Word is/was that Beyoncé was filming a secret-y video (save for the million cops) last night on St. Mark's Place or something. We haven't really looked into this one or tried to find photographic evidence.
But! This news did, rather unfortunately, perhaps, remind us of Billy Joel's "A Matter of Trust" video shot on St. Mark's circa 1986. (We wrote about this back in August 2008. Same counsel as then, per Alex at Flaming Pablum: "Best to turn the sound down…" Though it is your morning.)
Any way that Beyoncé can top this extravaganza?
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
17 comments:
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What's wrong with this video and song? It's a great song musically, lyrically, and production-wise. Billy Joel invited people off the street to be in it - I doubt Beyonce did that. It may quite possibly be the only film trace of St.Mark's Place outside of movies. I thought it was very spontaneous and free-for-all. Billy Joel played small clubs in Manhattan before he broke big.
ReplyDeleteLet's have fun and list movies and videos which have featured St.Mark's Place. I'll start with Joe, Desperately Seeking Susan, Die Hard With A Vengeance (as you could see it from the distance even though the action was really on Avenue A and inside Tompkins Square Park), and a movie with James Spader (?) playing a young writer who falls for a waitress played by Susan Sarandon (??? name.)
D
... and let's not forget the UPTOWN GIRL video... shot at the Gulf station (now Bowery Bar) at 4th & Bowery...
ReplyDeletealso that terrible (can't even remember the name) Stones video shot at the bar that used to be on the SE corner of 1st ave & St Marks
To be more precise, Stones video for waiting in a friend was filmed on a stoop on St Marks - the physical graffiti building I think. At the end of the video, band plays at bar at SE corner of St Marks and Ave A. Stones stayed and played until 4am I've heard.
ReplyDeleteThe Stones video was actually very cool and the name of the bar was just the St.Marks bar on First Avenue.
ReplyDeleteIf Beyoncé were where she is now in 1986, would she have shot a video here in 1986?
ReplyDeleteAnyhoo, [posted this in The New York Nobody Sings blog] Cypress Hill's "How I Could Just a Kill A Man" 1991 video has shots of The Alamo, The Astor Riviera Cafe (now Starbucks)-- basically Astor Place before the construction of the now fully operational Death Star -- along with Times Sq. Harlem, etc.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1d3vk_cypress-hill-how-i-could-just-kill_music
How in heavens could anyone label Waiting on a Friend "terrible"??? Keith's acting alone make it one of the top 5 vids of all time, let alone the location!
ReplyDelete@ Spike
ReplyDeleteMick's shirt-hat combo make it one of the top 5 vids of all time!
There is an interesting video by Sheryl Lee Ralph (stared on Broadway in Dreamgirls) shot on St. Marks (and other parts of the neighborhood) from 1984.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8mKPp9_ogA
Where on St. Mark's was this video made?
ReplyDeleteThe very moving (and funny) film with Robin Williams as a Russian defector during the Cold War, "Moscow on the Hudson", has various local scenes, including the old St Mark's Theatre. A great film, highly recommended.
ReplyDelete- East Villager
The blue building was the former Polish National home, later the club Dom and an Andy Warhol scene called The Electric Circus where the Velvet Underground (R.I.P. Lou Reed) frequently played.
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_Circus_(nightclub)
The building had fallen into disrepair with the roof collapsing by the 2000s and was demolished to make way for James Bond's penthouse lair.
- East Villager
A couple articles on that location, 19-25 St Mark's Place"
ReplyDeleteWhat an Electrifying Past: 19-25 St. Marks Place
http://gvshp.org/blog/2011/09/29/what-an-electrifying-past-19-25-st-marks-place/
Polish National Home (Ephemeral New York):
http://ephemeralnewyork.wordpress.com/tag/polish-national-home/
- East Villager
Also a Times article on the building:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nytimes.com/1998/11/08/realestate/streetscapes-19-25-st-marks-place-eclectic-life-row-east-village-houses.html?src=pm
- East Villager
I can't stand Billy Joel but I love this video.
ReplyDeleteI moved into the EV in 1987 so this resonates with me. The street characters look legit, with the exception of the lady shouting "shut up" -- she seems strictly post-production/central casting to me.
oh, and Christie looks to pre-crazy and cute......
Yeah VH it looked like Billy Joel was just like "anyone can be in this, fuck costumes and what you do" which would be unheard of in 2013.
ReplyDeleteUptown Girl was shot on the Bowery huh? Cool, even cooler since the theme of the song is a downtown man courting an uptown girl and Bowery is about as downtown as one could get geographically and mentally haha. So Billy got his location right.
It's weird that there hasn't been much if any videos/movies with St.Mark's Place in them after the '80s. You'd think Lady Gaga, Miley Cyrus, or even Madonna (of all people) would've done a video there for their wackiness.
D
Well we'll always have Edina and Patsy circa 1995:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVlL7Cfea7I
jump to 8:02 if you must!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/binky-philips/billy-joel-shoots-a-video_b_2791315.html
ReplyDelete