Pop-Up Video: Touch Of Grey

Touch of Grey
Single: Grateful Dead
Album: In the Dark
B-side: My Brother Esau
Released: 1987
Genre: Pop rock
Songwriters: Jerry Garcia, Robert Hunter

Grateful Dead first performed "Touch of Grey" as an encore on September 15, 1982, at the Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland. In 1987, it was the lead track from the Dead's studio album In the Dark. Released as a single, it peaked on Billboard at number 9. 

Hit records weren't typical of the Dead. Their previous high-water mark had been in 1971 with "Truckin'," which peaked at number 64. 


The video for "Touch of Grey" was filmed on May 9, 1987, after a show in Monterey, California. The shoot was set up, and the crowd re-admitted. They saw the band run through the song in human form and as skeleton likenesses. This footage was combined to create the clip. Dennis McNally, then the Dead's publicist, called the hit "a song that almost killed the Grateful Dead." 


Before "Touch of Grey," the Grateful Dead flew mainly under the radar. They promoted and sold out arenas but also played smaller audiences. After the record, they made the cover of Rolling Stone. MTV devoted an entire day's programming to the band. This caused friction between the band and its close-knit fan base.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Goldcoast Singers: Plastic Jesus (1962)

Image
The origin stories of Plastic Jesus™  are murky - full of myth and legend. He was the brain-child of  Ed Rush and George Cromarty in 1957. But  Rush has given two accounts of the conception of  Plastic Jesus.™   According to one story, the song was inspired by a radio program out of Del Rio, Texas, in the mid-1950s. It was run by a dentist and religious fanatic who " sold the most outrageous stuff imaginable, all with magical healing properties. "  One particular broadcast contained the line " ...leaning on the arms of Jesus, wrapped in the bosom of the Lord... "
Read more

Rebel Rebel: David Bowie (1974)

Image
Rebel Rebel Bowie as Halloween Jack Artist: David Bowie Album: Diamond Dogs Released: February  1974 (UK) May 1974 (US) Songwriter: David Bowie "Rebel Rebel" is both David Bowie 's farewell to glam rock and a proto-punk track from his Diamond Dogs album. After its release, the song peaked at number five on the UK Singles Chart and number 64 on the US Billboard Hot 100. Critically acclaimed for its central guitar riff, several publications consider it one of Bowie's greatest songs.  After he died in 2016, Rolling Stone listed "Rebel Rebel" as one of Bowie's  30 essential songs . Spencer Kaufman of Ultimate Classic Rock ranked the song at number seven on his list of Top 10 Bowie Songs . In 2018, the writers of NME numbered "Rebel Rebel" as Bowie's  fifth greatest song . Jon Savage of The Guardian included Rebel, Rebel when he named the 20 best glam-rock songs of all time.
Read more

Elton John: Two of Rock & Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock & Roll

Image
Elton John Born: Reginald Kenneth Dwight March 25, 1947 Pinner, Middlesex, England Occupation: Singer-songwriter-pianist Years active: 1962–presen t The  Rock and Roll  Hall of Fame  inducted Elton John in 1994. He's listed as number 3 on 'Billboard's 125 Greatest Artists of All Time." In Rolling Stones' "100 Greatest Artists of All Time," he's number 49 . Their 2023 list of The 200 Greatest Singers of All Time count him at number 100 .  He has two songs out of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's " 500 Songs That Shaped Rock & Roll , " "Your Song," and "Bennie and the Jets. "
Read more