Of Interest to 4AD Fans of Olden Times

Back in the late 80s/early 90s, I was a huge 4AD fan and did many fannish things, like running VHS tape chains of 4AD-related video clips and the like.

It’s a bit difficult to remember at this remove just what was so important about watching video clips and interviews with these bands now, but this obsession led me to, among many other things, to record quite a bit of stuff from MTV onto VHS.

And then I rediscovered a cardboard box full of VHS tapes this autumn.

There were about 30 of them, and I thought that this was surely the time to get organisised, digitise them and upload the interesting snips (FSVO) to Youtube.

So I got started.

It turned out that there was about fifteen minutes worth of stuff of interest on each tape. Uploading music videos isn’t necessary, since they’re already all there, in better quality and from official sources. So that leaves only live footage and interviews.

I did upload some music videos if those made sense in the flow of an interview. If they’re saying “and let’s look at that video now”, it would be kinda awkward to cut it out, so I left them in and wondered what the Youtube copyright system would do: Give me copyright infringement warnings, block the account, or what?

It turns out that it’s less dramatic than that: For the vast majority of the snippets, Youtube notified me that the videos are copyrighted, and that I can’t monetise my uploads because of that. Which is fine, because I wouldn’t do that anyway.

The only problem was videos owned by Warner Music Group: They would block anything that contained “their” videos. So I had to re-edit a handful of interviews, but a couple I basically gave up on and just put on my own server:

Hey! I was there in London at that festival!

It’s taken some time to get all the tapes processes. Not because it’s a lot of work; it’s not: I just push play on the VHS and then four hours later (i.e., when I get back from work) there’s a .mov file that I can then cut snippets out of with Lightworks, and doing the editing takes, like, five minutes or so per tape.

But I forget to start the recording process, so things drag out…

Anyway, here’s the list of snippets I’ve uploaded. If you’re a 4AD fan, there might be some amusement to be found here… And there’s also some other non-4AD odds and ends sprinkled between. And there’s some duplicates, I’m sure, since MTV tended to do re-runs.

Enjoy.

PJ Harvey Sheela na gig at Tomarts live
Ministry Stigmata Live 120 Minutes
Lush Live at Lollapalooza
Kristin Hersh live in the studio (120 Minutes)
Lush Covert live with interview
Lush interview around 1990 on MTV 120 Minutes
Interview with My Bloody Valentine on MTV early 90s
The Breeders: Iris (Live) (MTV 1993)
The Breeders: Flipside Live (MTV 1993)
The Breeders: No Aloha Live (MTV 1993)
Dead Can Dance News (MTV 1993)
Breeders: Divine Hammer Live (MTV 1993)
The Breeders Competition Ad (MTV 1993)
The Breeders Competition Ad (MTV 1993)
PJ Harvey: Sheela Na Gig Live
Pixies: My Velouria Live
The Breeders: Live Announcement
Cocteau Twins Interview (early 90s from MTV)
Belly Interview and Live (early 90s)
Consolidated Business of Punishment, Butyric Acid and Interview (early 90s from MTV)
Pixies: Rock Music & Velouria Live (from MTV in the early 90s)
Pale Saints/Boo Radleys interview on 120 Minutes (early 90s)
Josephine Wiggs Breeders Interview from 120 Minutes
Sasha from KMFDM interview (120 Minutes)
Cranes live in Portsmouth (MTV)
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds documentary from MTV (early 90s)
Cranes: Leaves of Summer Live
Bettie Serveert interview and live
PJ Harvey: Sheela na gig Live in the MTV Studios
Belly Interview from 120 Minutes
Cranes :Starblood Live 1990 (From MTV)
Kristin Hersh: Interview + Dizzy
Frank Black: Sir Rockaby Live at 120 Minutes
Frank Black live at Pukkelpop plus interview
The Breeders: Head to Toe live at Rock am Ring
Throwing Muses news clip for University (mid-90s)
Throwing Muses: Bright Yellow Gun and Shimmer live at MTVs Most Wanted
Belly interview (MTV News 1993 -ish)
Swans Interview and Live (from 90s MTV) (edit)
My Bloody Valentine Interview (edit)
Einsturtzende Neubauten interview from 120 Minutes (edit)
Kristin Hersh live at MTVs Most Wanted (mid-90s)
Breeders: Divine Hammer live (mid-90s)
Kristin Hersh news item Hips & Makers (mid-90s)
Breeders live in the studio (early 90s)
Belly live and interview (early 90s)
Dead Can Dance interview MTV News (early 90s)
4AD: The Thirteen Year Itch Interviews & Live Only
Blixa Bargeld Interview (early 90s) (bad quality recording)
Gus Gus interview and live (early 90s) (bad quality recording)

ACW1979: Elvis

Apparently Fritz the Cat was huge in Tupelo in the 40s.

Elvis. 1979.

I didn’t know what to expect. John Carpenter doing a TV documentary about Elvis? Presley? Starring Kurt Russell!?

But John Carpenter is no David Cronenberg. I had somehow gotten them slightly confused in my brain: They’re both people starting in the 70s who’s done their share of horror and sci-fi films. But while Cronenberg is a Canadian film directory with a very particular style and point of view, Carpenter is an American director who just seems enthralled by the very idea of making a movie, any movie.

At least so far in this re-watch blog series.

I’m no Elvis connoisseur, but I don’t think they used Elvis’ vocals much when Kurt Russell is performing? And that’s just plain weird when it comes to a film about Elvis: No Elvis music. Didn’t they have the money to license the original recordings?

Russell is pretty fab as Elvis. I kinda doubt the historical veracity of the film, but it’s fun to watch.

It gets a bit boring around the two hour mark.

In other news, this is Priscilla Presley in 2014.

This post is part of the A Carpenter Winter series.

ACW1978: Someone’s Watching Me!

Someone’s Watching Me!. 1978.

This film was made before Halloween, but released after it, apparently. I thought it kinda strange that Carpenter would go from a smash hit like Halloween to making films for TV (it was shown on NBC), but that chronology makes more sense.

The version I watched is in 16:9, which is kinda odd for a TV film. Had is been chopped and cut? It looks good, though. So perhaps it was shown letterboxed originally?

(I forgot to order this film when I got all the other Carpenter films, so I’m watching this copy from illicit sources. But the DVD is on its way! Honest!)

Lauren Hutton stars as a very quirky woman (who talks to herself a lot, which is helpful in a film like this) being spied upon. Adrienne Barbeau plays the friend, so you’ve got me there already. It’s way better than you’d expect.

I think you can see a continuity in Carpenter’s competent heroines in the three last films: Laurie Zimmer in Assault on Precinct 13, Jamie Lee Curtis in Halloween, and Lauren Hutton in this one: They’re all smart, funny and kick ass (although usually from the position of sitting on the floor).

As with previous films, the cinematography is indifferent. But the characters are more clearly defined and the threat seems way more real (even if it’s kinda on the “oh really” side cumulatively).

It’s initially a really enjoyable film to watch, but it starts dragging around the one hour mark.

This post is part of the A Carpenter Winter series.

ACW1978: Halloween

Halloween. 1978.

As with most of these films, I’ve only seen them on VHS before. Man, the blu-ray transfers look fine. (And all of John Carpenter’s films seem to be available on blu-ray, which is pretty impressive (commercially) for a director.) The movie may have had a small budget, but Carpenter didn’t skimp on the film stock quality.

Aaaanyway. This is the film that started the slasher movie genre, I guess? All the tropes are here in the ur-text: If you have sex, you die; the unkillable semi-supernatural monster; the girl who survives. And the boobs, of course.

But what surprised me most here was how little I was affected. I scare easily, but long stretches of this I was just sitting here wondering why it’s not more scary. Part of the problem may be the sometimes totally cliched cinematography: The camera slides across the room and stops with the phone in the right-hand corner, and the phone then rings. It’s just kinda boring and “professional”.

This post is part of the A Carpenter Winter series.

ACW1976: Assault on Precinct 13

Assault on Precinct 13. 1976.

John Carpenter’s music is a definite draw. It’s kinda raw and has a vitality to it.

Anyway, I thought I had seen this before, but I think I must have been confusing this film with The Warriors or Fort Apache, The Bronx or something.

Some of the scenes are very stylish, some look like they come straight from 70s TV dramas, and some are just way way out there. It’s a strange mix, but it works.

For such a low-budget film, it has a lot of production value. And despite (or because?) the risible premise, it’s really exciting, with plenty of OH YEA DUDE moments. For better or worse.

It runs out of steam around the one hour mark, though.

This post is part of the A Carpenter Winter series.