Mötley Crüe - Wild Side

What this video is

Released in August 1987 as the second single from the quadruple-platinum album Girls, Girls, Girls, 'Wild Side' arrived at the absolute commercial zenith of the Sunset Strip glam metal scene. The video's raw, all-access concert aesthetic — cameras scrambling openly on stage, no narrative conceit, pure spectacle — embodied the era's ethos of hedonistic excess and rock-star untouchability. The song's lyrical…

Why it matters

A canonical artifact of peak glam metal MTV culture. The video codified the 'concert-as-music-video' template for the genre and exemplifies Wayne Isham's signature arena-rock live aesthetic that he would deploy for Bon Jovi, Def Leppard, and Metallica. Tommy Lee's gyroscopic drum kit footage…

The director

Wayne Isham (born December 2, 1958, Vinita, Oklahoma) is an American film and music video director. A UC Santa Barbara alumnus, he cited David Bowie's 'Ashes to Ashes' as his career inspiration. He became one of the defining directors of the MTV era, helming…