Part 2 of Sunday Stories with B.A.D.
After the 1989 October release of Babylon A.D.’s self-titled debut album and the success of “Hammer Swings Down”, the band went on a U.S. tour for three straight months.
Arriving back home in Hollywood, Babylon A.D. received video treatments for their next single “Bang Go The Bells”.
The song originally started out with a guitar riff that Ron Freschi had been working on in the living room of the band’s apartment at the Saint James Place where the band lived while they were working on the first album.
Vocalist Derek Davis was in the bedroom working on a four-track, demoing songs for the record when he heard Ron playing the riff and immediately started writing lyrics to what Ron was playing.
An hour later and the song was complete and the guys knew they had something special with the signature guitar riff and hook filled vocal melodies and lyrics.
A year and a half had passed by since the song’s inception and now it was time to release the single to the world.
The first video treatments the band received were CORNBALL to say the least.
The guys hated them. The first had the band members running around in a pinball game being played by a young punk kid with the band being hit by flippers and chased by steel balls while the points racked up. It was beyond STUPID!
The crazy thing about this treatment is that it was being passed around L.A. to other bands and a band was gonna be the lucky or the unlucky suckers to use it as one of their videos.
The next treatment had the band starring in a “Wheel Of Fortune” game show. It was almost exactly like the show. Another cornball idea the marketing department at the record company was pushing that the band hated.
Finally a meeting took place with management, the band and the A&R and marketing departments. But the record company refused to budge. They liked the idea.
So, Derek Davis suggested if they had to do it, the treatment had to change everything into a futuristic apocalyptic type show with dark elements and harder edge so it was changed to “The Blade Of Doom” game show and the record company agreed to the changes.
The video was shot in a huge airplane hanger in L.A. with many actors playing their parts as contestants, with the host and the band playing on a set stage to the game show. When the video was finally complete and edited, the band watched with surprise as the video seemed a lot different than what they had imagined.
The biggest surprise was the fact that the contestants where supposed to win all these crazy prizes that were not entirely shown at the end of the video.
Look close and you will see a military grade missile that was brought in as a prize. It is in the scene for a second and cost $10,000 to rent for the shoot. It was 18-20 feet long, but in the video angle shot it looks ridiculously small.
And that “Blade Of Doom” that was constantly spinning around was never used as intended. Contestant loses – INTO THE BLADES they go! Arista Records felt it was too over the top for hard rock fans to digest. Use your imagination peeps! You think that would have been too much for ya?
“Bang Go The Bells” continues to be one of Babylon A.D.’s most recognizable songs and has held up very well over the years.
Please spread the word, Babylon A.D. has a new record coming soon!
In the meantime, watch the video for “Bang Go The Bells”.
Catch Babylon A.D. live at the legendary Whisky A Go-Go in West Hollywood, California on August 8, 2025. Their complete tour schedule can be found here.
The post BABYLON A.D. – B.A.D. Sunday Stories Episode Two, “Bang Go The Bells” appeared first on BraveWords - Where Music Lives.
Continue reading...
After the 1989 October release of Babylon A.D.’s self-titled debut album and the success of “Hammer Swings Down”, the band went on a U.S. tour for three straight months.
Arriving back home in Hollywood, Babylon A.D. received video treatments for their next single “Bang Go The Bells”.
The song originally started out with a guitar riff that Ron Freschi had been working on in the living room of the band’s apartment at the Saint James Place where the band lived while they were working on the first album.
Vocalist Derek Davis was in the bedroom working on a four-track, demoing songs for the record when he heard Ron playing the riff and immediately started writing lyrics to what Ron was playing.
An hour later and the song was complete and the guys knew they had something special with the signature guitar riff and hook filled vocal melodies and lyrics.
A year and a half had passed by since the song’s inception and now it was time to release the single to the world.
The first video treatments the band received were CORNBALL to say the least.
The guys hated them. The first had the band members running around in a pinball game being played by a young punk kid with the band being hit by flippers and chased by steel balls while the points racked up. It was beyond STUPID!
The crazy thing about this treatment is that it was being passed around L.A. to other bands and a band was gonna be the lucky or the unlucky suckers to use it as one of their videos.
The next treatment had the band starring in a “Wheel Of Fortune” game show. It was almost exactly like the show. Another cornball idea the marketing department at the record company was pushing that the band hated.
Finally a meeting took place with management, the band and the A&R and marketing departments. But the record company refused to budge. They liked the idea.
So, Derek Davis suggested if they had to do it, the treatment had to change everything into a futuristic apocalyptic type show with dark elements and harder edge so it was changed to “The Blade Of Doom” game show and the record company agreed to the changes.
The video was shot in a huge airplane hanger in L.A. with many actors playing their parts as contestants, with the host and the band playing on a set stage to the game show. When the video was finally complete and edited, the band watched with surprise as the video seemed a lot different than what they had imagined.
The biggest surprise was the fact that the contestants where supposed to win all these crazy prizes that were not entirely shown at the end of the video.
Look close and you will see a military grade missile that was brought in as a prize. It is in the scene for a second and cost $10,000 to rent for the shoot. It was 18-20 feet long, but in the video angle shot it looks ridiculously small.
And that “Blade Of Doom” that was constantly spinning around was never used as intended. Contestant loses – INTO THE BLADES they go! Arista Records felt it was too over the top for hard rock fans to digest. Use your imagination peeps! You think that would have been too much for ya?
“Bang Go The Bells” continues to be one of Babylon A.D.’s most recognizable songs and has held up very well over the years.
Please spread the word, Babylon A.D. has a new record coming soon!
In the meantime, watch the video for “Bang Go The Bells”.
Catch Babylon A.D. live at the legendary Whisky A Go-Go in West Hollywood, California on August 8, 2025. Their complete tour schedule can be found here.
The post BABYLON A.D. – B.A.D. Sunday Stories Episode Two, “Bang Go The Bells” appeared first on BraveWords - Where Music Lives.
Continue reading...
