October 1994 – Page 2 – 5000 Ways to Love You

Headless Chickens “George”

When Fiona McDonald was announced as one of the judges on NZ Idol and hoardes of teens commented online that they’d never heard of her, this is what I pointed them to. The Headless Chicken’s only number one single, and indeed the first number one for a Flying Nun artist.

It’s a dark song, a reminder of how awful and self-destructive relationships can get. And when compared to the band’s more lively earlier videos, it’s a sign of how far the Fiona-era Chickens came in such a short period, and how the group didn’t have much further to go.

The video is equally dark. Fiona, never afraid to not be pretty in a video, is filmed with harsh uplighting, giving her a similar shawdow moustache to Che Fu in Supergroove’s “Can’t Get Enough” video.

A tattoed man creeps towards the camera, an old man offers a birthday cake iced with “George”, other band members stare at the camera, making it clear that they too know of the terrible thing that has happened.

I love that a song like this can make it to number one in New Zealand. Everything is OK.

Best bit: Old George holding his cake, standing by an open fridge door.

Directors: Marcus Ringrose, Gideon Keith
Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Next… the sailor boys return to their old neighbourhood.

Grace “Desert Moon”

Again Grace make a music video that is much more interesting than the song. That’s not to say the song is bad – it’s a poppy soul groove – but more that the music video is really interesting.

It’s set at an exotic nightclub, which Peter at Dub Dot Dash identifies as the Queen Street venue that became The Whitehouse. The club is full of sexy patrons in all manner of undress, including one fellow in studded leather undies, being led in on a leash.

The less pervy patrons are just enjoying themselves as Grace perform up on stage. And sometimes a young singer takes to the stage to add backing vocals – hey, it’s Bic Runga! She was, as Dub Dot Dash notes, part of Grace’s live band, but didn’t actually sing on the recorded version of this song.

With the previous two Grace videos having featured only the band, it’s nice to get a glimpse of their freaky friends. A lesser music video would have probably used a lady in a floaty dress dancing barefoot in the moonlight, which is far less interesting than a bar full of freaky friends.

Best bit: Mr Dog Leash, smoking a cigarette, too cool to pay attention to the band or the woman’s crotch in his face.

Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Next… a cake to farewell Fiona.

The Clean “Too Much Violence”

The Clean take Manhattan, performing in a grungy New York loft with a couple of dwarves. Hamish Kilgour appears to be wearing the blue and white polka shirt from his earlier “No No No” video. Either that or he’s really into polka dot shirts, which I actually think might be the case.

As the band play, some footage of the Kilgour brothers frollicking on a New Zealand hill is projected on a screen behind them. And they’re playing with “Tally Ho” brand playing cards, a nice Easter egg for fanboys.

There’s also some street footage with the bros looking dapper in 1940s-style suits, roaming the streets on bicycles. Hey, they’re 2010s hipsters and they don’t even know it.

It’s one of the better looking videos I’ve seen lately, and I think that’s due to the quality of both the filming and the YouTube clip. YouTube notes it was filmed on 8mm and 16mm and directed by Jeff Feuerzeig, who went to to make the superb documentary “The Devil and Daniel Johnston”.

Best bit: the miniature Beatles figurines in a shop window.

Director: Jeff Feuerzeig
Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Next… another night out with some freaky friends.

The Chills “Wet Blanket”

“Wet Blanket” was an album track on the Chills 1987 album “Brave Worlds”, but was rereleased as a single off the 1994 best-of album “Heavenly Pop Hits”.

The rest of the band (whoever they were at this stage) are absent from the video, but occasionally there’s a shot of a lone instrument, a reminder of the missing. It’s just Martin performing in front of a green screen, sometimes in black and white, other times with a golden red tint.

It’s a song of love, and the simple video gets the message across. Maybe it’s just the mood I’m in today, but I’m totally sold on it. If a Phillipps-esque fellow wrote this song for me, it would work.

Near the end, there’s a shot of Martin’s famous leather jacket, another reminder of the missing.

Best bit: the ’90s background textures, like an old-school webpage.

Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Next… the boys take Manhattan.

Missing videos from 1994

There’s a Rockquest winner, some more bogan rock, a bit of hip hop, and some reggae.
Continue reading Missing videos from 1994