Cher filming “If I Could Turn Back Time” aboard the USS Missouri Battlewagon was a peak 80’s spectacle.
Sailors were reportedly rousted from their bunks during the late night of June 30, 1989 for a special mission:
Filming a music video.
Their ship was at the Long Beach Naval Shipyard in Long Beach, California for work related to her recommissioning as part of President Ronald Reagan’s plan to ramp up the military and drive the Soviet Union out of business through sheer overwhelming American might.
The Tom Cruise vehicle Top Gun had provided the Navy with a significant recruitment boost.
Recruiters actually stalked moviegoers in theaters who were hopped up on pro-America fervor after seeing the film.
And so the powers that be decided to allow Cher aboard the Missouri. It’s hard for words to capture the vibe of just how epic that video is, from a pure enthusiasm standpoint, so I’ll wait while you go watch the video…
Welcome back. Yes, those were actual American sailors, in a working shipyard, showing some real enthusiasm. Many were also sleep deprived, which is as common as haze-grey paint in the service.
Just to set the scene:
At the time the Navy was in full ramp-up mode, having returned the battleships to service in a move that few saw coming. The target was 600 active duty warships.
The American battleships, while outdated, were a potential match for the Russian Kirov Class battlecruisers with upgraded hardware, which included Tomahawk cruise missiles and Close In Weapons Systems.
Not far from Long Beach:
Wally George and Hot Seat was on the air over at KDOC:
With a picture of the Space Shuttle launching in the background with the words “USA Is #1″ underneath.
His audience was a questionable bunch who worshipped Reagan from behind the Orange Curtain. You can watch here if you like:
Note the early underpinnings of the Jerry Springer show on display.
If communism could be defeated by the power of Rock N’ Roll, then it might just happen from the teak deck of the Missouri:
As Cher gyrated to the approval of affection-starved sailors while straddling one of the impressive gun barrels.
While things in the good ole’ US of A were far from perfect for many people, very likely including members of her crew, for that night at least, it was hard to deny the pure intensity of the patriotism.
(And the lust for Cher).
Sailors covered almost every inch of the ship visible during the music video.
(Photo credit: Diego Delso, CC)
Not everyone was excited about how the evening progressed.
The US Navy brass was none too pleased to see footage of Cher prancing around the ship nearly naked.
This was, after all, the ship where the surrender document was signed to end World War II.
It was downright undignified, they thought. As a direct result of this production, approval standards were tightened so that nothing similar could occur.
This is pretty close to what Cher wore in the video.
If you have not watched it already, go
watch it (if you want, I know I can’t tell you what to do.)
The Missouri would go on to be featured in the Steven Segal movie “Under Siege,” using stock footage of her sailing past the Golden Gate bridge.
While I decry the fall of Segal today, the movie is a great romp if you have never seen it.
It includes Tommy Lee Jones and Gary Busey at his unhinged prime.
The ship was decommissioned in 1992, after the Soviet Union was indeed driven to bankruptcy trying to keep up with the United States.
They even created their own clone of the Space Shuttle.
Today, the Missouri is a museum ship in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, not far from the USS Arizona memorial, and well worth a visit.
Guest Autor Alex Chrisman is a person of lifelong curiosity, the type of kid who used to read the back of shampoo bottles in the bathroom while growing up in low income housing. Reading was salvation for him and a path to better places and non-fiction was the focus, as he soaked up bits and pieces of information along the way.
Rage Against The Machine and Nine Inch Nails are still his jam, and you can learn more about his world at his blog: cornucopiadigest.com .
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Those sailors sure kept the Missouri shipshape. It was so clean that at the time I thought it was a movie set.
Good debut, Alex!
Thank you, I appreciate you reading. I only recently found the music video and as a person into history I thought it was a pretty amazing moment in time. I also used to watch Wally George for entertainment and he was way ahead of his time, for better or worse. Thanks for reading.
Solid debut, Alex! Well done! We support and will click on your personal blog link, for sure.
Wally George was the prototype for… well, it’s a long list. And I’m amazed that more folks haven’t made the connection.
So thanks for the (cautionary) reminder that everything old is new again.
Thank you! I remember it being late at night and watching reruns of Wally. Even as a kid, I knew something was up, because he would talk about morality while having strip clubs as his advertisers.
I also grew up near Long Beach and remember how big of a deal the Navy was. It really impacted the city when they left.
I’ve spent quite a bit of time on the USS Iowa in San Pedro, sister of the Missouri, because of my love of old ships and history. I just like wandering the halls and soaking up the history and observing tiny details. The galley is particularly impressive, with giant pans for making stew. A crew member once let me and my friend in to see the off-limits brig, which is the onboard jail. Pretty interesting.
As far as Cher goes, I love all kinds of music, and she is definitely an icon. She managed to stay relevant for decades, which is impressive. Thanks for the opportunity.
I’m not sure if a lot of folks actually know who he is to be able to make a connection. I’m old and until this article I had never heard of him and had to look him up to know who you guys were talking about. We may come across as know-it-alls around here, but there have been more than a few references in articles or teasers that I haven’t heard of before.
I found this to be an enjoyable read on several levels.
Cher and the Navy- always a great pairing. Those stuffy higher ups needed to chill.
My dad was Navy, serving in WWII on a ship in the middle of the Pacific, deploying mines. No idea if he ever saw the Cher video, but I’d like to think he would have gotten a kick out of it.
Under Siege is near the top of my list, not far behind Roller Boogie. LOVE that movie. Though it takes place on the USS Missouri, the scenes on the ship itself were filmed on the USS Alabama, docked in Mobile. My brother and I were there a few years back to see my alma mater play in the GoDaddy.com Bowl and we took a tour of the ship. Under Siege was mentioned quite a bit, much to my joy.
Great article, and hope to see you here again.
I have never seen Under Siege, but I have toured the USS Alabama. It was a tough one for a claustrophobic like me, and I can’t imagine what it would have been like to be stationed there for months at a time. While being shot at periodically. My hat is off to those who served and continue to serve.
Thanks for reading, the movie is definitely worth a watch if you like light hearted action. Tommy Lee Jones and Gary Busey are standouts. I suspect the Alabama is a bit tighter quarters than the Iowa class battleships that Missouri is. If you ever get a chance, tour one and see the difference. There’s one in New Jersey, Oahu, San Pedro and one other place I can’t recall right now. I also have deep respect for those who serve in the armed forces, its a type of selflessness that is rare now. I’ve never understood why people who served are not given more chances in the corporate world, since they are hard working, show up on time and know how to learn, which is a skill I think.
Thank you, I’ll have to check out the Alabama. They used stock footage of the Missouri in Under Siege for the shots of her sailing under the Golden Gate. I think that Tommy Lee Jones and Gary Bussey in that movie are just fantastic. The plot is pretty solid too, as entertainment. Did a good job advertising the capabilities of cruise missiles too. If you go to the USS Iowa, Missouri’s sister, you can see the armored Tomahawk missile carriers on deck which gave her long range teeth. I remember when a Russian cruiser was sunk by Ukraine, a few years ago, the Moskova, and if you look at her deck, you see the missiles in plain sight, easy to hit. Big difference between the Russian and American designs.
If we are in the area, will have to check it out. The only other naval ship I have seen is USS Yorktown, docked near Charleston, South Carolina. Also impressive, though I haven’t been inside it.
I confess to enjoying this video way too much. Loved it at the time. Love it now.
Wonderful first piece. Warning: It’s addictive. I expect we will see you again.
Thank you, I appreciate the chance to be here. I also very much enjoy the video. If you like it, and you have not done so before, search for the intro of Top Gun on YouTube. That intro is amazing. From what I heard, the Cher video was supposed to have more of a plot about a relationship with a sailor, and there are a few short scenes in the video that show this, but ultimately I think the raw enthusiasm of the sailors onboard stole the show and they edited accordingly. Reminds me of the long lost version of Elton John’s “I’m Still Standing” which was lost and so the whole video had to be reshot, losing the original plot.
Entertaining stuff. The view from this side of the Atlantic is that the video was exactly the sort of jingoistic flag waving spectacle we’d come to expect but with (many) added shots of Cher’s rear to distract us.
Wally George is entirely new to me. I had no idea about the knock off Russian space shuttle either. Plenty of background reading for me to catch up on and broaden my cultural understanding.
Thanks for reading. The Russian Buran shuttle is fascinating. Only launched once. Was superior in that it could launch unmanned. Then the Russians went bankrupt so I suppose the jingoistic goading worked. That’s a word I haven’t heard in awhile too and I like it. It’s fitting. Wally was definitely a warning of things to come.