CURVE – "Chinese Burn" (Promo video, 1997)
- 9 years ago
"Chinese Burn" is a song by English alternative rock band CURVE, formed in 1990 by multi-instrumentalist musician Dean Garcia and vocalist front-woman Toni Halliday.
On 18 May 1998 the band released their long-awaited 3rd studio album 'COME CLEAN', preceded by the leading single "Chinese Burn".
Toni Halliday quoted (in 'Raygun', March 1998) about the song: "It's like me arguing. I'd been on the phone upstairs with a girlfriend, and got really upset and walked downstairs and Dean had the track up and I started shouting. I was very pissed off. Then I thought, 'It really is like me talking to myself, the other side of my personality, the good and bad part of me.' I don't even know! But I do know it's revenge-driven; I wanted to hurt other people."
"Chinese Burn" was released on 18 November 1997 as a single in the US with the 'Flood Mix' (4:26) by Mark Ellis as the main track of the release, a mix never been made officially available in the UK.
Later on, the 'Steve Osborne Mix' (4:52) was preferred and subsequently used on the album. This latter version was recorded at Moles Studio in Bath, UK, produced by Steve Osborne & Curve, mixed by Steve Osborne, and engineered by Ben Hillier, assisted by Darren Nash. A 'Radio Edit' (3:57) of that mix was used for the UK single released on 01 December 1997 and also for its accompanying promo video.
The promo video was shot on 18 August 1997, directed by Sophie Muller, and produced by Niki Amos of the 'Oil Factory Ltd' production company.
Toni Halliday quoted in an i/v for The Ticker about the video: "Sophie Muller came up with the concept […] It’s based on a Bill Grant picture of man lying on a riverbank on a sunny day. That’s why we’re lying in a pit like that. It’s exactly the same as in the picture, this old black and white picture from the ‘50’s […] And we just wanted it to be based in something valid and real. And we also wanted to tell people something about us. I mean, you don’t get any more fake than when you’re standing in a room, miming to your own record. Through video, you can actually tell a story and tell people something about you and where you’re coming from and your personality, rather than just looking good and swinging shots and noise and video effects, and all that […] And regarding the beating up of those guys, a lot of people think it’s me just getting in there and smashing someone up and beating them up ‘cause it’s a good laugh, and it’s not. It’s saying something about the person I am. Dean is really impatient, sitting in the café and that’s him! That’s exactly what he’s like in real life. All the other people, all the other actors had scripts, apart from Dean and I. And we had to make up all this stuff, and it’s like, really easy because that’s who we are."
Strangely enough, "Chinese Burn" didn’t enter Top200 UK Singles chart and didn’t make any impact on the US charts either.
On 18 May 1998 the band released their long-awaited 3rd studio album 'COME CLEAN', preceded by the leading single "Chinese Burn".
Toni Halliday quoted (in 'Raygun', March 1998) about the song: "It's like me arguing. I'd been on the phone upstairs with a girlfriend, and got really upset and walked downstairs and Dean had the track up and I started shouting. I was very pissed off. Then I thought, 'It really is like me talking to myself, the other side of my personality, the good and bad part of me.' I don't even know! But I do know it's revenge-driven; I wanted to hurt other people."
"Chinese Burn" was released on 18 November 1997 as a single in the US with the 'Flood Mix' (4:26) by Mark Ellis as the main track of the release, a mix never been made officially available in the UK.
Later on, the 'Steve Osborne Mix' (4:52) was preferred and subsequently used on the album. This latter version was recorded at Moles Studio in Bath, UK, produced by Steve Osborne & Curve, mixed by Steve Osborne, and engineered by Ben Hillier, assisted by Darren Nash. A 'Radio Edit' (3:57) of that mix was used for the UK single released on 01 December 1997 and also for its accompanying promo video.
The promo video was shot on 18 August 1997, directed by Sophie Muller, and produced by Niki Amos of the 'Oil Factory Ltd' production company.
Toni Halliday quoted in an i/v for The Ticker about the video: "Sophie Muller came up with the concept […] It’s based on a Bill Grant picture of man lying on a riverbank on a sunny day. That’s why we’re lying in a pit like that. It’s exactly the same as in the picture, this old black and white picture from the ‘50’s […] And we just wanted it to be based in something valid and real. And we also wanted to tell people something about us. I mean, you don’t get any more fake than when you’re standing in a room, miming to your own record. Through video, you can actually tell a story and tell people something about you and where you’re coming from and your personality, rather than just looking good and swinging shots and noise and video effects, and all that […] And regarding the beating up of those guys, a lot of people think it’s me just getting in there and smashing someone up and beating them up ‘cause it’s a good laugh, and it’s not. It’s saying something about the person I am. Dean is really impatient, sitting in the café and that’s him! That’s exactly what he’s like in real life. All the other people, all the other actors had scripts, apart from Dean and I. And we had to make up all this stuff, and it’s like, really easy because that’s who we are."
Strangely enough, "Chinese Burn" didn’t enter Top200 UK Singles chart and didn’t make any impact on the US charts either.