Video of The Day: Black Grape

There’s a bunch of videos out there. Some of them are good. Some of them are a cut above. I like to think my picks for Video of The Day are a cut (or two) above.

I was going to save this one for Sunday, y'all, but I'm feeling such rage lately about the right wing in this country and their Southern-fried attempts at American Sharia law that I felt like there was really no better time than right now to share this particular video.

For those of you not familiar with Black Grape, this was (and still is, thanks to their reunion a few years back) Shaun Ryder's post-Happy Mondays project. "Reverend Black Grape" is typical Ryder-ian satire, and the barbs the band unleashes in the direction of organized religion sadly feel even more relevant today than they did at the time of the video's release in 1995.

Danceable as all get out, the song is as addictive as it is spiky. Ryder's turn as an Elmer Gantry-type figure (both sepia-toned and televangelist-style) in the video makes for quality viewing. As enjoyable as the official video is, you'll want to go find the explicit version, because all those four-letter words are imperative to get the true feel of the song. Amen indeed, brothers and sisters.

[posted 5.17.19]