Rainbow Can't Happen Here - Rainbow Can't Happen Here

What this video is

Released in 1981 on Polydor (catalog POSP 251), Can't Happen Here arrived at a pivotal juncture: Rainbow under Ritchie Blackmore was softening its progressive hard rock edge toward AOR commercial accessibility with vocalist Joe Lynn Turner, while simultaneously the newly launched MTV was hungry for promotional clips. The video's intercut imagery of tanks and weaponry directly mirrors Cold War anxieties of the early…

Why it matters

Represents the hard rock/AOR crossover moment of 1981 British rock. Rainbow's commercial pivot under Joe Lynn Turner — moving from Ronnie James Dio-era mysticism toward radio-friendly melodic hard rock — is encapsulated here. The video's political imagery also marks an early instance of rock music…

The director

Norman Smith is a British music video director active primarily in the early-to-mid 1980s. His verified directing credits include Rainbow: Can't Happen Here (1981), Streets: Don't Look Back (1985), and Rainbow: The Final Cut (1985), indicating a working…