b'DIRECTOR INTERVIEWS U.S.point of view and the Brit point of view. WeYou used Trey Wilson as Pat Benatarsfor McCartney, can I do that for him? ManilowFor Daryl Hall and John Oatesthe boys got on their zoot suits, ready to roll, knew that the station capitulated and saidfather, an actor who had done commercialscalled, can I do that for him? Generally itPossession Obsession video. There areand we cannot roll until we pay off these goons if its good, its gonna play. Ive never beenfor you. followed the lead of business, so I got a lot ofsome artists who survived the video era.who were masquerading as you know, as involved in any art form quite as competitive.He was a marvelous actor and both ofcalls from people werent into the video thingHall and Oates, for example, have more hitsbutchers and meat handlers. I just went to my than any other duo in pop history but theirroots and I said, Go fuck yourself, you clown, Its interesting, Im not sure anyone talks aboutthose actors were terrific and kids relatedand figured I could probably help them.videos sometimes tend to be a little lessand I got everybody and said, Put your shitTracii Guns of L.A. that, as the music video business formed. A lotto that. They glommed onto that, and to thisYou also directed Dynamite and Dothan incredible. Now, by the time this videoin the car and on the truck, everybody, wereGuns confirms that of us were not only competitive as directorsday, I love it, Ill be walking a dog and womenWhat You Do for Jermaine Jackson, andand this song came to you, they alreadymoving. His mouth was open. We got out, and visualists and writers, but we were alsoon the streets will come up to me and sayyou seem to be tapping into your Italianhe was a dancer in had three hits off that album, so theyre redit took me an hour to get everything loaded competitive as acts.(in a screaming tone) You did Love is aheritage there on the second one. hot. When they came to you, what madeagain and we just rode it up town underneathBeat ItDid you come up with the blind girlBattlefield? I love that! Battlefield is like a(Laughs) It was something I knew all aboutyou think this would be interesting work? the Eastside Drive and stopped somewhere story line on Hello for Lionel Richie? magnet to women because they grew up withso, yeah, to Jermaine Im saying, Just takeOh, I like John. I had a kinship with John.by the Manhattan Bridge, and thats theIt was cool, a part of my history too.Yes. That was my favorite song, becausethat as their song. I saw it as a battle cry, andmy lead. You wear a goombah shirt. ThatsHe was no pretense and it was his song. Hehistory of it all. When we got there, we said,As far as my recollection, I was Im a sucker for the love songs, and I usedI needed a little dialogue to get it started, andfirst bit of acting that Iman did, and she wasasked me to do it, because he wanted to tryyou know what, were getting out here until theseventeen, my roommate at the time to play that song over and over. I pushed to I used dialogue in Hello to establish thelovely. I always saw in Jermaine a regularand play in this arena. Ive always thought thatcops come, its so cold there wont be a copwas a professional dancer. He had get involved, and its saccharine, theres no teacher. tough guy who had the talent and sex appealvideo was pretty good, and I remembered theanywhere out, he wont get out of his cargotten a call, and they needed extras question, but I got it out of me because thats But mostly they left me alone, becauseto be a leading man, so in Do What You Dosong was actually somewhat successful. Youanyway! So, we just did it there, and I said tothat could dance, and he asked me if I how I felt. I pushed on Lionel to make himat the end of the day, it wasnt like whathe is a gangster and Iman is his muse. Withsee, John has got personality and you can talklight up these drums like a bunch of bums on awanted to do it. I said sure. It was a a teacher. I pushed the envelope with that the business is today. There were noJermaine, there was that brief moment into him. Daryl is very, very aloof, at least withcold night, and lets just start shooting and thetwo-day shoot in downtown L.A., and girl. She was not really blind. She was a nicecommissioners representing the record label.history when he was a player. My favorite me. Im not Daryls kind of guy and Daryls notrest is history. I loved it. I went to see John doI never met Michael himself. It was actress. Not very subtle, that video, but to thisThere was none of the politics of today. Thereof all of them is Do What You Do, becausemy kind of guy, you know, and thats one ofa solo show, and he really is one of the worldsgood money! (laugh) - Tracii Gunsday it ranks in the top three videos that I havewerent seven thousand directors competingyouve got a black mob leader with a bunchthe reasons why I think theyve had an issuegreat electric guitarists, and he came over and done, and certainly for Lionel, it is number one.for a video, it was usually down two or threeof Jewish guys running around playingover the years. Daryl was the star, but he didntsaid, Remember that night? Its got a life that people just go to and love.Anddirectors. We didnt write treatments as much.Italians. translate to video well. The other factor that we realized is that yes, at one point, he came up to me and didWe met the artists, we talked. You know, IWe had a great time. I enjoyed Italy,Its a true throwback to the doo wop era.through it all, that whole night, I was being say, Mr. G, the bust looks nothing like me, andremember turning down Madonnas first video.thats my country. I enjoyed Jermaine. I likeWere the silk suits all your idea? screamed at in my left ear by a cigar-chomping I said, Lionel, shes blind, for Christs sake. They called me and said, I think shes gonnaJermaine, I like Dynamite, its very simple. It was all about doo wop, and the storyTommy Mottola, who was then the boys agent. In these major videos, you incorporatedbe hot one day, and she needs a video for herI had more I had more of a relationship withof that one that nobody realizes is that weI kept saying, Tommy, shut up, Jesus Christ! extra sound bites in the clips, which is afirst song and I said no. You know, real smartJermaine than Michael. With Michael, its were all set to shoot down under the BrooklynIm trying my best, but nothings going to leap beyond what an average video was.of me. (laugh) always stilted, and Jermaine was just moreBridge. In those days they had the meathappen to your guys, Tommy. Was that something you had to fight for asWere you turning down a lot of jobs? of a regular guy.markets set up, and were all set to shoot downTwo Italian personalities facing off there. a creative choice? Well, I was still doing commercials, andThat sound of the dancers landing onthere but the Mob came to me and said, youOh boy, oh boy, have we gotten at each Yes. First of all, its all about time. Theyenjoying that life. I had a lot of work. I had athe metal tables in Dynamite was louddont shoot unless everybody gets paid. Weother. I have a soft spot for that one, and it was [the record companies] dont want any videolot of requests, but then I wanted it my way,and distinctive. When you went on to had scouted the place and we had permitsmy wifes first job that she produced for me, to be longer than the track because the VJsand you have to write something for themdirect Jermaine and Pia Zadoras video,and he said, You can stick your permits upher first video for me. She went on to produce wouldnt play it if it was too long. Theyre aand you have to convince them and it waswas there a moment where you thought,your ass. No money and the camera wontall the others, and be in charge of my media, little mini movies, you know, narrative moviesstill it was competitive and it was growing"I dont know about this one." roll. I had everything out, and it was theso it has nice memories for me.with an arc. Mine were always about a story.and growing. Today, its out of control, but inYes, the minute I showed them thesingle coldest night of the year. If you goThe storyline for Say Say Say was Thats what I did, and in that, I used sound andthose days, it was a business forming itself,costumes, but I end up working withback and look at that video, all youre goingpretty elaborate. Did you write that?dialogue. Yes, if you go back, youll see thatcreating itself and one success begat anotherDante Spinotti, one of the worlds great to see is breathing, which I love because itYeah, Mac and Jack was mine. There are in all of them. In Battlefield, its that line yousuccess. McCartney called me because I didcinematographers, and I enjoyed that. Its was freezing. We had a whole company out,a couple of historic things that happened with leave this house and you can just forget aboutthat with Michael, could I do that for him?the silliest video I ever did, shot in Italy, but it everything is out, lighting, everything is going,that, Michael and Paul. Paul taking me for a coming back! Jean Michel Jarre called me saying I did that was great fun and we ate well. I started to get bored and you can see it in the work. I mean, I had a run there that was beautiful. And then they wanted other kinds of things and new people come into the marketplace, and I go on to motion pictures and other stuff, and I started restaurants, and so my life, as it always does, takes a turn here and turn there, a jump here, a dive there, and I held on for a little while, and came back actually with a very popular video for Will Smith. Giraldi sets up a shot for Julio Iglesias & Diana Ross All of You video32MVTMISSUE #1ISSUE #1MVTM33'