Even those who remember the past are sometimes doomed to repeat it and Dillon Ryan positively revels in it. His latest video is the best argument that time is an unending loop. It cycles back to 1986 with a cover of Real Life’s “Send Me An Angel” from the film RAD, which somehow combines the plots of The Wizard and Dirty Dancing with BMX racing.
Collaborating with video creator James McClafferty of Mobian Productions, they’ve reworked the song and video for what they say is more of a tip of the hat to the movie than a direct recreation.
“It’s a complete reworking of what the actual song sounds like,” says Ryan. [McClafferty] had rewritten the music in a slower tempo and in more of a heavy gothic rock fashion. I came on and tweaked the melody a bit and sang it in more of baritone voice.”
It was released today as part of McClafferty’s Mobian Production channel, where McCafferty releases a new music vide every two weeks, including song writing challenges, collaborations, and more.
When it came to working with Ryan, McClafferty makes it sound like covering “Send Me An Angel” was an easy choice.
“Part of the joke with this video is that Dillon makes me do all this 80s themed stuff, when, in fact, this song was my idea. He has a great singing voice for that type of music, so I asked him to sing on this one – where I performed all the music and did the backup vocals,” says McClafferty.
“The original movie is a cult classic. I watched it like crazy growing up. It was one of those movies that gained ground with rentals. The cover was this neon picture of a guy on a BMX. Any kid would have picked it.”
Turning his basement into an 80s club, McClafferty had some friends show up to play as Ryan’s backing band to complete look of the video.
“I didn’t want to take the set down. I sort of wanted to just start hosting shows,” laughs McClafferty.
Tour Dates:
09.14.19 – Moncton, NB @ Sunrise Records
09.27.19 – Miramichi, NB @ Downtown Music Festival