Synopsis
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones are digitally inserted into the world of the 1952 Frank Sinatra film "Meet Danny Wilson." Performing inside a restaurant, the band initially plays for a solitary blond man in a suit. As more patrons arrive, the room's attention shifts toward the unexpected performance, while the suited man's business dealings continue around them. The video combines vintage black-and-white movie imagery with the Bosstones' energetic ska-punk presence, creating a playful collision between classic Hollywood and 1990s alternative music.
Factoids & Trivia
- The video's central visual idea was to place the Bosstones inside footage from the 1952 Frank Sinatra film "Meet Danny Wilson," using computer compositing to blend the band into the older movie.
- The concept was widely compared to Weezer's "Buddy Holly" video, which had similarly inserted a modern band into footage from the 1950s television series "Happy Days."
- "The Rascal King" was released in 1997 as the second single from the Bosstones' album "Let's Face It," following "The Impression That I Get."
- The song's title refers to James Michael Curley, the colorful Boston politician who served four terms as the city's mayor and was known by the nickname "The Rascal King."
- The music video was issued as a promotional release by Mercury Records in 1997.
- The video was later included on "Video Stew," a home-video compilation collecting many of the Bosstones' music videos.
- The song's live version appeared on the Bosstones' 1998 album "Live from the Middle East" and was also featured in the PlayStation game "Rogue Trip: Vacation 2012."