Directing team Big TV! — directors Andy Delaney and Monty Whitebloom — walk us through two of their biggest music videos: Maroon 5 "Sunday Morning" and Lauryn Hill "Doo Wop (That Thing)."
And it should also be noted that Monty — who was kind enough to chat with us about these two gems — tells a good story.
Mony Whiteloom, Big TV! on...
Maroon 5 "Sunday Morning"
"Karaoke is our thing, we basically own it."
"We were in Shinjuku at the end of the last century and we stumbled across a small gentlemen’s club. It was poorly attended, mostly by men,but at one end of the bar was a small stage with a microphone Karaoke setup. We stayed there for eleven hours and rocked the house.
Andy is true to his Basildon roots and works the early up-tempo Depeche Mode with a smattering of Dr Feelgood, although they didn’t have none of that, thank God. I am old school and smash early Roxy Music, especially 'Pyjamarama' and anything by Sade.
We had never heard of Maroon 5, but were desperate to do something in a Karaoke style. So it was a perfect fit. Andy and myself are in the video; it is a contractual/ Hitchcock/British kind of 'ting'. I am dressed as a middle-aged businessman and Andy is rather fetching in a blonde wig and twin-set.
We used Ram Jam's 'Black Betty' for the playback a true crowd pleaser. Yo."
Lauryn Hill "Doo-Wop (That Thing)"
"The record company had seen some of the videos we had made for British artists Seal, Soul II Soul and the Happy Mondays, and wanted to get "those big black Big TV guys on the phone." When we arrived in New York a couple of weeks later, they got a big old shock, as two white public school boys shook everyone’s hands limply.
We enrolled in the Harlem Cultural Research Institute, across 110 Street, to do our research; they have the largest archive of 20th century African-American materials in the country. It was a blast and enabled us to achieve authentic clothes, art department, hair-cuts, dance styles etc for the 1960's scenes. We still are paid-up members of the institute and got the label a pass too.
Lauryn and her dreadlock Rasta posse, including her boyfriend Rohan Marley (Bob’s son), all stayed at Trump Tower for the whole shoot, which took place on-location in Spanish Harlem. We had to get six humidifiers installed to stop the smoke alarms and ‘Old Bill’ from showing up to their week-long party.
That’s how we roll. Boom"
NOTE: Big TV! are now represented for music videos by videostatic.com site sponsor Labuda Management
