Live and studio videos by Dave Caruso and by the
Caruso band, in backward chronological order.
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"Well, here they are: The good,
the bad and the cheesy." Enjoy! --Dave |
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"The Boys Are Back!"
7/13/2003
Caruso with Audio by Thin Lizzy
Photo Slide Show
Length: 4:43s
Comments: 2003 marked the first "official" reunion for the
Caruso band. Rob, Joe and I had played together
informally in previous years but this was the first time we
planned a Caruso set list with full sound and audio
production and called back our old band mates Bradley
Davenport, Jake Tobias, Walter Anthony and Rob Casquejo to
join us. We opened the show with this photo montage
of the group from the late 80s and early 90s, while Thin Lizzy's "The Boys Are Back in Town" cranked through the P.A. |
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"Emerald City"
9/28/2003
Dave Caruso
Live at The Pier 500 / Wyandotte, MI
Caruso: The Albums, 1986 - 1989
Camera: Ralph Koschnitzke
Length: 3:22s
Comments: This was recorded at a solo concert at the Pier a
few months after the first Caruso reunion. Audience
members were able to choose the songs I played and I told a
few background stories. I called my brother Rob in
Baton Rouge using a speaker phone onstage. We chatted
about the band for a bit before he put in his request. |
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"I Won't Wait
For You"
7/13/2003
Caruso
Live at the Pier 500 /
Wyandotte, MI
Camera: Ralph Koschnitzke
Length: 3:16s
Comments: (Coming Soon!) |
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"I'm not Finished Yet"
2001
Dave Caruso
Live at Jimmy K's / Lincoln Pk, MI
Elizabeth Parker
(Single)
Camera: Chris Baker
Length: 3:57s
Comments: (Coming Soon!) |
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"Beautiful You"
7/7/2000
Dave Caruso &
The Room Upstairs
Live at the Band Shell in Lincoln
Park, MI
Class Song (Single)
Camera: Chris Baker
Length: 3:02s
Comments: (Coming Soon!) |
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"Someday"
9/28/2000
Dave Caruso
Live at Memorial Park / Lincoln Park, MI
Caruso: The Albums, 1986 - 1989
Camera: Chris Baker
Length: 3:04s
Comments: This is one of my early ballads which I still love
to play. Billy Joel's "Summer, Highland Falls"
inspired me to write a challenging piano part that's built
on arpeggios. We first used it on the "B" side of an
early single. Although it didn't make it onto the LP
release of The White Album, we did include it on the
cassette version. Long after the song was recorded, I
decided to add a modulation into the chorus. |
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"Young & Tender" 1989
Caruso
Wayne Cablevision
and Producer's Color
Caruso: The Albums, 1986 - 1989
Co-Directors: Debby Malchie and Dave Caruso
Length: 4:21s
Comments: About two years
after the release of the Caruso CD 'In the Face,' I wanted
to put together a video retrospective of Caruso's work as a
band, to be assembled from home movies, road video, live &
studio production footage, and scrapbooks. At that time, a
piano student of mine named Debby Malchie was taking video
production classes, which allowed her access to some video
equipment. I chose the source material and did the
storyboard, and we produced it together.
(Continued in
The Story Behind the Music.) |
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"Laughing"
1989
Dave
Caruso
The J.C. Unger Show on Wyandotte Cablevision
Length: 2:49s
Comments: Local solo entertainer J.C. Unger helped me get a
lot of local music work in the late 80s and early 90s.
He had a television show on cable TV and he was nice
enough to ask me on. We did two songs in my first
appearance on his show. Both audio tracks were
recorded as home demos. "Laughing" was influenced by
The Cure. I think I'd like this a lot better if I
wasn't performing directly into the camera the whole time,
but that's what was decided on that day and we went with it.
I'm not a big fan of lip synching, either. |
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"Crying for Attention"
1989
Dave
Caruso
The J.C. Unger Show / Wyandotte Cablevision
Length: 4:35s
Comments: I had done several videos with local cable
companies and was seeing that they all kind of looked the
same. So for this one, I bought some props and thought
up a storyline that we could shoot in one live take, with
some additional shots mixed in from a "B" roll we'd created
earlier. The cable company was terrific and went along
with whatever I threw at them. It's still one of my
favorites. |
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"Colonel Knowledge"
7/14/1989
Dave
Caruso
Wyandotte Cablevision
Length: 3:43s
Comments: This is more or less what my solo show looked like
in the late 80s. I played all the parts into a
sequencer / synthesizer which recorded them like events and
then played them back "live" -- that is, there's no
recording media involved. The vocal is also live.
At the beginning you can see me hit the footswitch which
starts the sequencer. The song was styled after the
band Squeeze. Watching it now, it seems to me they
never used this much reverb on all their songs put
together... |
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"It's a Pop-Gun Culture"
7/14/1989
Dave
Caruso
Wyandotte Cablevision
Length: 3:15s
Comments: Another straight live take. I miss my long
hair. I miss my Beatle boots. I miss wearing
makeup. I miss... wait
a minute... are those air ducts in the ceiling? A
little bit of "low-tech chic" perhaps? |
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"Rock to the Top"
[Date]
Mike Caruso / Caruso
Featuring "Only a Dream Away"
Live at NACA National Showcase /
Nashville, TN
Camera: Cable Television
Length: 7:05s
Comments: (Coming Soon!) |
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"Modern Girl"
1987
Caruso
The Skylight Lounge
Caruso: The Albums, 1986 - 1989
Director: Kevin
Mitchell
Length: 4:25s
Comments: One of our very good friends and crew members
created this video with a single VHS video camera. He
shot each of us separately at the Skylight Lounge in Allen
Park, Michigan in a single afternoon and we played a gig
there that night. Every member performed to the song
once or twice. Kevin shot additional footage with a
local model / friend and then edited it all together.
The concept is all his. The soft visual effect was
achieved with a nylon covering the lens. |
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"I Won't Wait
For You"
7/3/1986
Caruso
Live at Canfield Ctr
/ Dearborn Hts, MI
Cameras: Cable
Television
Length: 3:17s
Comments: (Coming Soon!) |
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"Modern Girl"
5/12/1986
Caruso
Live at the Trenton Theatre in Trenton, MI
Caruso: The Albums, 1986 - 1989
Camera: Rick Caruso
Length: 4:26s
Comments: The Trenton Theatre was one of the first rooms we
ever played. Most of our local venues were bars that
served alcohol, so you had to be either 18 or 21 to get in.
But we didn't want to shut out our younger record buyers, so
we returned to the Trenton Theatre every so often and filled
the place with screaming young girls, as you can hear in
this video. It definitely didn't suck. |
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"Princess"
5/12/1986
Caruso
Live in at the Trenton Theatre / Trenton, MI
Caruso: The Albums, 1986 - 1989
Camera: Rick Caruso
Length: 5:19s
Comments: (Coming Soon!) |
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"Princess"
7/3/1986
Caruso
Live at Canfield Center / Dearborn Heights, MI
Caruso: The Albums, 1986 - 1989
Cameras: Cable Television
Length: 4:02s
Comments: (Coming Soon!) |
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"She's In Love With
You" 1986
Caruso
Milwaukee Summerfest (Montage)
Caruso: The Albums, 1986 - 1989
Camera / Editing:
Kevin Mitchell
Length: 3:26s
Comments: Caruso crew member Kevin Mitchell owned an early
home camcorder that assembled from two parts and used a VHS
tape for recording. We were very lucky that he bought
this and used it to videotape us on the road. He took
a bunch of footage of us at the Milwaukee Summerfest and
edited it into this video, which we used to market the band
at conventions which in turn got us a lot of jobs at
colleges across the Midwestern states. |
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"YYY"
5/12/1986
Caruso
Live at the Trenton Theatre / Trenton, MI
Caruso: The Albums, 1986 - 1989
Camera: Rick Caruso
Length: 3:31s
Comments: (Coming Soon!) |
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"Modern Girl"
7/2/1985
Caruso
Live at Summerfest / Milwaukee, WI
Caruso: The Albums, 1986 - 1989
Camera: Kevin Mitchell
Length: 3:52s
Comments: (Coming Soon!) |
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"Princess"
7/2/1985
Caruso
Live at Summerfest / Milwaukee, WI
Caruso: The Albums, 1986 - 1989
Camera: Rick Caruso
Length: 3:27s
Comments: (Coming Soon!) |
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"YYY"
7/2/1985
Caruso
Live at the Milwaukee Summerfest / Milwaukee, WI
Caruso: The Albums, 1986 - 1989
Camera: Kevin Mitchell
Length: 3:33s
Comments: (Coming Soon!) |
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"Nowhere Man"
1985
Caruso
Live on the Road
Camera: Kevin
Mitchell
Length: 2:09s
Comments: 'Quite literally 'on the road.' This
is Rob & I with guitarist Jake Tobias,
videotaped by Kevin Mitchell while driving in the van
between shows. Since my capped tooth looks
off-color, I assume that my permanent cap fell out and I
had to wear a temporary one during that road trip until I
could get home for a permanent replacement." -- Dave |
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"Auctioneer,
The" 1983
Caruso
Live at Trenton High
Length: 1:09s
Comments: Being a band of 4 brothers, we had voices which
blended pretty decently. We worked up this barbershop
quartet number to play up on the "brother" thing and to show
a little versatility. At that time, we also played 12
instruments between us in a single show. We'd perform
songs by Chicago with Mike on bass and Joe on rhythm guitar.
I'd cover the bass on a keyboard while Joe and Mike picked
up sax and trumpet for a few measures, then we'd return to
our original instrumentation for the rest of the song. |
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"Breaking
Point Overnight" 1983
Caruso
Live at Trenton High
Length: 4:41s
Comments: This would be a great song for a future Caruso
reunion. I don't remember who I was listening to when
I wrote this but the chording reminds me a little of Gino
Vannelli's "Wheels of Life" or "I Just Wanna Stop." I
always enjoyed Joe's extended sax solo. That's Duane
Harlick on lead guitar and wearing a tuxedo. |
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"Dance It Up" 1983
Caruso
Trenton Midsummer Festival and
THS Studios
Caruso: The Albums, 1986 - 1989
Director: Dennis
Hamilton
Length: 3:48s
Comments: Another Hamilton-Caruso collaboration, this time
as a TV dance program. The opening footage is from the
Trenton Midsummer Festival. Again the band decided that
although I sang the lead vocal, someone else would lip synch
-- in this case, Rob. I didn't mind that as much as
the fact that right before the guitar solo, I stood on a
railing behind my keyboard rig and jumped straight up and
back, to be caught by several of the dancers -- and the
whole thing was missed by the cameras -- twice. Watch
as Jake Tobias flicks his guitar pick at the camera lens
toward the end of his solo. The "dance show announcer"
is our great friend and Caruso sound man Dave Lisuk. |
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"YYY" 1983
Caruso
THS Studios
Caruso: The Albums, 1986 - 1989
Director: Dennis
Hamilton
Length: 3:28s
Comments: The second of two "dance TV show" videos with Jake
Tobias on lead guitar. On our hotline and e-mail
postcards, we invited our fans to come and dance. Each
video was shot in two takes and edited together from the
best footage. Maybe we should've had each person dance
in the same general area for both takes. If you look
closely, you'll notice someone who's dancing in front of the
stage and then seconds later that same person is magically
in a different place. Kevin Mitchell, longtime friend,
Caruso lighting tech and
director of our "Modern Girl" video can be seen dancing in
sunglasses. |
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"In The City"
1982
Caruso
Hart Plaza / Detroit, THS Studios
Director: Dennis Hamilton
Length: 2:14s
Comments: The location footage for this video was shot in the
early morning in Detroit, Michigan. The landmarks include the
Renaissance Center, the old Tiger Stadium, the old Stroh's
Beer building, the Fisher building, and the Ambassador
Bridge. |
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"Let Me Go"
1982
Caruso
THS Studios
Director: Dennis
Hamilton
Length: 3:27s
Comments: One of the first three videos recorded by the band
at THS Studios. For this song, the boys set up their
instruments near each other but facing three different
directions. Director Dennis Hamilton then used a
keying effect to generate different camera shots into one
another, causing keyboards or faces to appear in cymbals,
etc. |
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"She's In Love With
You" 1982
Caruso
THS Studios
Caruso: The Albums, 1986 - 1989
Director: Dennis
Hamilton
Length: 2:18s
Comments: One of the first three videos recorded by the
band, by Dennis Hamilton at THS Studios. Although the
lead vocal was sung by Dave, it was decided that Joe would
lip synch the lead vocal in the video. Mike provided
the opening shot of the prostrate girl's shoes against the
checkerboard floor. Dave hung one of his keyboards
from the rafters to help dress the set. Rob provided
the high-kicking during the guitar solo. |
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