The Charlatans - Weirdo

What this video is

Released 24 February 1992 on Situation Two / Beggars Banquet Records as the lead single from The Charlatans' second album Between 10th and 11th, 'Weirdo' arrived at a pivotal cultural inflection point. Madchester was in commercial freefall — the Happy Mondays had imploded and The Stone Roses were mired in legal disputes — yet The Charlatans achieved the movement's final significant US breakthrough, topping the…

Why it matters

As a Baggy / Neo-Psychedelia / Alternative Dance record that reached No. 1 on US Modern Rock and No. 19 in the UK, 'Weirdo' documents the final moment Madchester commanded transatlantic chart attention. The video's rapid-cut B&W performance format became a template for UK indie-crossover promos of…

The director

Born London, 1964, son of celebrated graphic designer Alan Aldridge. Studied illustration at Central Saint Martins (BA 1987). Worked as illustrator and music video director in the early 1990s before transitioning to fashion photography in 1993. Subsequently…