The White Stripes Dig Up 2001 British TV Debut With “Hotel Yorba” On ‘Jools Holland’ [Watch]

Friday marked the release of The White Stripes Greatest Hits on CD and vinyl in the U.K. and Ireland. To celebrate the release across the pond, The White Stripes’ have shared archival footage of their performance of “Hotel Yorba” from BBC 2‘s Later…with Jools Holland.

Though Jools Holland may not be a household name in the States, the late-night talk show host has been on the air for nearly 30 years. It was also on this episode, which aired November 9th, 2001, that The White Stripes made their first-ever British TV appearance, a fact which Holland takes great pride in to start the video.

Before the performance even starts, this video is telling of a certain period in the band’s career as Holland erroneously identifies them as a “brother and sister team.” From the group’s beginning, Jack and Meg White claimed to be brother and sister when, in reality, they were husband and wife. This, along with the color schemes and visual representation, created a certain aesthetic for the band that helped cement an unorthodox image. In 2001, however, proof of their 1996 marriage certificate—as well as 2000 divorce proceedings—became public and the jig was up. In 2005, Jack White was quoted in Rolling Stone as saying,

When you see a band that is two pieces, husband and wife, boyfriend and girlfriend, you think, ‘Oh, I see…’ When they’re brother and sister, you go, ‘Oh, that’s interesting.’ You care more about the music, not the relationship—whether they’re trying to save their relationship by being in a band.

Related: The White Stripes Premiere ‘From The Basement’ Set From Pilot Episode [Watch]

Regardless of their relationship, this clip from 2001 finds The White Stripes in the midst of their meteoric rise as champions of the garage rock revivalist movement. Though “Hotel Yorba”, off 2001’s White Blood Cells, runs for just over two minutes, the band is able to pack quite a punch into that timeframe.

Watch The White Stripes perform “Hotel Yorba” on Later…with Jools Holland on November 9th, 2001.

The White Stripes – “Hotel Yorba”

[Video: The White Stripes]