Tonight we find out what gives a six string its zing! We look at the origin of some of the most soul-stirring, far out guitar sounds with a special "Take Off" to Guitar Heroes. We salute the creme-de-la-creme of guitar playing with a look at virtuosos like Jeff Beck, Pete Townshend, Jimmy Page and the Firm, Stanley Jordan, Stevie Ray Vaughan, B.B. King and more on this special trip to Valhalla of Guitar Gods. Tune Up, and Take Off. Then, stay tuned for European import videos from Peter Schilling, Nena, Nina Hagen, the Scorpions, George Kranz, Taco, Telephone, Chagren d'Amor, Yello and Krokus!

Back in 1985, Night Flight produced a candid backstage interview with Tom Petty while he was on tour promoting Southern Accents. After hearing the sad news on Monday, we went to the archives to get the full segment for you.

Ya'll are watching Night Flight, the late night place to be. In this original episode, we saddle up and Take Off to Country Music with Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, Crystal Gayle, Ronnie Milsap, the Judds and much more. Let Pat Prescott be your guide, reliving the classics and bringing you up to speed on peak ‘80s country and crossover.

Sex in music video form featuring censored and uncensored videos from David Bowie, Mary Jane Girls, Miquel Brown, Duran Duran, and more...

Blue Oyster Cult stops by the Night Flight studio in this fantastic early NF special from 1983. Band members Allen Lanier and Joe Bouchard (we know, we know, their names are spelled wrong!) sit down for a lengthy and informative conversation about the band with tracks including the somewhat controversial and oft-banned “Joan Crawford” and “Veteran of the Psychic Wars,” a dark, brooding track featured on the Heavy Metal soundtrack.

“Heavy Metal is a musical reaction against the mellow love generation of the 1960s,” Pat Prescott tells us. Tonight’s 1984 Night Flight Original takes us away from this world for a history lesson in Metal with classics from Black Sabbath and Judas Priest and '80s arrivals in Heavy Metal of different varieties: German, (Accept, Scorpion), Woman-Fronted (Rock Goddess, Girlschool) and much more.  Watch in our “Take Offs” section tonight!

This Night Flight Original episode features a segment from the "Take Off" series on Politics and Progressive Rap. We also included extra special bonus feature on 'Movie Villains.'

Directed by Don Swaynos. A late night horror show host is having a bad day.

"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.

Watch the director discuss "tired" comparisons to Hitchcock, the importance of beauty in horror, and the potential pitfalls of directing music videos all while seeing pivotal scenes from Carrie, Phantom Of The Paradise, Body Double and more...

Welcome to Night Flight goes to the movies, a. Tonight we look at the growing emergence of black leading men in a variety of film genres including Carl Weather's "Action Jackson" and Spike Lee's "School Daze" including interviews. This episode also previews "The Return of Ruben Blades," now come full circle and streaming on Night Flight Plus.

This special ‘90s syndication episode feature host Tom Juarez introducing multiple classic Night Flight segments. PAL Tape 7 profiles Paul McCartney.

This time capsule compilation from Night Flight creator Stuart Shapiro and Laurie Dolphin celebrates the work of 40 innovative media artists using Flash in the early 2000s. At the time, Flash animation was the heartbeat of a new generation of pop culture enthusiasts at the beginning of the Internet. Whether creating their own independent animated clips or working with some of the biggest names in the music world, such as Beck, Jimi Hendrix, Todd Rundgren, Dr Dre and Phish, these Flash artists used the medium's unique quality to make art that defined a pivotal internet era.

Tonight, we travel back to the airwaves of 1991 for a compilation episode of syndicated Night Flight. This hour and a half episode covers European Rock and Guitar Gods. Let syndication host Tom Juarez be your guide as you travel through the music and visuals of Nina Hagen, Taco, Yello, Telephone and more!

Take off with an hour long special episode of New Sounds from 1986, starting off with Sigue Sigue Sputnik, Big Audio Dynamite, BoDeans, Hüsker Dü, Jane SiBerry and provocative political rockers, Lords of The New Church.

Episode 276. An episode of Radio 1990 from 1984 featuring The Icicle Works, Bonnie Tyler and an interview with Brian Setzer.

"Boy isn't heavy metal a lot of fun!" says Mr. Bill at the start of Night FLight's special "Take Off" to Heavy Metal Comedy, (before an untimely death by anvil.) And Mr. Bill is right: Heavy Metal is a reliably comedic genre, intentional or not. This episode kicks off with Alcatrazz's "God Blessed," a satire of MTV that doomed its chances of airplay on that channel, (but of course got play on Night Flight), Keel's "Right to Rock", Accept's kaleidoscopic video for "Midnight Mover," Japanese rockers Loudness and Ireland's Mama's Boys.

Welcome back to Night Flight, where we take you on a half hour tour of Hollywood, America's most famous, glamorous, and heartbreaking town.

Robert Smith stopped by the Radio 1990 studios to tell interviewer Lisa Robinson about what motivated him to start The Cure, being in a “gloomy band” and why 99% of music is boring. An early Morrissey detractor, Smith is quick to tell Robinson that “The Smiths are an unfortunate comparison…”

Night Flight's iconic interview with Kiss from 1983. “Tonight, we introduce you to the men behind the masks with an exclusive interview as well as concert films from their Inner Sanctum and Japanese tours.” - Night Flight's season 2 host, Al Bandiero.

Episode 272. An original episode of Radio 1990 from 1984 featuring Tracy Ullman, Devo and Lisa Robinson's interview with Mick Jagger.

Good evening high-flying fans, and welcome to Night Flight. Tonight, we share another edition of our distinguished Video Profile series with Van Halen. Wherever you stand on Sammy Hagar v. Diamond Dave, you’ll love tonight’s special episode, with videos and concert footage from both. The group's winning combination of charismatic frontmen, Eddie’s phenomenal guitar playing and insanely epic live shows made them an essential act of the era. Dig in.

“Millions have seen their work,” host Pat Prescott says, “but only a handful of people know who they are.” Tonight, we “Take Off” to Music Video Directors circa 1983 on Night Flight. The episode covers the music video work of two prolific leaders of the art form: American Bob Giraldi (Michael Jackson, Diana Ross) and British David Mallett (David Bowie, Joan Jett).

“In 1977, the Sex Pistol’s Johnny Rotten was the most famous man in Rock 'n' Roll…” Pat Prescott tells us, “then he went to work on Public Image Ltd… a group that called everything to question.” A cadre of PiL’s music videos and candid interview segments with Lydon are the backbone of this epic episode. Let John's disdain for music industry and all it’s hypocrisy, bureaucracy and bullshit be your guide to this episode of CLASSIC NIGHT FLIGHT. “You feel pressured into being outrageous… and that’s not good at all is it? It’s unhealthy.”

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.

This special ‘90s syndication episodes feature host Tom Juarez introducing multiple classic Night Flight segments. PAL Tape 1 takes on Van Halen and KISS.

Directed by Don Swaynos. The reunion of a woman and her estranged daughter is interrupted by a man with an unusual request.

A dance-off at a school.

A bar mitsvah band director searches for a new singer.

Get ready for an epic border-crossing original episode of Night Flight. In this Take Off special from 1985, Night Flight heads north for a special survey on Canadian Rock. Featuring Bryan Adams, Corey Hart, Platinum Blonde, Honeymoon Suite, Parachute Club, Idle Eyes, Rush, Loverboy, and Canadian super-charity-group Northern Lights. This episode is rich with Canada’s unique input in ‘80s music landscape. Enjoy!

This Night Flight segment from one of our early seasons ('81-83 era) features a 1955 episode of "Showtime at the Apollo," featuring an ensemble of African American performers live from the the landmark Apollo Theater in Harlem. The show is hosted by "Mayor of Harlem" Willie Bryant and features incredible performances from Bill Bailey, Ruth Brown ("Have a Good Time"), Cab Calloway and his Orchestra ("Minnie the Moocher"), Lionel Hampton ("Cobb's Idea"), Leonard Reed, "Big" Joe Turner ("Oke-She-Moka-She-Pop") and Sarah Vaughan ("Perfidio").

“It’s a quiet storm…” Nigerian-born fashion designer turned singer Sade is the subject of tonight’s Video Profile. Pat Prescott starts us off with an introduction to the “smooth and sexy high priestess of soul,” before jumping into a Sade mega-mix cut with exclusive interviews with the artist from the Night Flight studio (originally filmed in 1985). In her interview segment, Sade talks about her record Diamond Life and finally provides instructions to the American audience on how to pronounce her name.

A young girl develops telekinesis.

Tonight, we go back to 1988 to Take Off to Futurism in Music Videos. "The future is upon us, with Robots, Computers and new technologies" Pat Prescott informs us at the top of tonight's episode. Kicking off with Bonnie Tyler scored supercut of Fritz Lang's Metropolis this episode shows a multitude of visions of the future through music. Re-flex is "Hurt," the Earons explore "The Land of Hunger," Tangerine Dream's Peter Baumann signs of "Strangers in the Night" and DEVO tell the tale of the "Worried Man." This episode on the future has the special honor of being bookended by a good friend from the past, Mr. Bill.

A spoof of educational films about gravity.

In "Take Off to Comedy IX," enter Jackie Mason's mind with the brilliant compilation “The World According To Me,” Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi get Brian Wilson out of bed to go surfing in a long forgotten clip that was one of our most popular stories on the blog last year. Other gems include Divine’s “These Lips Were Made For Kissing,” Dweezil Zappa, Weird Al Yankovich and an original segment with comedian Ritch Shydner’s hilarious bit in the Night Flight studios.

A radical hybrid of spy, sci-fi, Western, and even horror genres, Craig Baldwin's Mock Up On Mu cobbles together a feature-length "collage-narrative" based on (mostly) true stories of California's post-War sub-cultures of rocket pioneers, alternative religions, and Beat lifestyles.