2 May - Gareth Thomas did recording work at Glasgow University dressed as a
Judge on a video single 'Legal Man' for the band Belle and Sebastian,
appearing with "two belly dancers, a couple of transvestites, two 'dandies',
and a girl with a python" in a set based on Soho gentlemen's club circa 1967.
source - Belle and
Sebastian's website.All pictures expand to larger images.
The video is around 2 minutes long and if you have cable/satellite TV and watch the music channels for long enough you'll be bound to catch it! To help you, look out for: 'Long Play' on Sky TV - it will be shown every day as a 'new release' the week of 22nd May (it's a late night/early hours of morning show); It will also be getting 5 plays a week on MTV Channel, specifically on Tuesday nights between 11pm and 1am on the 'Alternative Nation' show. It's been shown on the Jo Whiley Show on 17th May and also Video Tech on 11th May (both Channel 4). Airtimes source - Horizon.
The following is from the diary section of the Belle and Sebastian web site
It was all shot in Glasgow University's very own University
Union, in the Reading Room, which had been successfully
transformed into a Soho gentlemen's club circa 1967. A very
good place to shoot a video too, with such fine catering and
cheap drink so close to hand.
Back to the budget, it became increasingly obvious as the day
wore on that there are several pro's and con's associated with
increasing the budget of a video, as compared with the el-cheapo
method. On the plus side, you end up with something that
definitely looks more 'professional', which won't look quite so
out of place next to the 'professional' looking videos you tend to
get on the telly. It gives a boost, no matter how small, to the local
film industry (most of whom are now friends with Richard,
whose girlfriend is a big player in film costume cirlces). And it
also gives you more of a chance to get dressed up to the nines,
and get fussed over by the girls in costume and make-up. On the
down side, it certainly is more impersonal, you feel much more
part of the machine, a cog in the engine, an entry on the schedule.
It's more like work, less like fun with your mates. And it could be
considered by some as 'selling out'. Whatever, it's done, the
spools are off to be processed, Isobel is off to edit it, and I for one
am looking forward to seeing the final product.
Mick Cooke