Happy Birthday to Matt Frewer (aka Max Headroom)

Happy Birthday to Matt Frewer, the American-born Canadian actor and comedian who for a time also lived and worked in the UK. Frewer has a notable list of film (Honey, I Shrunk the Kids) and TV appearances (Star Trek: The Next Generation) to his credit, but may be best known in certain quarters for his portrayal of Max Headroom in the 1985 TV film and 1987 television series of the same name.

Apparently, if I am reading things correctly, before Max Headroom became an American TV series in 1987, it aired in the UK on Channel 4 in 1985. And, notably, it was on episode 10 of season 1 of the original Max Headroom in which the video for "It Hurts", the last single by The Lotus Eaters, appeared. This LINK contains most of episode 10, but without the Lotus Eaters video, which has been removed for copyright reasons. Other music videos included on that same episode include Ultravox - "Love's Great Adventure",  Squeeze - "Is That Love", Go Go's - "Vacation" (also removed for copyright reasons), and Queen - "Radio Ga Ga".

For a time, an excerpt from that particular UK broadcast, showing the Lotus Eater's video with its Max Headroom intro and outro, was floating around YouTube, but now it seems to have disappeared. I recall seeing it online. (I also recall seeing the Max Headroom show on American broadcast TV ever so long ago.) But still, the Lotus Eater's standalone video for "It Hurts" can still be viewed elsewhere. It is a great song. Take a look and you will see why it caught my attention.

"It Hurts" was released in 1985, and charted at number 87 on the UK charts. Nineteen-eighty five was the same year that Louise Brooks passed away, which makes this new wave musical tribute one of the earliest rock / pop tributes to the actress. I am not saying that the song is about Louise Brooks, but certainly the video depicts her.

Notably, this video predates the similar effort by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), whose 1991 recording and video, "Pandora's Box," is clearly inspired by and is about the actress. Watch that video HERE.

. . . . All this by way of saying all roads lead to Louise Brooks, and happy birthday to Matt Frewer. 

long live Matt Frewer,

Long live Max Headroom. 

Long live the Lotus Eaters. 

And long live Louise Brooks!

Long live Lulu!

THE LEGAL STUFF: The Louise Brooks Society™ blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society  (www.pandorasbox.com). Original contents copyright © 2024. Further unauthorized use prohibited. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.