EPISODE 83: 10 FANTASTIC MUSIC VIDEOS THAT USED THE GLORIOUS SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA DESERT TO SET THE SCENE

In this week's episode of Living in the Sprawl: Southern California's Most Adventurous Podcast, host Jon Steinberg shares his list of 10 fantastic music videos that used the glorious Southern California desert to set the scene. His list includes: "Rehab" by Rhianna, "Hero" by Enrique Iglesias, "Hold Me" by Fleetwood Mac, "Fade Into You" by Mazzy Star, "That Don't Impress Me Much" by Shania Twain, "Scar Tissue" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, "Frozen" by Madonna, "Feel So Close" by Calvin Harris, "Say You'll Be There" by The Spice Girls and "California Love" by 2 Pac and Dr. Dre.

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Transcript

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Hello listeners and fellow explorers. This is living in the sprawls lovely and talented producer slash wife, Lisa Steinberg. I wanted to thank all of you for your continuous support of the show. As a new podcast on the scene, John and I self-support the logistics and research that go into the show. The number one way to support the show is to rate, review and share this podcast with everyone, you know, Many of you have been doing this and it has helped immensely. I also invite you to check out our website and the show notes for other ways to support the show. We are currently working with companies. We currently use ourselves. To get discount codes for our listeners and support the show in the process. These companies include. Every table, just CBD store, gold belly cats, botanicals, and so much more. By using the links on our website, you are letting them know we sent you an intern, supporting the show. You can also support us on Patrion and pod fan. Please check out the website@livinginthesprawlpodcast.com. For updates on companies we are working with our testimonies links codes and new living in the sprawl merchandise Again thank you to all of you our lovely listeners for tuning in every week and allowing us to do what we love Without further ado you're humble correspondent John steinberg Hello, and welcome to another installment of living in the sprawl. So the California's most adventurous podcast I am as always your humble host at correspondent. My name is John Steinberg joined by my lovely and immensely talented. Producer slash my wife. Her name is Lisa Steinberg. We are the team here at sprawl enterprises raid to bring you yet another exciting foray into the vast, expansive seemingly endless terrain that we have lovingly dubbed the sprawl. On the show today. Examination of music videos, some of their filming locations specifically, we're going to be taking a look. At 10 distinctly different music videos. That we're all filmed. In the great. California. Desert. When the band you to put out their iconic. 1986 album, the Joshua tree. It brought the Mojave desert. Into the homes of millions around the world. This. For lack of a better word, sprawling. Desert. Which stretches. Into four different states. And crosses over hundreds upon hundreds of miles. Held. Some romantic promise. For the outfit from Dublin. Bano the edge. Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen. We're all enamored. With. The California desert. Choosing to have it. Represent. They're most legendary album as the chief motif associated with the record. This kind of opened the flood gates. As the 1990s. In particular. We're a decade late in with productions, pop culture, ephemera. Items that you probably have heard of that all utilized. Elements from the desert. But none. More prominently. Then that great last American. Art forum. The music video. Today. I'm going to be looking at 10. All inspiring music videos. That each found. Creative. Oh, elixirs in that great old California desert, because there were a lot of them. And we've gone in. It does a tough work. Uh, compiling a list. Of a mere 10. Let's begin. At number 10. Rhianna's video for her 2008 smash hit. Rehab featuring Justin Timberlake. Now this was shot. Outside. Uh, Santa Clarita. So kind of the first real stretches of that. Seemingly infinite amount of California This music video was shot at the Vasquez rocks. This is technically in the community of Agua Dulce. And it's not the only production to have used. The Vasquez rocks as a filming location. It's a rather popular spot for productions. Some of these include the Flintstones. And the. Recent Jordan Peele. Hor Opus. Nope. In the video. We see reread. And JT. Moving in groove in. With. The gorgeous Vasquez rocks. Prominently featured in both the foreground and the background. There's a vibe going on. In this video. The promise. But what the desert could hold. What's really going on out there. In the hundreds upon hundreds of miles. Of on developed land. And maybe. As the video might suggest. If you play your cards, right? You. We'll get a little bit lucky out there. In the desert. At number nine. Enrique Iglesias his video for hero. This was shot. Deep with a capital D out in the desert. Using. Places like Amboy. Which we've talked about a little bit. On prior episodes of the show. As well as desert hot Springs. In the video. Yglesias. And Jennifer Love Hewitt. Have kind of a cat and mouse game going on. And I suppose. Utilizing. The enormity of the desert. Can be examined as a metaphor for their relationship. But then also analyzed as a straight up matter of geography. Will they, or won't they. It's the video going to end on a happy note. Or not. As we do find out. There's no proverbial. Light at the end of the tunnel. At least according to the music video. But we do get a plethora. Of nifty camera work. Showcasing. The desert. And playing. On preexisting. Fears associated with the region. As well. As that romanticized idealized. Version of what could happen. If the stars were aligned. And in this case, if Jennifer Love Hewitt and Enrique Iglesias, We're to live happily ever after. At the end. Spoiler alert. They do not. At number eight, hold From. The legendary outfit, Fleetwood Mac. This came after rumors. And it's situated inside. That portion of Fleetwood Mac's career. When all the members of the band were at one another's throats or. Dealing with the repercussions of actions from the past. Lindsey Buckingham was still in love with Stevie Nicks. Christine McVie. And others were annoyed with Mick Fleetwood for having a brief fling with Stevie Nicks. Certain members of the band didn't want to be in the same room with one another. During filming for the video. So shots had to be. Commissioned. So as to work around. The unusual. Dynamics within the group. If you read the wonderful novel from Taylor Jenkins, Reid. DZ Jones in the six. You'll get a pretty good picture of. What Fleetwood Mac. Was probably like at the time, That novel deals with. An immensely successful musical group that is clearly modeled. On Fleetwood Mac. And it's noteworthy that yes, this was very much recorded at a time. When the band. Seemed to be on its last legs as. Everyone was pretty much annoyed with everyone else. But they utilized the great California desert. To hide issues going on internally with the group. As they were still at an elite level. From a musical perspective. And the video that we get here for hold me. Well, perhaps. Not the best one. That we'll talk about to represent. The grand California desert does a nice job for glorifying the region regardless. And number seven, the video for fade into you by Indi. Outfit. Mazzy star. This. Early to mid nineties. All timer. CAS it's eyes. On the. Grand sweeping vistas. Encompassed within the Mojave desert. The song is one of those. Tunes. That you feel should have probably been included. During. Multiple episodes of my so-called life. But then you remember that in that particular show dealt with high schoolers, and this is clearly a song. Striving. To be linked. With adults going through adult things. It's a quintessential. Indie rock mainstay from the period. And as such. It's entirely fitting that the music video. What incorporate. Really big shots from the California desert. A wonderful song. Hearkening back to an era. When it felt fun. To complain for the sake. Of complaining. Or to be a. Proverbial. Person who felt like they were merely. Despite all their rage. Still just a rat in a cage. And number six. That don't impress me much from Shanaya Twain. We're talking late nineties here. Pinnacle. Of the cross pollination between country and pop. The queen of that sub genre and music video that. Any teenage boy growing up in the era. Would soon not forget. The video was shot on location at the El Mirage dry lake, which is going to come up later on. In this episode. It also featured footage. Shot in nearby Barstow. The rustic motif in the video. That. Hey, even though we're hitchhiking and we need a ride, we can also exhibit a modicum of discretion. That I'm so good. Looking. That I have the luxury of passing. On over. 10 different folks that stopped by to try to give me a ride. All of that. Which we associate with figures like Shanaya Twain. From the late nineties, it's all on full panoramic display. In this music video. Helmed. By Mr. Boyd. The director. Who also presided over. All the other. Mainstays from the Shanaya Twain. Musical catalog. The director would also go on to work with figures as diverse as Celine Dion. And dead mouse. This one makes. The desert looks sweaty. Massive, but also. A little bit sexy. And number five, the video for scar tissue by the red hot chili peppers. The first thing we see. In the video, which was helmed by the same gentleman. Who shot the landmark. Video for the. Chili peppers track. Give it away. Shows us, John for Shaunti. Playing a guitar. In a car. Motoring along a deserted desert highway. We get. A blonde haired, Anthony Kiedis in this one. Lots of illusions. To the bands. Drug use. Kiedis would let her go on. And actually the title of his memoir, which I highly recommend in the audio book is read by none other than writer strong. Is also called scar tissue. It's both a metaphorical in a literal. Phoenix emerging from the desert. Descending upward. Into the sky in theory, leaving dalliances. With horribly addictive drugs, leaving all that well in the past. If the desert can ever be said to look a little bit lush. It happens over the course. Of the four plus minutes. That we get in scar tissue. Beautiful majestic. Slightly dangerous. And a wee bit unpredictable. The video for scar tissue. Is a greatest hits. Of what staging a video. In that grand a california desert can really look like And number four, Madonna's all time video for her 1998. Song for Rosen. For those of you that have seen the video, it CAS. The queen of pop. As a desert dwelling, mystic inviting you to join her. As she casts out spells. Or unleashes bad vibes question, mark. Not really sure what is completely going on here from a literal perspective. But it is. Without question. The case. That this. Is a gorgeous looking music video. It was shot. At the very remote. Slash rural. Cutterback lake. The little scene. In the pseudo classic. Movie holes was also filmed. At this lake. California, of course the desert anyway is a wash. With dry lakes. And from the vantage point of an artist. Indeed an artist like Madonna. The prospects of staging a video. In the area. Would seem to offer quite a bit. If nothing else. They are a wonderful. Staging ground. For which to helm a music video. In which the protagonist is a nameless. Mystical lady. Who's up to all kind. Of weird stuff. Number three, the video four feel so close from Calvin Harris. The 2011 mega Staged it's music video. In deep Kern county. On display here. Is the unnamed cowboy. And his actions took him. To the communities of Borum. As well as rants Berg. We get some cross cutting. In this video featuring. A bevy of young revelers partying. Spliced with the dramatic. As previously stated on named cowboy. I'm not sure whether it's. The prevalence of DJs at Las Vegas nightclubs. The music festivals that take place in various parts of the desert. Um, haven't necessarily. Put my finger on exactly why it is. But there seems to be. A real association. That that sub genre has with the desert. It's kinda like. We're blending high and low here. We're giving you. The most produced music, that being dubstep, EDM. But then we're also. Giving you a vast. Under developed. Hot question mark. So feel so close. Makes a great deal of sense. As to why Mr. Harris would have selected the desert. As the. Principal filming location for its music video. As a side note. When I went to Coachella in 2014. I was right up against the front. During Calvin Harris has set. And there was something truly magnificent. When I kind of turned around. And just watched 75,000 plus people. Jumping. And dancing in unison. As the music. Roared. All throughout. And number two, the spice girls video for say, you'll be there. This video. Which presented itself. As more of a short film than anything else. Cast. It's British song stresses. As different characters, we're all participating. In a kind of. Desert focused real life comic book battle. Each spice girl. Was characterized. Dressed up. In some real militaristic clothing. And asked. To dance. Like they were in an overdramatic overproduced action movie. The unforgettable video. Famine. Great favor. With the folks over at MTV and VH1. And. Was a stalwart. On all of those networks, various programs. In the mid to late nineties. Maybe not. As memorable. As their video for one to be. Say, you'll be there. Is extremely memorable. Nevertheless. Hearkening back to a time. See mid nineties. When the spice girls could do no wrong. Uh, before Victoria met David. And when you could still get away with having one of your members. Playing. A. Sexy baby question mark. In any event, it's say you'll be there from the spice girls. And that means we've arrived at our number one spot for the best music video. To utilize the glorious California desert. As a principal filming location. And that is California love from. Tupac and Dr. Dre. This hype Williams directed. Spot. Was actually the brain child. Of one Jada Pinkett. Who imagined. Uh, video. Taking its cues from the mad max movies. Having both POC and Dre. In a chase through the desert. In. Souped up dune buggies. This is one of our favorite. Uh, sprawl oriented songs, period. In the music video. Only elevates the track. As if that were possible. Some. Very interesting. Outfit decisions were made. That sort of steam punk. Take girl. Comic book, desert wasteland thing really reached its Zenith with the California love video. Uh, departure. From hype Williams. Whose body of work. Consists of. Immortal. Videos like Busta rhymes, who ha got you all in check. TLC's no scrubs. And Jay-Z's empire state of mind. California love. Is in our opinion, the best example of a music video. To lean. On the possibility associated with. The California desert. The true work of art. And that's why it has landed. At the number one spot. And that's going to do it for a, another installment of the show. We would like to thank everyone for their continued support. A couple of easy ways to show us your support, hop on apple or iTunes, wherever you happen to be listening to the show, leave us a five star. Rating and a nice review. We always appreciate that. And those help us out a great deal on the business end. If you'd like to follow us on Instagram, please do. So the handle is living in the sprawl podcast. We invite you to drop us a line. And our email address, which is living in the sprawl podcast@gmail.com. Tune in. Or subscribe to our Patrion apple subscriptions page so that you can get exclusive bonus content that you can only access by becoming a Patrion or apple subscriptions member. And we'd also like to direct you to our terrific website on our website, you can snap up a copy of living in the sprawl, the guide. Or my memoir, which is called in. So it went as well as all of the wonderful living in the sprawl merchandise. It's all available on our website. Oh, on behalf of myself, I am as always your humble. Hosting correspondent. My name is John Steinberg joined by my lovely and talented producer slash my wife. Her name is Lisa Steinberg. Thinking you from the bottom of our hearts for listening to yet another episode. Uh, living in the sprawl. So the California's most adventurous podcast talk again real soon.