Music Video
The music video was based on Michael Caine's film The IPCRESS File and featured a light bulb being shot as seen in the title sequence from the television spy series Callan. Due to the fact that it was shot on 35mm film (as opposed to the 16mm regularly used), the video took longer to complete than usual. It is because of this that Mike Barson is absent for much of the video. Barson had a plane to catch, and could not stay for the whole filming session.
The video is more serious than most Madness videos up to that point, with only two notably "wacky" moments in the entire music video. The first of these is near the beginning when Mike Barson plays the first few bars on the piano (behind a movie-style credit scroll),before leaving it to play by itself. The second is near the end of the song, as Lee Thompson mimes his saxophone solo using only his hand, with his thumb as the mouthpiece.
At the time of release it was rumoured that Suggs had already left the band to pursue a solo career and it had not yet been released to the music press. This seemed confirmed when is absent for most of the music video, until he appears at the end singing backing vocals.
Read more about this topic: Michael Caine (song)
Famous quotes containing the words music and/or video:
“Morning work! By the blushes of Aurora and the music of Memnon, what should be man’s morning work in this world?”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“We attempt to remember our collective American childhood, the way it was, but what we often remember is a combination of real past, pieces reshaped by bitterness and love, and, of course, the video past—the portrayals of family life on such television programs as “Leave it to Beaver” and “Father Knows Best” and all the rest.”
—Richard Louv (20th century)