How does an unknown artist get the biggest pop star in the world to sing on their record you ask? Being the son of Motown founder Berry Gordy certainly has its perks. Kennedy William Gordy believed he rocked well, so he chose Rockwell as his stage name and not play the nepotism card. His debut single, Somebody's Watching Me, was a smash hit thanks in part to The King of Pop's vocal contributions. The song is rather campy, though I do like to mention of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960). For the video, Rockwell wanders around his creepy house getting the feeling he's being spied upon while enduring odd occurrences. Michael Jackson does not appear in the video, most likely because he was filming his own music video for Thriller (1983) around the same time.
Unfortunately, Rockwell's house joins the locations of yesteryear, though some of the surrounding area is still recognizable. The house actually belonged to the video's director, Frank D'Elia, and was torn down in 1986. The Pinnacle Apartment Building now stands in its place, just at the foot of the popular Runyon Canyon hiking trail. Special thanks to Paul H at Halloween Filming Locations for finding this location.
Location Visited: October 2022
Great page. What a great old house. I would have loved to live there. So sad that they tore it down. Hollywood becomes less charming every day. The song mentions the movie psycho, but reminds me of The Shining. Thank you for your effort here.
ReplyDeleteThank you! Yeah, it's sad how everything is being torn down. I feel like I'm in a race against time to visit everything before they're gone.
DeleteDumb urban planning proposals keeps changing everything into apartments or plain modern buildings, like for example; everytime I see a new condo being built or gentrification, it'll be undoubtedly pathetic and it makes cities less charming, sometimes these high rises block views.
ReplyDeleteI wholeheartedly agree.
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