The “magical moment” Jack White knew The White Stripes would be massive
The White Stripes were never meant to be their scene’s breakout stars. The garage rock revival of the mid-2000s had a host of bands better set for mainstream appeal. The Hives had the riffs, The Vines had the looks, Interpol had the scale. Then, of course, you had The Strokes, who had it all and more. In comparison, Jack White and his “big sister” Meg White were the weird, artsy cult band and, for at least the first few years, were what they seemed comfortable being.
In fact, they didn’t even seem set to be Detroit’s breakout rock band. The Von Bondies seemed destined for greatness and had none of the baggage weighing down The Stripes. After all, imagine being an A&R scout looking for the next big band to take real rock ‘n’ roll out of its nu-metal assisted death spiral. Would you think a Son House obsessed two-piece with a drummer who can barely play, a weirdly incestuous backstory and albums named after Dutch modern art movements was the answer?
Yet, they absolutely were. As much as it truly hurts my red and white heart to admit it, this probably had a lot to do with each of those previous bands flaming out and not achieving their potential. However, that didn’t stop their more focused, sharp and effortlessly cool third album, 2001’s White Blood Cells, from being a big hit. The kind that showed the world that they could be its next big rock band without compromising all that much of its vibrant, artistic flavour.
Yet still, there was one person convinced that The White Stripes would be a little too esoteric for mainstream consumption. No matter how many tours with The Strokes they went on, how many packed-out world tours they went on, and how many magazine covers put them front and centre, someone always thought there was a limit to it. That person was famed Detroit musician Jack White.
How did Jack White change his mind about this?
Perhaps this was a case of missing the forest for the trees. After all, Jack was in the eye of The White Stripes’ storm, and it’s sometimes difficult to see just how many people are getting on board when you’re at the wheel. He was the guy making all the wacko artistic decisions for the band. Given a couple of years, he’d choose to legally change his name to Three Quid for a UK tour. If anyone would know how weird and off-putting his band could be, it’s him.
Yet, in an interview conducted for Lizzy Goodman’s seminal oral history text Meet Me in the Bathroom, Jack White spoke of the moment everything changed for him. A moment where he realised that The White Stripes couldn’t just appeal to a wide variety of people, they could specifically appeal to a kind of person he’d always wanted to appreciate his band, but couldn’t quite bring himself to believe it. And that’s kids. Then, it all came down to one spectacular music video.
The Spike Jonze-directed effort for ‘Fell in Love with a Girl‘, where a Lego version of the band mimes to the track. In the book, he says, “I have 20 or so nieces and nephews, and I remember them wanting to watch that Lego video a second and third time, which shocked me. I couldn’t believe young kids wanted to experience something Meg and I had made. The childish theme was one we revolved around a lot, so that was a magical moment to see it come full circle.”
A reminder that sometimes people respond to genuine, out-there creativity. Here’s hoping that someone high up takes a chance on the thousands of independent artists showing that level of creativity today.
