We at ILYOS were very sad to hear of the passing of acclaimed actor Bill Paxton on February 25. We loved him in everything from Weird Science to Big Love, but it’s probably more fitting to remember him here by taking a look back at his musical endeavours. That's right, he had a few stints into not only music video, but even had his own band. First up, Bill in the wonderful video to Barnes & Barnes’ 1978 cult classic "Fish Heads".
Of course Barnes & Barnes famously included Billy Mumy, who, as a kid in the ‘60s, starred as Will Robinson in the original Lost In Space series. If you ever heard "Fish Heads" back in the day, you won’t have forgotten it.
Let’s all sing together – "Fish heads, fish heads, roly poly fish heads / Fish heads, fish heads, eat them up – yum!"
Bill also appeared in this Pat Benatar video for her song "Shadows of the Night", in which she plays a factory worker who imagines herself as a fighter pilot on a mission to defeat the Nazis during WWII. Paxton has a small cameo as one of the Nazi officers, whose base is blown to pieces by Pilot Benatar.
Paxton also had his own ‘80s new wave band called Martini Ranch (with Andrew Todd Rosenthal) with Bill providing voice and samples. Think Devo, soundwise, in fact their song "How Can the Labouring Man Find Time for Self-Culture?" featured members of Devo (Mark Mothersbaugh and Alan Myers) and was produced and engineered by Devo guitarist Bob Casale. Fun fact: the video, which was co-directed by Paxton, featured an appearance by actor Anthony Michael Hall, who starred with Paxton in the 1985 classic comedy Weird Science.
Martini Ranch released one album, Holy Cow, as well as two EPs, How Can the Labouring Man Find Time for Self-Culture? and Reach. More fun facts: Holy Cow tracks "Hot Dog", "New Deal", and "World Without Walls" feature the vocals of Cindy Wilson of The B-52's. The album is available on iTunes if you're curious...
Bill Paxton's final music video appearance came in 2003, in Limp Bizkit's "Eat You Alive" clip... so let's not talk about that and go back to "Fish Heads" instead.
Rest in Peace, Bill.
- DL and RB
