That Metal Show on VH1 Classic...So...

[oldnewwaver]

a very informative show for that genre...so it's begs the question...why not a postpunk or new wave version of that show??
do you think there would be interest? maybe a campaign directed to VH1 Classic to at least consider a show for other music genres and their fans and the musicians and bands??
any thoughts??

[budaniel]

VH1 Classics has been overrun by That Metal Show. It's on CONSTANTLY. I know they show 120 minutes occasionally, and they have their 80s block of videos in the mornings, but I also don't understand why they wouldn't have some sort of show dedicated to new wave considering how it defined the early 80s as much as hair bands defined the late 80s.

[oldnewwaver]

maybe on the VHClassic website there is a suggestion box!

[Jim2]

Back in the late 80's, the powers that be on MTV, attempted to drop all the Metal videos from their airplay, twice, and each time the opposition to such a move, got stronger. With the emergence of Metallica, Guns & Roses and bands of the like, MTV catered to their fans with "Metal Shop" on Saturday nights. 120 Minutes couldn't survive long after Nirvana made it big and "Grunged" the world. Even Depeche Mode and Oingo Boingo succumbed to the "Grunge" sound. Only the Pet Shop Boys stayed true with their 1993 release Very (there may have been another band who stayed faithful, but I can't recall who). Kurt Cobain's suicide accelerated Grunge's popularity and longevity much more than the suicide of Ian Curtis did for New Wave.

Metal has a much larger fan base than New Wave / Alternative. I don't see MTV ever returning to their original programing format of music videos 24 hours a day ever again (which was what MTV2 was supposed to be for). I miss VH1 Classics revolving blocks of All Star Jams, 60's Generation, We are The 80's, Pop Show etc... At least you got a chance to see a video or two you may not had seen before.

I don't believe there are enough of us to support a Postpunk or New Wave show. There are too many Metalheads that outnumber us and for that reason, they get the lion's share of the programming on MTV.

[bpdp3]

This is actually a great topic. Yeah, why not?

I actually grew up liking alot of the early 80's metal acts (ie the New Wave of British Heavy Metal) so I can stomach That Metal Show...and if you're into the genre, it's actually pretty watchable and intelligent. Not cringe-inducing.

Unfortunately, my experience with vh1 is whenever they encounter our music of the early 80's, they focus on its kitschy value and find a bunch of babbling "actor/comedians" to tell us why all the acts were so darn goofy.

But why can't we have a show hosted by someone like Simon Reynolds ("Rip it up and start again" author) who treated the music with respect? Can you imagine flipping it on and seeing an overview of Factory Records, or a look at the New Romantic/Blitz movement, or a Clash vs Jam debate?

Sadly, Jim2 may be right. Just not enough of us?? But if so, then WHY ALL THE NEW WAVE IN TV COMMERCIALS??

[British]

The sad part about VH1 Classic is that they just to just play music videos. Not just new wave & post-punk, but rock & metal ones too. The draw? Obscure ones!

Now it's movies & tv shows.

It is MTV all over again. Now it's gone in favor of TV shows.

Over/under until KOOLTV stops playing low-bandwidth quality music videos...

[q89747]

[quote][i]Originally posted by budaniel[/i]
<br>VH1 Classics has been overrun by That Metal Show. It's on CONSTANTLY. I know they show 120 minutes occasionally, and they have their 80s block of videos in the mornings, but I also don't understand why they wouldn't have some sort of show dedicated to new wave considering how it defined the early 80s as much as hair bands defined the late 80s.
[/quote]
Well if they're showing 120 Minutes isn't that about as close as any of us here expects? What else are you hoping for?

[WoodlandParkPunk]

I have wondered the same thing. Seems to me that the Bands Reunited shows were successful when they did them so there is an audience. I could see it working with someone like Martha Quinn.

"You just pick a chord, go twang, and you've got music." ~ Sid Vicious

[i_like_lectric_motors]

The folks at VH1 were probably developing such a show and then stumbled upon this forum, took one look at the crap some of the people here consider "new wave", laughed, and gave up. I don't blame them.

[ghosty]

The Metal community is incredibly passionate and very VERY large. The New Wave community?...not so much. Sad but true.

[budaniel]

I think it's all about even playing field. By the LATE 80s, 'metal' was a huge force in popular music, but not in the early to mid 80s. The early 80s--music, fashion, movies, TV shows, top 40 radio--were highly influenced by a new wave 'head' (as Johnny Slash from Square Pegs might put it). Mainstream artist as well as hard rock artists were trying to sound more new wave to get noticed and get airplay on MTV.

And even by the late 80s, when metal was just hairband pop rock, the 'new wave' and 'altnerative' artists were having their biggest commercials successes on top 40 radio.

Even this past decade during the 20 year anniversary revival of the 80s, the resurgence was in new wave inspired bands and artists, NOT metal.

[ghosty]

[quote][i]Originally posted by budaniel[/i]
<br>I think it's all about even playing field. By the LATE 80s, 'metal' was a huge force in popular music, but not in the early to mid 80s. The early 80s--music, fashion, movies, TV shows, top 40 radio--were highly influenced by a new wave 'head' (as Johnny Slash from Square Pegs might put it). Mainstream artist as well as hard rock artists were trying to sound more new wave to get noticed and get airplay on MTV.

And even by the late 80s, when metal was just hairband pop rock, the 'new wave' and 'altnerative' artists were having their biggest commercials successes on top 40 radio.

Even this past decade during the 20 year anniversary revival of the 80s, the resurgence was in new wave inspired bands and artists, NOT metal.
[/quote]

Have to disagree with part of this. While there was certainly an 80's nostalgia boon in the mid-2000's (which still exists to a smaller degree today) and there were (are) a slew of New Wave inspired Indie bands..
Metal never really went away, it transformed into mega selling (and crappy) bands like Korn and Disturbed while the 80's hair bands enjoyed their own 3 day Rocklahoma festival which put all the New Wave revival traveling road shows to shame. If that lousy Tom Cruise musical "Rock Of Ages" is a hit and everyone rediscovers the joys of Def Leppard yet again, that's just more gas in the Metal tank.

[budaniel]

Personally, I think Def Leppard rules and totally transcends most other 'metal' and are most definitely NOT a hair band....

And new wave also completely transformed, IMO in the 90s. There were plenty of lesser known synthpop bands that sounded more like Erasure in the 90s than Erasure did, and power pop and power punk made a resurgence in bands like Blink-182. And bands like No Doubt, Veruca Salt, Weezer, Green Day, Garbage, the Cranberries, Sunscreem, were essentially new wave, punk, and synthpop bands making music for the 90s.

[ghosty]

[quote][i]Originally posted by budaniel[/i]
<br>Personally, I think Def Leppard rules and totally transcends most other 'metal' and are most definitely NOT a hair band....

And new wave also completely transformed, IMO in the 90s. There were plenty of lesser known synthpop bands that sounded more like Erasure in the 90s than Erasure did, and power pop and power punk made a resurgence in bands like Blink-182. And bands like No Doubt, Veruca Salt, Weezer, Green Day, Garbage, the Cranberries, Sunscreem, were essentially new wave, punk, and synthpop bands making music for the 90s.
[/quote]

While true, let's be honest.."New Wave" was a dirty word in the 90's as far as the media was concerned. All of those bands were just lumped into "Alternative" and despite having those influences sounded pretty contemporary for their time (and Garbage is one of my favorite acts from that or any period).
It wasn't till the 2000's that indie rock (which is always searching for tag) produced a slew of bands that were copying Joy Division down to the amps they used and churning out records that sounded EXACTLY like something that could've come out in 1982.
I have no problem with Def Leppard up till "Pyromania". It wasn't until "Hysteria" that I thought they lost the plot and "Animalize" was where I gave up on them. I actually like most Metal until around 1985 when suddenly everyone had to have a big power ballad. How did Motley Crue go from a killer riff like "Looks That Kill" to the sickly maudlin "Home Sweet Home" in 2 years? What was in the water in 1985?
Another difference between the Metal community and the New Wave community is that Metal fans tend to be a more inclusive. On That Metal Show you'll see the hosts talk about a great band like Judas Priest and then move on to a fluff band like White Lion without a hint of irony. If a New Wave themed show were to succeed on VH1 it would have to do the same thing....which means Motors would be compelled to write a lot of angry letters to VH1. [;)]

[q89747]

As long as we're on the subject, Jani Lane of Warrant is now gone *sniff*. Anyone have him for the dead pool?
For the record, I myself was an HM kid through grade and middle school. I still have a fondness for Pyromania (bought that platter the same day I saw Right Stuff in the theater, but it's sadly long gone), and I agree the riffage in 'Looks that Kill' are indeed killer. Actually at the time the Theater of Pain LP seemed OK-- it wasn't until Girls Girls Girls that the lameness of the Crue shone through. And it was about that time that I first heard the Smiths on the radio. I realised that music should have brains as well as balls. So that was that. And when I saw the video for 'Heaven' a not too many years later, I had all the proof I needed that I was on the right side of history.