He beat it: the forgotten “auteur” of MTV's early years

In all the thousands and thousands of words that have been spilled on cable since the death of Michael Jackson, I have not heard a single mention of music-vid director Bob Giraldi, who helmed one of his most memorable (and over-played at the time) vids, "Beat It,” as well as the cloying "Say Say Say" with that smiling ex-Beatle. Giraldi specialized in corny, overstated, and extremely *plotted* music videos in the earliest days of the MTV avalanche (think "Love is a Battlefield," that's his), and although his clips are constantly commemorated on I Love the ’80s shows and music-vid retrospectives, you don't hear them acknowledging the man himself (who has gone on to be a restaurateur). I thought I would share what I consider one of his cheesiest but enjoyable creations, the only one of his vids I truly could harbor as a non-guilty pleasure (I'm not guilty about my trash consumption): the astounding Pia Zadora/Jermaine Jackson (yes, he did do stuff between the Jackson 5 reunions!) Road Warrior-ish gang-rumble variation on Romeo and Juliet, "When the Rains Begin to Fall." The song was a bigger hit overseas (as is apparent from the veejay here) and the video, of course, speaks the international language of cheese.

The magical little man: Nelson de la Rosa and his tribute to Michael

I was hoping to lay hands on the original VHS that has “el hombre mas pequeno del mundo” doing his FULL “Thriller” dance, but since it’s stored away somewhere in the cavernous confines of the Funhouse, I will merely throw your attention to this compilation I uploaded to YT back in 2006 (the “Thriller” portion is at 2:16). I’ve uploaded a bunch of clips that have attracted a few thousand viewers. A handful of clips have gotten tens of thousands of viewers (so far Jane Birkin has actually beaten people who made sexploitation films in popularity — which pleases me). BUT Nelson is the hands down winner, as this vid has gotten close to 298,000 viewers, plus about 30,000 who saw it on when it was up under a different account name that encountered three specious "violations" from YT. Every week more folks checking the clip out, and discovering the true magic of Senor de la Rosa for themselves!