Glass Tiger — My Town

JUL 01 1991 · 12:00

Glass Tiger — My Town (1991) Director: Storm Thorgerson Era: Post-New Wave CanPop / Celtic-Pop Crossover (1991) - Late phase of Canadian new wave transitioning into adult contemporary, marked by trans-Atlantic identity narratives and Celtic folk-pop fusion on major labels. High curatorial value as a rare intersection of Canadian mainstream pop and distinguished British art-directed music video production. Directed by Storm Thorgerson at the founding of Storm Studios, the video represents an under-documented chapter in his directorial filmography. Its confirmed B&W treatment, Scottish visual iconography, and Celtic-folk underpinnings make it an essential document for scholars of early-1990s transnational pop identity, Canadian music industry history, and the aesthetics of nostalgic place-based music video narrative. Context: Released in August 1991, 'My Town' occupies a liminal cultural moment — the waning of Canadian new wave's commercial dominance and the rising mainstream appetite for roots-inflected, emotionally earnest pop. The song's Celtic composition, lyrical tribute to Coatbridge, Scotland (frontman Alan Frew's hometown), and the uncredited participation of Rod Stewart (invited due to his Scottish ancestry) rendered the video a transatlantic artifact bridging Canadian pop infrastructure and British Isles folk identity. Filmed in black-and-white and saturated with Scottish visual iconography, the video eschews the glossy colour production typical of major-label pop of the period, instead signalling cultural authenticity and diasporic longing. The choice of Storm Thorgerson — known for art-directed surrealist imagery rather than conventional performance clips — signals an aspirational positioning of Glass Tiger beyond their teen-pop origins. Director notes: IMVDb lists Storm Thorgerson as director of the 'My Town' music video (1991). The video is confirmed shot in black-and-white and features numerous visual references to Scotland. It was produced during the early Storm Studios period (early 1990s), contemporaneous with Thorgerson's transition from Greenback Films. The video notably omits Rod Stewart, who featured on the single's audio recording — a detail likely connected to contractual arrangements with his label at the time. The B&W monochromatic treatment and location-driven visual identity are consistent with Thorgerson's broader surrealist-documentary aesthetic.