Song Of The Day 9/26/2016: Martini Ranch – “How Can the Labouring Man Find Time for Self-Culture?”

The star wattage in this music video is pretty staggering, especially if you went to every movie ever released in the 1980's and then never saw another movie after 1989. It starts with one of the guys in the band itself: Yep, that's actor Bill Paxton, who formed Martini Ranch along with Andrew Rosenthal in the early '80s. Paxton wasn't a stranger to music videos, having directed and starred in the short film that served as the promo for Barnes & Barnes' beyond-novelty song "Fish Heads." This song also features three members of Devo, who I'd think would flock to a song with this title. Paxton's movie career was already in full swing by the time this video came out, which is why you see cameos from the likes of Anthony Michael Hall, Rick Rossovich (Sacramento State alum!) and the unfairly cast-aside everyman of '80s movies, Judge Reinhold. Michael Biehn is supposed to be in here too but I couldn't pick him out. (I didn't really try.) For their subsequent song "Reach" Martini Ranch called on the services of James Cameron, who made a high-looking-budget Western in the only music video he ever directed. It's more like a short film at seven-plus minutes. Still better than Titanic.