MTV Newsroom › Wake-Up Video

Wake-Up Video: Shaquille O'Neal And Fu-Schnickens' "What's Up Doc? (Can We Rock)"

Posted 6/25/09 9:00 am EST by in Wake-Up Video


The annual NBA Draft is tonight, which will make a handful of athletic 21-year-olds instant millionaires (there's no real consensus on what my New York Knicks will do, but here's hoping they draft Tyler Hansbrough, just because it would make the least sense possible). But the real headline going into tonight's event is the blockbuster trade between the Phoenix Suns and the Cleveland Cavaliers. There were a bunch of players involved, but the headline is that Shaquille O'Neal will join LeBron James in Cleveland, hopefully providing the size and spark LeBron needs to get over the hump and win a championship.

Shaq has had the sort of career that sounds completely fictional: 15 seasons, four championships, an MVP, an Olympic gold medal and a host of awards and records. But he's also training for a mixed martial arts fight (he claims he can knock out former UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell), has had a wacky acting career ("Kazaam," "Blue Chips") and has put out five rap albums. Back in 1993, Shaq teamed up with New York Native Tongue also-rans Fu-Schnickens for the single "What's Up Doc? (Can We Rock)," which became a huge hit in the summer of that year. It's your standard rapping-into-the-camera clip, but it's remarkable to see how young (and thin) O'Neal looks in the clip. Also, what was up with all the dudes wearing nothing but vests?

Tags ,

Wake-Up Video: Gary Jules' 'Mad World'

Posted 6/24/09 8:47 am EST by in Wake-Up Video


A very happy birthday today to Curt Smith, former singer for British band Tears for Fears. The duo were an MTV staple in the 1980s, with hits like "Everybody Wants to Rule the World," "Head Over Heels" and "Mad World." The latter song was given a second life when it was covered by Gary Jules for the 2001 film "Donnie Darko." The movie didn't really pick up steam until it hit DVD, and the slow burn for the song was the same: Though it was released in 2002, it became a hit over a year later. Most recently, "American Idol" runner-up Adam Lambert performed the Jules version back in April. The video manages to capture the tone of "Donnie Darko" without including any shots of Jake Gyllenhaal.

Tags , ,

Wake-Up Video: Alice In Chains' 'Would?'

Posted 6/23/09 8:54 am EST by in Video, Wake-Up Video


Yesterday, the first images from Tim Burton's upcoming "Alice in Wonderland" hit the Internet. According to the stills, the film will be both frightening and delightfully insane (which is exactly what we're looking for in a Burton/Depp collaboration).

There's no shortage of references to Lewis Carroll's classic novel in pop music (Gwen Stefani's video for "What You Waiting For," Marilyn Manson's 2007 album Eat Me Drink Me, the 7,000 metal bands who have songs titled "Malice in Wonderland"), but Alice in Chains always brought the best combination of beauty and fear. Formed in 1987, disbanded in 1996 and reformed with a new singer (replacing departed frontman Layne Staley, who died in 2002), the band was always had one foot in the metal arena even as they rode the Seattle grunge wave. The clip for "Would?" is a fantastic time capsule, as it represents the sound, the clothes and the attitude of 1992. Plus, it's got footage from Cameron Crowe's "Singles" in it (which let Alice in Chains win a VMA in 1993 for Best Video from a Film).

(Check out thousands of music videos from the past 25 years at Music.MTV.com)

Tags , , , , , ,

Wake-Up Video: Eminem's 'Mosh'

Posted 6/22/09 9:00 am EST by in Video, Wake-Up Video


Richard Nixon's run as President will forever be marred by how it ended, as the Watergate conspiracy remains the definitive political scandal in U.S. history. But Nixon was a friend to teens everywhere, as he managed to finally extract the country from the conflict in Vietnam, ended the draft and, on this day in 1970, he signed the 26th Amendment, which lowered the voting age in this country from 21 to 18. In the past few years, young people have turned out in record numbers to sway elections, and their influence continues to grow. In honor of the youth vote and as a tribute to the current struggle for just elections in Iran, check out one of the finer protest songs of the past few years in Eminem's "Mosh."

Tags ,

Wake-Up Video: Paula Abdul's 'Opposites Attract'

Posted 6/19/09 8:49 am EST by in Video, Wake-Up Video


Today, we wish a very happy birthday to '80s dance-pop diva and "American Idol" judge Paula Abdul. Obviously her current job has grabbed most of her career-based headlines, but most people forget how many huge hits she has had (including "Cold Hearted" and "Straight Up"). But had she never started a singing career or gotten the "Idol" gig, she probably would have ended up being a legend based solely on her dance work, having been a Laker Girl and later a choreographer for Janet Jackson. And even when radio was not kind to her, she still found film work (she designed the cheerleading sequences in "American Beauty" and also thought up the Burger King's touchdown dance from a few years back).

We love Paula, and we love that "Opposites Attract" exists. It's a fantastic R&B roller-skating jam with a great chorus, but we've always wondered why it isn't thrown back in her face during terrible "Idol" auditions. Perhaps it's something that is always edited out, but if Paula says something negative about a contestant (which is rare, we know), wouldn't the best comeback be, "What should I have done instead — a duet with a rapping cartoon cat?" Then again, this clip won a Grammy for Best Video, so maybe it's not an insult that holds water.

Tags , ,

Wake-Up Video: Pat Benatar's 'You Better Run'

Posted 6/18/09 9:13 am EST by in Video, Wake-Up Video


Today is a significant day for trailblazing women. On June 18, 1873, Susan B. Anthony was fined $100 for attempting to vote in the previous year's election. Women wouldn't get the right to vote in this country until 1920, though the court battle gave Anthony the widest audience she had ever had. She never did pay the fine.

In 1983, 110 years later, another revolutionary woman made headlines, as Sally Ride became the first American woman in space. Her mission, aboard the Challenger space shuttle, lasted six days and made 97 orbits of Earth. Ride also became the youngest American in space.

How do we celebrate these great women? We honor the first female-centric video aired on MTV. Pat Benatar's "You Better Run" was the second clip ever aired on the station during its launch day in 1981.

"You Better Run" came from Benatar's 1980 album Crimes of Passion, which also contained her biggest single, "Hit Me With Your Best Shot."

Tags ,

Wake-Up Video: Dr. Dre And Ice Cube's "Natural Born Killaz"

Posted 6/17/09 8:53 am EST by in Video, Wake-Up Video


Fifteen years ago today, O.J. Simpson was approached by police to turn himself in as a suspect in the murder of his ex-wife and a friend in Los Angeles. Simpson fled, leading to the most notorious low-speed chase in history. Simpson hopped into his white Ford Bronco (driven by friend and fellow former football star A.C. Cowlings) and lead police down the highway, seeking asylum as the world watched. In the pre-Internet era, footage of the chase became some of the first real viral video, as it was passed around and parodied on the news, in late-night comedy sketches and in music videos. Since the chase (and the subsequent trial) became part of the fabric of Los Angeles, leave it to two of the city's most notorious residents to provide commentary. In 1994's clip for "Natural Born Killaz," Dr. Dre and Ice Cube laid down a horrorcore-esque tale about being psychopathic killers. A white Ford Bronco appears in the clip, and Cube rhymes, "I'm down with Dre like A.C. is down with O.J." The cinematic clip also features a handful of cameos, including an ironic guest spot from Tupac Shakur at the end of the video.

Tags , ,

31323334353637383940