Video Truffles: Din Daa Daa

While working on the MP3 posts lately, I've been gathering scads of music videos, movie clips, old commercials, and other random visual excitement. So, in addition to the MP3 Truffles posts I've been doing, I'm adding an all new chapter: Video Truffles. Note: all links in these posts will be to relevant video share sights or embedded video blog pages.

There are a ton of video links after the jump. But first, let's head back a week or so ago to when I stopped into a hipster dive bar in Denver to discover that every TV screen was playing the much maligned Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo. Now, I'm not going to defend this film or anything (and let's not even mention the overused punchline of the subtitle). It's a piece of crap that sometimes decends into utter lunacy, which does make it fun to watch in a bar full of half-drunk patrons. But what really excited me was the song buried in the midst of this crappy film: George Kranz's "Din Daa Daa" (or, as it was originally called, "Trommeltanz"). Check out the non-movie-tie-in music video for the song. It's a mind blower. 

The song was a huge hit both in the clubs and with the B-Boys, rocketing up the dance music charts in 1984, coming out again in the 90s, and of course being sampled to death (most recently by the Ying Yang Twins). A pretty impressive feat for a German studio producer/drum player who is, let's face it, really dorky. I mean, the premise behind the entire song is that he is singing the drum beats. That is simultaneously the coolest and lamest idea for a dance song one could have. And that is why it works, no?

Fans of the song continue to use it for a variety of uses. My favorites:
Replacing the soundtrack to "Thriller"
As background music for animated gifs
Freestyling
Your mom dancing like an idiot

And here's another George Kranz composition, the title song to the film Magic Sticks. How come I have never before heard of this 1987 craptacular? There's not even much on IMDB. Anyone got the story or at least a fever dream memory of this film?

Again, many more video finds after yon jump.

• Click click, sniff sniff. I got my smell on, I got my smell on. Commercial rap of the year, perhaps the decade: The Scent Dome with George Clinton(?!) 
• Spoon needs to use this dancing squishy robotic peep thingie as their official video, asap.
• Creepy Polish horror/music hall scene from Salto. (Via Music for Maniacs)
• I don't  know how much play this is getting on the MTV, but I can't stop watching the new Kanye West video with Will Oldham and Zack Galifianakis.
• From those glory days before total computerization, here are a number of TV promo and ads as made by NYC's Dolphin productions.
• Did you know that a frog vomits by turning its stomach inside out? Information like this is why Japanese game shows trump Drew Carey any day.
• Elton Motello: Jet Boy Jet Girl
• Lynn Redgrave spoofs Swinging London with "I Can't Sing But I'm Young".
• If you have to dance to "Break My Stride", this is the way to do it.
• Why do I love fake New Wave disco so much? Because it took cheesy crap like Trans X "Living On Video" from the "computer fairyland" and brought it to us.
• However, let me say that I do NOT miss the 80s.
• Martin Mull and Fred Willard seem confused by Tom Waits (yes, it is staged cluelessness). This clip can make a Waits fan out of any dorky comedy-loving 12-year-old.
• Sarolta Zalantanay in action. And again, fifteen-ish years later. (via 33/45)
• I first heard the Kinks as a kid via "Come Dancing", and while it isn't even close to being their greatest song, the video is still up there with the best.
• Dats some swinging Sesame Street, daddy-o.
• The Russian Winnie the Pooh. Or, for a crazy angry version, try the Winnie the Pooh Rammstein remix.
• Sears' training films from 1969 were more than swinging...they were far out!
• And finally, in South America, Suicide is now being used to sell deodorant. The band, silly.

Comments

[Barrett Golding]

Din Da Da is definitely a quirk-classic. Thanks for the vid. FYI, The Roots do a nice Din Da Da cover on their Home Grown! The Beginner's Guide to Understanding the Roots, Vol. 2.

[Kip W]

What's interesting about "Come Dancing," (apart from the wonderful video itself) is that Ray's sister Rene gave him his first guitar, apparently for his 13th birthday, and on the night of that birthday, according to the BBC, "...died after a night at the dance hall."

[babu]

the dancing mom video has a lot of positive comments. i'm surprised no one took the time to insult her. i almost did but then i figured her 5 friends that each viewed the video some 100 times would defend her.

[Resident Clinton]

Yeah, I just can't insult her because, frankly, she is having way more fun than I usually am. Besides, I like knowing that this sort of thing is taking place in the suburbs somewhere.

[Dan]

You hath found a video for "Din Daa Daa." You are my hero.

[Kranz fan]

Magic sticks was a great film and really hard to find. I found this on ithttp://www.myspace.com/498691688