Jenna Elfman's Early Music Video Career

Gaby recently directed me to the riot grrrls episode of Roseanne, which reminded me that, before Scientology and terrible Big Three Network shows, Jenna Elfman was a super cool rock video star.



Here she is getting silly with Depeche Mode in the "Halo" clip, from a time when bands could afford to spend serious money on ridiculous music videos for songs that didn't even get released as singles. Someday, someone will write a book about how Depeche Mode are like a traveling circus, and why Dave Gahan is the strongman and Martin Gore is the clown. But they shouldn't.



A few years later, Jenna was the subject of a kidnapping in the video for "Black Lodge," a Twin Peaks-themed song that Anthrax wrote with David Lynch mainstay Angelo Badalamenti. I'm a huge fan of both artists, although I don't love this song--all build-up, without much payoff. Elektra probably thought they could cash in on Twin Peaks mania by financing the video, or maybe they just figured hiring a cute lead actress would do the trick.



Finally, here's Jenna as a dancer on tour with ZZ Top in 1994. Basically the rock music equivalent of being a Bond girl.