We begin this 3 hour As-Aired episode with an excellent selection of videos from Eurythmics, Jermaine Jackson, Prince, and Prince produced The Time. Night Flight's Rising Stars covers songs from classic acts Psychedelic Furs, Slade, and Night Flight's Discovery Segment features Milk 'N' Cookies' Ian North and Eva Everything. Hour 2 brings an incredible selection of new film and video art featuring experimental animation and video from Chel White (who we interviewed on the Night Flight blog in 2015). There's so many hidden gems in these full episodes, we don't want to give it away. Yes, the dog police are in town and Yes, a lizard goes surfing. We leave the rest up to you to DISCOVER!

“What do you do when a guy puts Mayonnaise on your shoulder?... Do the Watusi!" — Howie Mandel circa 1986.  And so goes 3 minutes of towering cringe (even by '80s standards) in tonight’s "Take Off" episode to Comedy in Music Videos from 1988 that also features the legendary Max Headroom, Father Guido Sarducci, Bette Midler, Will Smith and more!

We lost a close member of the Night Flight family on January 8th, 2022. Michael Lang and NF creator Stuart Shapiro were twin counter-culture spirits. Best friends since 1970, Michael and Stuart were at the center of the key revolutions that shaped the musical landscape in second half of the century: Michael, in the advent and supremacy of the music festival and Stuart, of course, at the inception of film, video and music television. Eventually the two would connect on projects like Woodstock.com and one of the first ever live streams broadcast over the internet for Woodstock ’99. To celebrate his life, we are sharing a fascinating unreleased interview with Michael conducted by Night Flight’s original writer, Stuart Samuels, in 2019. Lang gives a rich historical perspective on the festival and the time period, covering the lineup’s original conception and all the dark and light of the '60s that made the event such a defining moment. Thanks for being here to celebrate his life with us.

"Viewer discretion is advised" Pat Prescott tells us at the start of tonight's 1988 Take Off episode to Controversial Videos. "Sex, Drugs, Religion, Politics..." what more can you want from Night Flight's curated collection of controversial music videos. Everyone knows that while other fledgling music networks from the era avoided controversy, Night Flight actively courted it. Just ask creator Stuart Shapiro about what happened the first time we aired The Clash's "Rude Boy" completely uncut :). This episode brings you music from Billy Idol, Motley Crue, Slovenian avant-gardists Laibach, Sheena Easton's fantastic "Sugar Walls", the always classy George Michael and maybe one of the best sequencing decisions ever: a transition from the "Ballad of Jim and Tammy Bakker" to a Raucous Dead Kennedy's performance with Jello Biafra compelling the audience to "Shoot Up With God." Then, stayed tuned for two films from the Glasshouse Production Team, Tom Stern & Alex Winter: "Aisles of Doom" and "Squeal of Death." CLASSIC NIGHT FLIGHT.

This 1986 episode of New Sounds brings you a survey of Great Britain’s music geographies of the 1980s. The lineup includes Two Minds Crack, who rose from the industrial ashes of South Wales in 1981 to create some of Britain’s freshest techno-pop, video-vèrite innovators Cabaret Voltaire, Gene Loves Jezebel, Joe Strummer’s Sid and Nancy track “Love Kills,” and The Housemartins' “Happy Hour.”

Examining and monitoring LA's new music renaissance with host Peter Ivers. "Welcome to New Wave Theatre. Monitoring the new music scene is a discovery into the minds and artistic souls of its artists... one of the last roads to freedom left is through the world of art and entertainment." Featuring Fear, Powertrip, Carnival of Souls, Red Wedding and more…

Chel White's "minimalist vision of the post-industrial human condition, depicted in xerox cutout animation."

A politically charged mini-ep of Night Flight, featuring polemics from artists such as Billy Bragg and X as well as spoken word from William S. Burroughs.

This sexy Short Cut compiles music videos and interviews featuring the most transgressive figures in the business, including Prince, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, and Queen.

From Boston to LA, New York to DC, a musical explosion is taking place in Rock and Roll. Traditionally, success for bands came from touring, but today, the video explosion has given local bands national exposure sparking a renaissance in music and reinforcing the original roots of Rock 'n roll. Featuring 'Til Tuesday, Run DMC, REM and more...

An eccentric, introverted man (Bob Bert of Sonic Youth) goes on an adventure in his bathtub. As he explores a warped and lopsided world, he chooses to ignore his surroundings in favor of his favorite comic book. Others around him react to his presence with lust, jealousy, desperation and violence while he remains blissfully naive. Winner of the 2020 LA Punk Film Festival's "Best Animated Film" award.

Tonight's Night Flight original comes in the form of a 1987 Short Film Showcase and Classic Video Medley. Kicking off with directors Michael Nankin and David Wechter's short film "Gravity" (the pair created another Night Flight Plus exclusive Junior High School) and eventually arriving at an alien abduction psychedelic fever dream called "Skin Deep From Outer Space," Night Flight once again delivers the ultimate rarities. Stay tuned for Side B of this episode which is a Video Classic segment featuring videos by the Buggles, Devo, Falco, the Pretenders, Talking Heads and much, much more!

Episode 266. An episode of Radio 1990 from 1984 featuring Billy Joel, the president of CBS Records and a Summer movie preview.

"One of the sturdiest trends in rock videos," Pat Prescott says, "is the use of 'high art' to elevate down and dirty Rock 'n' Roll." Tonight's original episode of Night Flight from the archives is a "Take off" to Art in Music Videos! The episode highlights art and music collaborations like New Order and William Wegman (and the dog supermodel Fay Ray), Grace Jones's cadre of counter-culture luminaries in "I'm Not Perfect," Warhol's video for The Car's "Hello Again," and Roberto Longo's for The Golden Palominos (feat. Michael Stipe).

Welcome to a very special Night Flight Video Profile! In 1966, a seventeen year old sweet-voiced blonde schoolgirl became British rock's first authentic pop princess, only to lose that aristocratic status when she was caught with The Rolling Stones in a sensational drug bust. Nearly 20 years later, Faithfull sits down in the Night Flight studios for a candid conversation with Lisa Robinson about her comeback. Songs like "Broken English," "Sweetheart," "Truth, Bitter Truth," set the mood for a candid conversation with Robinson about the trials and tribulations of Faithfull's storied career.

Tonight, we "Take Off" to the Motown Sound, the most successful independent record label in the world. Former boxer and auto mobile assembly line worker, Berry Gordy Jr. founded Motown in 1959 and created the sound of young America with Smokey Robinson, The Temptations, Marvin Gaye, Little Stevie Wonder (pictured above), and Diana Ross and the Supremes. Gordy ran Motown like an assembly plant, churning out hits all through the 1960s, eventually making Motown the largest black-owned corporation in America. Unlike most music television programming, Night Flight went beyond genre when curating and tonight’s episode is one of our crown jewels!

Delivered straight from the Night Flight archive, tonight we embark on an hour long special which kicks off with Night Flight's "Take Off to Irish Rock," which features videos by U2, Sinead O’Connor, That Petrol Motion and the Pogues, who we recently featured in an excellent documentary. Then, about 25-minutes in, we arrive at our video profile of the work of songwriter, actor, playwright and authentic American troubadour Tom Waits, which features key Waits deep cut videos and a candid back seat interview with the man himself, where he describes the “showbiz” family that raised him and his vision of God, (“God's a short guy… he started in the mailroom and worked his way up, invested well”).

Join us as Night Flight "Takes Off" to the Sounds of South, from the Bayou and beyond. A mix of country music, blues and old time religion: the sounds that define the south are echoed in many of Rock’s key pioneers. Tonight, Night Flight takes this geographic prompt to explore a broad range of ‘80s acts that carried the torch and established a sound inspired by southern roots, including: Jason and the Scorchers, Blackfoot, Molly Hatchet, 38 Special and more. 

Welcome to Night Flight's 1986 exclusive video profile of Black Sabbath. "They were the most successful and controversial metal band of the mid ‘70s. Hated by critics, adored by their fans, Black Sabbath mixed a taste for the occult with bone crushing volume,” Pat Prescott proclaims. This special episode features Night Flight’s iconic interviews with both Ozzy and Tony Iommi, and covers over a decade of the band's output and individual members' solo careers. Absolute essential viewing for Night Flight and Sabbath fans alike!

A special on legendary rock band Bauhaus, dubbed the "originators of Goth Rock," featuring interviews with members, videos from later spin-off band Love and Rockets, as well as the solo career of frontman Peter Murphy.

Night Flight’s full episode from September 1984 starts off with a Lou Reed’s wild dancing in his video for “I Love You Suzanne,” and doesn’t stop until way past your bedtime. Night Flight’s Video Picks give you selections from Art of Noise, Billy Idol, Sheila E. and Elvis Costello. Cut away to some classic commercials, and we’re back with AC/DC, Hendrix and Judas Priest on Heavy Metal Heroes. Finally stick around for a full episode of Radio 1990 featuring Billy Squier, as he releases his video for "Rock Me Tonite", the clip that may or may not have torpedoed his career.

"More than music, more than television: it's FM-TV!" Tonight, let us take you on an incredible journey through 1980s entertainment ephemera. FM-TV was Night Flight creator Stuart Shapiro's short-lived prime time cable companion series aimed at a slightly different demographic. Part two features a lost Doors documentary, interview with members of Journey, rare Cat Stevens performance and clips from Rock & Rule.

Keep those cards and letters coming in, because this is what you've been asking for. Featuring Nina Hagen's "New York New York," Paul Simon's "You Can Call Me Al," a full version of Dire Straits' "Brothers in Arms," clips from Genesis and of course, Prince. You can't ask for a better snapshot of the musical times than this special edition of Night Flight viewers choice.

“I don't need the Daytime, all I want is Nighttime.” Take off to the creation of Heaven 17’s music video for “Let Me Go” in this Night Flight special that goes on set (a closed-off train station in the middle of the night) and behind the scenes with the band. This early Night Flight Video Profile (1983) shows off an impressive suite of big budget music videos from ex-Human League synth rockers including “Penthouse and Pavement” and the German Expressionism-themed video for “Temptation.”

Directed by Peter Litvin. Discover Hollywood's dark side.

“Hot Music and Hollywood Movies are coming together in the new phenomena of Movie Music Videos” - Pat Prescott. Night Flight’s Film Music special is a bonafide who’s who of movie soundtrack anthems from 1984. Whether it’s a close look at Prince’s Purple Rain ("the hottest movie film of 1984)," a heartfelt Karate Kid soundtrack video from Survivor or Police guitarist Andy Summer’s update to the 2001: A Space Odyssey anthem, this episode is a stylish, free-form recap of the merge between Hollywood and the music industry.

Night Flight’s June 1988 New Sounds provides the pulse of new music from the past, featuring Joni Mitchell and Peter Gabriel, a lost X video for “Devil Doll,” Yugoslavian Avant-pop, and early sample-based techno from Coldcut.

We suggest you Take Off To The Beach with this Night Flight episode from 1986. This segment takes you through a video vignette series covering the land of the surf, sand and sun with videos include Y&T, The Beach Boys, Joe King Carrasco and Beastie Boys. Side B of this episode is a mix of videos loosely held together by the theme: 'Crime.' There's a topnotch selection of videos ranging from Art of Noise, Paul Hardcastle, Golden Earring, Tony Powers and David Bowie's Labyrinth cut "Underground."

Night Flight covers the origins and politics of reggae music, featuring interviews and performances from artists such as Jimmy Cliff and Bob Marley. English musicians influenced by reggae such as UB40 and The Police are also featured.

Tonight, we present esteemed animator Bill Kopp’s original short “Mr. Gloom,” from an episode of "Toone Theatre." The psychedelic animation is hand-drawn theatre of the absurd. Kopp’s credits myriad credits include voice over work for none other than Night Flight animated “freak-out” classic, Jac Mac and Rad Boy Go! Also in this episode, the experimental animation “Machine Song,” a video collage from Chel White, who back in 2015, described the film to us as "as a minimalist vision of the post-industrial human condition, depicted in xerox cutout animation."

This Night Flight episode focuses on religion in music, from the satanic accusations against Ozzy Osbourne to the Christian rock band Stryper. Also featuring videos from The Saints and XTC.

Side A: Welcome to New Sounds highlighting the burgeoning acts and micro-genres of the late 80s with Belgian synth act Front 242 (with a video from iconic photographer Anton Corbijn), Australian punk act Lime Spiders, Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians massive hit “What I Am,” and some fantastic Joy Division inspired coldwave from Siglo XX. Side B: Time for some rapid fire Flash Tracks featuring the masters of party anarchy: Fishbone, the brilliant vocal contortionist Bobby McFerrin, and finally the big sounds from Scotland’s Big Country.

"The sound of surf, sand and Sunset Strip..." Coming to you direct from the nerve center of the entertainment industry, tonight Night Flight "Takes Off" to the City of Angels. In this special syndication episode from 1992, we explore the troubadours and minstrels that help shape the musical legacy of Los Angeles and the California sound, from Folk to Surf, Rockabilly to Punk. Featuring The Beach Boys, The Doors, LA Guns, The Motels and more!

“Rock ’n’ Roll has always had a strong political perspective,” says Night Flight host Pat Prescott introducing a politically-charged "Take Off" episode from 1985. The quintessentially '80s video mix starts with a puppet caricature of Reagan from the British TV series "Spitting Image," leading into a compilation of music videos (with some definitely carrying a stronger political resonance than others.) Featuring Culture Club's "The War Song," Eurythmics' "Sex Crime" theme from the film 1984, the socially conscious montage of Bruce Cockburn's "If I Had A Rocket Launcher," and The Specials' (then known as Special AKA) anti-apartheid anthem "Free Nelson Mandela." Concluding the episode is a brief cooking segment featuring our beloved (and oft-mortally wounded) friend, Mr. Bill!

Episode 284. An original episode of Radio 1990 from 1984 featuring Girlschool, Hotsox Fashion, and Billy Joel (it was his birthday!)

Five identical men balance themselves on an ever-shifting plane.