A tale of two videos - The Pavement Walk: Massive Attack vs. The Verve

Massive Attack - Unfinished Sympathy

Massive Attack is a Production Team consistin of DJs Grant Evan Marshall, a.k.a. Daddy G or 'G', Andy Lee Isaac Vowles, a.k.a. Mushroom or 'Mush', and graffiti artist-turned-MC Robert Del Naja, a.k.a. 3D or 'D'. One of the first homegrown soundsystems in the UK, The Wild Bunch became dominant on the club scene of their native Bristol, England, in the mid-1980. Massive Attack used various vocalists on their compositions. Shara Nelson appears on Unfinished Sympathy.

The lyrics find Shara longing for her companion, but wary because she has been hurt before. This is a very innovative song in the electronic dance, sometimes called Trip-Hop, genre. The rhythm track is based on the bells found in Bob James' 1975 song 'Take Me To The Mardi Gras'. Unfinished Sympathy was released shortly after the first Gulf War started, and due to increased sensitivities, the band changed their name to Massive for a time, which is how they are listed on the single. The track was featured in the 1993 movie Sliver during a sex scene between Sharon Stone and William Baldwin.

THE VIDEO was directed by David Lynch, who is known for his TV series Twin Peaks. It is one continuous shot filmed on West Pico Boulevard between South New Hampshire Avenue and Dewey Avenue in LA and sees Sharon walking along the sidewalk, indifferent to her surroundings, which include drunks, gangs, and bikers.

Massive Attack - Unfinished Sympathy (1991)
CH#9, UK#13, DE#17



The Verve - Bittersweet Symphony

The Verve formed in 1990 in Wigan, England by lead vocalist Richard Ashcroft, Nick McCabe, Simon Jones, and Peter Salisbury. Simon Tong later became a member.

Bittersweet Symphony is based on music from an Andrew Loog Oldham adaptation of a Rolling Stones song 'The Last Time'. The track became famous for the legal controversy surrounding plagiarism charges: it was used without the permission by Nike in a shoe ad. The song was also used in a Vauxhall Motors advertisement and several of Opel, prompting Richard to declare onstage at their homecoming performance at Haigh Hall, Wigan, in May 1998: 'Don't buy Vauxhall cars, they're shit'.
The band were able to stop further use of the song by employing the European legal concept of moral rights.

THE VIDEO: The Verve made a similar video to Massive Attack's: it was directed by Walter A. Stern and focuses on Richard walking down a busy London pavement, refusing to change his stride or direction throughout, oblivious to what is going on around him as he repeatedly bumps into passers-by. The end of the video then leads into the beginning of the video for 'The Drugs Don't Work'.
Richard starts walking from the southeast corner of the crossroads of Hoxton Street and Falkirk Street in Hoxton, North London, subsequently proceeding north along the east side of Hoxton Street.
The British comedy band Fat Les would later release a direct parody for their 1998 song 'Vindaloo': Paul Kaye takes the role of an Ashcroft look-alike who is mocked by a growing group of passers-by as the video progresses.

The Verve - Bittersweet Symphony
UK#2, CAN#5, FIN#6, NOR#9, SWE#10, AUS#11, US#12, NL#14, AT#15, CH#15, NZ#15, FR#16, BE#18