Blue Murder - Jelly Roll

What this video is

Released in 1989 on Geffen Records, 'Jelly Roll' emerged during the final commercial peak of the hair metal / hard rock era, months before Nirvana's rise would render the genre commercially obsolete. Blue Murder was formed by John Sykes following his dismissal from Whitesnake, whose 1987 self-titled album had been a multi-platinum juggernaut. Geffen signed Blue Murder expecting a similar commercial formula, but the…

Why it matters

A textbook specimen of the late-80s hard rock power-ballad video format: narrative-performance hybrid, rural pastoral setting, and romantic melodrama. The video's suppression by MTV despite the song charting at #15 on Album Rock Tracks makes it a case study in how MTV's playlist decisions could…

The director

Mary Lambert (born October 13, 1951, Helena, Arkansas) is an American director of music videos, feature films, and television. A Rhode Island School of Design graduate, she rose to prominence directing landmark 1980s music videos for Madonna ('Borderline',…