I wouldn’t call myself a fan of the late heavy-metal singer Ronnie James Dio, who died last week at the age of 67. His music was a little too far to the headbanging side of the spectrum for my tastes (well, except for that one song on the Vision Quest soundtrack; I liked that one). But even so, he was a pretty formidable presence out there in the culture during my formative years, a familiar face and voice, and I seem to have reached a point in my life where I feel a pang at the loss of any iconic figure from my youth, whether I was a fan or not. So, to honor the recently departed Mr. Dio, I’m going to post one of his videos, “The Last in Line,” which is admittedly kind of ridiculous even by MTV standards, but is nevertheless… interesting.

To be honest, I’ve been thinking about posting this clip anyhow, as an example of what I like to call “narrative videos.” I haven’t done any kind of statistical analysis or anything, but it seems to me that the vast majority of music videos are little more than performance clips. That is, they’re really just footage of the band playing the song. They may be wearing weird costumes or performing in bizarre settings or something, but there’s usually not much story happening. Some vids, though, have a definite plot: the three famous ZZ Top clips involving the Eliminator hot rod, for example, or more obviously, a-ha’s justly praised “Take on Me” video, in which a young woman is sucked into a comic-book world and proceeds to have adventures with the band’s hunky lead singer as they’re pursued by sinister guys in dark uniforms and helmets. And then of course, there’s Dio’s “The Last in Line,” which is perhaps single-handedly responsible for the entire “heavy-metal hell” sequence in Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey:

As I said, pretty ridiculous, but it has the virtue of being far more ambitious than most videos, as well as a piquant commentary on the social concerns and fads of the early ’80s (i.e., the kids whose punishment is to play arcade games for all eternity — wonder which sin warranted that?). I think the similarity to Bogus Journey is pretty obvious, if you remember that movie at all, and you could also argue that the demon guy with the hoses sticking out of his neck was an inspiration for the Borg in Star Trek: The Next Generation. (It would seem that American culture has been uneasy with the idea of cybernetics for a very long time.)

Lastly, a brief trivia note: You may have recognized the young man who’s taking the tour of hell. That’s Meeno Peluce, a child actor who was all over the boob tube during the late ’70s and early ’80s. He’s best known for the short-lived but well-loved time-travel series Voyagers!, and as fate would have it, he’s also the brother of Soleil Moon-Frye, a.k.a. Punky Brewster. I always thought Peluce was a cool kid, as well as a natural and appealing actor; he’s a little younger than me, but close enough that I easily identified with him in Voyagers! and other roles. This video, made in 1984, was the last time I remember seeing him in anything, although Wikipedia says he’s appeared in a number of made-for-TV movies since then. He apparently grew up to become a history teacher — interesting, considering his character on Voyagers! was a history buff and, as I recall, the son of a teacher — and he’s also an accomplished photographer who has shot Courtney Love and Lady Gaga. Not bad, kid… not bad at all…