Incredibly it’s now 35 years since Massive Attack’s Blue Lines, one of the most influential British albums, was released. And the video for the best known track on the album is arguably the best known, if not actually the greatest, ‘oner’ music video of all.

It’s a classic. But after he had shot the video for Unfinished Sympathy, the director, Baillie Walsh, actually thought he had messed it up.

In 2006, Walsh told PROMO magazine that he was unhappy with how the shoot had gone. It was supposed to be a single tracking shot where the camera stayed in front of Shara Nelson as she walked the streets of downtown LA. That didn’t quite happen and he was unhappy with the work of the steadicam operator who filmed Nelson. As the shoot was in January, he also was working with on a short shoot day. He only ended up with three complete takes, and none were quite what he wanted.

"It all went wrong, as far as I was concerned. When I saw the telecine I said, 'this is a fucking disaster.'"

It wasn't, obviously. And by the time he had returned to London, Walsh was rather more sanguine, despite its apparent flaws. After all, his essential purpose for the video had been achieved - to lean in to the trance-like mood of the song with a single long take. "It's about the times when you walk down the streets and don't notice anything... you're just in your own world." 

But some things still irked. Nelson overtakes the camera at one point and goes out of frame. "That really pissed me off and it still does," he said in 2006. "I don't believe for one second that the video would be nearly as successful without that song. It was one of the best I've ever been given."

Above: From PROMO Magazine, September 2006.

Baillie Walsh went on direct videos for other tracks on Blue Lines and then for the likes of New Order, Spiritualised, Oasis and Kylie Minogue. And his work can be seen on the big screen at Music Video Preservation Society in one of the upcoming shows in the coming months.

Tickets are now on sale for the next MVPS meeting at The Prince Charles Cinema on Thursday June 11th. It follows the most recent show at The PCC last month, with guests Nick Goldsmith and Dominic Leung from Hammer & Tongs and promises to be another outstanding celebration of the artform and cultural impact of the music video from the 1970s to the 2020s, hosted by Promonews' David Knight. Tickets available via The PCC website. 

Before that, MVPS returns to The Mildmay Club next week - on Friday, April 17th - with legendary director Dawn Shadforth as special guest. Check for remaining ticket availability here.

And then MVPS heads to the north east for our first meeting at the Tyneside Cinema in Newcastle on Thursday, May 12th. Tickets on sale here.