World of Blue - Archived Forum 2007-2022

I've just finished reading a book about the band Sparks and it says that the video for their song "I Predict" was directed by David Lynch. I don't recall seeing this mentioned in any of my Lynch books. Does anyone know for sure whether he directed it?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lTVohhONFg

Yes, it is true! Mr. Lynch directed this video. It was intended to be aired on MTV, but it never saw the light of day since the lead singer's Hitler-esque mustache evidently crossed some kind of line for them. I'm surprised it has resurfaced. I am also surprised that it has never appeared in any of the literature on Lynch. This would have been done after "Elephant Man" and before "Dune," around the time he may have been trying to get "Ronnie Rocket" off the ground. Interesting personal reference to the "Eraserhead" stage-set, as well as signature electrical and smoke motifs.

Many thanks for the info. I wonder if this is Lynch's earliest pop video.
(Incidentally the lead singer is Russell. Ron is the keyboard player/ strip-teaser with the Hitler moustache!)
What is the source of your information? I've only seen the Lynch connection mentioned in the Sparks book "No. 1 Songs In Heaven" by Dave Thompson and comments on Youtube (though someone else thinks it was directed by David Byrne!)

From Allmusic:

"It took them 12 years, 11 albums, and six different record labels, but they'd finally done it. On May 15, 1982, Sparks entered the Billboard Top 100 for the first time in their career, with what Russell Mael later claimed was "our ode to the National Enquirer." And it might just be; a series of increasingly surreal predictions include such gems as "they're gonna find the Queen is a man," "cold beer and pretzels take care of cancer," "they're gonna stop Saturday night," and, most absurd of them all, "this song will fade out" -- of course, it promptly stops dead. Drawn from the critically acclaimed Angst in My Pants album and built around a furious new wave-inflected rhythm, this most determinedly daft but oddly convincing rampage soared no higher than number 60 on the American chart (longtime observers could probably have predicted that as well). Its progress, however, was surely retarded by MTV's refusal to screen the accompanying video; directed by David Lynch, the shoot took place in a cabaret-style nightclub, with a corset-and-stockings-clad Ron performing a slow, seductive striptease. Sparks' fans had long grown accustomed to the keyboard player's passing resemblance to a certain Adolf Hitler. MTV was less understanding. A live version of "I Predict," recorded in Hollywood in 1985, was subsequently included on Sparks' Heaven and Hell compilation."

Thanks. How reliable is that site though? It seems very surprising that the information hasn't reached any Lynch reference works.
Someone on the Sparks forum posted this:
"I remember reading on the old version of the Sparks site (or maybe on Fan Mael?) that the video was not directed by Lynch, but was directed by someone who had been the cinematographer on some Lynch films. (I believe Blue Velvet was mentioned, which would make the director Frederick Elmes)."
I think I'll see if anyone on the Twin Peaks Gazette forum has any further info.
I suppose the only way to know for sure is to ask Lynch or Sparks. If the band do a signing session in the UK for their next album "The Seduction Of Ingmar Bergman" I might go along and ask them...

Robin Davies wrote:Thanks. How reliable is that site though? It seems very surprising that the information hasn't reached any Lynch reference works.
Someone on the Sparks forum posted this:
"I remember reading on the old version of the Sparks site (or maybe on Fan Mael?) that the video was not directed by Lynch, but was directed by someone who had been the cinematographer on some Lynch films. (I believe Blue Velvet was mentioned, which would make the director Frederick Elmes)."
I think I'll see if anyone on the Twin Peaks Gazette forum has any further info.
I suppose the only way to know for sure is to ask Lynch or Sparks. If the band do a signing session in the UK for their next album "The Seduction Of Ingmar Bergman" I might go along and ask them...

Any confirmation if this video IS Lynch work?

Some sources also says that Lynch directed Massive Attack "Unfinished Sympathy" but it was directed by Baillie Walsh.

Also few sources says Lynch directed video for "Longing (Setsubou no Yoru)" by Yoshiki, but the video is very different then his other works... I'm confused.