Matt Johnson in The The’s “This Is the Day” video
The The mastermind Matt Johnson for years so disliked the music video for the band’s iconic 1983 single “This Is the Day” that he says he insisted it be “withdrawn and banned from circulation.”
Now, some 40 years later, he’s softening his stance, and, in conjunction with the song’s appearance on the soundtrack to the just-released “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” he’s finally uploaded the Tony Dow-directed video — in sparkly 4K quality, no less — to The The’s official YouTube channel.
Johnson writes, in a message posted to Facebook earlier today, that he finally “can see the funny side of it — particularly my haircut and the way I’m self-consciously skulking around.”
Here’s are Johnson’s comments on the video:
“For many years I insisted this video be withdrawn and banned from circulation as I was so unhappy with it — the end result didn’t turn out at all like the director, Tony Dow, said it would. (Ironically, Tony, a lovely man, went on to make his name as the director of the British comedy sitcom Only Fools And Horses!). At the age of 21, I didn’t know the difference between film and video (on which this was shot). Because I was so disappointed with the video for ‘This Is The Day’, in future I insisted I would only shoot music videos on film. One of the next videos I made was with Tim Pope in NYC, shot on 35mm and probably my all-time favourite: ‘Out Of The Blue (into the fire)’. Videos like that are the ones that truly reflected how I felt and what my music was trying to express. But, as the years have advanced, my feelings towards the video for ‘This Is The Day’ have softened somewhat and I can see the funny side of it — particularly my haircut and the way I’m self-consciously skulking around! More poignantly, all my immediate family are in it; only two of us are now left, so for that purpose alone it’s worth re-viewing.”
And now check out the video for “This Is the Day” — off The The’s Soul Mining — in all its splendor:
PREVIOUSLY ON SLICING UP EYEBALLS
- The The to release new 7-inch single “$1 One Vote” later this month
- The The releases news DJ Food remix of “NakedSelf” track “Global Eyes”
- The The announces ‘Comeback Special’ live album and film — watch ‘Sweet Bird of Truth’
- Listen to The The’s new single ‘I Want 2 B U’ — it’s reminiscent of ‘This Is the Day’
- The The’s Matt Johnson pens moving tribute to late father: ‘It has been a privilege to be his son’
- The The plays first show in 16 years, opens ‘Comeback Special’ with career-spanning set
