videoChaka Khan 'Hello Happiness' by Sam PillingSam Pilling's superb, cinematic video for Chaka Khan's Hello Happiness harks back to the time when this legendary soul diva was first hitting the charts with funk outfit Rufus, in the early 1970s. And it all revolves around a single phone booth outside an LA motel on a single night.Pilling makes the phone booth the focal point for a piece with a rich cast of characters and multiple storylines: there's the lady of the night, leaving a 'tip' in the payphone change slot; the hot couple using the booth as a location for sex; the philanderer with his mistress, and more. But not everything is as it seems.What is certain is that Chaka herself makes an appearnce in the phone booth, for what is a very enjoyable watch. It's beautfilly put together, with great widescreen cinematography by Pat Scola, wonderful editing of various story strands and performance by Thomas Grove Carter - and skilfully directed by Sam Pilling, making his first video since the brilliant DJ Shadow, Run The Jewels video for Nobody Speak.He's also added some titles to suggest the older generation are far racier than their younger counterparts. Clearly they learned their wicked ways back in the Seventies.
David Knight - 15th Jan 2019