Some time ago, I noted that the Windows 95 CD contained a variety of multimedia extras, partly because they were fun, and partly to show off Windows 95’s multimedia capabilities.
One of those multimedia extras was the music video for the song Buddy Holly by the band Weezer. Acquiring permission to redistribute the video took multiple steps.
First, Microsoft had to secure the rights to the song itself, which was negotiated directly with Weezer’s publisher Geffen Records, and apparently without the knowledge of the band members themselves. They were reportedly upset that they weren’t consulted but later realized that it was “one of the greatest things that could have happened to us. Can you imagine that happening today? It’s like, there’s one video on YouTube, and it’s your video.”
But that only secured the rights to the music. What about the video?
The video takes place in a reconstruction of a location from the Happy Days television program, and clips from that show were spliced into the music video to create the illusion that many of the characters from the show were part of the video. The lawyer responsible for securing the rights to the video had to contact all of the actors from Happy Days to get their permission. That lawyer thoroughly enjoyed the assignment. I don’t know whether he got to talk to the actors directly, or only to their agents, but I can imagine it being an interesting experience trying to find Henry Winkler’s telephone number (or his agent’s telephone number) with a chance of talking to The Fonz himself.
There’s definitely more to this under the surface, especially choosing a Geffen artist. I remember when I was working with the WM team in the late 90s, early 2000s there were a bunch of close connections to Geffen (e.g. Christina Calio had come directly from there), and Microsoft (and Paul Allen) had already gone deep into it with Geffen in founding DreamWorks.
p.s. big thanks to Christina for the copy of Microsoft Train Simulator she happily foisted on me once
OMG, I remember when I’ve found that video while installing Win95 on my girlfriend brand new PC. We played it like 10 times. Because it was our first real multimedia experience, because music was good and funny (yet our knowledge of English back there was far from understanding any joke). And only now I read that it was mixed with old TV show… Of course I can see those parts now on YouTube with high bitrate. But not in 1996
Manoman… I distinctly remember watching that music video on my grandmother’s spankin’ new Packard Bell C115a!
What is “Manoman”?
Manowar with 2 typos
shorthand for the expression “man oh man!” which is like saying “wow!”
The other music video included was “Good Times” by Edie Brickell..
There was a post here about the other video, everyone was apparently more interested in Edie than Weezer
On the topic of record labels negotiating deals without consulting the artists:
As I remember the story, when Weird Al Yankovic made “Amish Paradise”, he was informed by his and/or Coolio’s management that it was OK to go ahead. After the song was released, Coolio was unhappy about it and it turned out he hadn’t been told or asked beforehand.
Since then, Yankovic had made a point of speaking to the original artist personally and getting their permission before recording a parody song.
Kinda anticlimactic lol but fun nonetheless
“with a chance of talking to The Fonz himself” He’s very good.