What’s the connection between Hanson (‘Mmm-Bop’ – mmm, tasty!) and Throbbing Gristle? Well, Peter ‘Sleazy’ Christopherson, one quarter of TG, directed the video for Hanson’s ‘I Will Come to You’. And yes, Sleazy’s vision of Hanson was darker than you might expect – and, according to Sleazy, would have been even darker had the Hanson boys had their way. That’s just one of the interesting facts I learned last Wednesday night at the Toff in Melbourne, when Sleazy showed some of his 1990s music videos and did a Q & A afterwards.
What is there left to say about Peter Christopherson? The man is avant-garde music royalty – he’s a member of TG, was a co-founder of Psychic TV and Coil – and now has a new project called the Threshold HouseBoys Choir. But he’s in Melbourne at the moment as the International Guest of MUFF8, and at The Toff he introduced a showreel of some of his own favourites amongst the many music videos which he has directed.
Fist up was Ice-T & Body Count with ‘Born Dead’. This was a hard-hitting, overtly political piece, in black & white, juxtaposing scenes of the band playing with a weird watery effect over the visuals, with footage of race riots and demonstrations. Then there was Nine Inch Nails’ ‘Wish’ – this featuring Trent Reznor in what looked suspiciously like a leather dress – the band playing in some kind of huge cage, with crazy moshing youths leaping around to the pulverising beats. This clip culminated with a mock hanging – don’t expect to see it on Rage anytime soon. The Hanson video was creepy – three blonde American boys overly emoting and using obvious rock ballad tropes – inserted into a bleak, grey world where a pouty goth femme wandered through crowded, rainy streets, until she met up with her beloved at the end (confession: I rather liked this one.) There was also a Robert Plant video for ‘Tall Cool One’, which featured Plant & band playing in a large gladiatorial pit, with various fire-brandishing people and angels swinging by. (By this time I was starting to think that Sleazy had a sadistic streak, and he enjoyed putting his clients into physically constricting spaces – but really, would that surprise you, given his musical CV?) But perhaps the piece de resistance was the clip for Ministry’s ‘Just One Fix’. Sleazy had created a harrowing tale of heroin abuse and withdrawal, with shots of pretty, clean-cut junkies intercut with the scuzzy Al Jourgensen & co – all topped off with a scene-stealing cameo from William Burroughs.
But there was one – well, two – glaring omission(s). Peter – where oh where were the clips from TG and Coil? Sleazy did tease us with a mention of the forthcoming TG DVD box set – “Out just in time for Christmas,” he quipped – but it was a letdown not to see anything from either of his best-known bands.
Sleazy then took a few questions from the small but appreciative audience. He opined that very few people buy CD’s nowadays, with many consumers preferring to pay for digital downloads instead (the fools.) He then asked for a show of hands as to how many people had bought a CD within the last six months – and nearly everyone put a hand up. Sleazy said that we were indeed a most cultured, intelligent bunch.
[Kudos to MUFF Director Richard Wolstencroft for bringing Peter Christopherson to Melbourne. Now – when do we get a TG live performance?]
Ewan Burke
