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Wayne Coyne Risks Arrest for Naked Cyclist Video

Barely anything the Flaming Lips do should be surprising at this point. But when word came out earlier this week that the band would be incorporating 400 naked bicyclists into the clip for 'Watching the Planets,' it still made people go, "What!?"

Frontman Wayne Coyne tells Spinner he had the same response when he heard an NPR report on the "Famous Portland naked bicycling troupes," and that's what led to the video. "I think as ridiculous of a notion as that would be, I said, 'Wouldn't that be cool if we made a video using all these naked bicycle people?'" he recalls. "And everybody said, 'That'd be great. We should do a video like that.' I think it was more that it just seemed like a ridiculous idea. That's what you make videos for -- to do ridiculous things that wouldn't work in a movie or work in real life but work for a couple of minutes in a music video."

Speaking from a dress rehearsal at Oregon's Mt. Tabor, Coyne admitted that the video was out there, even by the Portland cyclists' standards. "There's a route that they do and a lot of times they only do it at night," he says. "So, I'm bending the concept of what they're used to by actually doing it in a park during the day. Even though it's Portland, it's still a radical thing. I don't know if I'll go to jail, but I might."

Filming began Wednesday and, so far, there have been no reports of arrests, but Coyne was willing to go to jail for his vision. "I don't think they'll punish me severely. It is just grown adults running around naked," he says. "It is kind of harmless but I can understand that there's laws. And I'm not really doing it because I think it's radical. It's more that it's ridiculous, absurd, and funny."

Coyne also cleared up the false rumor that that Yeah Yeah Yeahs frontwoman Karen O appears in the video for 'I Can Be a Frog' -- she only guests on the song -- but it got us wondering what celebs he'd like to have in the 'Planets' clip. "We'll hopefully have a bunch of great looking rock stars and beautiful celebrities running around, but I don't think we will. I'm perfectly satisfied with just the beautiful freaks in Portland," he says.

But one celeb who has no problem showing a little skin is welcome. "Lady Gaga walks around naked half the time anyway. Maybe she'll be having a picnic in the park and she'll just jump in," he says laughing. "I mean that in the best way possible. I think she's awesome."

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Jed

Yep. You're right...Queen did it. So what? Does that mean it can never be done again? You guys need to lighten up. Neither the author of this article nor Wayne Coyne claimed this was a brand new concept. It's just a goofy video.

September 28 2009 at 4:41 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
chefevil

Guess you haven't seen the new Rammstein video.

September 28 2009 at 1:25 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Hikaru Genji

xD I love Coyne. Heck I love the Flaming Lips. They're fantastic.

September 28 2009 at 12:12 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Sususuu

No big deal. Blink 182 did it in "All The Small Things". Red Hot Chili Peppers performed with socks on. JUST socks, and the socks were not on their feet. So what's the problem?

September 28 2009 at 11:04 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Keith

The Flaming Lips are fun and creative, but shouldn't we all be doing more productive things right now, like getting ourselves some decent health care??

I've been a fellow member of your idiot club far too long now... buh-bye!

September 28 2009 at 10:30 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Rob

Queen did this over thirty years ago for their double-A sided single, "Bicycle Race/Fat Bottomed Girls."

September 28 2009 at 9:40 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
butchbus00

how retarded is this its insane bottom of the low lifes bittom of the barrel

September 28 2009 at 9:17 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to butchbus00's comment
Shannon M

Hey, just curious. What does "bittom" mean. it must be a word because I KNOW you wouldn't type something without looking at it BEFORE you hit "ADD COMMENT". You can't be THAT stupid. So, really, what does it mean. I always like to learn the meanings of new words.

September 28 2009 at 2:03 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
louise

rip off from freddie mercury and queen song done years ago. no original idea hear

September 28 2009 at 9:11 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
louise

that bicycle thing is just a rip-off of what freddie mercury and queen did years ago. this is no original idea. please

September 28 2009 at 9:00 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
bill

Okay. Here we have another completely obscure and unknow "musician" making headlines. Wayne Coyne? Rehetorical question here. Does anyone out there know who this guy is or care about his antics?

September 28 2009 at 8:32 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
5 replies to bill's comment