Music Video Mischief
Ozzy to Britney, Oasis to Gn'R, McCartney to Cher:
A Lifetime of Rock and Chaos
Nigel Dick
available September 15
In this boisterous and entertaining memoir, Nigel Dick recounts his wild ride from record company motorcycle messenger to one of the world's leading music video directors.
After a brief stint busking in the Paris Metro, Nigel Dick got his start in the music business at London's upstart Stiff label in the late '70s, working with Graham Parker, Ian Dury, Devo and the Go-Go’s.
From helping out on a Madness video, he began a career as a music video director; he went on to work
with hundreds of stars, including Oasis, Ozzy, Paul McCartney, Elton John, Guns n' Roses, Cher, Toto,
Britney Spears, Nickelback, Celine Dion, Alice Cooper, Alice in Chains and Tears for Fears.
If you’ve watched MTV, you’ve seen his work.
10 famous videos directed by Nigel Dick:
Band Aid: “Do They Know It’s Christmas”
Cher: “Believe”
Def Leppard: “Rocket”
Florida Georgia Line: “Dirt”
Guns n’ Roses: “Sweet Child o’ Mine”
Nickelback: “Photograph”
Oasis: “Champagne Supernova”
Ozzy Osbourne: “Back on Earth”
Britney Spears: “Oops! I Did It Again”
Tears for Fears: “Shout”
paperback $23.95
ISBN 979-8-9990487-8-3
eBook $8.95
ISBN 979-8-9938678-1-6
“It’s pretty unlikely that Nigel Dick – a frustrated architect, failed rock star and failed bike messenger (he didn’t own a bike), a man whose own mother told him he’d never amount to anything – played such a significant role in music video history, but it’s true. He was a balding, abstemious 28 year old PR man when he was handed a camera and told to figure it out. In this blunt, colorful memoir, in which he seemingly meets everyone in the music business, he describes the wild west early days of MTV and videos, when no one knew what they were doing and an entire art form was invented on the fly. It’s incredible what one can accomplish with ingenuity, pluck and good cheer.”
“If you thought Nigel could direct a video, you should see him write a book!”
“We hated doing videos, ’cause we are musicians not dancers or actors. But Nigel made it fun, did an amazing job and caught onto our personalities quick. The clothes and the hair ... I will apologize on behalf of all of us.”