Kill All Hippies
| "Kill All Hippies" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Primal Scream | ||||
| from the album XTRMNTR | ||||
| Released | 2000[1] | |||
| Genre | Electronic rock, Dance rock | |||
| Label | Creation | |||
| Writer(s) | Bobby Gillespie, Andrew Innes, Marco Nelson and writer unknown | |||
| Primal Scream singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Kill All Hippies" is the second single of Primal Scream's album XTRMNTR, and the album's first track. The song has an aggressive, electronically processed sound similar to others on the album, with heavy use of sampled drum loops and distorted guitar.
The title is a quote from the 1980 film Out of the Blue, and the song begins with a sample of the line and other quotes from the film spoken by actress Linda Manz.
Several mixes were released, featuring different introductions and transition passages, such as different lengths of sample of Manz's voice at the beginning.
Reviewing a live show from the XTRMNTR tour, Guardian critic Dave Simpson compared the song to the work of D.A.F.[2]
Charts
| Chart (2000) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Singles Chart [1] | 24 |
Music video
A video for the song was directed by Julian Gibbs and Julian House, inspired by House's cover art for the album. It features fragmented footage of approaching war, aggression and combat, such as riot police, vintage military aircraft and hockey players, superimposed on backgrounds of intense blue and orange colour washes, with no faces visible. Several versions were made for different mixes of the album.[3]
References
- 1 2 "Chart Stats - Primal Scream". Chart Stats. Retrieved 2016-01-13.
- ↑ Simpson, Dave. "A Dose of Castor Oil". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
Snatches of lyrics…struggle to be heard amid an aural cacophony, complete with wailing saxophones, guitars like electric drills and PiL-esque soundscapes like walls of sheet metal clattering from a tower block. It comes to something when the jazz terrorism of If They Move, Kill 'Em (from their previous album) comes as light relief…only the DAF-prototype electronic funk singles, Swastika Eyes and Kill All Hippies, escape a sonic mauling.
- ↑ "Our Work: Kill All Hippies video". Intro UK. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
For the release of their single Kill All Hippies, the band were reluctant to make another live action video that would probably never be shown on TV. Instead they suggested animating the album cover artwork. Moving library footage from dozens of film libraries was painstakingly assembled – newsreels of a Kamikaze tea party dated 1932, Red Arrows footage, black and white film footage of motorcycle cops from early 50s TV, and jet fighter footage from the 70s. The helicopter shots were from a Vietnam documentary.
External links
- Kill All Hippies video - website of video production team. Includes commentary and embedded clip of a longer mix.
- Video on band YouTube page, also of longer mix.
- Short mix, video on band YouTube page