which really isn't extreme, is it?   But I suppose it's extremely awesome--so there's that.

Dana, "Fairytale"

Believe it or not, this video actually has a couple of good versions.  Apparently they pulled out all the stops for Dana.  And why wouldn't they--are you seeing this thing?  Golden, man.  Absolutely golden.

Jan Terri, "Losing You"

Sorry about the lack of posts in recent days.  The staff at Justin's List went back to the Midwest to visit their family, and the Rhesus monkeys that maintain the site in the meantime have been out on a smoke break.  Damn you, dirty apes!

But here's a treat that will surely earn your forgiveness: Because if Jan Terri isn't the answer to all of life's problems, then what is...?

James Brown, "Get Up Offa That Thang"

This video makes me proud to have a mustache.  Everyone with a mustache here is really getting up offa that thang.

Johnny Cash & Joni Mitchell, "Long Black Veil"

Johnny Cash's joke about Arkansas made me laugh really hard the first time I heard it.  I don't know anyone else who thinks it's funny.  Of course, the song itself isn't funny in any way, which makes the awkward transition from joke-to-song even funnier.

Note: If you have a chance to listen to Cash perform it on "At Folsom Prison," it's especially awesome, since he calls out an inmate for laughing during the performance.

Ronnie Milsap, "Smokey Mountain Rain"

The phrase "mountain rain" is all it took for me to start whistling "Smokey Mountain Rain" tonight.  And why wouldn't I?  Ronnie Milsap is the white, country version of Stevie Wonder--and yes, I've seen him perform live.  In Branson, as it should be.

The Animals, "House Of The Rising Sun"

I always imagine a 40-year-old man belting out this song.  So I'm a little surprised to see that everyone here looks 20.  So kudos to the The Animals... I would have happily served them alcohol and never requested their IDs.