Sugar Ray - RPM - Full Edit - HQ (Video) 1997

JUL 01 1997 · 12:00

Sugar Ray - RPM - Full Edit - HQ (Video) 1997 (1997) Director: McG (Joseph McGinty Nichol) Era: Post-Grunge / Alternative Rock Transitional Era (1997) - Mid-late 90s moment when California alternative rock bands straddled nu-metal heaviness and mainstream pop accessibility, epitomized by Sugar Ray's Floored campaign. High curatorial value as a confirmed McG-directed artifact from his peak music video period, immediately preceding his Hollywood transition. The video documents a pivotal commercial and stylistic moment for Sugar Ray, their attempt to retain rock credibility after a pop breakthrough, and serves as primary visual evidence of the 1997 Southern California alt-rock crossover moment. Its limited MTV airplay history (a single 120 Minutes broadcast) makes surviving high-quality copies particularly significant for preservation. Context: Released November 1997 as the second and final single from Sugar Ray's album Floored (Atlantic Records, June 1997), 'RPM' occupies a revealing transitional moment in the band's career. Having just achieved mainstream breakthrough with the reggae-inflected pop crossover 'Fly', Sugar Ray attempted to reassert their harder rock credentials with this heavier follow-up. The video premiered during the band's co-headlining U.S. tour with 311 and Incubus, itself a snapshot of the mid-to-late 90s Southern California alternative rock ecosystem. The song peaked at No. 35 on Billboard Modern Rock Tracks in early 1998. Its relative commercial underperformance compared to 'Fly' prefigured the band's strategic pivot toward pure pop on subsequent albums, making 'RPM' a documented inflection point in their stylistic arc. Director McG's involvement anchors the video within the broader Southern California music-video auteur culture of the era. Director notes: RPM was the second Sugar Ray music video McG directed for the Floored album cycle, following 'Fly'. Per Wikipedia's Floored article, the RPM video premiered in November 1997 and received only a single MTV airing on 120 Minutes (November 16, 1997 episode), garnering substantially less coverage than the 'Fly' video. IMVDb (imvdb.com/video/sugar-ray-2/rpm) and Wikipedia's RPM song article both confirm McG as director. McG's deep personal and professional ties to Sugar Ray, having co-produced their debut album and been a longtime collaborator with frontman Mark McGrath dating back to Corona del Mar High School, give this video added biographical weight within his directorial catalog. The RPM video was produced during McG's peak music video period, just before his transition to feature films.