Elephant Partsis a collection of comedy sketches and music videos made in 1981 byMichael Nesmith,formerly ofthe Monkees.Nesmith produced the video through his companyPacific Arts.Elephant Partsis one hour long withparody commercialsand comedy sketches, and features five full-length music videos, including the popular songs "Rio" and "Cruisin'", which featured wrestlerSteve StrongandMonterey-based comic "Chicago"Steve Barkley.
| Elephant Parts | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | William Dear |
| Written by | Michael Nesmith |
| Produced by | Michael Nesmith |
| Music by | Fred Myrow |
| Distributed by | Pacific Arts |
Release date |
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Running time |
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Overview
editThere are various comedy sketches between musical numbers: The most notable sketches are "Elvis Drugs", "Neighborhood Nuclear Superiority", "The Tragically Hip" (which was the inspiration for theCanadianbandthe Tragically Hipand was featured as a pretaped sketch on a season six episode ofSaturday Night Live), "Large Detroit Car Company", "Mariachi Translations", recurring comic blackouts that ended with the catchphrase "Just to prove a point!" and several series of bits with a lounge singer and a pirate, as well as a game show called "Name That Drug." The musical videos include "Magic","Cruisin'","Light," "Tonight" and "Rio."DirectorBill Dearsaid they were doing "music videos before people even knew what they were... we approached them as mini-movies.... We always tried to tell a story and we looked for a lighter interpretation."[1]
ThroughoutElephant Parts,Nesmith makes fun of his own works, with segments including a parody of his song "Joanne"called"Rodan",and comic promos for his albumsInfinite Rider on the Big DogmaandLive at the Palais.Although Nesmith's solo career is punned or highlighted, he does not make any reference to or mention ofthe Monkees.
Elephant Partswon the firstGrammyin the Music Video category.Billboard'sreview said it was "the cleverest exercise in original video programming to date."[2]
Two related series werePopClipsforNickelodeon,which premiered in 1980, andTelevision PartsforNBCin 1985. Nickelodeon's parent company,Warner Cable,wanted to buy outright thePopClipscopyright to be expanded into an all-music video channel, but after Nesmith declined the offer, Warner Cable started work on what would becomeMTV.[3]
The titleElephant Partsrefers to the parable of theblind men and an elephantwhere each man comes to a different conclusion about what an elephant is due to them touching only one part.[4]
Releases
editElephant Partswas released on VHS (stereo) andBetamax(mono) in 1981.[5]It was ninth on Billboard's Top Videocassette Sales for 1981.[6]
It was later released onLaserDiscandCEDand was the third best-selling video laser disk in 1982, behindStar WarsandClose Encounters of the Third Kind.[7]
WhenElephant Partswas first released on LaserDisc in 1981, Nesmith recorded an esoteric commentary track which did not describe the content of the video. Later, Nesmith recorded a new commentary track which does describe the content, included as part of a DVD version released in 2003.[citation needed]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^"1980-1990 The Video Decade: The Decade in Quotes"(PDF).Billboard.January 6, 1990. p. V-12.
- ^Inc, Nielsen Business Media (1982-06-12).Billboard.Nielsen Business Media, Inc.
{{cite book}}:|last=has generic name (help) - ^The New Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock and Roll (1995)ISBN0-684-81044-1
- ^Inc, Nielsen Business Media (1998-09-26).Billboard.Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p.24.
elephant parts billboard.
{{cite book}}:|last=has generic name (help) - ^Simels, Steve (September 1981)."Michael Nesmith in Elephant Parts"(PDF).Stereo Review.p. 116.
- ^"1980-1990 The Video Decade: Sales"(PDF).Billboard.January 6, 1990. p. V-16.
- ^Inc, Nielsen Business Media (1983-02-19).Billboard.Nielsen Business Media, Inc.
{{cite book}}:|last=has generic name (help)
Further reading
edit- """Elephant "Parts" by Dear, William - American Cinematographer, Vol. 63, Issue 7, July 1982 ".Archived fromthe originalon 2019-09-26.