after C86, V87

early in 1987 there was an advert in melody maker for a video, the proceeds of which would go to the shelter campaign for the homeless.
initial copies of the video were only available through the melody maker order form - a few months later the video was released through the cartel with a different cover. still for charity though if i remember right.

i think this video should be looked after and cherished like so many people cherish the "C86" cassette/LP.
think about the track listing of "C86" and then take a look at the track listing of this video:

john peel - introduction
shop assisitants - i don't wanna be friends with you
talulah gosh - talulah gosh
14 iced bears - balloon song (live footage)
pastels - crawl babies
big black - fish fry (live footage)
world domination enterprises - hotsy girl
sperm wails - lady chatterley
dragsters - i'm not an american
laugh - paul mccartney
3 action - i get around
close lobsters - never seen before
bmx bandits - what a wonderful world
bats - made up in blue
wedding present - you should always keep in touch with your friends
ac temple - ulterior
wolfhounds - cruelty
mctells - virginia mc
verlaines - doomsday
mighty lemon drops - out of hand
that petrol emotion - keen
jesus and marychain - never understand
membranes - kennedy 63 (live footage)
june brides - in the rain
chills - i love my leather jacket
telelvision personalities - the painted word
sonic youth - schizophrenia (live footage)
pigbros - excessive
janitors - wall star
pop will eat itself - sweet sweet pie
bambi slam - don't it make you feel
stump - buffalo
soup dragons - can't take no more
james taylor quartet - blow up


i loved this video at the time - i would watch it endlessly.
there was just so much there. so much music. so much everything.
seeing the shop assistants miming on top of a block of flats was amazing at the time, or seeing june brides' "in the rain" video.

the more i think about it, the more difficult it is to explain just what this video was like for me and my friends in a small town 1987.
we couldn't get to london regularly to check things out.
we could go to birmingham and manchester but the bands weren't always there.
we could of course buy the records and read the music press - when it covered this stuff - the press then as now is was more concerned with the big bands of the day.
so to get an idea about what these bands really looked like, how they dressed etc, this video was priceless.


AND the money went to a good cause.