Hoodoo Gurus — A Place In The Sun

JUL 01 1991 · 12:00

Hoodoo Gurus — A Place In The Sun (1991) Era: Australian Alternative Rock Peak (1991) - Late phase of Hoodoo Gurus' commercial zenith, coinciding with the Kinky album cycle on RCA/BMG and the band's sustained presence on US college radio and MTV's 120 Minutes Moderate-to-high archival value as a representative example of the Hoodoo Gurus at their commercial and creative peak, tied to a significant album in Australian rock history. The video's restrained, performance-centred aesthetic and warm atmospheric production make it a useful benchmark for early-1990s Australian alternative rock visual culture. Its inclusion in the Electric Soup compilation underscores its status as a canonical document of the band's RCA era. Director unknown status limits scholarly attribution depth but does not diminish its value as a primary source artefact. Context: Released in mid-1991 as the third single from Kinky, the fifth Hoodoo Gurus studio album on RCA Records, 'A Place in the Sun' arrived at a pivotal moment for the band internationally. Kinky peaked at number 4 on the Australian ARIA charts while reaching number 172 on the American Billboard 200. The band had built a loyal following through relentless US touring and sustained college radio airplay, gaining exposure on MTV's 120 Minutes. The video's warm, sun-drenched theatrical aesthetic — a purple-lit performance set evoking an outdoor rock stage — mirrors the song's optimistic lyrical invitation, positioning the Gurus as distinctly Australian voices in a global alternative rock landscape on the cusp of grunge's mainstream breakthrough. Director notes: Per IMDB (tt10625108), the video features the full Kinky-era lineup performing on a purple-hued smoky set in front of rocks, with Dave Faulkner on lead vocals. The single was released August 1991 on BMG Australia (catalogue CS 5240), backed with 'The Doctor Is In'. The video was included in the 1992 BMG Video VHS compilation Electric Soup: The Complete Video Collection, which assembled 19 Hoodoo Gurus videos up to 1991. The production is consistent with mid-budget Australian music video work of the period: single-location studio performance, theatrical lighting, no narrative subplot.