Night Flight - 1990s Episode 17
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"Good Evening, ladies and gentlemen," 1990s syndication host Tom Juarez exclaims, "and welcome to Night Flight: a beacon of fun, fantasy, and pure entertainment..." What follows is a hand-picked rerun of some classic Night Flight segments including a Bruce Springsteen Video Profile and an hour of cult classics. "You may as well put on another cup of coffee, because no matter how sleepy you think you're feeling, you're going to want to stay up for tonight's wild ride." You bet!
Night Flight - "Take Off" to African Sounds
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Afro Beat: A look at Africa's music and politics. It's no secret that Rock and Roll is based on African Rythyms. Africa created tempo and 4/4 time, the basis for all our generation's popular dance music. Today, another sound is coming from Africa as the world turns to the political abuses on the continent. African-born musicians are crying out for their civil rights. Featuring preeminent pan-africanist Fela, Senegalese brothers Toure Kunda, Nigerian Juju music leader King Sunny Ade, South African Apartheid activists Juluka (with Johnny Clegg) and much more. This is Night Flight at it’s absolute finest: musical, cultural and historical.
60 Minutes Australia - Yothu Yindi
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Yothu Yindi combine rock music with traditional Aboriginal instrumentation to create a distinct sound all their own. This 1992 60 Minutes story covers their history, influences and politics.
Night Flight - New Sounds and New Filmmakers (1988)
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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.
Night Flight - Rockin' Ronnie
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Conceived by the creators of the successful USA cable program "NIGHT FLIGHT," this light-hearted, off-the-wall exposé includes the unlikely supporting cast of Queen Elizabeth, Richard Nixon, Colonel Kaddafi, Yasser Arafat, Jayne Mansfield, Margaret Thatcher, the Ayatollah Khomeini, and many more. America's Leading Man, Ronald Reagan, is the subject of this hilarious, tongue-in-cheeck scrapbook on our most colorful president. ROCKIN' RONNIe takes a deliciously irreverent look at the life and times of America's smiling hero — from smooth-talking actor to silver-tongued politician. Watch the screen as we throw darts at Ronald Reagan "the calvaryman," "the slugger," "the fighter pilot," "the priest," "the sailor," "the football player," "the Fighting Marshall," "the detergent salesman," "the gangster," "the ballroom dancer," and "The Mystery Date. With unforgettable on and off-screen bloopers as well as superb animation and puppetry, ROCKIN' RONNIE exposes Ronald Reagan like no program has ever dared. (45-minutes)
Night Flight - Short Cuts: "Taco and Falco"
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“If we combine the modern new wave elements with the old, beautiful melodies, that might be an intriguing mixture,” says Taco discussing his hit cover of “Puttin’ on the Ritz” in this exclusive Night Flight interview. Later on in this brand new Night Flight Short Cut, Falco talks about translating rap music influences into his German-language hits.
Night Flight - New Sounds (1987)
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Night Flight’s 1987 episode of New Sounds is teeming with deep cuts and lost treasures. Mondo Boffo with Scorpio (!), Prince proteges Wendy and Lisa's excellent tune "Waterfall," Squeeze's Dali-esque video painting and more.
Night Flight - "Take Off" to Guitar Heroes
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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!
Night Flight - Annie Lennox Video Profile
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In tonight’s original episode of Night Flight, Annie Lennox shape-shifts through the video work of Eurythmics and own her own. The gender-bending music videos featured tonight find Lennox portraying an 18th century dilettante, 1960s-era flip wig singer, and in "Little Bird," a Cabaret performer playing her most challenging role yet: a confederacy of all her previous personas! Tonight, we salute a pop music chameleon of the highest order. As syndication-era host Tom Juarez tells us, Night Flight was the only TV show that dared to spend an entire hour one artist’s music video efforts. This episode is a perfect example of that!
Night Flight - "Take Off" to Toyah
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Tonight’s original episode comes from 1983, i.e. the early days of discovery on NF that often featured uncut performance footage. Here, we see Toyah’s 1981 show at London’s Rainbow Theatre with the irrepressible performer at the top of her game. Listen up for excellent tunes like "War Boys," "Neon Womb" and more.
Night Flight - "Take Off" to Self Destruction
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In Take Off To Self Destruction (1986), Night Flight focuses on some of the darker elements that defined the 1980s, looking at music that dealt with topics like drug abuse and crime. Featured songs like “Stop The Madness” and “Just Say No” convey a conflicted range of emotion when watched today. The videos are definitely humorous in their categorically ‘80s presentation but they also require a somber reflection of the ineffective and corrosive drug policies promoted by the Reagans. Along with artist interviews and PSA style interstitials (including a brilliant one from Frank Zappa), this episode features videos from Armband, Jazzy Jeff, Fine Young Cannibals and more.
A closing video of David Bowie’s “Ashes To Ashes” for this segment proves that Night Flight was willing to take on uncomfortable topics like drug abuse and suicide with an elegance you couldn’t find anywhere else on TV at the time. That’s a fact.
Night Flight - "Take Off" to Slapstick
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Welcome back to Night Flight. Tonight, we jump into the world of Slapstick Comedy. “Drawing on the theatrical tradition of Vaudeville, Slapstick Comedy is one of America’s most enduring traditions in cinema history,” syndication host Tom Juarez tells us. Its visual, it’s physical, and tonight we present collected the masters of the genre: Chaplin, W.C Fields, The Three Stooges, Jerry Lewis in drag and more.
Night Flight - "Take Off" to Animation VII
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“Take Off” to Animation is one of the most beloved original Night Flight formats, as true today as it was in the 1980s. Like our other animation specials, this 1987 arrival from the vault is a one-of-a-kind time capsule from an era when music videos and animation technologies were evolving side by side. Featuring Grace Jones’ multi-media visual spectacle, vibrant cel animation for Wally Badarou’s “Highlife,” and David Bowie’s rotoscoped video for “Underground” from Labyrinth (also streaming on Night Flight Plus), the episode highlights hybrid formats and emerging tools like early 3D computer animation at the height of the cultural zeitgeist.
Flash Frames
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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.
Night Flight - "Take Off" to Animation Vol. 4
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Night Flight’s 1985 “Take Off” to Animation Vol. 4 is a perfect mid-decade snapshot of the remarkable evolution of technology and creativity in animation happening in the 1980s.
Featuring super-group The Power Station's composited cutout acid trip for their T-Rex cover, Machinations rotoscoped “Pressure Sway” (above), Steve Miller’s early 3D animation effort “Bongo Bongo," and even some interview segments with animators working on Disney's The Black Cauldron.
Hit Parader's Heavy Metal Meltdown (7.15.89)
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Tonight we bring you a July 1989 episode of Hit Parader Magazine's Heavy Metal Meltdown! Visit a Sunset Strip tattoo parlor with L.A. Guns, get up close and personal with Badlands' lead vocalist Ray Gillen, go on the road with Winger and step inside the Elektra Records office for a little Metal Business Advice. Get ready for the meltdown!
Aisles of Doom
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An evil demon runs a toy store.
Night Flight - Kiss Special (1983)
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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.
Night Flight - Short Cuts: "Women In Comedy"
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Night Flight highlights the funniest women in showbiz in this special on female comedians, featuring material and interview clips from Tracy Ullman and Sandra Bernhardt.
Why I Got Into TV & Other Stories
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A series of vignettes told by a woman relating to her television obsession.
Night Flight - Laurie Anderson Video Profile
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Classic Night Flight profile of avant-garde experimentalist Laurie Anderson. Featuring an incredibly candid interview with Anderson about her background and work.
Night Flight - Short Cuts: "Teen VidMagazine"
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In this bite-sized episode of Night Flight, future Academy Award nominee Marky Mark discusses the criticism he's received for being a white rapper, while Vanilla Ice introduces the man behind his iconic wardrobe.
Night Flight - Kate Bush Video Profile
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Welcome to Night Flight’s exclusive Video Profile of Kate Bush. “This multimedia performance artist has combined dance, music, literature and mime on her way to becoming Britain’s most popular female star,” Pat Prescott says to introduce the pop polymath. Featuring Bush’s candid interview from the Night Flight studios (recorded in November 1985), this episode is an immersive survey of her creative vision and premiered as “Running Up That Hill” was topping the charts. A timely treasure from the archive in 2022!
Night Flight - "Take Off" to Women In Rock III
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This classic episode of Night Flight's venerable "Take Off" series which premiered in 1984 features music videos featuring flashy female rock icons such as Debbie Harry, Grace Slick, Tina Turner, Wendy O. Williams & Stevie Nicks.
Night Flight - "Take Off" to Comedy (1985)
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Tonight on Night Flight, we feature masters of rock and roll comedy genr, including Weird Al, Dog Police, The Muppets, Mr. T., Doug and The Slugz and a whole new set of commandments from the bible of Mr. T! There are a bunch of hidden treasures in this hour long episode from 1985 that also includes the British TV show “Spitting Image.”
Night Flight - Video Mix (1983)
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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.
Night Flight - Brian De Palma Profile
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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...
Night Flight - Neil Young Video Profile
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Tonight Night Flight profiles one of Rock’s great renegades: Neil Young. The essential episode features a candid NF studio interview with Young discussing his origins and inspirations and features some of Young’s more esoteric deep cuts on Geffen Records in the '80s including 1982’s techno track “Sample and Hold” and his Rockabilly ballad “Wonderin'.” Night Flight creator Stuart S. Shapiro's independent film distribution company International Harmony distributed Young's film "Rust Never Sleeps," a regular title in our early days on the air. It’s great to have the icon back on Night Flight.
Night Flight - "Take Off" to Satanic Metal
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Welcome to tonight’s "special investigation" into Satanic Metal circa 1988 (peak Satanic Panic!). Ever since the days of Paradise Lost, Faust and Hot Stuff Comic Books, the devil has been folk antihero numero uno and when Rock & Roll finally came along, he had his soundtrack (according to outraged fundamentalists).
Kicking off with Ozzy's "Miracle Man," join us as we descend into a realm of dark hymns from Damien, Iron Maiden, and much more…
Night Flight - New Years '83 (Part 2)
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This Night Flight original episode is part 2 of the 1983 New Year's Special. Featuring Music Videos, Video Profiles, and more. Night Flight rings in the New Year in style!
Planet Rock - Phil Soussan
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Phil Soussan, proper birthname Philip Raphael Soussan was born June 23. 1961 in London, England. A successful veteran bass guitarist, songwriter and producer, his resume boasts tours and tracks with Last in Line, the Vince Neil Band, Big Noize and most famously for slapping the fat stings during Ozzy Osbourne’s historic 1986 Ultimate Sin campaign. He co-authored the hit single, “Shot in the Dark.” I’ve always found him to be immensely intelligent and well-spoken, like a couple other not so mad Englishmen whose company I long enjoyed, Bruce Dickinson and Lemmy Kilmister.
Night Flight - "Take Off" to Rock Cowboys
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Welcome to Night Flight. Tonight we Take Off to Rock and Roll Cowboys, original air date 1988. Sharpen your spurs and saddle up as Night Flight shows you how many of today’s rockers take their musical and visual style from the Wild Wild West. Kicking off with Martini Ranch’s “Reach,” The Damned’s Cinescope spaghetti-western themed cover “Alone Again Or,” and more from Robbie Robertson, Kool Moe Dee, and more!
Night Flight - Jane's Addiction Video Profile
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Welcome back to Night Flight! “In a world where musicians bend over backwards to carry message of social responsibility, the wild and raucous Jane’s Addiction sings of personal freedom and non-conformity." - Pat Prescott. In tonight's 1991 original episode of Night Flight, find out why Jane's Addiction had become the most talked about band of the early ‘90s by going behind the scenes with lead singer Perry Farrell's Home Movie "Soul Kiss"
This uncut original episode also features all the original 1-900 commercials, Night Flight comedy cuts, and clips from the 1938 exploitation movie, "Sex Madness."
Night Flight - Valentine's Day Special 1988
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This 1988 special Night Flight episodes has 1930s beauty tips, cult classic cartoons and a lost interview with heartthrob Mick Jagger. "For decades moviegoers have fulfilled their romantic fantasies by watching the big screen," host Pat Prescott tells us before kicking off the segment "Greatest Love Scenes and Lovers."
Night Flight - New Bands of 1986
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Tonight we Take Off to some of the "best bets of ’86!” That’s right, we’re talking about the mid-decade buzz bands (was that even a term in the '80s?) that landed on our radar. As you'll see, Night Flight was prescient in it's curation—many of these prospects went on to become massive acts. The episode includes The Hooters, Waterboys, Charlie Sexton, Tom Petty approved Del Fuegos and we think this episode is pretty special for its interview with Mr. Mister. Watch it tonight!
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