NZ On Screen – Page 23 – 5000 Ways to Love You

Dave Dobbyn “Slice of Heaven”

So, it probably goes without saying that we’re going to be seeing a fair bit of ol’ Dave Dobbyn around here – just not for a while.

But to get us in the mood, I thought I’d look back at one of his best loved songs and one with a decent enough video from the before time, pre-NZ On Air funding.

“Slice of Heaven” was the main theme song from the wildly popular animated film “Footrot Flats: The Dog’s Tale”. It’s credited to “Dave Dobbyn with Herbs”, and indeed it’s Aotearoa’s reggae legends that go above and beyond the call of duty with their “dah-dah-dah, boom-boom” part.

The video starts with a silhouetted Dave playing an unusual wind instrument. Then a couple of cool chicks in rad ankle boots start dancing around him. Well, if it’s a love song, you need an object of affections or two.

With the first good look at Dave, he’s revealed to be wearing a shirt printed with cowboys on horseback. This seems like an artistic concession to Footrot Flats’ rural theme.

Then it’s into the chorus and Dave’s changed into a conductor’s tuxedo, doing some jazz hands with his white-gloved hands. But never mind the dramatics. Herbs are here to bring some serious bottom end. They’re a solid dependable anchor for the song, the honesty that makes his ode for an awkward Kiwi male all the more believable.

More weird woodwind instruments show up (they all look different; they all make the same sound), and while all the studio action is going on, we’re also treated to a series of clips from the movie.

Let me stick this 10-inch in the computer

But just in case it all seems quite ordinary, there’s a scene near the end where Dave is shown conducting what we assume to be an orchestra, then the camera pulls back to reveal his music stand is loaded with… eight-inch floppy disks?!

I assume this is commentary on the synthesised string instruments used on the song. Did it work as a gag in 1987?

The “Slice of Heaven” video is all shot in simple black studio set, but it manages to be captivating due to the performances of both Dave Dobbyn and Herbs. And the ladies in ankle boots.

Now I get to reveal the secret reason I did this post: it’s for the kittens, y’all. The Wellington SPCA are doing a special fundraising screening of a new digitally restored version of “Footroot Flats: A Dog’s Tale”. Thrill to the Dave Dobbyn soundtrack on the giant Embassy screen! The screening is on Wednesday August 31, and $10 from every ticket goes to help the kittens, puppies and other animals of Wellington.

Straitjacket Fits “Done”

The first song off the Fits’ final studio album, the “Done” video mainly takes place in a recording studio, shot in high-contrast black and white, like a goth’s seventh form photography portfolio.

This concept could potentially we quite dull – I mean, “We Are the World” is people performing the song in a recording studio – but then something happens. Shayne’s t-shirt suddenly disappears and the stakes have been raised.

The early ’90s saw a lot of male shirtlessness in music videos, but that was generally the domain of young funk-rock groups who were inspired by the non-musical bits of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. So it’s a bit of a surprise to suddenly see the Straitjacket Fits becoming citizens of man-chest-er.

So far in the list I haven’t come across any music videos with dudes being overtly sexy, but here we go. The thing is, Mr Carter’s songwriting and the Fits’ performance is usually so sexy on its own that shirtless antics aren’t necessary. But when you combine the shirtlessless with the guitar playing… Oh, if you’re young and beautiful you might as well.

Best bit: David Wood has a smoke.

Director: Andrew Dominik
Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Next… Dave’s 10 inch

Dribbling Darts “Hey Judith”

From a suburban state house to K Road, “Hey Judith” is a sunshine in a music video. Matthew Bannister, all gussied up in red lipstick, has a minor meltdown as he sings for the love of his life, covering the wall in lipstick kisses.

The video also includes a musclewoman, dog poo, a cardboard replica of K Road, Auckland suburban trains, the old yellow ARA buses, the old Auckland CPO, complete with the bank of public phones out the front.

I’m intrigued by a brief shot of a pillow booth at the train station. I assume this was something made for the video, but I like to think that back in the ’90s, there was a booth at the train station that gave people pillows for their train journeys, or for carrying around town in search of their special honey.

And just to prove how ’90s it is, the video ends with the band donning virtual reality googles. (Remember virtual reality? Remember how it was going to change the world?)

It all leaves me thinking that I’d like ’90s-era Matthew Bannister to be my boyfriend.

Best bit: the Ken and Barbie cardboard K Road adventure.

Director: Karyn Hay
Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Next… it’s a matter of trust, girl.

Annie Crummer “See What Love Can Do”

Before Annie Crummer was vamping it up as the Killer Queen in the Australian production of “We Will Rock You”, she presented a softer, gentler side with “See What Love Can Do”, the first single from her debut solo album.

Just to prove how ’90s it is, not only is she wearing a peasant blouse, she’s also shown with a “Blossom”-style hat with a giant flower on it.

The video is shot in high contrast black and white, not unlike Paula Abdul’s “Straight Up” video, only without the fierce dancing. Annie is joined by the fullas from Herbs to add some grunt on the verses and a choral sound on the chorus. Hey, these are the guys who dah-dah-dah-boom-boom’d “Slice of Heaven” into a hit for ol’ Dave Dobbyn.

Somehow I thought the song would demand a warmer, more communal video than what was produced, but perhaps it was decided to emphasise Annie and her backing singers, no one else.

Best bit: the enthusiastic ooo-ing from Charlie Herbs.

Director: Fred Renata
Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Next… kissy-kiss fun times.

Hallelujah Picassos “Lovers +”

Roland Picasso has a dilemma – he has two lovers and would rather like to keep it that, only one of the lovers wants him to be true to her. It’s a simple, almost underplayed song, and the video matches this minimal vibe.

There are a few green-screen and digital tricks – dripping paint, flames, but most of the video is restrained, with simple layering of Roland (in colour) over the band (in black/blue and white), as well as an outdoor excursion. While it’s not as fun as other Picassos videos, it’s still a fine early ’90s video.

The only thing that worries me is the song title – it reminds me of Paper Plus, Flooring Plus and all those other ‘plus’ businesses that sprang up in the ’90s. It’s not so appealing being in a menage à retail.

Best bit: the remote appearance of Greg Johnson on guest trumpet. See, he does end up online sometimes.

Director: Bruce Sheridan
Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Bonus! Peter McLennan of the Hallelujah Picassos and now of Dub Asylum and the brilliant blog Dub Dot Dash has been kind enough to share his music video experiences both in front of and behind the camera.

We’d made a few videos prior to doing the Lovers Plus video. I directed a video for our song Clap Your Hands, made with the help of TVNZ’s music show CV (the replacement for RWP). TVNZ supplied filmstock, processing, telecine (film to video transfer), and editing. We covered the other costs – we made that video for $138. So going to a NZOA-funded video to the tune of $5000 was a step up.

It basically meant we were able to pay people and hire better gear and so on. It also resulted in a video that was more likely to get repeat viewings on tv, due to higher production standards.

At the time I was studying at Elam School of Fine Arts, working in film and video, so I took a keen interest in the video-making side of things. Bruce Sheridan at Stratford Productions directed and produced the Lovers Plus video, with input from us. We also managed to convince them to let Roland use a welding torch, as he was doing a welding course at the time. Singers playing with fire, always fun.

The use of green screen was pretty popular at that time, from what I recall. It allowed you to layer up imagery and mix and mash it up.

We also did a video for our song Picasso Core, a mate of ours shot that on video one afternoon with our singer Roland. TV3’s late evening news show Nightline screened it once, which amazed us, as every chorus features the f word.

Next… average age 17.

The Mutton Birds “Nature”

Don and the lads are back, and Jan also makes an appearance with the Mutton Birds’s second single, “Nature”. A fuller, noisier cover of Fourmyula’s psychedelic ode to the great outdoors, the video takes its cue from the 1960s and utilises all the psychedelic visual effects the ’90s have to offer. So there’s colour tints, swirling animated backgrounds and green screen layering. It’s like a mashup of all the previously viewed green screen vids.

Don lays on a bit of Front Lawn-style comedy with his sideways glances at the little singing people who keep popping up, and there’s the crazy mouth-to-mouth transfer of, uh, nature, not unlike the controversial mouth-to-mouth transfer in Head Like a Hole’s “Fish Across Face” video. Only animated nature power isn’t a public health risk.

The video shows that the band aren’t quite buying into Fourmyula’s original hippy-style nature loving. The Mutton Birds’ version is more like someone who’s got high and suddenly realised that, HEY GUYS NATURE IS REALLY AWESOME!!!! But nature is also scary with those beetles and lizards that suddenly appear.

Best bit: the interpretive dance in the middle, which ends with the dancers in a heartfelt embrace. Such is the power of nature.

Director: Fane Flaws
Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Next… the challenges of polygyny.

Jan Hellriegel “The Way I Feel”

In 2009, the Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision had a public vote for the top 100 New Zealand music videos. The top video was the dramatic “Maxine” by Sharon O’Neill, while number two was the glorious “Way I Feel” by Jan Hellriegel. Hell yeah.

It was the first song of her debut solo album “It’s My Sin” and great effort was made to make sure she really kicked off. “The Way I Feel” is a stylish black and white video directed by Chris Mauger. Layers of windswept Jan, night-driving Jan, moody poolhall Jan, and guitar-playing Jan float on top of each other. Oh, and some boy scouts too. The video is as cool as the song, which is as cool as the video.

Night-driving Jan features a lot, and that’s what I enjoy the most about it. It captures that feeling of driving on a still night. Not hooning up and down Queens Street, but going out on a quiet night to visit your secret lover.

Jan is again rocking a peasant blouse, but you know what? She totally owns it. Hey, isn’t it time for a peasant blouse revival? Yeah, I think it is.

Best bit: an old man blinks rhythmically.

Director: Chris Mauger
Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Next: Nature is really awesome!

Able Tasmans “Fault in the Frog”

“Fault in the Frog” is based around the urban legend that claims a frog won’t try to escape a gradually heated pot of water because it’s happening too slowly to realise it’s being boiled alive. Therefore, if you slowly ruin everything, no one will notice because they’ll think they’re in a nice hot spa pool. Or something. The band uses this as a metaphor for global warming, though you have to delve beneath the bagpipes and light voices to get the lyrical message.

The video is a montage of swirling scenes of forests, tinsel Christmas trees, which in turn leads to a home movie tour around the world – mad bastards shouting in London, village life in India and more of those swirling forests.

There’s a message here, but it seems like the Abel Tasmans are too timid to do a full-on, loud and proud protest song, instead hiding behind lush production and a video that manages to divert attention from the lyrics.

Best bit: the fellow at Speakers Corner gesticulating at a gold star with a photo of JFK glued to it.

Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Next: the bit of the man brain that wants to root you.

The Mutton Birds “Dominion Road”

There’s a second “Dominion Road” video, the “UK version”. In it, the Mutton Birds play the song in a empty warehouse, filmed with blue filters, flash editing, random out-of-focusness, and Don McGlashan’s wearing sunglasses. It looks like a mid-’90s attempt at turning The Mutton Birds into an antipodean Oasis.

But thankfully we don’t need to concern ourselves with that video. The one we care about is the earlier version promoting what was their debut single.

The original video alternates between black and white footage of the band performing the song in a stark white studio, and the troubled subject of the song walking around Dominion Road.

Don McGlashan looks like Norman Cook with his short back and sides, possibly going for a cleaner look from his curly days with the Front Lawn. Oh, speaking of which – it’s nice to see Don back after his previous appearance with the very first funding round.

The scenes of a worn down inner Auckland suburb may not have the edge of an empty warehouse, but it’s those shots that give the song its context. This is not a love song, but it’s where This Is Not A Love Shop used to be.

The Dominion Road of 1992 feels different to the Dominion Road of today. It’s less multicultural and didn’t have as many posh bits. You’d probably have to get three-quarters of the way down Dominion Road to have the same effect today.

Best bit: Don’s scared-of-heights acting during the “up 10,000 feet” part.

Director: Fane Flaws
Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Next… wave your hair in the air, and wave it like you just don’t care.

Greg Johnson Set “Isabelle”

Inspired by the impact of the conflict from the Croatian War of Independence upon the ordinary people of Croatia, “Isabelle” was Greg Johnson’s attempt at connecting with the country on the other side of the world while he was “stuck on an island”.

The video does a good job of creating a landscape that might be New Zealand or might be Croatia. Though if, as Greg sings, Isabelle comes from the modern metropolis of Zagreb, what’s she doing living in a little Borat-style shack in the woods? And the more we see of the woods, they more they look like New Zealand. Perhaps Greg’s longing is starting to transform downtown Zagreb into a New Zealand national park.

Isabelle is played by Gina From Shortland Street, who wears black and looks mournful because all her people, they are dying. Greg, meanwhile, is wearing a waistcoat with a skivvie (for it is the ’90s) and occasionally pops up with his mandolin to make everything better.

Best bit: Isabelle’s numb reaction to seeing a crashed military vehicle with injured passengers.

Director: James Holt
Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Next: A suburban ode.