PREVIEW MUSIC
whole mien ofthe moving image. Video was at a bit of a hiatus; the industry had settled down. the huge budgets had reached a more acceptable level. and there was far less experimentation on the big money side. far more experimentation on the cheap hand-held video side.‘
All manner ofbudgets. techniques and musical genres are encompassed in the eight hours-plus couch potatothon of promo material stored in the exhibition‘s centrepiece. the video jukebox. After digesting the history. operating the prehistoric
i
"Tassel?
Duran Duran's The Wild Boys- great song - shame about the £9 million video budget
contraptions. and clocking the ropey memorabilia: — in bed with a synthetic Madonna: Phil Collins‘ Spitting Image incarnation. anyone? — technology in motion embraces punterland and a mere three-digit selection relays the video of your choice on to an impressive bank of TV screens. The choice ranges from the obvious casualties (Peter Gabriel. A-Ha. Michael Jackson. Duran Duran. ostentatious practitioners one and all) to the more esoteric (Gallon Drunk. His Name ls Alive. erm. Cab Calloway and His Band). It‘s a neat counterpoint for
‘\
the public; marvel at the artistry. vegetate in front of the video wall.
'For many years. television‘s been treated as the poor cousin of cinema.‘ says Fiddy. drawing an analogy. ‘Like pop video it may be more instantaneous. throwaway and commercial: it doesn‘t mean it can‘t be artistic as well. I think advertisements can be both — they can sell something wonderfully. they can also be spectacularly interesting to watch.‘
Jesse Rae — whose ‘Over The video and trusty Claymore up the Scottish slant. along with the Bay City Rollers‘ togs. The Rezillos‘
jackets and Annie Lennox‘s Diva costumes — is a passionate video pioneer with a very different view of its purpose.
‘A music video in its truest. purest form is not a promotional video used by a record company. but they are dominating the whole scene and demeaning its value. People will switch off a video if it annoys them and to me that has never been the purpose. I made “Over The Sea” for longevity. writing it with the visual hooks in mind so it‘s a soundtrack for the pictures. The record industry makes a record and then tries to get pictures to make the record look better.‘
However. he looks to the future of music video with anticipation. ‘I call it the biggest video real estate that there is. because there‘s a space between your eyes and ears that still hasn‘t been tapped yet. but you must understand music before you can shoot music videos.‘
The Irn-Bru Pop Video Exhibition opens on Sat 30 January and runs until Sun 6 June at The A relies.
Midland Street. Glasgow.
V LISTEN!
Record which resulted in the subsequent suspension (according to a gloating article in the holier-than- thou. oh-so saintly Sun last weekend) ofthc journalist in question. A Sun man apparently caught the Record '5 music columnist at a Glasgow record fair. behind a stall. flogging some ofthe buckshee promotional records sent by record companies to journalists. This is a naughty no-no as far as the record companies are concerned. though this is hardly an isolated incident. even if the setting up of an actual stall requires hitherto-unheard of quantities of brass-neck. Rumours that this entrepreneurial flair is to be recognised by the re-naming of the paper to the Daley Record are totally without foundation.
The List. however. refuses to be judgemental. since we can empathise with the journalist‘s plight when faced with a daily skip-load of freebie review product. Pressure of space alone necessitates the continual ‘pruning‘ and ‘offloading‘ ofCDs. records and tapes. But no flogging goes on here. no sirrree. The local branch of Oxfam is positively brimming with mint copies of records by Pat Benatar. Londonbeat and that great new Billy Ocean single. ‘Sling yer hook‘ said a leading vinyl retailer when approached for a valuation on these records. Purely in the interests of research. you understand.
I Database ahoy. The National Band Register is a new computer-based information service aimed at bands and the music industry at large. For
£1 .50 (or six first-class stamps) bands can have their vital statistics (name. contact details. type of music. recordings available. etc.) registered. For an annual £20 bands ; will receive a monthly mag and lists ofhighly ; handy contacts—venues. 1 other bands. recording 5 and rehearsal studios. media outlets and the like. An invaluable service whose worth will increase the more entriesthey ! receive. Contact the NBR at PO Box 463. Reading
R66 252.
I Dedicated? ‘Most definitely.‘ says Calvin Bush. new Scottish scout for the label that is home to Spiritualized. Chapterhouse and a cast of several. Send your demos to him at 202 Battlefield Road. Glasgow G42 9HN.
TheFLi-st 29Janu_ary - l 1 February 199.? 29