Phil Lynott - Old Town Video

What this video is

Filmed in Dublin in 1982 and broadcast on RTÉ's 'Anything Goes', this video operates as both a pop promotional clip and an unintentional time-capsule document of Dublin's urban landscape before major redevelopment. Lynott — already internationally famous as Thin Lizzy's frontman — is presented here in an intimate, demythologised register: strolling his hometown streets, having a pint, flirting with passersby. The…

Why it matters

A landmark in Irish music video history: one of the earliest and most celebrated location-shot promotional clips produced by RTÉ, it established a template for grounding Irish rock identity in specific urban geography. Its documentary-realist style stood apart from the glossy, effects-heavy UK/US…

The director

Gerry Greg was a director working within RTÉ Television's production infrastructure in the early 1980s. He directed the 'Old Town' video as part of RTÉ's youth programme 'Anything Goes', which ran from 1980 to 1986. His work on this video represents an early…