Ongoing History of New Music

Ongoing History Daily: How a Foo Fighter ended up in a music video for Prince

Foo Fighter guitarist Pat Smear started out in an LA punk band called The Germs. But when that fell apart, he didn’t know what to do. He tried acting, getting minor roles in movies ranging from Blade Runner to Howard the Duck and TV shows like CHiPs and Quincy, largely because casting directors wanted punk rock-looking people for crowd scenes. T

hen, in 1985, came word from his agent that Prince was looking for authentic punks to appear in his video for “Raspberry Berry.” After scanning through all people who showed up for the shoot, Prince himself picked Pat to be in the clip because he had the right “weirdo” look.

That’s him with the long black hair sitting on a stage beside keyboardist Lisa Coleman.

Alan Cross

is an internationally known broadcaster, interviewer, writer, consultant, blogger and speaker. In his 40+ years in the music business, Alan has interviewed the biggest names in rock, from David Bowie and U2 to Pearl Jam and the Foo Fighters. He’s also known as a musicologist and documentarian through programs like The Ongoing History of New Music.

Alan Cross has 38909 posts and counting. See all posts by Alan Cross

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