Tonight’s Night Flight Original Episode is from our “Video Artist” series, focusing on the animation and film art of Herbert Wentscher. The German video artist sources a variety of media for his projects: Super 8 footage, painting, and ancient iconography. “Eventually, everything gets blended into the video medium” he says to Night Flight interviewer and writer, Stuart Samuels.The episode includes his piece “SuperFaust” which features the german cultural icon Ampelmann, the country's universal green walk symbol (above), interpreted through Goethe’s Faust. 

Night Flight's take off to Rock and Cult films. This is A special preview of some of the films Night Flight showed in 1985 including Rude Boy (starring the Clash), Breaking Glass, Smithereens, Debbie Harry in Union City, Warhol's Frankenstein and more...

“Their music was devil’s music: high decibel, tortured, frenzied songs about Death, Destruction and Black Magic.” Welcome to Night Flight’s 1984 Take Off to Heavy Metal History with a look at metal forgers Black Sabbath. We go back to the 1970s for classic Sabbath, trace the development of Ozzy Osbourne and Ronny James Dio from their days as Black Sabbath’s lead singers to their solo careers in the mid 80s as “Rock’s Top MadMen.” We’ve heard from many of you that your first exposure to BS was late at night on Night Flight, so consider this your return trip home to some 35 years ago. If you are a Black Sabbath original line-up purist and Dio isn't your thing, may we suggest the Black Sabbath Video Profile for another excellent episode?

Night Flight salutes the Women of Rock in this original episode from June, 1988. "Today," Pat Prescott tells us, "women's voices are more powerful than ever in new music, neo-folk and down & dirty Rock n Roll." Featuring Sinéad O'Connor with MC Lyte, Joan Jett, Lita Ford, and Annie Lennox.

Welcome back to Night Flight. Tonight we celebrate the incredible life and career of Aretha Franklin with our 1987 Video Profile of the legendary artist. "She was the daughter of a preacher and by the late 60's the undisputed Queen of Soul" - Pat Prescott. With over a dozen million-selling albums, Aretha forever fused the passion of Gospel, the sensuality of R&B, and the precision of Pop. Tonight's episode is an incredible survey of Aretha's 1980s output, in true Night Flight Style. Featuring all of Aretha's 1980s cuts including: Rock A Lot, Freeway Of Love, Another Night, and George Michael collaboration Knew You Were Waiting.

Night Flight looks at the roots of Irish rock 'n' roll tonight in this original “Take Off” special from the mid-1980s. With Bodhrán, Fiddles, Uilleann pipes and Irish Harps in hand, we kick off with the Chieftans' "Irish Anthem" before looking at the Ireland’s strong music tradition. Dating back to Celtic culture, when poets were elevated to the status of aristocrats, we take a closer look at the island that produced '80s era acts like the Pogues, Van Morrison, Cactus World News, Bob Geldof, Zerra 1 and more. Stick around afterwards for some very rare animated cartoons & short films, including Ellen Foley in "Headshot."

Tonight’s Video Profile looks at Minneapolis writers, performers, and legendary super producers: Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. Bassist Terry Lewis met Keyboard player Jimmy Harris when they were handpicked by Prince for one of Minneapolis's great spinoff bands: The Time. "C...O...O...L"! Night Flight takes us through a tour of classics the pair wrote and produced from Janet Jackson, Human League, Herb Albert, Force MD's "Tender Love," (Above) and Robert Palmer's cover of the duo's Cherrelle classic "I Didn't Mean to Turn You On."

"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).

"Stay tuned for the latest music... on Night Flight's New Sounds!" Tonight, we head back to June 1988, Floodland-era Sisters of Mercy, Kid n' Play premiere the "Kickstep" Do This My Way, Electronic Body Music from Boston's Manufacture, and quiet storm grooves from Soul artist Terence Trent D'arby's single "Sign Your Name."

This two-hour 1990 broadcast features Julee Cruise’s performance for David Lynch's “Industrial Symphony No. 1,” a Night Flight original Twin Peaks parody called "Twin Geeks" and an interview with music video director Tim Pope, whose work includes videos from Talk Talk, Siouxsie and the Banshees, David Bowie and much more.

The twin flames of '80s music video: Leather & Lace. “Leather suggests being wild, animalistic, masculine" Pat Prescott says, "while lace says soft, feminine, and sensual… and both conjure up sexual images.” Tonight, Night Flight looks to the 1983 and finds ample examples of both in videos from Billy Idol, The Romantics, Franky Goes to Hollywood, Roxy Music, Waysted and the Jersey Shore’s Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes.

“In 1985,” Visions host Al Bandiero says, “British rockers have held the #1 slot on the American charts for more than 8 months." With a mix of music videos, interview, and artist bios, this episode of Visions features 80s British musicians like Annie Lennox, Sade, New Order, and The Cure.

"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.

Ryuichi Sakamoto's passing in 2023 has left an enormous void in the world of music, film, and beyond. Here at NF HQ, we were comforted by bittersweet arrival of a tape from the archives that includes Sakamoto's Man Ray inspired video for “Risky,” which features the inimitable croon of Iggy Pop. This "New Sounds" episode also highlights songs from ex-Go-Go's band House of Schock, The Smithereens, Pop Will Eat Itself, and more. Stick around for a New Filmmakers Showcase featuring a musical saga about a small-time hustler called Honky Tonk Bud (Scott Laster, 1986) the urban folk legend.

"You can have my husband, but please don't mess with my man!" In tonight's Night Flight original episode from 1983, we treated to a vivid (and mostly unseen) performance from Chicago Blues legend Koko Taylor. Raucous and raw, the Memphis-born Taylor and her band take the audience through a medley of blue standards and hits, including the 1964 energizing anthem: "Wang Dang Doodle". Pure Night Flight! Stick around for the episode's B-Side, Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard's version of Townes Van Zandt's "Pancho and Lefty," where Townes himself makes an appearance in the music video.

This Night Flight original episode from our 1983 season is rife with deep cuts and nostalgic video gems from a lost era. The highlight is of course, Nameneko Punk Rock Kittens which features cats in punk outfits on cat-sized diorama sets (known as Perlorian cats in the US) created by photographer and artist Satoru Tsuda. These feline punkers join the ranks of other zoological video oddities like Dog Police and Fish Heads that were seared into the dazed minds of teenagers up way past their bedtime in the '80s.

"TV 2000's a different kind of video show: We've got everything!" The 1985 music series and Night Flight sister show hosted by John Kassir (voice of the Cryptkeeper) and Joe Gallo includes a top ten countdown, home movies, artist conversations with Night Flight & Radio 1990 resident interviewer Lisa Robinson, and some fantastic sweepstakes (sorry, entry is now closed!). Tonight's show, dubbed Episode 1 in the library, features videos from Duran Duran, Til Tuesday, Lisa Robinson on location with model Jerry Hall and a sizzling video Hot Pick of the Week. Commercials included!

TV 2000 is Night Flight's spin on the top ten countdown format from 1985, hosted by comedian John Kassir & Joie Gallo. In Episode 2 of TV 2000, Bryan Adams takes us to heaven, the Eurythmics ask: "Would I lie to you?" and Lisa Robinson goes on location with Boy George and Marilyn at the "hottest new club in New York," Palladium! Commercials are included.

This '90s syndication episode of Night Flight is dedicated exclusively to duets featuring a match made in art-pop heaven: Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush, KLF and Tammy Wynette's idiosyncratic country/dance-pop hybrid of pedal steel guitar & drum machines "Justified & Ancient," UB40 & Chrissie Hynde, and finally, Cher hits on Butthead in "I Got You Babe," the mega-crossover event of music television history we all needed. It's a bonafide hit-parade and a perfect specimen of our unique "Take Off" format, indeed.

It’s an “International Bazaar” on Night Flight tonight! This new arrival from the archives, taken from our 1985 Anniversary Special, finds Cabaret Voltaire sharing the Peter Care-directed classic video “Sensoria,” (inspired by the film 1979 black-comedy Wise Blood), Scotland's loyal song Jesse Rae and German experimentalists Einstürzende Neubauten contrasting perfectly against the Italian pop of Righeria in “No Tengo Dinero.”

Chicago’s Deeper brings danceable grooves and bigger hooks to their post-punk sound on Careful!, their latest album for Sub Pop.

Brisbane garage rock band Slug Guts exploded onto the australian punk scene with the first album Down on the Meat, recorded and released only months after they started playing together in 2009. The band returned in 2011 on Sacred Bones with the full-length Howlin’ Gang, self-described as “menacingly desperate, ugly, and malnourished” this ethos would carry the band into their final LP, Playin’ in Time With the Deadbeat. Recorded in a year in which many of the band's members experienced significant personal turmoil, the group finally called it quits in 2013.

Magik Markers member Elisa Ambrogio released her pop-influenced solo debut The Immoralist on Drag City in 2014. The album paired her soft and distant vocals with pop arrangements, all imparted with the rough textures of her noise rock roots.

CMON, which stands for Confusing Mix of Nations, is a pop duo born out of the ashes of Brooklyn indie rock group Regal Degal. Shifting the focus towards more danceable tracks, the duo carried the atmospherics from their previous project into CMON, only now incorporating more elements of disco and pop into their recordings.

The 1982 sword-and-sorcery adventure film co-written and directed by cult director Albert Pyun arrives on Night Flight Plus! Meet Talon, a daring mercenary who conquers castles and dungeons alike with his lethal three-bladed sword. But when Talon becomes the prince of a kingdom controlled by an evil sorcerer, he is thrust into the wildest fight of his life. Can Talon rescue the beautiful princess and slay the warlock!?

Former geotechnical engineer Lucrecia Dalt's experimental compositions.

Roxy Petrucci, born Roxanne Dora Petrucci, arrived on Planet Rock March 17, 1962, in the iron fisted Michigan village of Rochester. Rox and her sister, Maxine, formed Madame X in the mid 80s but she is best known as the highly respected drummer of the all-female glam metal outfit, Vixen. As the last original member standing – and Godmother of the group – she continues to hit kit harder than most of her male counterparts. We go back to 1989 when I green lip the first Vixen feature for Rip. Puts her heart into every kick and fill.

The Holydrug Couple, the duo of Ives Sepúlveda and Manuel Parra, began playing together in 2008 and emerged from the Santiago psychedelic rock scene in 2011 with their LP Awe, attracting the attention and support of Sacred Bones. The group’s pop influences and vocally driven songwriting continued to blossom on their 2013 beachy, dreamlike release Nocutary. After touring extensively over the years that followed, the group returned in 2015 with Moonlust, a record heavily indebted to French film music from the 70’s and 80s. Their most recent full-length, Hyper Super Mega, arrived in 2018.

Moscow natives Dima Pantyushin and Sasha Lipsky create a musical landscape that bounces between the terrestrial and divine in an “immaculate synth-pop ecosystem” on their debut album Peshekhod.

Flore Laurentienne is the vessel of Quebec-based composer, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Mathieu David Gagnon. The classically trained musician incorporates elements of post-minimalism, early progressive rock, and the compositional art of fugue into his work.

Damon McMahon started his solo musical project Amen Dunes in 2006, recording atmospheric, lo-fi psych-folk alone in the Catskills before moving to Beijing and further honing this dark sound and recording occasionally. These would become his debut Sacred Bones EP Murder Dull Mind.

Australian Singer/Songwriter Indigo Sparke was born into a musical family and knew from a young age she wanted to perform. After teaching herself guitar, Indigo began establishing herself in the Sydney-music scene with quiet but commanding folk music, releasing her debut EP Night Bloom in 2016. Over the next few years Sparke would continue to build her profile in the contemporary folk world. Her first full-length album Echo arrived in 2021 on Sacred Bones.

Dylan Moon is a Los Angeles musician who debuted in 2019 with Only the Blues. His second full-length, Option Explore, is a collection of clever, colorful songs filtered through frequencies, timbres, and dreams discovered and discarded while its maker shifts from one sub-genre to the next.

“Take Off” to Seattle-based independent label Sub Pop featuring music videos from Father John Misty, Tad, The Jesus and Mary Chain and more.

Don Giovanni is an independent record label from New Brunswick, New Jersey whose catalog includes The Homeless Gospel Choir, Laura Stevenson and Rodeo Boys.

Pennsylvania post-hardcore band Pissed Jeans on Sub Pop Records. Featuring Lydia Lunch produced "The Bar Is Low" and more.

Lust For Youth is a synth pop duo currently composed of Swedish and Danish producers Hannes Norrvide and Malthe Fischer. As a solo act Norrvide’s Lust For Youth was largely dark and lonely minimalist synth that verged on harsh noise, but with the expansion of the lineup the group’s releases on Sacred Bones are more associated with the catchy songs about heartbreak, most notably channeling elements of New Order and Pet Shop Boys.

Brooklyn-born and based experimentalist and multi-instrumentalist Taja Cheek, aka L’Rain’s, 2021 album Fatigue demands introspection from ready ears with an array of keyboards, synths, and hauntingly delicate vocals while blending the sounds of gospel, jazz, and neo-soul to create a genre entirely her own. Cheek has dipped her toes in every corner of the arts, through her work at some of the most prestigious art institutions in NYC and collaborations with the likes of Naama Tsabar and Kevin Beasley.

Lucrecia Dalt, a former geotechnical engineer, crafts experimental compositions with contemporary electronic sounds, traditional South American rhythms and evocative lyrics. Her latest album, ¡Ay!, channels innate sensory echoes of growing up in Colombia.

“Take Off” to Chicago-based independent label Drag City featuring music videos from Joanna Newsom, Palace, Silver Jews and White Fence.

Sonically dense and inspired by art rockers like Scott Walker and Robert Wyatt, The Fresh & Only’s guitarist Wymond Miles’ solo output is decidedly somber and draped in layers of reverb. In 2012 Miles’ released his first pieces of material including his debut album Under The Pale Moon, returning the following year with the similarly psychedelic, Cut Yourself Free. After a brief hiatus, he returned to the studio with a new creative direction, recording 2016’s Call by Night, drawing influences from gospel and country.

Experimental hip hop group Shabazz Palaces makes a foray into “final-days funk” on Exotic Birds of Prey, an unsettling exploration of the coldest and darkest edges of their sound.

Wand is a metal-influenced psych rock band based in Los Angeles, California. Formed in 2013 by Cory Hanson, the group’s early releases feature hints of sludge and heavy metal, later giving way to more melodic synths. A lineup expansion in 2016 brought an improvised, jam-style to the band’s songwriting which coincided with a transition towards a more expansive, classic rock sound.

“intertwined etymologies of spirit and breath” from RVNG Intl.'s Ka Baird.

Masaki Batoh, founding member of Japanese experimental rock band Ghost, struck out on his own after closing the door on Ghost’s 30 year tenure in the psychedelic and progressive scenes. His more recent projects include his psychedelic 5-piece the Silence and his more spiritual solo output, such as Nowhere, and Smile Jesus Loves You!, released on Drag City.

The Sub Pop music of Riot Grrrl veterans Sleater-Kinney. Featuring "Jumpers" and more.

Natalie Mering's orchestral folk project, signed to Sub Pop records. Songs from 2019's Titanic Rising.

Suzanne Doucet got her start as a successful pop-star in Germany before moving to the US and embarking on her new-age career, releasing over 40 records in the states.

Today we’re covering eclectic Brooklyn-based record label Sacred Bones, featuring videos from Constant Smiles, Follakzoid and Hillary Woods.

"Syrupy, space-case dance music” from electronic duo Blondes.

Actor, screenwriter and artist Karen Black cemented a place for herself in the New Hollywood movement of the 60s and 70s with starring turns in films like Easy Rider (1969) and Five Easy Pieces (1970). During an acting career that spans 5 decades and over 200 credits, Black began writing and recording music with notable producers Bones Howe and Elliot Mazer. Decades later under the oversight of Cass McCombs, her work has been restored from the original tapes for release on Mexican Summer’s Anthology Records label.

Resuscitating The '80s Underground. Inspired by the DIY nature of the 80s underground, Dark Entries founder Josh Cheon launched the label in 2009 to release out of print and unreleased underground music as well as contemporary bands, with a mission to preserve sound quality and respecting the aesthetics of its artists. With over 100 releases under our belt from Severed Heads, Crash Course In Science, Patrick Cowley to the Dark Entries Editions series focusing on hard to find Italo Disco and Synthpop 12”s. And yes, Josh took the name from Bauhaus's first 7″release,

Settle into Tonstartssbandht’s music and let it rock heavy from all sides. The music melds with the personal, tangible nature of the city climate, telling a stunning tale. Discovered on the road and distilled at home, the music conveys experience and subtlety, scars exposed to carry the chronicle. The music, the music, the fucking music.

Xymox, later known as Clan of Xymox, was founded in the Netherlands, in 1983 by Ronny Moorings (Vocals, Guitars, Synthesizers) and Anka Wolbert (Vocals, Bass). In 2014, Dark Entries reissued the band's pre-4AD EP, Subsequent Pleasures, a unique fusion of lush psychedelia and dark, angular atmospherics.

Ski Patrol were a band formed in 1979 in the Brixton area in response to the darkwave and post-punk bands that were gaining popularity in England at the time.

“Take Off” to Chicago-based independent label Drag City featuring music videos from Bill Callahan, Ty and Denée Segall, Circuit des Yeux and Smog.