Weezer Look Back At ‘Buddy Holly’ 30 Years Later

Vevo released a new installment of Footnotes, taking viewers behind the scenes of the official music video for Weezer’s smash hit “Buddy Holly,” on the 30th anniversary of the ‘Blue Album,’ released on May 10, 1994.

The episode details the award-winning “Buddy Holly” video, how it pays homage to the 70s show ‘Happy Days,’ and describes how director Spike Jonze combines actual show footage with look-alike actors to recreate the famous set.

Additionally, it explains that the original Happy Days actors were hesitant about allowing their likeness to be used in the music video. But Henry Winkler, who played The Fonz, convinced the cast by allowing his likeness to be used and everyone agreeing that, “If The Fonz says it’s cool, it’s cool.”

The episode recounts how ‘Blue Album’ producer Ric Ocasek had to persuade the band to include “Buddy Holly” on the album, with Weezer ex-bassist stating that Ric insisted they’d “be stupid to leave it off.” Additionally, it describes that the band was unaware that their label Geffen negotiated for the song to be featured in the CD-ROM campaign for Microsoft’s Windows 95. Ultimately, the campaign contributed to its tremendous success. Weezer guitarist Brian Bell admitted the band’s ignorance about the deal, stating “I didn’t have a computer,” and afterwards, “it was literally like living inside the eye of a hurricane.”