New VH1 shows: More snack than satisfying meals
Both shows start this week.
By CARY DARLING
(FORT WORTH) STAR-TELEGRAM
One of VH1’s main specialties — beyond trying to revive the mummified careers of Bret Michaels and Flavor Flav — seems to be to turn heat-and-eat nostalgia into a pop-culture buffet for grazing boomers or Gen Xers. Make a list of songs from the past, throw in a bunch of has-beens and/or struggling comedians to riff on them and, bam, instant show.
Such is the case this week with “The 7 Ages of Rock” (beginning at 9 p.m. Monday and running through next Sunday) and “VH1’s 100 Greatest Songs of the ’90s” (beginning at 10 p.m. Monday and running through Friday). Despite their length, both feel more like snacks than fully satisfying meals.
That’s not such a problem with “100 Greatest Songs” — it doesn’t really pretend to be anything other than junk food — but “The 7 Ages of Rock,” which originally aired on the BBC and is narrated by Dennis Hopper, bears the weight of importance. So its sins are more glaring.
Now, if it had been titled “The 7 Ages of British Rock,” the series’ Anglophilic focus would be more understandable. But, as it is, it’s just myopic.
The first episode, titled “My Generation: The Birth of Rock,” kicks off in 1965 with The Beatles, The Stones, The Who and The Animals, and it claims this was the first age of rock. While the debt these bands owed to American blues is acknowledged, totally overlooked are those performers who provided the bridge between the blues and The Beatles: Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bo Diddley or even Elvis Presley.
The producers might claim these artists are “rock ‘n’ roll,” not “rock” as it came to be known from the late ’60s on, when the music became less obviously blues-based. Still, “The 7 Ages of Rock” does a disservice to those whose pop musical history may be hazy.
The same is true for the fifth episode (“We Are the Champions: Stadium Rock”), where the Brits — Queen, The Police, Dire Straits, Live Aid, U2 — get much of the glory. Bruce Springsteen and Kiss also get time but there’s little to no exposure for many of the major American acts of the day — cough, Grateful Dead, cough — who could fill festivals and stadiums.
Americans should be more prominent in episode six (called “Left of the Dial: Alternative Rock 1980-1994”) — presumably Nirvana will be a major presence — but it was not sent for review. But then the final episode, “Indie,” is completely dedicated to U.K. bands from the last 15 years.
Despite the many flaws, there is some notable archival and interview footage. For this alone, fans of The Who, Springsteen, Queen, Bob Dylan, The Kinks and The Beatles should tune in. Still, it’s hard to get over the feeling that maybe the whole thing is just British payback for us giving the world Soulja Boy.
It’s easy to mock “VH1’s Greatest Songs of the ’90s” — based on more than 600,000 votes cast at VH1.com — but that’s kind of the point. Does anyone really care about what Jewel has to say about “Smells Like Teen Spirit”? Or how Joan Osborne feels about the Beastie Boys? Or what some comedian few have heard of thinks Naughty by Nature’s “O.P.P.” means?
No, but it’s all just fun filler for a countdown in which you can relive some favorite musical moments and catch up on news tidbits you might’ve missed out on the first time around. (Metallica’s James Hetfield being detained at an airport for having a “Taliban-like beard” being one.)
Plus, you can see how well (or not) some former heroes have aged and throw rocks at the TV screen when the realization hits that Rico Suave made the cut.