Here’s the second version. They shot some footage of a woman who is working as a photographer in order to get money in order to go to St. Lucia where Eddy Grant is singing the song. They filmed new footage to splice it into footage that was shot to splice into the movie footage. Interesting. That’s it!
It’s still a good song. Enjoy!
Yes, that Romancing The Stone (1984). Apparently, they went all out here. They got an artist who was born in South America. They made this video, which incorporated footage from the film. They even did a short behind-the-scenes thing below where we find out that the mountain in this video was specially constructed, and that Eddy is drinking a non-alcoholic beverage. I doubt it was constructed for Grant, but I could be wrong. It’s not unheard of for countries to bend over backwards to help a film get made in their country such as Jordan did for Sinbad: The Battle of the Dark Knights (1998).
Regardless, they cut the song from the movie. I guess they realized their mistake after the movie did so well, and not only had Billy Ocean do a song for the sequel, but even got Kathleen Turner, Danny DeVito, and Michael Douglas to be backup singers in the music video.
Update: I made a mistake. Grant’s song isn’t completely cut from the film. When Joan and Jack are taken in by a big fan of hers, you can hear Grant’s guitar solo playing while they are in the courtyard. He’s also given credit for the song in the ending credits.
I love when Kathleen Turner’s suitcase is thrown, hits the ground in front of Grant, and then he looks up to see his machete come back down to him having changed into a guitar. Also, for some reason I like seeing Grant casually walking along carrying a machete. I think it’s a fun video that did a good job of incorporating Grant into footage from the movie.
This one also comes with, what I assume was a TV performance that had set pieces.
Maybe it was the same show that Adam Ant performed Goody Two Shoes on. It looks like it.
Oh, and yes, there are two versions of this music video…and of the Billy Ocean one as well.
Enjoy!
I finally broke down, and went ahead and bought the book I Want My MTV. It’s a fascinating read so far. I am still in the founding years, but whether there was systemic racism or even next to none, they were destined to run into a color barrier issue. There was enough bad ingredients and thinking to make sure it happened. Perhaps that’s the reason why it only took two years for it to fall while being riddled with inconsistencies in between.
I bring that up because while I saw this music video many times as a kid, it wasn’t till now that I noticed it is a music video I would have thought verboten by MTV. Instead it was Super Freak by Rick James. That actually has an interesting story. It wasn’t rejected because James was black. It was rejected by a black woman at MTV who thought it was “crap” and wasn’t going to let that be the representation of her people on the network. I can totally get that. That video essentially took the set of an early-70s ABBA music video, threw a couple of props in, added some women fawning over James, and called it good. The song is great, but the video is underwhelming to say the least.
As for Electric Avenue, it is one of those music videos they showed from time-to-time as an example of an 80s one-hit-wonder. That was his biggest hit. It isn’t fair to call him a one-hit-wonder him though. Even to this year he is still in the news. According to Wikipedia, he is slated to receive a lifetime achievement award from Guyana–his country of birth. He’d been around since the mid-60s with the group The Equals. You might not recognize the name The Equals. You have probably heard one of their songs. They did Police On My Back, which was later covered by The Clash.
The music video also shouldn’t be cited as simply an example of a one-hit-wonder. One of the things that is clear in the pre-MTV setup chapters of I Want My MTV is that artists were already chomping at the bit to have films that didn’t just overlay their music over scenes. They wanted film that knew how to use their songs, their meaning, and would be a representation of the song. It was not as revolutionary as Herbie Hancock’s Rockit. Still, it does get the gist of the song across to the audience.
It has Eddy watching TV at the beginning. He finally turns it off, walks towards the TV, and creates one of the most iconic bits in music video history. He drops into a pool of water trying to reach his television. He then appears to wash up on the beach in the real world where what appears to be two white cops/vigilantes are on the prowl. He seems to be stalked by these two people who I am pretty sure are white. In the end, it is a shot of has face.
According to Wikipedia:
“The song’s title refers to an area historically known as Electric Avenue; a reference to the first place electricity lighted the streets in the market area of Brixton, South of London. This is an area known in the modern times for its high population of Caribbean immigrants and high unemployment. Tensions grew until violence hit the street now known as the 1981 Brixton riot. A year later, this song played over the airwaves.”
I’m really curious about when and how much this music video aired on MTV considering the content. I know his music fit with the kind they wanted to play. Wikipedia says it was thrown in for racial diversity. That doesn’t change the fact that it screams unplayable by MTV during this time.
Director Steve Barron made it. He is one of the most influential music video directors of his time. I’ve already covered three of them, and I wasn’t even trying. He seems to have directed all but a couple of Eddy Grant’s music videos.
I want to make special note that I put 1983 as the release date for the music video even though IMVDb says 1982. Mvdbase even says the music video came out in January of 1983. That’s because while it was a big hit in the UK in 1982, based on the Wikipedia article, it didn’t make its way to the United States until 1983.
Enjoy!
Through the Shattered Lens 