The Connells - Stone Cold Yesterday

What this video is

Released in 1990 from the album One Simple Word (recorded in Wales with UK producer Hugh Jones), 'Stone Cold Yesterday' was The Connells' breakthrough on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart, reaching No. 3. The band, formed in Raleigh, NC in 1984, represented a Southern strain of jangle-pop with melodic, introspective guitar rock. The video was produced at a moment when MTV's 120 Minutes was the primary conduit…

Why it matters

Key document of US jangle-pop/alternative rock's early MTV crossover period. 'Stone Cold Yesterday' charting at No. 3 on Modern Rock Tracks in 1990 signaled the commercial viability of Raleigh's indie scene and foreshadowed the broader college-rock mainstream breakthrough of the early 1990s. The…

The director

Born March 17, 1962, Baltimore, MD. B.A. in Rhetoric, University of Virginia, 1984. Began career as promo producer at MTV in the early 1980s before transitioning to freelance music video directing. Directed videos for U2, Pearl Jam, Public Enemy, INXS, and…