Video of the Week - Week 62

So there was this whole thing...I didn't realize that the video of the week I'd chosen in honor of our salute to Alternative Rock had already been used this past January...and I'm now replacing it...

So what do you do when you make an error like that? You skip over all the other obvious choices and go right for the Alternative Rock icon you should have gone with right from the start: Jane's Addiction.

As music lovers, we have a lot to thank Perry Ferrell for. He taught us that it's okay to be wicked weird. He was long ahead of his time when it comes to cosmetics and showed us that even men can wear black nail polish with dignity. He brought us Jane's Addiction, Psi-Com, and Satellite Party. He brought us our first taste of the carnival like aspect that is a multi-act touring show...that's right...the man gave us the Lollapalooza.

It was a genius idea, really, putting together this festival line up of acts ranging from Ice T and Body Count to Sonic Youth to The Roots to Metallica to The Ramones to Orbital to Incubus and I could go on and on for hours recounting every act that ever graced a Lallalooza lineup. It was cancelled, it was brought back, it went from a touring show to a one time thing in Chicago, but none of that matters. What matters is Perry Ferrell brought us to a new way to see live music.

While there's all that, the nail polish, the weirdness, the rock icon status, there's still a bit of mediocrity about Jane's Addiction. They aren't the best band ever and they aren't the worst band ever. I'm actually hard pressed to find another song they had. If it weren't for Lollapalooza they'd be just another Alternative band...

One that gave us the genius ode to shoplifting. Dogs barking, the girlfriend with the bad eye shadow, the security camera views, using a common produce aisle pillar as a stripper pole...they're all here (and more) in a simple, catchy tune with a great guitar rift about how great it is to just take what you want when you want it.

Even shoplifters need an anthem.