Cabaret Voltaire - Johnny Yesno to get box set this summer

The film (such as it is) on DVD (finally! I'm still disappointed they didn't include it as a bonus feature on the Doublevision DVD) along with a "new edition" of the album. No idea if that means remastering, new bonus tracks or just a change to the cover art.

http://www.thewire.co.uk/themire/2011/03/the-return-of-johnny-yesno

I'll be glad to be able to finally toss out the old betamax tape, though (what with no having a working betamax player for about twenty years now)

Seems an odd one to repackage, though. Was it ever one of CV's big sellers?

 

I vaguely remember the film, but I didn't think much of it. It reminded me of an amateur version of Taxi Driver. The Doublevision video compilation was so much better, which I still own on VHS. I didn't realise it had a DVD release. You're right, I think Johnny Yesno is more of a bonus feature than a standalone release, and it's only about 40 minutes long.

 

Has "Gasoline In Your Eye" ever received an official DVD release?

 

I was going to ask the same thing - Gasoline in Your Eye on DVD, please.

 

Nope. And that's yet another one I have on betamax, so I haven't watched it for at least twenty years either.

 

As I remember it, it's really only about 20 minutes long (with only about 7 or 8 minutes of CV music) and relies pretty heavily on awkward voiceover and clearly was pieced together without ever completing filming. The "plot" doesn't really go anywhere, it just ends abruptly with the lead character driving in a car telling the audience what happened. Then there's about 20 more minutes of pretty cool avant-garde (i.e. 'L'Age D'Or' - inspired, one would presume) artsy shots of water and rocks and various random images (camera being dragged through the woods?) over what would become the soundtrack album tracks. Kind of a video-remix of the scenes where the lead character is drugged or knocked out? I remember that being the best part of the tape. Then there's a few CV promo videos tagged on at the end for good measure. The 'Yashar' one was later included in the Cherry Red 'Hacienda' DVD.

So, basically, 20 minutes of a film (3 minutes or so included as an excerpt on the 'Doublevision' tape/disc) pieced together from what they could shoot and wrapped up unconvincingly. 20 minutes of CV music matched with some pretty cool (for the 80s) surreal video imagery. And 15 minutes of promo rock videos.

I still have a big bunch of betamax tapes sitting on the shelf (PiL, 23 Skidoo, CTI, YMO, Joy Division, etc.) If they haven't come out on DVD by this time, they might well never, I really have to get around to buying a working betamax player one of these days.

 

have never seen a release of Gasoline In Your Eye on DVD, would def. buy that.

 

I had it on VHS at one point, and I think that was a boot (I did buy it a a store, so I'm not sure). At least most (all?) of the videos are on YouTube.

 

did get an official VHS release in the US, I have a copy.

 

My copy had no label on the tape itself and the cover looked pretty hokey...that's why I think my copy was a boot.

 

I had a look at the advert for it on youtube. It's actually a re-imagining of the film called Johnny Yesno Redux, and looks quite impressive. Presumably you get the original film plus the new version, and according to the end credits, it also includes the Doublevision compilation, which isn't so good if you already own it. Looks quite a decent boxset.

Johnny Yesno Redux