Music Video Mischief

In his 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. 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, Cher, Paul McCartney, Guns n' Roses, Toto, Britney Spears, Celine Dion, Alice Cooper, Def Leppard, Alice in Chains and Tears for Fears. If you've watched MTV, you've seen his work.Music Video Mischief goes behind the scenes for a wild ride through the creative process, the egos, the politics and the logistics involved in making videos for A-listers. Dick shares entertaining tales of things going right and wrong, stars who were wonderful to work and stars who weren't, natural disasters, amazing triumphs and mad dashes around the world — all with self-deprecating wit and the enthusiasm of a lifetime music fan. Ten videos directed by Nigel Dick:Band Aid: "e;Do They Know It's Christmas?"e;Cher: "e;Believe"e;Def Leppard: "e;Rocket"e;Celine Dion: "e;Falling Into You"e;Guns n' Roses: "e;Sweet Child o' Mine"e;Nickelback: "e;Photograph"e;Oasis: "e;Wonderwall"e;Tears for Fears: "e;Shout"e;Ozzy Osbourne: "e;Back on Earth"e;Britney Spears: "e;Oops!...I Did It Again"e;Steve Lukather (Toto): "e;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."e;Chad Kroeger (Nickelback): "e;If you thought Nigel could direct a video, you should see him write a book!"e;Rob Tannenbaum, co-author I Want My MTV: "e;In this blunt, colorful memoir, in which Nigel Dick 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."e;