In anticipation of the premiere of Britney's 'Hold It Against Me' video, we look back at her iconic 1998 clip.
By Jocelyn Vena
Britney Spears in "Baby One More Time"
Photo: Jive Records
It's hard to believe that in 1998 a schoolgirl uniform caused so much trouble, but that's just what happened when a pouty Britney Spears donned the now infamous costume in her video for "... Baby One More Time." Well, it seems Britney had some idea that the costume idea would make the video memorable.
"My idea originally was just jeans and T-shirts, and we were at the wardrobe fitting and Britney holds up the jeans and T-shirts and says, 'Wouldn't I wear a schoolgirl outfit?' " the video's director, Nigel Dick, told MTV News in 2009. "Every piece of wardrobe in the video came from Kmart, and I was told at the time not one piece of clothing in the video cost more than $17. On that level, it's real. That probably, in retrospect, is a part of its charm."
In 2000, Spears spoke to MTV News about baring her belly in the clip, noting that it felt like the most natural thing in the world to do. "Me showing my belly? I'm from the South: You're stupid if you don't wear a sports bra [when you] go to dance class, you're going to be sweating your butt off," she explained. "It was such a wonderful experience. All these people there, working for you. I had my own trailer. It was an amazing experience."
Spears was then an unknown pop singer and Dick had already established himself as a music video guru. The decision to work with Spears left many perplexed. "My response was, 'It's a great song. I don't know anything about Britney. I never watched 'The Mickey Mouse Club.' She seems like a great kid and she's very enthusiastic,' " he said. "But I just love the song. It's just a great song.
"I decided to try this idea that someone had thrown at me and they hated it — they absolutely hated it," Dick said about the video's simple setup. "So I jumped on the phone with Britney and she says, 'Well, now I think it should be about me in school and there should be lots of hot boys around,' and that was pretty much it — oh, and a bunch of dancing. And my response was, 'OK.' "
In a 1998 interview with MTV, Spears revealed that she wanted the video to reflect the lives of her fans, so she wanted to set it in a school. "The first idea we had for the video was so off the wall," she said. "I was like, 'I want something a lot of kids can relate to.' It's just a fun video."
That same year she noted that as soon as she heard the song, she knew she had to record it. "It's a song every girl can relate to," she said.
The song was recently featured in the "Britney/Brittany" episode of the hit show "Glee," with Lea Michele playing the Britney schoolgirl role.
Before Britney Spears debuts her music video for "Hold It Against Me" on February 17 on MTV, MTV News is taking a look back at some of the singer's most memorable videos. The new much-anticipated clip will air on MTV and MTV.com Thursday at 9:56 p.m./ET, right before a new episode of "Jersey Shore."
Related Photos Related ArtistsCristina Dumitru Cat Power January Jones Christina DaRe Malin Akerman
No comments:
Post a Comment