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A friend of mine suggested that NO deliberatly chose to dress as hair metalers for that video, due to their popularity in America at the time, so it was a chance to gain popularity. He bases this idea on Hooky's comments that people actually thought they were hair metallers.
Also thinks the attack in the video is them linking violence with metal.
I think he's talking out of his arse, but any thoughts?
Your friend is wrong. The idea behind the video was just the band taking the piss on hair-metal bands, it's that simple. I remember reading an interview from that era where Steve (I think it was him) said something on the lines of "everytime we went to America there was nothing on MTV but these awful heavy metal bands, we were sick and tired of it". Quite frankly, the idea of New Order disguising as a metal band to widen their audience is ludicrous!
I'm sure it was a 'throw away' joke idea by Steven Morris and Rob Gretton reflecting the US version of MTV's perpetual showing of 'rock bands'.
I think the film clips are taken from a Kathryn Bigelow film if I remember correctly. She certainly directed the video to Touched By The Hand Of God anyway...
If I remember correctly from the 316 interview, Barney said that for awhile after they made that video, when they would come play in the States, some people would go to their concerts thinking that NO was a heavy metal band (based on seeing the video)...and then they would angrily demand their money back when they found out that NO was anything but. 
He's talking out of his arse.
New Order are notoriously known for not being calculating when it comes to promoting themselves, part of why I (and probably a fair few folk around here) like them so much. I'm inclined to believe they did it because they simply thought hair metal was shit, which is entirely plausable as it clearly is.
The whole video is a pisstake, reading anything further into it is ever so slightly anal.
P.S. Your friend isn't sticking up for hair metal is he? If so his opinions do deserve to be openly ridiculed!
I don't think that they chose to dress up as heavy metal blokes because they wanted to gain popularity in America. That is a bollocks theory. I think that they were simply satirising the genre and the genre's fashion.
Mr. Disco wrote: I believe the movie is from Beth B, not Kathy B...
Nope, Kathy B, not Beth B :)
Beth B directed "Salvation" (from which TBHOG was taken from), but none of the TBHOG video was from "Salvation".
Kathryn Bigelow directed the TBHOG footage (the car chase 'rape' scene) and this wasn't from one of her movies, but was exclusive to the video.
Barney said that the video was a piss on American MTV. Hooky said that after the video everyone thought they were a metal band and demanded their money back.
Nick King wrote:
Nope, Kathy B, not Beth B :)
Beth B directed "Salvation" (from which TBHOG was taken from), but none of the TBHOG video was from "Salvation".
Kathryn Bigelow directed the TBHOG footage (the car chase 'rape' scene) and this wasn't from one of her movies, but was exclusive to the video.
Yeah, thats what I meant 
The TBTHOG video is class - it's a fooking hoot!
And the band actually modelled their look on THIS mob of all people - the resemblance is uncanny ....
L-R - Hooky, Barney, Steve, Gillian ('s true!! look at the vieo again!!)
It was probably funny at the time but real fans surely dismiss it as a novelty blip in an other wise cool history.
Love's got the World in motion...
The Shedkeeper wrote: Fiat Mirafiori
I'm surprised the rust bucket made it through the filming!
Super Ally wrote:
The Shedkeeper wrote: Fiat Mirafiori
I'm surprised the rust bucket made it through the filming!
i used to own one and wich was the same colour around the time of the video .weird
The Shedkeeper wrote:
Super Ally wrote:
The Shedkeeper wrote: Fiat Mirafiori
I'm surprised the rust bucket made it through the filming!
i used to own one and wich was the same colour around the time of the video .weird
Never saw them together either I bet?!
thescene with Barney going behind Stephen and thumbing up was a homage to Bon Jovis` videos around Slippery...as told to my then bird backstage at GMex Dec 1988 by Gretton
I'm surprised people even took this seriously. Especially because the song is clearly synthpop and Barney does a "guitar solo" when there is none in the instrumentation.
This blue-eyed boy that wants to be wrote: I'm surprised people even took this seriously. Especially because the song is clearly synthpop and Barney does a "guitar solo" when there is none in the instrumentation.
I certainly agree.
Besides, Barney doesn't even look convincing as those metal rocker people in the video...how could anybody back in the 80s think that they were really metal? (With "Touched by the hand of God" playing?)
leather_girl wrote:
This blue-eyed boy that wants to be wrote: I'm surprised people even took this seriously. Especially because the song is clearly synthpop and Barney does a "guitar solo" when there is none in the instrumentation.
Maybe they thought they were progressive metal?
