Wayne
Hussey
The UK-based band, The Mission, was busy preparing marketing material
for the Christmas season. I had been hired to act in a TV commercial
for their new album. The budget was minimal, with hardly any script,
and the whole thing was supposed to be shot in a one single take.
The
lead singer, Wayne Hussey, stepped in front of the camera and introduced
the new album. He listed the tracks and presented background information
on each song. The other members stood silently behind him. Dressed
in a Finnish army uniform, I was standing next to Hussey, as he presented
the album.
The
purpose of me being there was to play the role of a devoted fan. If
it seemed that Hussey stumbled in his speech, I was to ask questions
that would lead the presentation onward. A number of times I did have
to ask how 'Wasteland' or 'Tower of Strength' came about to be written.
(My army uniform reflected the bleak atmosphere aroused by the group's
Goth rock, and I remembered having listened to their music while doing
my military service.)
Hussey's
monologue meandered and failed to stay in focus. Giving background
information on each song, Hussey went as far as Imperial Rome and
the archeological discoveries of the Dark Middle Ages. Surely with
little editing it would have been possible to add some graphics -
and I could already see pictures of antiquity and Gothic cathedrals
which certainly enlivened the presentation, even if the group's lyrics
didn't contain such themes - but the problem was that for a TV commercial
the whole thing became far too big. The advertisement should have
been more condensed, since already now the length was up to ten minutes.
I found it hard to understand how this kind of lecture could arouse
any commercial interest in the general public.
When
Hussey finally stopped and the camera was switched off, I took my
grey winter cap off my head. I noticed that the sides of the cap were
not properly fixed; the buttons were unused so that the loose parts
hang about in the air. "You can't show such a sloppy military
outfit on TV," I protested. "This goes against the rules.
If you need to show military men in the commercial, maybe you can
re-use archive material of the Finnish Winter War, instead."
Wayne thought this was a good idea, even better than our original
plan.
Still
skeptical about the commercial, I didn't want to spoil Hussey's happiness.
I simply gave credit to the new album. "Anthology - The Phonogram
Years is a good compilation," I said.
Hussey
looked at me with suspicion, not sure whether I was joking. I thought
Wayne Hussey could benefit from learning to receive praise.
