A bit of Google Maps sleuthing ("Nora Fashion Wholesalers") has revealed to me that this was shot at Guitar Center, 25 W 14th St, Manhattan, NY 10011 -- "Nora" no longer seems to exist (nor does the shop next door), but it still shows up on Google, and the building facades match up. Interestingly, the lamp standard and parking meters are no longer there, but these things also change over time...
God! I remember seeing a part of this film on HBO about twenty years ago by chance. I didn't get to see the title, who's singing or who made it but I was really impressed by the music and it stuck in my head. It was years before I had heard of Robyn Hitchcock or of the Soft Boys.
I just really love that the ad that prefaced this clip was for Herbal Essences shampoo, and the tag line was "Take Your Hair to Paradise." I think Robyn would dig that--when he says, "Hi, is my hair alright" in this vid, well, yeah. The funny thing is, on the one hand, I know he's a very cool artist who probably doesn't care how his hair looks. On the other hand, dang, when you compare him to other artists of his age, well, his hair is gorgeous!
Always preferred "Shelley in the car park, now it's over for sure" to "You could vote for Labour, but you can't anymore", even though I approve of the politics!
