Foo Fighters’ ‘I’ll Stick Around’ Video Director Admits ‘Menacing Ball’ Represented Courtney Love
Foo Fighters' first ever visual representation came with their second single "I'll Stick Around," a clip directed by Gerald Casale who first found fame in Devo before becoming an in demand video director. While speaking with host Jenn on Rock Classics Radio on Apple Music Hits, Casale offered insights on several of his video projects, including the revelation that the "menacing ball" hovering around Dave Grohl and the band through the "I'll Stick Around" video was meant to represent Courtney Love.
During the chat, Casale stated, "What nobody knows is that what that viral ball represented, that menacing ball …that represented Courtney Love. Yep. I'm here to tell you for the first time… I'll tell you why I did that. When I heard the song, I immediately assumed that what Dave is talking about when he said, 'I don't owe you anything' and knowing the problems they were going through with Courtney, I made the assumption, it was about Courtney."
He adds, "I have the naive temerity, being the kind of guy I am that you know, is kind of, what's the word untethered on some level, so I asked him. I said, 'Hey, Dave is, you can tell me, is this about Courtney?' And he goes, 'My lips are sealed.' So I just rolled with it."
In the aftermath of Kurt Cobain's death, Love and the remaining Nirvana members have butted heads over matters pertaining to Nirvana's catalog, with Love calling out her grievances with Grohl on several occasions. But the pair famously made up and even embraced during the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction of Nirvana.
Casale also unearthed a few other not so well known facts about the clip, revealing that it was made on a budget of just $60,000 and recorded quickly because the band was four hours late showing up to the soundstage.
"I worked with an outfit called Run and Gun out of Chicago that were a bunch of kids at the time that were experimenting with early CG editing in laptops at a time when everybody was just using very expensive editing facilities," recalls Casale. "They created that thing that looks like a germy ball floating around chasing Dave and everybody. You know what it was? It was the AIDS virus. I got it from a medical book. That's what the AIDS virus looked like."
Casale also delves into several other video shoots, including working on Soundgarden's "Blow Up the Outside World" video, their final video before the band split. Check out more of the chat with Rock Classics Radio on Apple Music Hits right here.