FEATURE:
Reel-to-Real
Spike Jonze: Wax – California (1995)
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THIS is a feature where…
IN THIS PHOTO: Spike Jonze
I take a deeper look at classic music videos. There are so many to choose from. I am selecting ones that are meaningful to me. In the first edition, I talked about one of Michel Gondry’s greatest videos. The French director is one of the most innovative and visually-arresting music video directors. In terms of icons of the form, Spike Jonze is definitely among the very best. Although the band were active until 2009, that was more of a reunion year. Their first period of activity was from 1991-1995. Wax are a Californian band whose second studio album, 13 Unlucky Numbers (1995), contains California. There is always something standout when it comes to Spike Jonze’s music videos. For California, it is the man seen on fire on the sidewalk. Maybe today someone being set on fire would be no biggie. In a video in 1995, that imagery was quite unexpected and new! It is quite controversial, but it is also filmic and cinematic. Of course, Jonze would go on to work on music videos for Daft Punk, Björk and many others. A celebrated film director, this was his very early career. Wanting to make an impression and stand out, he definitely created something that eclipses the song in terms of its memorability and timelessness. I think, when we think of Wax’s California, the video comes to mind more readily than the song. The 1990s were a time when these soon-to-be-legendary music video directors were starting out and honing their craft. Jonze’s take on California is so different to what any other director would have done!
California is one of those videos where the concept and storyline comes together when you have that central idea: a man walking and jogging down a street on fire. This is what everyone is going to be looking at. Visualising something scary, horrific yet oddly calm and safe, you are transfixed by that central character. Consequence wrote about the video for Wax’s best-known song in 2008:
“Fifteen years ago, the early 90’s was a time when four turtles with ninja skills and New York accents took on Shredder & the Foot Clan, Whoopi Goldberg had a career, and the United States economy was a little bit more stable, music videos were starting to come into their own. Music videos began to break away from the incredibly bland, florescent 80s trends and established a cinematic essence to give itself some artistic merit. One of these videos aired in 1995 during MTV’s golden age of Buzz Bin cutting edge videos was San Jose’s very own Wax, with their only hit “California” which featured an up-and-coming director named Spike Jonze.
For the times, the video heavily stirred the controversy Kool-Aid. After a daytime showing on MTV, it was spike Ridiculously Awesome Music Videos: Wax’s California immediately banned because for the entire video, a man calmly ran down a California street on fire. The camera shows the man jogging past city dwellers and occasionally checking his watch while the whole time he is on fire. During the end, he passes a school bus to where the camera shifts views to a little girl sitting in a station wagon calmly watching the fire follow the man’s trail”.
I can see why California created a bit of a stir when it came out in 1995. I often think the song’s video could have opened a film. Such is the perfection fusion of the music and the images; it could be followed by a scene that introduces the protagonists. I saw California on MTV in the 1990s. I was fascinated by it, as I had never seen a music video like it. Spike Jonze’s direction is wonderful. Before 1995, he had quite a few videos under his belt! Compare his comical video for Beastie Boys’ Sabotage and Weezer’s Buddy Holly and what he did for Wax! The fact he had directed two iconic videos the year before definitely helped when it came to pushing things and trying to top what came before. This article explores the various stages of Jonze’s video direction and how he evolved through the years. Before finishing off, I want to bring in What Culture’s opinions about Wax’s California and Spike Jonze’s direction. They ranked it sixth in their top ten of Jonze’s best:
“There's music videos with a simple premise and then there is Wax's "California" which takes the very concept of "simple" and spins it right on its head. It does not get any more basic than this, folks. Perhaps I am more easily amused than I'd like to admit, but this video makes me laugh harder each time I watch it. It's filmed in one long unbroken take, starting with a close-up of a man's feet which are engulfed in flames. We eventually see that the man's entire body is on fire and he's running down the street. Why does he run down the street? Is it because he's on fire? Is he looking for someone to put him out? Is he running to the hospital? No, he's trying to catch a bus before it drives away. Again, another deceptively simple music video. What's brilliant about it is that it actually coincides with the song perfectly. It's not until the very end of the video when you realize that this all from the point of view of a little girl sitting in the backseat of a car. The narrator in the song is exactly in sync with her perspective. This is the kind of town where a man, who's been lit on fire, is more concerned with catching a bus. Why did I move here?! You could also see the man on fire as being a metaphor. Perhaps we put too much emphasis on the mundane while ignoring our most basic needs in life? Maybe that's looking too deep into it. Nevertheless, this video perfectly represents what Spike Jonze is all about. It explores the beauty of simplicity”.
A magnificent video that ranks alongside the best of all time, it was another iconic and hugely original thing from the majestic Spike Jonze. The New York-born director, prior to 1995, had some awesome videos under his belt. He directed perhaps his best-known video, Daft Punk’s Da Funk, in 1997. Such a brilliant and varied career from a true visionary. When it comes to videos that stay in the mind long after you have seen them, they do not come much more vivid and unforgettable than…
THE spellbinding video for Wax’s California.