Re: Don't Give Up Videos

[chrisw@wwa.com (Chris Williams)]

><< >From what I've read, there are also two videos to "Don't Give Up" (the
><< > duet with Peter Gabriel). I've only seen the "hug" version", though. >>
>
>The "hug" version is, in my opinion, one of the best video's ever made and
>the most phenomenal of all the videos in which Kate appears.  The use of the
>few simple, yet quite bold, colors is transcendentally beautiful.  This video
>is the epitome of simplicity in art and yet it somehow moves the viewer in a
>deep and powerful way.  

   Godley & Creme (the smarter half of 10cc) directed this. It was in 
response to a trend that they had started, of faster edits. They had
reached the limit with Whang Chung's "Everybody Have Fun Tonight"
by editing every single frame. So, for this song they had a static
camera, a single zoom in and back out and all "scene changes" accomplished
by rotating Peter and Kate. (Note the very discreet box Kate is standing
on.)

>After seeing the "hug" version, I was quite
>disappointed with the MTV version of Don't Give Up.  If you've seen the hug
>version, you do not need to see the MTV version.  (Then again, perhaps that's
>like saying, "If you've heard Hounds of Love, you don't need to hear Never
>for Ever"....which is just silly, to say the least!)  

   As near as I can figure, the record company executives figured they had
been "ripped-off" by Godley & Creme. "Dammit! I paid for edits! I want to
see edits!" I can't imagine that anyone with a soul could look at the original
video and not be moved...so the decision must have been made by someone
without a soul.


Chris Williams of
   Chris'n'Vickie of Chicago
      chrisw@wwa.com
"How perfectly goddamn delightful it all is, to be sure" - C. Crumb