The Mutton Birds “Come Around”

1996-the-mutton-birds-come-aroundThis video comes from the Mutton Birds attempt to take over the world. They were based in the UK and their record company was putting some effort behind them.

The band play the song sitting around in a circle, which is what serious musicians do. Joining them in the circle of seriousness is some sort of director man – as signified by his black skivvie, glasses on a chain and floppy fringe – and a woman with a Juliette Binoche look happening.

Both the director and the woman have what appears to be a script, and they kept refering to it. What sort of script would be required for the Mutton Birds to play a song while sitting in a circle?

DON MCGLASHAN bends forward slightly, furrows his brow and looks into the mid-distance. He sings with a look of sincerity and devotion.

Well, whatever it is, they’re not doing it right, as the director has to keep giving Don notes. The woman mainly chews on her pen.

THE OTHER GUITARIST gently rocks back and forth in his chair. His shaggy fringe is in his face. He looks really bored.

Eventually the director seems less bothered by what the band are doing. Perhaps the implication is that he has come around to their way of performing. Or perhaps the Mutton Birds have learned their part and come around to the scripted way of the director.

Best bit: the director’s serious paper shuffling. He’s a professional.

Director: Bjorn Lindgren
Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Next… miserable mannequin.

6 thoughts on “The Mutton Birds “Come Around””

  1. Ah yes, the “put a bird on it” school of minimalist video-making. (I suppose the “wanna shag after we lay down this track?” subtext counts as narrative, but only at the most basic level… and the Bryan Ferry lookalike producer dude is just a jealous guy).

    1. Put a bird on it! Ok, I’m going to use that the next time I see a blatant example in a music video.

  2. Obvious example of what happens when someone who knows nothing about the band makes a video for them. Very much an international late 90s video clip which makes Don look very uncomfortable and like something from an episode of “Cold Feet”. I guess the literal thing comes in to it (in a round) and ironically my cover for the single of this song was a roundabout which I shot in the UK in August of 1996. Interestingly the production clapper board in the video says 1997 for the video.

    1. I wouldn’t be surprised if the video had been shot in 1997, given that the funding round was in December 1996. I group everything by the date of the funding round. Otherwise I’d have to figure out when every video was released and… I don’t even want to think about how much work that would involve. But any information like that is still useful to hear.

  3. Yeah, it’s an ‘add a girl’ music video, but I have to point out that the girl is Keeley Hawes (later known for being one of the leading characters in Spooks, Life on Mars … and leaving her husband for her Spooks co-star Matthew Macfadyen. Who of course ended up starring in ‘In My Fathers’ Den’. NZ TWO DEGREES OF SEPARATION!

    1. Ah! I thought she had a vaguely familiar look about her. Well, I’m very glad to know that bit of Aotearoan pop trivia!

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