December 1990
Page 22
VIDEO AID
A television special to benefit AIDS research, Red Hot and Blue features the songs of Cole Porter as interpreted by some of today’s finest musicians and filmmakers.
“Making videos is awful,” admits a
Alex Cox, director of movies such as Repo Man and Sid and Nancy. “It requires the same amount of energy as a film, but only takes two days. Then it’s usually pulled out of your hands and reedited.”
So why is Cox hanging around seedy parts of New Jersey filming chickens, peacocks, assorted reptiles, charred underwear, Debbie Harry, and Iggy Pop? “I was honored to be involved in such a project,” he explains.
Cox is one of several directors – including Jim Jarmusch, Jonathan Demme, and Wim Wenders – of Red Hot and Blue, a 90-minute television special comprised of pop artists’ renditions of the late theater and film lyricist Cole Porter’s songs. All profits from the project will go to international AIDS charities. Participating performers include Erasure, Sinéad O’Connor, Tom Waits, U2, and the team of Debbie Harry and Iggy Pop.
“Iggy had always wanted to make a video with animals, and Debbie had always wanted to publicly burn lingerie,” says Cox. “So I let them.” He describes the resulting video for the duo’s “Well, Did You Evah!” as a “macabre microcosm of human life – a rather cynical meditation.”
“It’s a crazy, abstract thing,” adds Debbie Harry. “A lot of fun for a great cause.”
Red Hot and Blue is scheduled to air December 1 at 11:30 P.M. on ABC.
Mark Blackwell
