b'Director Interviews UKthe HammerHere Comes From David Bowie to AC/DCAC/DC Thunderstruckto Billy Idol to Def Leppard,The early Thin Lizzy were sort of half- Thats how I came into the equation, they performance, half-ideas. And dont forget,wanted something more rock and roll-like.there was no MTV in those days. First ofThats a lot of songshow did the the videos of David Malletall, the unions were trying to ban musicconcepts emerge? videos. The British television industry wasA bit of all of us in that one. A bit of established the visual palettevery heavily unionized, and a lot of musicChris Stein, a bit of Debbie [Harry], a bit videos were not made by unions, so theyof Clem Burke, a bit of me, every track of rock video for the 1980s. tried to ban the whole genre. Early on,had a little something. One track [The music videoswere being used on Top ofHardest Part] you see theres a lot ofathe Pops, but only if the band were notgraffiti. Well, Chris had seen these expert available and with great reluctance. Everygraffiti people painting on the subway now and again, theyd also use them asstation, and someone said, why dont Billy Idol (above) readies his snarl during a David Mallet video shoot late-night fillers. A movie would end andwe just give them a whole studio to paint thered be about three or four minuteslotMallet and frequentwith graffiti? Then Union City Blue was to fill, and theyd show one. That wassubject Freddie Mercury done down on the docks, and so on, blah really the beginning of the transmission ofblah blah. It all came together like that.music videos in England. Across Europe,Beyond that, you worked on Games Very early on, you came to work withbigger hit of the two. it was a bit freer than that.It was a waysure how it worked, but in the space of aWithout Frontiers with Peter Gabriel. Ive various folks, from Shindig, but what is itDid you find that after "Bohemianfor the label to get traction in Europe. Yes,half-hour, we had something all mappedheard hes someone who is kind, easy to that brought you to working in television?Rhapsody," a clip didnt have to be justso there was some use in England, andout. Also, that weird look was somethingwork with, and full of ideas. He is highly What made you want to work in thatperformance anymore?no use for them whatsoever in America. Id come up with by accident. It wascreative, and highly caring about every medium? In the few years prior to that, I had beenSo when you started working withsomething Id come up with when I waslittle thing, and gracious. Gracious would Because I was no good at anything else.making TV commercials. My background at theDavid Bowie, how was that? He comesdoing the Kenny Everett Video Show, andbe the word Id use. Above everything, a What made you think you were good attime was commercials director.How did youacross as someone who would bring aId put it in the back of my mindthe lookvery gracious man.it? Well, Id been a musician, it wasnt a bigand David Bowie get together and start makingIt wasnt alot of ideas to the table.and how to do it. Then Ashes to AshesYou directed videos for Emotional music videos? We met because I used toHe would bring a lot of specific ideascame about and it was perfect for that. Rescue and Shes So Cold for the jump from being a musician to working in musicproduce and direct a big cult hit television television. I played guitar, a little bit of bass,show called the Kenny Everett Video Show.big jumpto the table, but it depends on which clipPrior to that, youd done aRolling Stones. How did that go? a little bit of drums. Did a few recordings andWe met then, and I did a version of Boysyou are talking about. Id either add more,collection of videos for Blondies EatThey were in a fairly calm period in to the Beat album. Every song on the things. A filmmaker knows a lot about film, butKeep Swinging, and then we remade it as afrom beingor develop his. album had a video. the band. There wasnt anyone leaving People cite Ashes to Ashes asthe band and no one in disgrace, so it doesnt necessarily know a lot about music. Imusic video. I did that more than once, I didIt wasnt the first longform video,was fairly calm. They all turned up, we important in showing what you could was fortunate enough to come into a period ofthat with the Pretenders as well on a songa musiciando with a music video. Youre notbut it was one of the first. The first wasdid it, and we all went home.Those were music videos when it seemed to be quite a goodcalled Talk of the Town. We did it on the showconfined to a stage, and as in manyJethro Tull, which I did, and that had ashot during a heat wave in New York, on thing to know something about music. Thereas a performanceI should mention that theto workingof these Bowie clips, they seem to bebit of a concept, and it was slightly oddthe first floor of a studio called Silvercup are a few others like that, Godley and CrmeKenny Everett Video Show did not just featuretaking place in this other world. Whatand weird. It was very early days, thein Queens. The entire studio was on the for example. This medium seemed to comethe band in performance. It was an early use ofJethro Tull one. Then came Blondie. Wefirst level up, the air conditioners were together more after Bruce Gowers directedconceptual performance pieces. in musicdo you recall from that process, andshot that over ten days in New York. Theout, and it must have been about 120 Bohemian Rhapsody. Bruce Gowers was myWhat in the format appealed to you?where did those ideas come from?first thing Id done was Hanging on thedegrees.partner. He did Bohemian Rhapsody, and theIt wasnt any specific thing that appealed totelevision. In all cases, hes so clever, he cameTelephone, and theyd been using a guyYou did a few more for Bowie. same week I directed The Whistler for Jethrome, it just seemed to be obvious. An obviousup with the idea of the clown and thenamed Keith MacMillan, and they nowWe did Fashion in New York. Now, Tull. Bohemian Rhapsody was by far theprogression of where it was going? Exactly.modern romantic. I think I came up withwanted something harder and punkier.Bruce Gowers and I were still partners the bulldozer and the beach. Im not 44MVTMISSUE #1 ISSUE #1MVTM45'