SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES – "FIREWORKS" (Promo video, 1982)
- 5 years ago
After the recording of "FIREWORKS" at Surrey Sound studios during 19-24 September 1981 with Nigel Gray as the producer, the filming of its promo video followed [some time between 25 and 29 September 1981 (tbc)] once again by video director Clive Richardson. The venue for the filming was the 19th-century Witley Park Estate in Surrey, between Godalming & Haslemere, formerly known as Lea Park.
On a small concrete platform, built just behind the back of Neptune’s statue in the middle of Thursley Lake in the park, and still wet from the antecedent pouring, the band performed for the promo video during the night for maximum effect. The final result is a straight performance piece, with the band playing their instruments while any amount of fireworks explode and shower down on upon them with Siouxsie even finding time to wave a couple of sparklers about. But due to the wind, the fireworks were just covered up by smoke and obscured and there was also an accident with the technical man in charge of the pyrotechnics , who was injured with burns on his face, so the whole project didn't go as planned and ended up being regarded quite unsatisfactory by the band, thus was eventually rejected.
Fast forward on 22nd April 1982 with the re-recorded version of the song ready, now produced by Mike Hedges, and with the initial attempt for its video cut short due to the pyro guy's accident back in the autumn of 1981, the need for a new video emerged. Due to budget restrictions apparently, additional footage of just the band members was decided to be filmed instead [some time in late April to early May 1982 (tbc) at an unspecified location], and the newly filmed scenes were subsequently incorporated into the earlier version of the promo video from the previous year to stunning effect!
"FIREWORKS" was eventually released as a stand-alone single on Friday, 21 May 1982 in the UK. It entered the UK Top100 Singles chart on 29 May 1982 at #37 and stayed for a total of six weeks peaking at #22 on 05 June 1982, before exiting for good on 03 July 1982 last seen at #48.
On a small concrete platform, built just behind the back of Neptune’s statue in the middle of Thursley Lake in the park, and still wet from the antecedent pouring, the band performed for the promo video during the night for maximum effect. The final result is a straight performance piece, with the band playing their instruments while any amount of fireworks explode and shower down on upon them with Siouxsie even finding time to wave a couple of sparklers about. But due to the wind, the fireworks were just covered up by smoke and obscured and there was also an accident with the technical man in charge of the pyrotechnics , who was injured with burns on his face, so the whole project didn't go as planned and ended up being regarded quite unsatisfactory by the band, thus was eventually rejected.
Fast forward on 22nd April 1982 with the re-recorded version of the song ready, now produced by Mike Hedges, and with the initial attempt for its video cut short due to the pyro guy's accident back in the autumn of 1981, the need for a new video emerged. Due to budget restrictions apparently, additional footage of just the band members was decided to be filmed instead [some time in late April to early May 1982 (tbc) at an unspecified location], and the newly filmed scenes were subsequently incorporated into the earlier version of the promo video from the previous year to stunning effect!
"FIREWORKS" was eventually released as a stand-alone single on Friday, 21 May 1982 in the UK. It entered the UK Top100 Singles chart on 29 May 1982 at #37 and stayed for a total of six weeks peaking at #22 on 05 June 1982, before exiting for good on 03 July 1982 last seen at #48.
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