Sunday, July 28, 2013

The Girl in the Video: “Midnight Blue” (1987)

Introduction to series “The Girl in the Video” (including list of interviewees).

The video: “Midnight Blue” by Lou Gramm.

The girl-now-woman: Traci Lind.






How old were you when you appeared in the “Midnight Blue” video? 

Not sure. I was born in April ‘68 and do not remember what year it was shot. I am fairly certain it came out within a month or two of shooting it, so if you know the year you can do the math. ;)

Where were you living at the time? 

Los Angeles.

What music videos, shows, or movies had you appeared in prior to that? 

Not sure. You could check IMDB if you know the year.

How were you cast? 

I honestly do not remember… The actor who was in it with me was a dear friend of mine, Joe Holland, AKA Tim Carson. We had the same agent at the time, but I think it was random that they cast us…or maybe Joe asked me to do it with him so I agreed to meet the director or whoever decided.

Joe died a few years later of complications due to AIDS…tragically just before the protease cocktails were made available. So when I saw the video on YouTube a couple of years ago (I had completely forgotten about it, which you will see as I do not have answers for most of the questions below), I was really glad that I did it, just to have footage of him young and beautiful and of the two of us together.

Do you remember what your reaction was when you were cast? 

No…

Where was the video filmed? 

Ummm…in L.A. on a few locations.

How long was the shoot? 

Two nights? I think…

How did you feel making the video? 

Nothing unusual. I was working actress and had been for some time, so being on location and night shoots were no big deal.



What was the hardest part of the shoot? 

Don’t recall anything being difficult.

How was it to work with Lou Gramm? Or did you not meet him? 

I remember him being in the makeup trailer at one point when the shoots overlapped. I think they shot footage of him in one of the outside locations Joe and I shot at later in the night.  Someone introduced us and he seemed perfectly pleasant, but I did not really know him or his music from the band he was in.

What did you think of the video? 

It was artfully shot for that period. I’ve seen it only a few times, and don’t think I ever saw it when it was airing. I didn’t watch much TV or MTV.

What did your parents think of it? 

I don’t think my mother ever saw it. If she did we never discussed it. As I said, I was working a lot at the time and this was just something I did with Joe.

What did your friends think of it? 

Ditto…

Did the video ever affect your dating life in any way (i.e. when you first told boyfriends you were the woman in it)?

No.

Did you receive fan mail? If so, do you still have any of it? 

I don’t know if there was fan mail. I do not answer fan mail, and my agents knew that, so if there was [any], they kept [it], most likely.

Did the video generate any controversy that you know of? 

Nope.

What were you paid? 

Don’t remember…

Did you watch the MTV World Premiere of the video, and if so, where and how did that feel? 

Nope.

Were you ever recognized in public? How often and when last? Any stories about that? 

Nope.



Did you appear in other music videos after that? 

Nope.

If you ever met other women who were female leads in a mainstream ‘80s rock video, who? 

Won’t say.

If you went to college, where and what did you study? 

Ditto.

What are you doing these days? 

Ditto.



 Traci in 1997

Where do you live? 

Ditto.

If you are/were married, what was your future husband’s reaction when he learned you were in this video? 

Ditto.

Kids?

Nope.

What did you think when you first heard from me? 

That I never respond to these types of inquiries, but my husband thought you asked in a nice way and that it was a low-key thing. So decided I would answer as best as I could since it I don’t remember much about it and had almost forgotten that I even did it (someone searched my name on YouTube and told me they saw it, jogging my memory…so I looked for it to see Joe). Honestly the only reason I did this was for Joe. He was a wonderful person and I loved him dearly and that video may be some of the only film footage of him…

Has anyone else ever interviewed you about this? If so, who, when, and for what publication?

Nope.

Have you appeared at any fan conventions to sign autographs? If not, would you? 

Nope. And no.

Did you stay in touch with anyone from the shoot? 

The only person I kept up with was Joe and he died in late 1994 or early 1995.

Anything you’d like to add?

Good luck with your project! Sorry I could not be of more help, and while I would be perfectly happy if you don’t use any of this, I did not glibly answer. It just didn’t mean that much to me to appear in a video. I barely watched the movies I was in. I am an intensely private person, so the whole acting thing was just the wrong path for me, and as soon as I figured out how to segue out of it, I did.

Tweet about this interview to @LouGramm!

Copy and tweet to help me find more 1980s music video girls:

Real research question: if you know the Annie Hubbard who was in 1984 Night Ranger video “Sister Christian,” pls contact @MarcTNobleman

Real research question: if you know the womaneven just her name—in 1986 Cinderella video “Shake Me,” pls contact @MarcTNobleman

Real research question: if you know woman—even just her name—in ‘87 Richard Marx video “Should’ve Known Better,” pls contact @MarcTNobleman

Next: Michael Jackson, “Smooth Criminal” (1988).

34 comments:

Ray said...

She was a actress with quite a few credits and then just dropped off the face of the earth. Real beauty.

Anonymous said...

I recognize the actor in the video, he was in Back to the Beach, that Frankie and Annette movie from the '80s. Nice to hear more about him! That's a shame that he passed away.

Unknown said...

I first met Tim (later Joe) Holland in 1983, at the old Jim Morris Gym on Santa Monica Blvd. in West Hollywood. We immediately became and remained friends. I was working as personal assistant to George Burns, so the entertainment connection was a common bond. Quiet, genuine, Joe was a close friend until his death. I still recall road trips up the coast with him, his dropping in the George Burns office on the Hollywood Center Studios lot and late night movies at my place. I'll always miss him. Good guy.

David said...

She sounds like a real bitch in this interview. Shame.

Unknown said...

Aside from the "Midnight Blue" video, I best remember this lady as nurse Irene Graves in "The Road to Wellville."

Unknown said...

Sad, I didn't realize Joe Holland died from AIDS as all the bios on the the Internet state that he died from a pulmonary embolism. He was always my favorite character on "Back To The Beach". I bet he had a very interesting life having such famous parents! Sadly, there's not much written about him. I would love to read more about his life and what he was like as a person!

The Passenger said...

Traci Lind was one of those amazing beauties who appeared in a lot of films in the late '80s- 90s. I first saw her in the TV movie for "Casanova". My reaction was "who is that girl, I gotta know!?" - which was probably a frequent reaction to her screen cappearances. It's sad to hear the story behind Joe Holland. There were unfortunately a lot of similar actors & models from the 90s who suffered a similar fate. Jeremy Davies made a documentary on his friend and fellow actor, Rodney Harvey who was a contemporary of Tim Carson.

L winters said...

Traci appeared in fright night 2 and class of 1999. She should have been a major star.

Unknown said...

This women was one of the most beautiful young actresses in hollywood throughout the 80s and 90s. It sounds like there's allot of possibly bad stuff/experiences that she went through, though, and she certainly does not want to talk about any of it publicly. Hence her standoffish cold attitude during this interview. She pretty much directly admits this and explains why she's being that way at the end of it. I don't blame her and she was likely very smart to get out of the vile cesspool that is hollywood when she did. Thank God they didn't get their crooked claws into her and ruin her her in every way, the way they do to everyone else.

IrishinNJ72 said...

Her IMDB bio page says that she has 2 children although she says no in her interview. Either IMDB's wrong or as she said, she's an intensely private person. Lind also supposedly had an affair with Dodi Fayed, Princess Diana's lover. According to the interview (link below) he pulled a gun on her when she refused to leave her husband, I'm guessing her current one, and she then broke it off for good.
Interview about Lind and Dodi.
http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/gossip/dodi-exes-fayed-article-1.774053

IMDB BIO
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0511270/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

"I did not really know him or his music from the band he was in." Yes, because Foreigner is a really small, insignificant, non-famous band. Sorry, but she has quite an attitude. Even if she's no longer in show business, none of the interviewer's questions are out of line, and she should be grateful for the success and experience she had in her younger life.

Becki said...

I've read the entire series of The Girl in the Video, and this woman seems like a Bitch. She has quite an attitude problem. She should have just refused to be interviewed, since she refuses to share anything or seems to have amnesia.

Unknown said...

When I was first reading the interview, I also thought she seemed bitchy. But then I thought, she probably got these questions in an email, and it's quite a questionnaire. Maybe the author should have omitted the things she had nothing to say about. I'm surprised she was chosen for this series anyway, because neither the video nor her seem very momorable to me. And hey, it's so long ago, it was nothing special to her, why would she remember more? And why would she lie about not really knowing Foreigner? I've been so out of touch with any kind of mainstream music for years now, I don't know any current hits, I don't listen to the radio, I hardly watch TV. Maybe it wasn't her genre.

Unknown said...

As she said Acting was the wrong path for her. It obviously made her unhappy. I wish her the best in life and hope she’s happy now.

Anonymous said...

Had a crush on her in the late 80s early 90s. She did act bitchy during the interview. There is a difference Between being private and just being difficult. I doubt she "forgot" her acting career. Its fine that she wanted out but in interview was pretty respectful(she even says so) and she still didnt answer anything lol. I do know she had a toxic affair witg Dodi Fayed in which he pulled on gun on her...maybe thats why she hates being in the public eye

Unknown said...

Loved tha video, joes 🚗 🚗 car and video storyline. Her interview? Not so much.

Unknown said...

Yuppums. Just checkin', i reckon.

Unknown said...

No kidding i thought the same thing

wheninromero said...

She seems fine to me. What's she supposed to do? I don't remember much of anything from over 20 yrs ago. she doesn't want weirdos pervin on her, heck I never was in a movie or video and people still suck aND bother me daily ha. I love watching these Vids for the hair back then omg!

L winters said...

She made some appearances in 80s tv series like 21 jump street and werewolf. Sounds like she had a rough time in hollywood. Mr fayed was apparently quite the creep to her . She had a small role in sam Shepards movie Voyager. Hollywood has wasted the potential of a lot of beautiful women .

Anonymous said...

Agreed with many. Sorry but she seemed very disrespectful & oddly bitchy for someone that is an obscure z-lister. She needed to calm down and maybe through in some more amusing or polite answers. NOTHING this gentleman sent to her via e-mail seemed overly mean, disrespectful, creepy or non-polite.

For someone like her with limited listings on the IMDB & is honestly a quite obscure person, she has quite the attitude of someone who's a-list. Strange person I'd say, but to each their own.

Unknown said...

Sounded slow and stupid

VMD said...

If you read her last comments, she assures the interviewer that she did not answer any of his questions glibly. Maybe y'all should take her at her word? She seems fine.

I've worked in film production for music videos and commercials. Some shoots literally last a couple of hours. You couple that with 2 or 3 decades of time passing since the production date and it's not a shocker that someone wouldn't remember the specifics.

Especially if the talent was busy with other projects or wasn't a fan of the band or never even saw the final product at the time (which is quite common).

I also assume from reading this interview that she might have figured that they'd excise the questions where she didn't provide an answer... Which, the editors here probably should have done.

Hating on this actress for this interview is lame. She was honest and it *reads* far more curt than I imagine she meant.

Unknown said...

The entitlement of some of the people on this thread is disgusting. All the people calling her bitchy seem way more bitchy than she did. She is simply a person answering honestly about something that really didnt mean that much to her as best she could, while maintaining her boundaries, adult infants dont seem to recognize that.

Nunyer said...

Yea... some really weird replies to this post. Just a quick glance at her IMDB page will tell you that she started modeling at the age of 13, many years before this video shoot took place. Between all the modeling shoots, commercials, acting gigs, etc that this girl did over the course of a ~15 year career... how can anybody be surprised that she really doesn't remember much about a gig that lasted a day or two and happened over 25 years prior?

I really think this blog entry should have been edited down to a paraphrased statement about how she didn't recall much... maybe leaving in the part about the friend/co-star of hers that died from AIDS. Seemed pointless to include the entire questionnaire here when she openly admitted to not remembering many details.

As far as the guy getting all huffy and puffy about her unfamiliarity with Lou Gramm... well, as a kid of the 80s... Foreigner was old people music from the 70s. They only had one big hit in the MTV era... everything else was mid/late 70s. Doesn't surprise me at all that somebody born in '68 didn't have much knowledge of / interest in Lou Gramm.

Bill I. Tis said...

Too bad - she's gorgeous, & her butt shot in Road to Wellville is one of the all-timers.

Unknown said...

She was a natural beauty in the video!I am her age now at 52 and I still love this song and video! I just posted this video on my FB wall as one of my favorites! I did not know the guy passed. So very sad to me.

Awesome7 said...

She actually was a bit snippy and Bitchy if you ask me, she seemed to not really want to do this interview at all. I can understand she did not remember much of that Video and maybe the Interviewer could have ask a few questions about her time on Fright Night 2 where she may have more of memory. Maybe ask about her leaving acting, but as she said she's really private, still I thought she was very disrespectful. Since she's very private and is out of the business that's why she's not in the new Documentary Your So Cool Brewster The Fright Night Story that came out in 2016, they covered a lot about Fright Night 2 in that.

Unknown said...

Had anyone a pix of her today just curious as to what she looks like

Unknown said...

wondering the same.

curbozer boomer said...

Well...she shifted the blame for even bothering to do this harmless interview, to her husband!. This woman is one angry person...she obviously made a few choices in her life that did not work out, and now she is just another older woman with some bitterness!..Not unusual for an actress who never achieved true star status...She certainly was super-attractive, but all things must pass, as they say!

Malfeitor said...

It’s stupid that people are judging her over this interview. She answered honestly wtf? It sounds like you Fks are the ones with issues. She seems strong willed, intelligent and basically doesn’t take any shit. I’d love to meet her one day.

Bettie said...

I think she handled this interview well since she does not do interviews. It's obvious she didn't want to offer information about her family and I respect that. I don't blame her for walking away from Hollywood. Everyone judging every move you make and how you look. I'd want to raise my family in peace. I commend her for choosing a different path in life. I hope she is truly happy.