Tuesday 7 October 2014

Column: The greatest musical transport stunts of all time

Few things are more enjoyable than trying to fit lots of colourful events into just 150 words, luckily this was what the Independent tasked me to do, with the below result:

Aphex Twin’s return after 13 years caused a buzz loud enough for Richard D James himself to sample. Not just because of the album Syro's musical content, but its marketing tactics. James floated a blimp featuring his logo over London and on a New York sidewalk. 

He joined an illustrious musical crowd in harnessing transport to exhilarate the masses. Pink Floyd flew a pig over Battersea Power Station in 2011 to emulate the cover of Animals (an original attempt in 1976 flew away) while Sony sailed a 10-metre-high Michael Jackson statue down the Thames in 1995. 
The Sex Pistols also took to the capital’s waterway to heighten the buzz around “God Save the Queen” in the Silver Jubilee summer, and their entourage were promptly arrested. Worth thinking carefully before that Hammond organ unicycle stunt, then.
Have I missed one? Please comment below or tweet me @alexshadowplay to let me know.

The column as it originally appeared in The Independent's Saturday magazine


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