Wilco video of the week: “Outtasite (Outta Mind)”

As my book Wilcopedia is coming out in a few weeks (pre-order it here), I want to highlight the various sidelines throughout the band’s career. One notable strand is the group of videos that they produced from “Box Full of Letters” from A.M. in 1995 to “Someone to Lose” from Schmilco in 2016.

Now, the age of music videos has long past with MTV and VH1 barely ever showing them, and bands, in the years since, making videos mainly for the internet in hopes that they go viral. Wilco hasn’t made that many videos (which used to be called promotional films), so this series of videos of the week most likely won’t last very long (unless I dig up some real rarities).

No matter, there’s some great ones to cover and this week we start with one of their best from 1996: “Outtasite (Outta Mind)” from Wilco's second album, Being There:

The video involves the then line-up of Wilco (Jeff Tweedy, Jay Bennett, John Stirratt, and Ken Coomer) skydiving in California’s Paris Valley while lip-synching, and miming the song with instruments in mid-air. The parachuting footage wasn’t faked in a studio - they impressively had to go up 29 times to get all the necessary footage.

But while most of the footage is authentic, some shots were faked as this picture, taken by Stirratt, attests *.

The enormously fun video resembles something out of the Beatles’ 1965 classic comedy musical film “Help!” but it didn’t get a lot of airplay on MTV or VH1.

That’s a shame because it’s a rocking, and winningingly signifier of the Being There era, where Wilco were finding their footing while learning when it’s alright to be silly. So to say, they were in mind, and in sight. Things could only go up from there.

* This photo was included in the booklet for the essential 4 CD collection, Alpha Mike Foxtrot: Rare Tracks 1994-2014.

More later...