The Rolling Stones - Waiting On A Friend - OFFICIAL PROMO

What this video is

Released in November 1981 as the second single from Tattoo You, 'Waiting on a Friend' arrived at the exact moment MTV launched its 24-hour music video broadcast service, making it one of the earliest high-profile legacy rock videos to benefit from the new medium. The video's East Village New York setting — shot at 96–98 St. Mark's Place, a building iconic from the cover of Led Zeppelin's Physical Graffiti —…

Why it matters

A foundational document of the classic-rock-to-MTV transition, this promo established the 'street-level narrative' template for rock videos: no fantasy sequences, no performance stage, just the artists occupying real urban space. Its slow editorial pace (avg shot 16.5s), natural lighting, and…

The director

Sir Michael Edward Lindsay-Hogg, 5th Baronet (born 5 May 1940, New York City) is a British-American television, film, music video, and theatre director. Beginning his career as principal director of the British TV rock series Ready Steady Go! in 1965, he…