The Only One You Need - The Neighbours Compilation

Short Film (Full Length) – 1982

In mid-1982 soul/ska band The Neighbours, a film crew and various mates and roadies arrived at the legendary Hilton Hotel in Blackball, to shoot a short film doubling as a music video for three songs on their EP The Only One You Need. Director Gaylene Preston volunteered her services, and Reefton local Alun Bollinger stepped in to shoot it. On the lead single, the band play a hapless group of robbers, evading a bumbling cop (Rick Bryant) via the charms of vocalist Trudi Green. On 'First Love' Green is a vengeful waitress; for the final song she's back on the run with her gang, as the slapstick tale comes full circle.

We met Gaylene after a gig at The Cricketers pub in Wellington — we were packing up, she had returned to look for a cardigan she had left and we started chatting. She asked us if we were going to make a video, we replied no, but we’d like to and she said she was a filmmaker and that she would do it. You meet a lot of people after gigs who make all sorts of promises that don’t eventuate so I was sceptical ... We drove into Blackball in the midst of a South Island tour ... The Blackball Hilton, which was to be our base for the week was buzzing. All these people were there to make our video — professional film people who weren’t being paid. The street was full of vehicles and gear — all loaned, not rented. The whole week was a triumph of enthusiasm and cooperation — that’s "the power of Gaylene". It was one of the highlights of our long careers.
– Vocalist Trudi Green and Sam Ford on that time in Blackball, NZ Musician