Gilbert O'Sullivan - Alone Again (original version)

What this video is

Released in 1972 at the apex of O'Sullivan's commercial peak, 'Alone Again (Naturally)' became one of the defining records of the early decade, spending six non-consecutive weeks at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 and earning three Grammy nominations. The promotional film documents O'Sullivan in his original flat-capped, working-class-inflected visual identity — an image he would consciously shed for the US…

Why it matters

A foundational document of early 1970s confessional piano-pop, this promo film captures the moment before the music video became an artform in its own right. O'Sullivan's stripped performance mode influenced the aesthetics of subsequent singer-songwriter video culture, valorising emotional…