Synopsis

Glenn Frey plays a nervous drug smuggler waiting in a car while an accomplice enters a building to complete a deal. A gunshot signals that everything has gone wrong. Pursued by armed men, Frey escapes with a suitcase of cash and temporarily disappears. Weeks later, believing the danger has passed, he is stopped on the highway by someone posing as a motorcycle police officer. The encounter ends violently, giving the video a bleak final twist as a radio news report plays over the closing image.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video won Glenn Frey an MTV Video Music Award in 1985.

• Its crime-story format attracted the attention of Miami Vice executive producer Michael Mann, who developed the first-season episode "Smuggler's Blues" around the song and cast Frey in a major guest role.

• The song was written by Frey and Jack Tempchin and appeared on Frey's 1984 album The Allnighter.

• "Smuggler's Blues" became the most successful of the three singles released from The Allnighter, reaching No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100.

• The music video was released in 1985 and has a listed runtime of approximately five minutes.