Pink World

A single promotional music video combining the two Pink World songs "What I See" and "Behind the Barrier" was produced by MGMM Productions.[7] The video, simply titled Pink World, was directed by Roger Lyons, who had previously directed six other music videos, including "Every Man Has a Woman Who Loves Him" by Yoko Ono and John Lennon, and worked with Ridley Scott as assistant director in Apple Computer's famous 1984 television advertisement. Along with art director Steve Addison, Lyons created a video that Frank Lovece from Faces described as looking "far less like rock clips[note 2] and more like surrealist paintings come to life," and they did so on a budget of under £40,000 UK (1984, not corrected for inflation). They achieved this in part by filming the entire video on 16 mm film instead of the standard 35 mm film.[8]

In describing his vision for the video, Lyons said, "My inspiration was pictorial...what I saw mostly was sort of everybody's nightmare, with a lot of my own background." Lovece points out that this extended to Lyons' decision to cast his own mother and father in the two parental roles.[8]

At the time of the video's production, Carey was negotiating for financing to have Pink World made into a feature film, but the film never materialized.[8]

The album tells a dystopian story of a group of people who were sheltered from nuclear attack in an area called the Zone, which itself was created through the psychic powers of a speechless seven-year-old boy named Artemus (spelled both "Artemus" and "Artemis" in the lyrics in the CD booklet), or Artie. These supernatural powers came to the boy following exposure to polluted water in a lifeless river, which flows past a factory that makes household goods. In addition to gaining numerous psychic powers, including psychokinesis and clairvoyance, the boy is condemned to live forever, and he prevents any of the inhabitants of the Zone from aging physically.

Artemus is held by officials of an unnamed government who fear his powers yet want to use them militarily. As part of this plan, they persuade him to construct the Zone, and they present him to the people as an inspiring nationalistic symbol. Once the Zone is completed, the government launches a first strike nuclear attack against an unnamed foe. From that point on, life for the survivors in the Zone becomes distinctly Orwellian, revolving around the will of the omnipresent Artemus, who is accepted by the people as a benevolent messianic figure. The boy can read the thoughts of anyone in the Zone, and the people find that comforting. He has absolute power, though he is influenced by flattery to enforce the will of the government officials. Throughout much of the story, Artemus is confused and unsure of what he should do, which adds to his vulnerability to official leadership.

The story concludes with Artemus vanishing from the Zone, leaving behind only a "little pink pool" and a basket at the orphanage, a "baby at the door." The barriers enclosing the Zone begin to fade, and the fearful inhabitants realize they no longer need him.

Many items in the plot, including Artemus' departure from the Zone, are treated with ambiguity and metaphor. Tony Carey has declined to offer specifics:

I'm not going to tell you what it's about - that's for YOU to figure out. (I've gotten a kick out of all the well-meaning interpretations I've read.)[3]

The Pink World music video does not adhere strictly to the plot of the album.

The video begins with Pink World's main character, Artemus, shown in his bedroom, looking out the window at a helicopter that follows him throughout the first half of the video. He is then shown holding a small globe that is glowing red. His mother enters and puts the globe under his bed and tucks him in. With the helicopter following him, the scene changes to a large institutional setting filled with empty beds. He appears sad and confused as his mother washes him. He sees a vision of crowds of people in the Barrier (foreshadowing the scene in the second part of the video). The first part of the video ends as we see Artemus again looking out of his bedroom window, the institution and the crowds in the Barrier apparently a vision. He climbs back into bed. The plot in the first part of the video is not linear. Scenes are interspersed with flashbacks and future visions.

As the music transitions from "What I see" to "Behind the Barrier", Artemus is shown emerging from the cage section of "The Healer" ("Le Thérapeute", a figure appearing in many works by Belgian surrealist artist René Magritte, e.g., ref[9]) He then finds himself in a surreal scene populated with what Lovece describes as "ragged waifs" crowded into the tall Barrier that encloses the Zone, with skeleton soldiers patrolling the ground.[8] Artemus witnesses three identical girls emerging from a shell, one at a time, apparently having been cloned. He then sees himself emerging as a clone from a similar shell, and he grins at himself. (No such episode is described in the album's lyrics. This is one of several instances of artistic license employed by the video's director, Roger Lyons.) The video ends with Artemus shown content among the masses of "ragged waifs" gathered within the Barrier.

Pink World entered the Billboard 200 album chart on December 1, 1984, peaking at #121 on February 2, 1985.[12] It was selected as a pick by Billboard in their December 15, 1984 issue. The accompanying review referred to the album as a "thematic extravaganza" with "plenty of dramatic rock arrangements."[13] Pink World spent a total of 14 weeks in the Billboard 200, with its last appearance in the March 2, 1985 chart. The song "What I See" reached #25 on Billboard's Top Rock Tracks chart on December 29 of 1984,[14] though the single, "What I See" (b/w "Behind the Barrier"), did not reach the Billboard Hot 100 chart, despite Billboard endorsing it as a recommended pop single in their February 2, 1985 issue.[15][note 5]

The Pink World video entered power rotation on MTV during the week ending December 1, 1984. The video remained in power rotation or active rotation for ten weeks on the network.[15][note 5] The Campus Network[note 6] also aired the Pink World video during their New Groove show.[16]

Although sales of the album were modest when it was released, Pink World continues to enjoy popularity with fans of the progressive rock genre. Tom Demalon of AllMusic rates the album at 4 1/2 stars out of five. Demalon writes, "Pink World is a curiously interesting work that has managed to achieve a certain cult status."[1]

Sam Fiorani from The High Fidelity Report, in a 2013 review of the albums Planet P Project and Pink World, described both albums as "the best-kept secrets hidden away in the stacks of vinyl across the country." Summarizing opinions found around the Internet, Fiorani says "'It would make a good SciFi movie' and 'make no mistake, Pink World is a phenomenal album' are types of comments on the ‘Net by fans of this set." He concludes his review with the recommendation, "Give yourself a treat and find your own copies of Planet P and Pink World for a glimpse of a time long gone by and great music that may never return." [10]

• Reinhard Besser – guitar (solo) on tracks 4, 17, and 19
• Helmut Bibl – guitar (solo) on tracks 6 and 12
• Roderich Gold – Fairlight synthesizer
• Fritz Matzka – drums on tracks 2, 17, and 23
• Robert Musenbichler – guitar (lead) on track 23
• Eddie Taylor – saxophone on track 23

• Tim Baldwin – tape operator
• Shane Dempsey – Fairlight synthesizer programming
• Michael Diehl – design
• Mathias Dietrich – assistant engineer
• Larry DuPont – photography
• John W. Edwards – CD booklet layout
• Greg Fulginiti – original mastering
• Peter Hauke – co-arrangement
• Nigel Jopson – recording engineer
• Andy Lunn – mixing engineer
• Mariusz Zych (Marius the Polish Kid)[18] – tape operator
• George Snow – SX-70 image
• Stan Watts – illustration