"This Is The Day" was released in 1983, and while the band created a video for the song 40 years ago, they didn't release it for years because front man Matt Johnson wasn't happy with it. Since the song is now getting new airplay with its inclusion on the newly released soundtrack for Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3, the band has decided to promote a video it once shunned. In my opinion, the video is an utterly perfect early 80s gem, in all of its awkward glory–and totally worth the wait!
The The posted on Instagram, quoting Johnson, who explained why he never wanted to release the video and why he changed his mind:
"For many years I insisted this video be withdrawn and banned from circulation as I was so unhappy with it – the end result didn't turn out at all like the director, Tony Dow, said it would. (Ironically, Tony, a lovely man, went on to make his name as the director of the British comedy sitcom Only Fools And Horses!). At the age of 21, I didn't know the difference between film and video (on which this was shot). Because I was so disappointed with the video for 'This Is The Day', in future I insisted I would only shoot music videos on film. One of the next videos I made was with Tim Pope in NYC, shot on 35mm and probably my all-time favourite: 'Out Of The Blue (into the fire)'. Videos like that are the ones that truly reflected how I felt and what my music was trying to express.
But, as the years have advanced, my feelings towards the video for 'This Is The Day' have softened somewhat and I can see the funny side of it – particularly my haircut and the way I'm self-consciously skulking around! More poignantly, all my immediate family are in it; only two of us are now left, so for that purpose alone it's worth re-viewing."
