Do you remember the TV sitcom ‘Alice’? I can’t tell you much about the plot lines, but the overbearing boss character of Mel Sharples and Flo’s ‘kiss my grits!’ line are burned into my memory. That and Donna Summer’s video for ‘She Works Hard for the Money’ were the inspirations for the video for “Fine Without You”!

I told my friend and photographer Dave Krieger about my idea. He instantly knew the place to shoot: the Hy-Grade Deli on Michigan Ave in Detroit. I’m so happy he wanted to direct and produce the video! My super-talented friend Yvonne from Lost & Found Vintage in Royal Oak, Mi did wardrobe. She actually made those pink dresses for Leann and I, including the hand-starched hankies and name tags! We had one day to shoot at the Deli, and the live footage we shot at our show with Miss Alex White’s duo White Mystery at the Lager House.

I put the word out on Facebook and Twitter for extras to be in the diner scene. There were people that I specifically had in mind, like Rob Smith from Detroit band Dark Red; my friend Renee Allen, a super-talented actress and model, (she’s the red-head by the counter with me), and Raquel Falcon from the group Jeecy & The Jungle. The blonde is Cindy Elmwood, she did make up for the girls at the counter. Base camp was at Taru’s place, a friend of Dave’s, behind the Hy-Grade. Marcie Bolen did our hair there. We set up a make-shift beauty parlor there in his metal shop, complete with drill presses and metal shavings and huge wooden hammers. It was quite a scene!

The Deli shut down at 4, and we had the place for a few hours after. They left us dirty tables per the director’s request, so it looked like we’d been really serving up sandwiches all day. Dave wrote the script and blocked out the scenes. It all happened so fast! The part where I dump corned-beef sandwiches in the guy’s lap was my favorite to shoot. The guy I spill food on is Donny Thibodeaux. What a sport! Probably the best actor in the whole thing is Jerome Ferretti. He’s a natural. He was perfect as a demanding boss in a greasy diner, don’t you think? In addition to being a great actor, Jerome is a fabulous artist who has graced Detroit for years. He does sculpture and paintings and he needs to be famous! Check out: http://www.jeromium.com/.

Thank you Hy-Grade and PJ at the Lager House for letting us take over your worlds for a day. Thank you to Dave Krieger and his crew for their hard work and talent! Thank you to all my pals who came out to be in the video, especially Kathy Brinker and Joey! Joey was so cute as the kid who dumps the silverware off the table! But don’t ever do that to me again… I hope you all love it as much as I do!

Amy Gore & Her Valentines – “Fine Without You”

xoxo
~ Amy