Bon Jovi, KISS + Motley Crue Video Director Martin Kahan Dies at 74
Video director Martin Kahan, who gave some of rock’s biggest names their video breakouts in the ’80s, has died at the age of 74. According to Billboard, the director died this past Sunday (July 18) in Lakewood, New Jersey following a battle with cancer.
Kahan was an in demand music video director through the ’80s and ’90s, starting off his career mostly helping to bring videos for rock and metal acts to the forefront. In the early ’80s, he got his start working with Rush delivering a series of live video shorts for the band for the songs “Red Barchetta,” “Limelight,” “Freewill” and “Tom Sawyer.”
That opened the door for more video directing with Scandal’s “Love’s Got a Line on You” helping to kick off his career directing clips under the Columbia Records umbrella. He was nominated for an MTV VMA for his work on Ian Hunter’s “All the Good Ones Are Taken” and also directed the videos for Loverboy’s “Queen of the Broken Hearts” and Eddie Money’s “The Big Crash.”
Kahan then started his production company and the ensuing years would bring videos for Bon Jovi (“She Don’t Know Me” and “In and Out of Love”), Scorpions (“I’m Leaving You”), Motley Crue (“Too Young to Fall in Love”) and The Firm (“Satisfaction Guaranteed”).
He also had a hand in the initial videos for KISS after they decided to ditch their makeup in the ’80s, helming both “Lick It Up” and “All Hell’s Breaking Loose.”
Kahan eventually took more interest in directing country music videos, working with Sawyer Brown, John Anderson, Ricky Skaggs and more. His final video would be Kenny Chesney’s “I Lost It” in 2000.
Our condolences to the Kahan family as well as the artists he worked with over the years. Revisit some of his video work below.