Now I’ve got my own blog I thought I’d throw this up there as it’s caused much mirth over the years!
August 1997 I got a call from my agent asking if I knew who Joe Cocker was. I said I did and was a fan. An hour later I was in a studio in Soho auditioning for the part of “the young Joe Cocker” in this pop video for the song N’Oubliez Jamais from his Across From Midnight album.
I didn’t realise till I got to Paris with the lovely Claire from Wales, that Catherine Deneuve was going to be in the clip too.
When we arrived at Gare Du Nord, the director asked us to go to the cinema while they shot Joe and Catherine’s scenes because he didn’t think they want to be reminded of their youth! We declined and spent 2 days stopping traffic all over Paris shooting hours of footage.
It was a huge hit on the continent, I’ve never met anyone from France or Belgium who can’t sing the chorus, and it made MTV & VH1 as well.
On first viewing I guess it all looks kind of cool but watch when I step out of the garage and get tangled up with the exhaust pipe on the floor. The scene where I’m trying to kiss Claire in the moonlight is punctuated with her pulling away – she said she had a boyfriend and it wasn’t in her contract! Lastly watch me smack my head as I get into the VW Camper Van 🙂 The band scene was filmed in a pub in Camden and took an entire day!
10 years later, this past summer, I saw Joe Cocker perform a gig at The Tower of London.
He didn’t play the song because no one over here has heard it, and I was asked to keep quiet by an orginal Woodstocker, as me and a friend were apparantly talking too loudly!
Rock & Roll!
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBpyuYgfCWA]
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Oh that’s so good. Where did it all go wrong?
Thrilled to have this out in public! My fiancee even commented that you look like a young Joe Cocker (but more handsome, of course). 🙂
Like Jon said, Mel where did it go wrong? From Joe to Microsoft! It’s a long way 🙂
[…] Mel Carson from Microsoft’s adCenter was in a Joe Cocker Video, How cool is that?! Joe Cocker the man who made the Beatles song with a little help from my friends famous at Woodstock, way back when.My question is, is Microsoft a step up or down? Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. […]
What a stud! I am star-struck Mel. Amazing 🙂
That is FANTASTIC! I had no idea you had such a glamorous past (in 1997, I was trying to sell Lotus Notes to people). What else did you do?
That is actually a really good song! And awesome to see you in a music video. That did bring a smile to my face this morning, thanks 🙂
Thanks Kate – Glad to have helped you start your day with a giggle!
[…] I must have heard that song sung a 1000 times while at auditions in my acting days. […]
Like Jon said, Mel where did it go wrong? From Joe to Microsoft! It's a long way 🙂