God Blessed Video

Album: Disturbing the Peace (1985)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • The Hard Rock band Alcatrazz got some airplay with the videos for their songs "Hiroshima Mon Amour" and "Island In The Sun," but nothing like what their photogenic New Wave counterparts were getting. Lead singer Graham Bonnet was watching a Duran Duran video one day when it struck him that a good video could compensate for a terrible song. "It was a gift that video came along and made these great videos of nice looking women in exotic places, but the song wasn't that good, and that's basically what it's about," he told us. "It's like 'Video Killed The Radio Star,' if you remember that song. It was my sort of version of that, just saying, 'Well, if you've got a great video, doesn't matter what the song's like. It'll help you a helluva lot.'"
  • The band made a video for this song, with the first minute taken up with a skit where an angel and devil discuss music videos. MTV has a history of embracing videos that deal with the medium itself ("Video Killed The Radio Star," "Money For Nothing"), but they passed on this one, which may have hit too close to home with lyrics like "We'll shoot all the crotch shots for 12 year old hopefuls."
  • Steve Vai, who was the band's guitarist for the Disturbing the Peace album, wrote this song with Graham Bonnet. Vai, who replaced Yngwie Malmsteen in Alcatrazz, left to join David Lee Roth's band. If there was ever a man who blessed video, it was Roth; while Vai got plenty of screen time in the "God Blessed Video" clip, he ceded most of the camera time to Roth in his videos.

Comments: 2

  • GmanIn case anyone didnt realize that's actually Vai playing those roles at the beginning ..he should add this to his setlist
  • Weezytimelime from W03rldvery useful info, very amazing song
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Glen Burtnik

Glen BurtnikSongwriter Interviews

On Glen's résumé: hit songwriter, Facebook dominator, and member of Styx.

How "A Rolling Stone Gathers No Moss" Became Rock's Top Proverb

How "A Rolling Stone Gathers No Moss" Became Rock's Top ProverbSong Writing

How a country weeper and a blues number made "rolling stone" the most popular phrase in rock.

Gavin Rossdale On Lyric Inspirations and Bush's Album The Kingdom

Gavin Rossdale On Lyric Inspirations and Bush's Album The KingdomSongwriter Interviews

The Bush frontman on where he finds inspiration for lyrics, if his "machine head" is a guitar tuner, and the stories behind songs from the album The Kingdom.

Corey Hart

Corey HartSongwriter Interviews

The Canadian superstar talks about his sudden rise to fame, and tells the stories behind his hits "Sunglasses At Night," "Boy In The Box" and "Never Surrender."

Martyn Ware of Heaven 17

Martyn Ware of Heaven 17Songwriter Interviews

Martyn talks about producing Tina Turner, some Heaven 17 hits, and his work with the British Electric Foundation.

Janis Ian: Married in London, but not in New York

Janis Ian: Married in London, but not in New YorkSong Writing

Can you be married in one country but not another? Only if you're part of a gay couple. One of the first famous singers to come out as a lesbian, Janis wrote a song about it.