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7.06.2023

John Payne - Ride The Storm (going down a YouTube rabbit hole)

 I happened to look into what John Payne did before he joined ASIA and there was a playlist on YouTube by user "Long Live Rock 'n' Roll" run by Gabriela Gomes (check out her channel as she's a big ASIA fan too).  The playlist is interesting and this is the first song on the list...


Then as I typed this into the search it brought up a sort of "music video" from Eurotops where you get to see the pre-ASIA John Payne perform the song...


But the rabbit hole I fell down is to find out this song (and another from John Payne on the playlist) were singles featured in the movie "Riders Of The Storm" which looked familiar.  Back when I worked at Blockbuster I remembered seeing this VHS cover but the movie was called "The American Way" in our part of the world.  So I looked into the movie 'cos it was one of those from the Blockbuster days that I'd always see the cover for but never watched.  No trailer, but here's a revealing collection of clips someone compiled on YouTube...


Make America Great Again?  Woo!  Pirate TV station, military psy-ops, making fun of politics & TV evangelists, Dennis Hopper, Michael J. Pollard...I'm in.  Looked into getting it...expensive, but then boom...the whole thing is on YouTube...


It's weird and an interesting take on "The American Way" and sorta has a Clockwork Orange meets Pee-Wee Herman vibe.  I can see how some would say it's crappy, but I loved it and it even has some moments that are surreal to today and make you think, while still grounded in making fun of itself.