Synopsis

The Replacements' "Bastards of Young" video turns the usual music-video formula inside out. A stereo speaker fills the frame as the song plays, with the camera holding its position before gradually pulling back to reveal a dim room, a listener on a couch, and a cigarette. The viewer is made to focus on the sound rather than the band or any conventional storyline. At the song's conclusion, the listener kicks the speaker and leaves, delivering a blunt, irreverent final gesture.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video was created for "Tim," the Replacements' 1985 album, even though "Bastards of Young" was not released as a conventional single.

• Its central concept was deliberately anti-glamorous: instead of showing the band performing, it shows the equipment playing the record.

• The production was filmed in filmmaker Randy Skinner's apartment and reportedly cost about $10,000.

• According to Skinner, a dog seen wandering through the background cost $500 per day, making it the most expensive element of the production.

• The video received exposure on MTV's alternative program "120 Minutes," where its stripped-down approach helped it stand out among the heavily edited, high-concept clips of the mid-1980s.

• The clip is often grouped with the similarly minimalist videos made for other "Tim" songs, including "Hold My Life," "Left of the Dial," and "Little Mascara."

• Its single-shot design has given it a lasting reputation as one of rock's best-known "anti-videos," and it is frequently cited as a pointed response to the expectations of MTV-era promotion.