The rejected video directed by Anton Corbijn
After I returned to the UK after living in Brussels, I was offered the role of running the UK/European office for Grand Royal Records/Beastie Boys in London from 1998 to 2001. During that time we signed At The Drive-In and the band released ‘Relationship of Command’ to global critical acclaim. For my personal career it was a life-changing experience that took up every minute of the day across a twelve-month plus period. On really busy days, I used to have to sleep in the office on a huge backdrop that the BBC made for us for the ‘Later…..with Jools Holland’ performance! Vek Maguire was my best-friend and work buddy during this time and he tried to keep me, and my huge ego, on the rails when the workload alongside the alcohol and drugs became too much at times.
To put a few things into context about the band and the campaign:
* we signed the band after I saw them play The Joiners Arms in Southampton on 7th April 2000 (promoted by Ian Binnington).
* the album first broke in the UK, followed by Europe before making an impact in the US.
* Within a few weeks from its release, ‘One Armed Scissor’ was single of the week in; NME, Sounds, Melody Maker, Kerrang! and most of the metal press. We also received huge support from Steve Lamacq (Radio 1) and Zane Lowe (XFM)
* between the single being released and the album coming out our independent distribution deal with Vital (and key European partners) was switched to a licensing deal with Virgin Records. In hindsight, this move did not meet the band’s, or the label’s, DIY attitude to the industry being handled by the same team that were also looking after Mariah Carey! Saying that, the individuals and team that we worked with at Virgin were hard-working, extremely dedicated and we made some lifelong friends during this time.
* in an extremely short space of time from the release of ‘One Armed Scissor’, the band started to sell out the venues that were booked for them across the UK and Europe. In London this grew from The Falcon > Underworld > Electric Ballroom > Astoria within a 15 month period.
* the band worked incredibly hard and their intense schedule contributed to their collective and individual wellbeing. We, as the label, must take a big slice of the blame for that.
* we built an incredible team around the band in the UK that supported the band and the label. This included Bad Moon Publicity (Anton, Sally, Sarah, Paddy & John), AJPR (Stuart), ITB Agency (Martin Horn), Virgin Records (Special Projects – Gavin, Lisa, Sarah, Lucie, Steve, Glenn, John, Orla & Paul).
* the band wanted the video to highlight the plight of the hundreds of people who had disappeared from Ciudad Juárez in Mexico over a seven-year period who were labelled as ‘The Disappeared’.
The UK team were allowed to lead with the singles after ‘One Armed Scissor’ and we decided to go with ‘Rolodex Propaganda (feat. Iggy Pop)’, followed by ‘Invalid Litter Dept.’ which was the standout choice of the critics. The band made a DIY video for ‘One Armed Scissor’ but a hectic schedule prevented us from making one for ‘Rolodex Propaganda’. When it came to ‘Invalid Litter Dept.’ we were at a key point of the campaign where it could go to the next level for the band’s profile. This included front covers for the NME and Kerrang!, a booking for Jools Holland and TFI Friday and a commitment from the BBC to do Top of the Pops. The band really didn’t want to make a video for the song but eventually relented after pressure from the US. Anton Corbijn was unanimously chosen to direct the video which I was personally really excited about. I was lucky enough to work on the Depeche Mode ‘Violator’ campaign (1990) when I was at Rough Trade Distribution and Anton had turned in some fabulous videos especially for ‘Personal Jesus’ and ‘Enjoy The Silence’. Obviously, beyond this Anton was globally renowned for his genius work as a photographer including the front cover for U2‘s ‘The Joshua Tree’ and was intrinsic to establishing the visual image of Joy Division.
The video itself was shot in Juárez in Mexico and everybody seemed to be happy with the results of the filming at the time. The video was edited and graded in post and was delivered to the band/management, US label and ourselves. Right from the start the band really didn’t like the video and the direction that Anton had taken it. They simply didn’t want it out there. After numerous calls with them trying to change their minds, the decision was made to reject this version of the video. Understandably, this didn’t go down well with Anton when we spoke with him. Later down the line, the band did use some of the footage from the video shoot to create their own edit which was used commercially. All of this happened as the band were in the throws of splitting up on the road, so the pressure was incalculable from all sides across a hectic touring itinerary, band fatigue and a heavy promo schedule. The band eventually split in Groningen in the Netherlands and we managed to get the band back to London and straight home to El Paso within 24 hours. The last time we saw the band all together, after the split, was at Jim Ward’s wedding in El Paso. Grand Royal didn’t last too long after this (Aug, 2001) but this band and album campaign had been a genuine highlight for me and my future career. I am so proud of what we achieved in such a short period of time.
We’re currently in the process of moving house and whilst I have been packing a lot of my archive I came across the original VHS tape of the rejected video and an MP4 file. I believe that it needs to be seen 25 years later. There is a very good chance that they’ll be a take down issued on this post, but this is a never before seen Anton Corbijn video that is part of a cultural legacy for many fans of the band. I hope that you like it and that the band (Cedric, Omar, Jim, Tony and Paul) can tolerate it being out there.
Feel free to add comments to this post to let me know what you think of the video.
Office & Jools photos by Vek Maguire
Editing pointers from Hardeep Phull
This is great. It’s pretty cool having a video made by Corbijn. I wasn’t sure about the band being pictured just standing there. Felt like it could have done with someone a little more dynamic like the band actually playing but maybe that was a bit obviously for Anton.
I still have an Invalid Litter Department sticker on my work locker that I probably got from an issue of the NME. I knew them before the Jools Holland appearance but that is still my favourite episode of Later.
I saw them at the Electric Ballroom which was a lot of fun though I was too far back to really get the best out of that night.
Thanks for sharing this.
Chops – thanks for the feedback. Vek & I were discussing the same thing last night about the band shots which seems to be very Anton. There’s magical moments in there and some great memories from the time. I’m going to write a separate blog post about the Jools performance as that was a memorable couple of days. The Electric Ballroom was a blast. Vek and I had to stand in the pit for some of the show as Jim came close to falling off the stage a couple of times! I had to run off straight after the show to witness the birth of my daughter. The band played TFI Friday the following day. Thanks so much for the feedback.