And now, we interrupt the usual intelligent pop discourse for yet another MuchMusic testimonial, proving unequivocably that MuchMusic (USA or Canada) is the only video/music channel worth a damn. As if the obvious superior aspects of the channel aren’t convincing enough – the sock-puppet VJ, the abnormally high ratio of video content:non-video content, the ability of their executive producers to shamelessly broadcast folks flipping off the camera and videos featuring such hot-button words as “hashpipe” or “cold” without scampering to the post-production gadget closet drenched in waves of nervous sweat.
One day, while eating my customary lunch (mmm…microwavable Thai cuisine), MuchMusic plays a video by Big Wreck. They’re a rock band, not unlike the bevy of post-grunge poseurs preening on stage at a mid-sized concert venue near you. (I believe their newest CD – The Pleasure & The Greed – is currently in the “low-priced” stage of its promotion cycle. If the group flops, the CD price will eventually escalate. If they succeed, the price will skyrocket even sooner. I think your money would be better spent buying two copies of the newest Stabbing Westward CD @ $4.98 US, and then using the CDs as oversized pasties. And did you know that the glossy paper used to print CD inserts is highly absorbent? Ah, but I digress.)
The video was excessively stylized – low camera angles, stark white background, stop-motion sequences, computer-altered amps shimmering like mercury, long legged women with even more shimmer. The band “worked it” to the best of their ability, though the effort put forth belied the weak sound of the guitars (and the weak concept of the song – ooo, INHALE! At 4:20! Fuck da po-leece, while you’re at it, kids. And remember to get that green stuff from your mommy’s and daddy’s wallets and send it to Soupy Sales C/O ABC Television). And the singer – ah, the singer. He aped a certain special someone, in his vocalizing and enunciation. Even in his tousled hair & rakish goatee. It was blatantly obvious. So obvious that even the presumably diplomatic folks at MuchMusic couldn’t let such a golden opportunity pass them by. As the familiar notes of the next song/video drifted from the speakers like wind-swept dandelion seeds, and the flower of recognition bloomed in my heart (ah yes), I knew that I’d follow these MuchMusic people through thick and thin, through Snow & SoulDecision, wherever they may take this entertaining enterprise.
The video in question was Soundgarden’s “Black Hole Sun”.
That made me very, very happy.