Mercury Rev videos
These are Mercury Rev VHS videos that have been officially
released, though I believe these are all promotional-only. As far as I know,
there are currently no plans for the band to release a commercial compilation
video with all their videos, and it's unlikely there will be in the future.
Sony owns the rights to the pre-Deserter's Songs videos, so it would
be tricky for V2 (or other labels) to acquire them. But you never know...
CAR WASH HAIR, CHASING A BEE, SOMETHING FOR JOEY (CLEAN), SOMETHING FOR
JOEY (DIRTY), BRONX CHEER
COLUMBIA RECORDS, NTSC
Doesn't have any sort of box/sleeve just has a red sticker on the front of the
tape which says "Mercury Rev - Compilation Reel" followed by the track
listing and record company name at the bottom.
CAR WASH HAIR: Producation Company: TV Eye / Oil Factory, Producer/Director:
TV Eye, Editor: G. Snider, Date: 27th January 1993. Time: 4:46, Colour, Band
members featured: All (who were in the band in 1993). A girl gets out of a car
at a garage and goes into the toilets. We then see the male garage attendant
pull back some curtains and begin to spy on her. There is blurry footage of
the same girl dancing in a wedding dress and the video is interspersed with
very short negative-coloured scenes featuring the band in the snow with some
llamas. In the end the garage attendant is dressed like a witch-doctor and dances
in the car wash.
CHASING A BEE: Producer/Director/Editor: Jim Springer and Jens Jurgensen, Date:
2nd November 1992. Time: 5:59, Part b/w, part colour, Band members featured:
David Baker, Jonathan, Grasshopper, Suzanne. Mostly features Baker singing with
a chimp but there are lots of other images such as a man in a cow suit, Baker
singing to flowers, Grasshopper playing guitar, Jonathan singing (wearing a
funny woolly hat), Jonathan playing the trumpet, some semi-naked girls dancing
and pouring water/mud on Baker, someone wearing a gas mask tangled in wire,
Suzanne playing the flute and Jonathan playing the guitar.
SOMETHING FOR JOEY: Three different versions of the "Something For Joey" video
were made. It was rather controversial because it juxtaposed footage of kids
playing in a park, with footage of the band performing in some sort of rocketship
with a bunch of horny porn stars around them (several topless women, plus Ron
Jeremy. "He wanted two hundred bucks, so that’s what we paid him.") Also
featured in the video is porn star Ashley Dey. According to the press release,
Ron plays "a goofy futuristic Adonis" while Dey plays "Ron's interstellar dream-girl."
A "clean version" was made by imposing a star logo over the womens' nipples.
Apparently, the parents of the children in the video were outraged at the final
product and threatened to sue. Consequentially, the video was re-done with child
mannequins talking the place of the kid footage. This third version is the rarest,
however, and does not appear on this tape. But there likely exists a promo video
for it, as it was shown on the Playboy Channel at least once (a taped copy has
made the rounds with fans).
It's rumored that the "Joey" the something is for is Joey Buttafuoco, the guy
who had a fling with an under-aged girl named Amy Fisher, who later shot Joey's
wife, causing a media circus in the early 90s. So anyway, that might explain the kids/sex concept of the video.
There were also a book and a movie titled Something For Joey released in
the late 70s, based on the relationship between Penn State football player John
Cappelletti and his cancer-stricken younger brother Joey. Doesn't seem to have
any significance to the Rev song/video besides the title. See
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076738/ for more info on the film.
BRONX CHEER
BEGGARS BANQUET ARENA, PAL
White card sleeve, white stickers on the front and side of the tape with the
"Arena" logo and "Mercury Rev Bronx Cheer Beggars Banquet"
typed on them. Producation Company: Riviera Films Inc, Director/Editor: Jim
Springer and Jens Jurgensen, Producer: Suzanne Coldwell, Online Editor: Charles
Bruner, Date: 8th July 1993. Time: 2.47, Colour, Band members featured: Jonathan,
David Baker, Grasshopper, Suzanne. Takes place in a kids' playground. Jonathan
sings (surrounded by the kids) whilst wearing water-wings, Baker gets tied up,
Grasshopper jumps up and down a lot with the kids who wear animal masks, play
fake guitars and smash them up. Some sort of lizard scurries along at the end.
This video can also be found on Columbia Digital Pop #003 sampler VHS.
YOUNG MAN'S STRIDE, CAR WASH HAIR, CHASING A BEE
THE WORK GROUP, NTSC
This one has a plain white card sleeve and the tape has a white sticker on the
front with the track listing and record company name. Its looped so plays a
few times.
The Young Man's Stride video was directed by Moby (yeah, that Moby),
so that hyped it a little bit. It got some play on MTV's 120 Minutes. The gist
of the video consists of the band performing in a small club. A fan who was
in the audience had this to say: "it was cool, but it was pretty boring.
Imagine watching Mercury Rev lip sync Young Man's Stride 40 times in a shitty
little club. The novelty wore off after like an hour. and Moby seemed like a
conceited prick."
- Time 2.49 Colour, Band members featured: All (who were in the band in 1995).
DESERTER'S SONGS PROMOTIONAL FILM
BMG, NTSC
This has a black card sleeve and white stickers on the front and side of the
tape. It says "V2 Records, Mercury Rev. Deserter's Songs Promotional Film
47.23". Editor: Michael Mass, A film by James & Alex. It consists of the
weird arty films they made to go with DS, one for each track and in the same
order as on the album, (they are the same videos that used to be available on
the old Bugjuice website).
OPUS 40 (SFX VERSION) AUSTRALIAN BOXED SET WITH PICTURE SLEEVE (WITH DESERTERS
SONGS DOUBLE CD SET) [picture]
V2 SHOOTING STAR, PAL
The sleeve is white card and when it opens up there are 2 compartments, one
for the video and one for the CD. The tape has just one sticker on the side
with title,V2 and shooting star logos. Director: Anton Corbijn, Producer: Richard
Bell, Date: 16th April 1999. Time: 3:34, b/w, Band members featured: Jonathan,
Grasshopper, Adam Snyder, Jeff Mercel, Justin Russo, Jayson Russo. Very arty
and shot in black and white - and the band get to dress up! Jonathan wears a
kind of space suit or divers suit with a goldfish bowl type helmet and has long
fingernails and pointed ears. Adam is a wizard and Justin is a priest. Jonathan
sings to a blond woman who seems unable to move at first, but then comes to
life. He later pours water on her with a watering can (as if watering a flower)
and it ends with the band holding sparklers which are reflected in Jonathan's
eyes.
OPUS 40 (SCRATCHY VERSION)
V2 TELECINE, PAL
With plastic see-through sleeve, and stickers on the front and side with the
Telecine logo, date, artist name and track name. There doesn't seem to be much,
if any, difference between the "scratchy" and the "SFX"
versions of the video. I assume it has something to do with the audio.
DELTA SUN BOTTLENECK STOMP
V2 TELECINE, PAL
With plastic see-through sleeve, and stickers on the front and side with the
Telecine logo, date, artist name and track name. Director: Steve Hanft, Producer:
Corina Conti, Date: 29th December 1998. Time: 3:04, Colour, Band members featured:
Jonathan, Grasshopper, Adam Snyder, Jeff Mercel, Justin Russo, Jayson Russo.
It starts with Jonathan sitting a table, singing into a spoon whilst swirly
circles come out of his eyes. Grasshopper is seen in a pink suit at the side
of a road with a dog and guitar. (The video keeps cutting to footage of the
whole band riding some little motor bikes around a track.) Grasshopper eventually
gets picked up by a car driven by a frog. Meanwhile Adam is on the beach and
uncovers a buried radio which beams a signal into outer space which somehow
causes an inflatable motor boat to appear on the beach. Jeff, Adam, Justin and
Jayson take the boat out on the sea and are then joined by Grasshopper and then
by Jonathan. The video ends with the band "sailing" down the road in the motor
boat into the sun (which has a big face) and passing floating lightbulbs on
the way.
LIVE PERFORMANCES TFI FRIDAY AND NME AWARDS
V2 TELECINE, PAL
With plastic see-through sleeve, and stickers on the front and side with the
Telecine logo, date, artist name and track name. This has them on TFI Friday
doing "Delta Sun" and also the Astoria Jan 1999 footage, but only
"Tonite It Shows" and "Holes" are shown. It doesn't include
"Opus 40" which aired on UK TV with the other two songs.
GODDESS ON A HIWAY (NO GUN VERSION)
V2 TELECINE, PAL
With plastic see-through sleeve, and stickers on the front and side with the
Telecine logo, date, artist name and track name. It's probably fair to assume
that there is also a promo video for the other Goddess video where the band
go fishing but I haven't seen one yet.
(NO GUN VERSION) - Producer: Richard Bell, Date: 21st June1999. Time: 3:40,
Colour, Band members featured: Jonathan, Grasshopper, Adam Snyder, Jeff Mercel,
Justin Russo, Jayson Russo. This begins with Jonathan walking along in the Catskills
carrying a gun (which is blanked out with a black rectangle in this version).
A cop sees him and chases him on a horse, taking the gun from him. Jonathan
then walks backwards to a small wooden hut where he paints some minature Statues
of Liberty gold. He then takes one and places it on the roof of his car. The
rest of the band (minus Grasshopper) put some more of them on. Driving along,
Jonathan passes a sign which reads "America" and passes the cops again (the
one seen earlier and now also Grasshopper). The cops give chase, Grasshopper
gets to eat a chocolate doughnut and when they catch up with Jonathan the first
cop knocks some of the statues off the car roof and gives him a US flag. After
Jonathan gets back into the car, Grasshopper knocks some more statues off of
the car roof with his baton.
(FISHING TRIP VERSION) - [No info on directors and stuff] Colour, Band members
featured: Jonathan, Grasshopper, Adam Snyder. This version is available via
cd-rom on the Goddess On A Hiway cd single (second release, CD2). It begins
with the three of them hiking in the woods and they set up camp near a lake
and carry a canoe to the shore. Jonathan rows out and fishes while Adam and
Grasshopper cook some beans. Jonathan sings some of the words to the song whilst
fishing in the boat. There are some underwater scenes and it ends with Adam
and Grasshoppper looking out at the empty boat on the lake. Was filmed in the
Catskills.
THE DARK IS RISING
V2 TELECINE, PAL
With plastic see-through sleeve, and stickers on the front and side with the
Telecine logo, date, artist name and track name. Director: Tony Van Den Ende,
Producer: Andy Leahy, Date: 2nd December 2001, Time: 3:57, Colour, Band members
featured: Jonathan, Grasshopper, Jeff Mercel. Set against the backdrop of a
beautiful orange sky, the use of colours in this video is extraordinary. Every
colour seems larger than life giving it a very cinematic, sort of "Gone With
The Wind" type feel. It begins with Jonathan staring at a picture whilst Jeff
and Grasshopper are walking along carrying some bags which looks like medical
doctors' bags. There is a storm and some leaves blow up at them. Jonathan sings
the song and walks with a stick along a rickety wooden bridge while Jeff and
Grasshopper unpack the bags which, it turns out, contain lots of weird and wonderful
pieces of optical equipment, telescopes, gyroscopes, and planetary models. They
use the telescopes to look at a mountain and at the moon and Jonathan sings
whilst two blurry orange figures dance in the background. It end with the moon
rising.
NITE AND FOG
V2 TELECINE, PAL
This one has a cover, although it looks pretty amateur like it was done on a
computer printer, and the title for the spine doesn't line up! The picture is
the same as on the CD single and there is an Alan James PR sticker on the back
with info on the release date, album and forthcoming tour. The stickers on the
actual tape are the same format as all the other V2 Telecine promo videos. Production
Company: Serious Pictures, Director: Luke Losey, Date: 18th August 2001, Time:
3:56, Colour, Band members featured: Jonathan, Grasshopper, Jeff Mercel. This
video takes place in a forest with the three band members sitting in a circle.
They look like they are playing some kind of game with stones/crystals (could
be a reading of runes or something). Jeff and Grasshopper look like they are
dressed as characters from Arthurian legend whilst Jonathan looks like a kind
of magician or wizard, in fact rather like Puddleglum from The Chronicles of
Narnia, with a long beard and a black hat, and lots of snakes hissing around.
There are two masked creatures, the masks are perhaps meant to be the Egyptian
god Thoth and there are lots of strange objects dangling from the trees such
as scissors and magnifying glasses. The hood later falls from one the "creatures"
and it is revealed as a vampire girl. The Kabbalistic tree of life symbol features
throughout the video and a model of it is shown on a tree at the end.
ALL IS DREAM PROMOTIONAL FILM
Similar to the film for Deserter's Songs mentioned above, with arty videos
for each track on the album. There are some interesting films on there, but
the band aren't in any of them. Also a lot of the films don't seem to fit the
music very well. With the DS one there was much more of a link between the individual
films and the track they were played to, but this one seems a bit thrown together.
MOVING ON
(From the "In a Funny Way" UK dvd single)
Shot of some trees in winter sunlight followed by an amplifier's output lights
flicking up and down, a keyboard and some stones in a stream. Then we see the
band in the studio, Jeff on drums, Grasshopper on the keyboards and Jonathan on
guitar. Jeff and Grasshopper sing into a microphone, then we see the stream,
trees and amplifier again, more similar studio shots, the stream again, Jeff and
G singing into the mike again and then it ends with water running over stones in
the stream.
DOWN POURED THE HEAVENS
(From the "In a Funny Way" UK dvd single)
Begins with lots of coloured lights, and we see Grassy flicking switches and
Jonathan's head in red light. Then we see some piano hammers striking strings
and Jeff tapping the strings of his guitar with a slide. Grasshopper is seen
playing the keyboard again and then Jonathan sings, (the shot is similar i.e in
red light) and as the song ends he slowly closes his eyes.
video compilations
Columbia Records Alternative College Reel -- 1992 Columbia/Teletronics
VHS video
includes: "Chasing A Bee"
Columbia Digital P.O.P. #005 -- VHS hi-fi stereo sampler
includes: "Something For Joey" video
BMG Alternative Reel - Spring/Summer '99 -- promo VHS video
includes: "Goddess on a Hiway" video
(this page was mostly written by the wonderful Amanda. thanks Amanda!)
