The Band Who Did Newtown Street Videos Before Coldplay Made It Cool

Sydney rock band Sticky Fingers are proud to be an inspiration to British stadium fanciers Coldplay on the latter's latest video.

Earlier this week Coldplay asked fans to come flock to Newtown for the filming of a new video clip for A Sky Full Of Stars, which sees frontman Chris Martin and co play pied piper down the Sydney inner-west suburb's King St. Released overnight, the clip is a nice homage to Sticky Fingers' Australia Street video, released in February last year.

Sticky Fingers' bassist Paddy Cornwall – who says of Coldplay “I like that they don't mind getting a bit fruity” – told theMusic.com.au today, “I got off a plane from Melbourne and I got a bunch of messages from people saying, 'Old mate Chris Martin has copied your clip'… It's probably a coincidence, you'd have to ask Chris Martin that.”

He says that there was no temptation to go and be extras in the clip themselves.

“Coldplay didn't need anyone extra in the clip making it look crap, their fans were doing a good enough job of that… People holding smart phones looking like jerks.”

The bassist added, “Ours was more we needed a video clip after another idea fell through because we are unorganised. So we put a message on Facebook saying that there was free booze in Camperdown Park until we shot a video.”

It is unclear at this stage whether extras involved in the Coldplay video clip will be contacting management to demand that they be reimbursed for their time to the amount of 'free booze in a park'.

“They did do it on the other side of the road, walking the other way,” said Cornwall. “So it's either a coincidence or they're slightly self conscious that they were copying us and tried to make it a mirror.”

Whatever the truth is, Sticky Fingers “don't give a fuck at all”.

“It's nice to see they've got some love for Newtown and our inner west neighbourhood, as big as they are.”

Sticky Fingers recently finished mixing their new album, which will be out 1 August.

Watch the two clips below: