Pavement share lost “Summer Babe” video made in 1992

One of the defining indie rock songs of the early ’90s, Pavement‘s “Summer Babe” (from their debut album Slanted and Enchanted) is a classic that should’ve been all over Alternative Nation and 120 Minutes, except it never had a video. It turns out they actually made one but it never got released. Till now. The band have shared the video, which was shot in NYC (Greenpoint! Also: Central Park) in the spring of 1992 by director Tanya Small. She says:

“The story line for the video is the same as Grease’s but without a happy ending. Two people from different backgrounds — an indie rocker and a club kid — separately waxing nostalgic about their time together. Back then, it was unlikely a club kid would be caught dead with an indie rocker.

It was filmed on 16mm and Super 8 film and edited on video. I was a teenager when I made this — into Stan Brakhage and Beatles films. It took less than 2 hours to film. All the footage was lost except for a VHS tape with this edit with its enduring timecode. The version of Summer Babe was from an unmastered cassette. The club kid outfit was borrowed from Love Saves the Day.

It was filmed on a pier in Greenpoint and in Central Park.

Spiral and Gary were in Stockton which is why it was put on the shelf until now.”

Watch the “Summer Babe” video, in all its ’90s glory (complete with timecodes), below.

Pavement have kept their reunion going for for over two years and will play Riot Fest and Bumbershoot later this summer.

Read our feature on Pavement’s enduring influence.

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