Jonathan Demme died at the age of 73 from esophageal cancer. The Boston Globe called him a populist of the best sort.
From Rolling Stone: “In 1987, Demme was nominated for a Best Music Video, Long Form Grammy for his work on “Sun City: Artists Against Apartheid.” Van Zandt co-founded the Artists United Against Apartheid with Arthur Baker and they produced the anti-apartheid song ‘Sun City‘ and the album of the same name.
“‘[Demme’s] contribution to ‘Sun City’ was pivotal in getting Nelson Mandela released and ending the South African apartheid,’ Van Zandt added. ‘He was a saint…'”
Also: “[Bruce] Springsteen won an Academy Award for Best Original Song for “Streets of Philadelphia,” which was featured in the Demme-directed film Philadelphia that stars Tom Hanks. Demme also directed the music video for the song.”
Of Demme’s most famous documentary, Wired wrote: “Stop Making Sense Is Still the Concert Film All Others Try to Be.” I’m very partial to that vintage of Talking Heads’ music, since I saw the band at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center on that tour, one of my two favorite concert experiences ever.
I was a big fan of Demme’s breakout film, Melvin and Howard (1980), and of Swimming to Cambodia (1987 Spaulding Gray documentary), but I’ve never seen his Academy Award-winning The Silence of the Lambs, though it was on HBO when I was visiting my parents at one point.
WATCH AND LISTEN to these Jonathan Demme works:
Sun City – Artists United Against Apartheid
The Demme video here and here
The pop-up video here
Just the music here
Streets of Philadelphia – Bruce Springsteen
Jonathan Demme video here and here
Talking Heads: Stop Making Sense
Trailer of Demme film here and here
In The Still Of The Night – the Neville Brothers
Red Hot and Blue (TV Movie) segment directed by Demme here
On The Sun City Album (and CD) the most impressive of all the artists to me was Gil Scott-Heron’s spoken word interludes!
I bought the 12-inch single, and it is a true rarity: a serious Issue Song that is nonetheless eminently danceable.