The Majesty of Rock

June 7th, 1992. When the history books are written, chronicles are chronicled, and the tales are told and retold, embellished and emboldened, that is the day will be remembered and remarked upon. Within a week of watching this, I'd shaved off my long hair and within the year kicked metal to the curb. In other words, this is the earliest playlist i can find to my first 12o minutes on MTV:

June 7, 1992
Source for this playlist: Mike W.
Host: Dave Kendall
Guest: Andy Partridge and Steve Wynn

Jesus and Mary Chain - Far Gone and Out
Buffalo Tom – Tailights Fade
XTC – The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead
New Order – Fine Time
Pale Saints – Throwing Back the Apples
Ride – Twisterella
Sarah McLachlan – The Path of Thorns
Faith No More – Midlife Crisis
Steve Wynn – Drag
Charlatans UK – Weirdo
Jane’s Addiction – Classic Girl
Steve Wynn – Caroline
The Spent Poets – Dogtown
Social Distortion – Cold Feelings
Tree People – Something Vicious For Tomorrow
Simple Minds – Waterfront

(last several minutes cut off)

I know it's not the first, but it's probably the only one with The Treepeople video in it and that I remember seeing-if only cause it caused me to cut off my long hair.



the funny the is how fucking lame that episode was. don't get me wrong, some of those songs are classics: buffalo tom, faith no more, the aforementioned Treepeople, and Social Distortion; but the rest are compost for the dustbin of history (mixed mtaphors and all.)

Now, for comparison's sake, let's look at the playlist for Headbanger's Ball from the saturday closest to the above 12o minutes:

Tora Tora/Saigon Kick/Suicidal Tendencies 6/13/92
Roxy Blue - Rob The Cradle
Lynch Mob - Tangled In The Web
Iron Maiden - Be Quick Or Be Dead
Guns N' Roses - Novemeber Rain
Metallica - Wherever I May Roam
Ozzy Osbourne - Road To Nowhere
Def Leppard - Make Love Like A Man
Vince Neil - You're Invited But Your Friend Can't Come
Pear Jam - Evenflow
Faith No More - Midlife Crisis
Suicidal Tendencies - You Can't Bring Me Down
Spinal Tap - The Majesty Of Rock
Tora Tora - Amnesia
Van Halen - Top Of The World
Monster Magnet - Medicine
Ministry - Jesus Built My Hotrod
GWAR - Gor-Gor
Warrant - Down Boys
Babylon A.D. - Bad Blood
Saigon Kick - Hostile Youth
Temple Of The Dog - Hunger Strike
Slayer - War Ensemble
Galactic Cowboys - I'm Not Amused

e Cris

really, it's no contest sure there's a lot of hair metal, some good (lynch mob, saigon kick, galactic cowboys), some bad (warrant (even if it's my favorite warrant cut), tora tora, roxy blue), but look at the others: Iron Maiden, Metallica, Faith No More (see the overlap), Suicidal Tendencies, Monster Magnet, Gwar, and Slayer. sixteen years later, i'm far more likely to want to watch this:



or even this (if i need to be easily amused about bands i used to like):



than to watch something like this:



okay, maybe not that one, it's a bad choice. it's got a groove that i like. so how about i'd rather watch those bad metal songs than watch this bad alterna song:



actually, i forgot that i kinda liked that song too.

man, maybe they're all good. maybe metal is just easier to laugh at. maybe stupid brit-pop/shoedaze bands wish they had half the personality that a good proggy hair metal band had. maybe, as always i'm just a confused sixteen year old kid looking at music television for some kind of identity and validation.
whatever, at least i can go on record for hating this song for nigh on 16 years and looks as if no amount of rose tinted nostalgia is gonna change it:

and of course, XTC's fucking awful Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead is nowhere to be found. fuck them. i can't even find they're video to fucking laugh at.
i'm pathetic.






mad love to:
altmusictv for their 120 Minutes playlists
The Headbanger's Ball Fan Site for the Headbanger's Ball playlists