The Video Music Awards Are a Waste of Time

Tonight in Las Vegas, MTV will roll out of the red carpet for their annual Video Music Awards show. In my childhood, the VMAs were a huge deal: I would look forward to the show for at least a month. The VMAs are always over the top, and they (used to) feature some really amazing performances.

If you don’t recall or didn’t have cable way back in the day, MTV launched their first award show in 1984.

Tonight, the nominee list is completely lackluster. It makes me wonder why bands and labels even spend the money on music videos these days. MTV never plays them, and the best way to get them aired it seems is on Myspace.

Here’s the sucktastic list of nominees for best group:

Fall Out Boy
Gym Class Heroes
Linkin Park
Maroon 5
The White Stripes

The categories for awards are now stupid. “Best Rock Video” is a defunct category, replaced with such worthless titles as “Most Earthshattering Collaboration,” "Quadruple Threat of the Year,” and “Monster Single of the Year.”

Give me a break.

So, tonight while half the teeny boppers in the world are watching MTV, I’ll be using my precious TV time on something else.

Now, this isn’t to say that past VMA shows were a complete waste. The 1992 show had some killer performances, including Guns n’ Roses with Elton John and the Nirvana incident when bassist Dave Grohl smacked himself upside the head with his own instrument. Plus, Nirvana and Axl Rose got in a big fight during the show which stirred some controversy.

When Guns n' Roses were still a new band, they won the award for Best New Artist in 1988 for their video in support of “Welcome to the Jungle.” The band's performance during that show is now regarded as classic.

Most amusing is the infamous Poison debacle when C.C. DeVille showed up to the 1991 show completely blitzed and couldn’t even pull it together long enough to play the right song. Bret Michaels slugged C.C. offstage after that mess, and suddenly Richie Kotzen was in the band. If I had a time machine, I would suck myself back to 1991 (yes, at about age 11) and watch that incident from side stage.

Also in 1991, Queensryche won the Viewer’s Choice award for “Silent Lucidity.” The band was nominated for a slew of Moonmen in 1991, and were a featured performer at the awards show.

In 1996 Van Halen (with David Lee Roth) presented an award, fueling reunion speculation. Of course it didn’t happen. Much later in 2002, Sammy Hagar and David Lee Roth also teamed-up to present an award.

Here’s Van Halen (with Hagar in happier times, at the 1991 VMA show)

Update on Thursday, September 20, 2007 at 09:44PM by Allyson B. Crawford

This article contains an (unintentional) error. The bassist for Nirvana was, in fact, Krist Novoselic -- not Dave Grohl. Instead of simply correcting the error, I want to prove that the glam mistress doesn't lie about mistakes. Thanks to commenter Chey for pointing out my blunder.

Two on the Floor (Well, Almost)

Well, I did it.

I waited patiently for Van Halen tickets to go on-sale at a concert venue closest to my home. This morning, I purchased two seats to the Indianapolis tour stop.

Eric and I will drive 100 miles each way for the show, and I hope it's worth it. The seats were exceptionally expensive. In fact, if you want to talk straight ticket prices, it's costing Eric and I more to see the reunited VH than it did for four days of Rocklahoma this past July. (Don't worry though, inflation hits everything and when I renewed my Rocklahoma seat license for next year, the price rose three-fold).

I *think* my Van Halen seats are good. We're almost on the floor without buying the (nearly) illegal Live Nation promotion.

I'm very excited. I've been talking about buying my Van Halen tickets all week. I'm sure my coworkers are sick of hearing about it all.

Here's a really cool video I found of Van Halen performing "Hot For Teacher" in the UK on their 1984 tour. At the start you can hear the wind whipping from Diamond Dave swirling his big cape. Plus, there's some nut job that rushes the stage.

Queensryche Giveaway

Want a copy of the new Queensryche greatest hits package?

To celebrate this new release, Bring Back Glam! is giving away two copies of Sign of the Times: The Best of Queensryche. Yes, this is the deluxe edition, two disc set. Disc one is all the famous songs you know and love. Disc two is rare, unreleased material and live cuts.

So, how do you win?

Simply send me an email to allyson@bringbackglam.com telling me in 25 words on less why you want this disc but can't afford the purchase. Money should never be a barrier between fans and good music.

Please submit your entries by 8 p.m. EST tonight (September 7, 2007).

That is all. Good luck.

It's All In Your Head

Bring Back Glam! recently spoke with Jacob and David Lynam of Birmingham, Alabama-based Lynam. The band is hard at work, putting finishing touches on their new album Tragic City Symphony. After three independent releases, Lynam jumped to the major leagues and signed with DRT Entertainment. In 2006, the band released Slave to the Machine, and hit the road with some of the biggest bands touring America today. During the interview, Jacob and David talk about their rock philosophy, their connection to Bon Jovi and joining the Motley Cruise -- just don't call them an 80s band. Transcription follows.

Bring Back Glam! I just recently learned of your band. How are you gaining such a strong following?

Jacob Lynam (vocals and guitar): We released the record (Slave to the Machine) nine or ten months ago on DRT, it came out everywhere, so that was the first time a lot of people had heard of us other than the south east states, then we went on tour with Hinder, and played shows with Cinderella, RATT and Poison. We also went out with Godsmack, Puddle of Mudd and Saliva – and that opened up a lot of people’s eyes to who we are and what we do. It’s definitely been a building process.

BBG!: How long have you had your new album Tragic City Symphony in the can?

David Lynam (drums): Like a week ago, we wrapped production on the last song.

Jacob: We may do some more songs. We’ve had the songs for awhile. It’s one of those things: like a lot of bands will write ten songs when they are making a record, and say that’s enough for a record. Then, if you listen to those ten songs, maybe only two or three of them are worth a shit. Just because you write ten songs doesn’t mean the album is done. We sent them to our manager, and we get together with our diehard fans and we sort out everyone’s favorite songs. Every now and then, there will be a song we fall in love with, but once we play it live and listen to it recorded we’re like “You know what? That’s not a very good song, and we could do better!” There was a couple songs on Slave to the Machine that we felt that way about. We loved them when we wrote them, but when we recorded them, we felt we could do better. It turns out that management and the label and other people liked the songs, so they ended up going on the record anyway. Different strokes for different folks. Everyone has different tastes.

BBG!: So how do you explain the sound of your upcoming album?

Jacob: Our sound has evolved. We personally like big rock n’ roll. That doesn’t necessarily mean Motley Crue and Def Leppard – of course we like Motley Crue and Def Leppard – but when I say big rock n’ roll, I’m also talking about Green Day. Their most recent record American Idiot sounds like one of the biggest arena rock records I’ve ever heard. The reverb on the drums, the songs are so big sounding…it could mean Alice in Chains, Dirt. That’s a big sounding record, thanks to production and reverb. A lot of times when we talk about our sound and we say we like big arena rock, people automatically say “Oh, they’re like an 80s band.” We love 80s music, don’t get me wrong, but we hate when people automatically put that label on us because we like big rock. A good song is a good song. Big rock is what we’re all about. That’s what we strive to achieve. When you listen to our songs…a lot of critics and industry people that don’t know anything about music… they look at the way that we look: we definitely have a rock star image. We don’t want to go out with flannel shirts and jeans on. Critics look at our picture and see that our influences are Motley Crue and Def Leppard, they decide we are an 80s band. Just for the record, we never said we were an 80s band.

BBG!: What’s the first single for your new album?

Jacob: We’re not sure.

BBG!: Do you know the street date?

Jacob: We don’t know. We’re still listening and making sure we are completely happy with everything. We’re thinking it will be out early 2008.

BBG!: Is “Tragic City Symphony” a song on the album, or is that just a random title?

Jacob: Birmingham is known as the Magic City. It’s always been the slogan. We just changed it kind of because the new record is wide open with song matters. The topics of the songs are all over the place. The songs tell a lot of stories, kind of like a symphony or opera would. We’ve got a lot of strings on the new stuff.

BBG!: How did you hook up with Tom Keifer of Cinderella?

Jacob: Our manager also manages Cinderella and Nickelback. There’s always been an awareness of Lynam in the Cinderella camp because of our manager. When we actually played with them, we gave Tom our Slave to the Machine CD and he called and said it hadn’t been out of his player in like a month. He loved it so much, (and) he said our songs sounded so good that he wanted the guy who mixed our record to mix some songs for his solo album. I just told him how big of fans that we are, and always been…He told us he lived in Nashville, and we live in Birmingham which is only a three hour drive, so we asked him if he would play on our record. Literally, the next week he called and we got together and hung out. He’s an awesome human being.

BBG!: What is the name of the song he is on?

Jacob: He did one song, called “Enemy.”

David: Anytime you hear slide guitar in that song, it’s him.

BBG!: Does he provide any vocals?

Jacob: No.

BBG!: Your video for “Tanis” (from Slave to the Machine) is so good. Why did you remix that song?

Jacob: The record company made us. We liked the original version just fine, but hey, they are the ones spending all the money on a video and sending it to radio, so if it makes them feel better for the remix, so be it.

BBG!: Do you recall the video getting much airplay?

Jacob: I saw it on Vh1 twice, but it wasn’t the actual video. More like the commercial for the album twice. I know we were the download of the day on Fuse. On the Indie charts, we hit number one on both mainstream and active rock. It’s pretty cool to have a number one song on both charts in the country.

BBG!: Jacob, did you win an award for writing a Christian song?

Jacob: Um, yes.

David: (Laughs). I don’t even know about that!

Jacob: Last year I actually won - from Billboard magazine - I won first place in the Christian music category...

BBG!: “Song For Our Life”

Jacob: Yep, “Song For Our Life” but that wasn’t for Lynam, that was for an artist named Mike Shaw. They (Billboard) got in touch with me, and I got an award and money and it was real cool. Then, the same thing happened with another one of those contests. I won first place in the Christian category – and this year, I won first place again. It hasn’t been announced yet and it’s not on the website, but I won first place in the Christian category. One of our biggest fans on the planet is Catholic priest. The person that runs Jon Bon Jovi’s fan club – backstage with Jon Bon Jovi – was Jon’s mom. She ran it for years with their priest, a guy named Father Bob. Father Bob and her ran the fan club since 1988. Just recently, Jon’s mom retired and Father Bob retired, and the fan club got turned over to Matt Bon Jovi, which is Jon’s brother. Father Bob, he is one of the biggest Lynam fans in the world, to the point that he flew all of us – he paid for it – to New York so we could watch Bon Jovi play at Madison Square Garden. He gave us fourth row tickets, total V.I.P. treatment, so it’s crazy how diverse our fan base is. It’s insane.

BBG!: How did you get hooked up with the Motley Cruise?

David: Myspace has lead so many people of the era to our music, from Jani Lane to producer Beau Hill. Vince Neil’s manager found us through Myspace.

Jacob: Yeah. What happened is that Vince Neil’s manger said he heard about us through the guy that does Motley Crue’s website. The web guy told him that he had to “check out this new band Lynam, they’re totally rock.” Well, he went and bought the CD and emailed me and said that he is a huge fan. We hear this all the time, but this guy really was. He knew deep cuts on the album, like names of the songs and what the songs are about, and he asked us if we would join the cruise on behalf of Vince.

David: Anytime you offer us a free vacation, we’re there!

BBG!: Ok, what’s the deal with your band name. Are you brothers or not?

Jacob: Meh, it’s like the Ramones or the Donnas. All our names really aren’t Lynam. It’s just one of those things that we did.

BBG!: Ok then, is it true that two of your band members have the same last name but are not related?

Jacob: Nope, that’s not true either. Everything that you read about us is always full of shit, 100%.

BBG!: Well, how much have you been lying to me during this interview?

David: We’ve been very forthright during this interview!

Jacob: We are actually telling 100% truth during this interview. We’re talking about bios and stuff.

BBG!: Well, I read the bits about your names from another interview.

David: I told them they wouldn’t be in my damn band unless they changed their names to my last name!

Jacob: What you read…When we signed with DRT, they got a guy that writes bios for everybody. There are only about six guys that write bios in the entire industry for all the major labels, and that’s why all the bios sound the same. Our official bio at www.drt-entertainment.com, it talks about name. The guy got it all wrong –

BBG!: He got it wrong, or you told him wrong?

Jacob: Well, see DRT wanted us to have a true bio…they wanted the whole story. I gave him the whole story, and he got everything mixed up. As far as the bios on our Myspace page, anything that we’ve done, that's for fun. Band bios are just boring.

David: All of them. Wait until you read our next band bio!

Photo courtesy: Allison White Studios for Lynam, via www.myspace.com/lynam

Go Ahead, Point and Laugh

Um, if you like exercises in painful experiences you might want to listen to Metal Express Radio this Friday at either 9 a.m. or 3 p.m. Apparently, I'm going to be a guest DJ, and I'll be spinning for you my top 10 favorite glam songs.

To listen, visit www.metalexpressradio.com

Tim Skold: Then and Now

Before there was Crashdiet...

Before there was Vains of Jenna...
Before there was Hardcore Superstar...

There was Shotgun Messiah. Formally Kingpin, the band moved from Sweden to Los Angeles in the early 1980s and changed their name to Shotgun Messiah. From the beginning, bassist Tim Skold was the star of the band, but he wasn't the original singer -- that was reserved for Zinny J. Zan.

After the debut, Zinny J. Zan left the band and Tim Skold took over singing duties. It was during this era that the band released the album Second Coming. After this album, the band -- and especially Tim Skold -- moved in a more industrial direction. A handful of years later, Skold found himself working with Taime Downe of The Newlydeads, and later in his current gig with Marilyn Manson.

Here's the most successful single from Second Coming: "Heartbreak Blvd."

Now, I ask you: how does such a beautiful, blonde man chop his hair and decide to go goth? Is Skold chasing trends, or is this another example of true musical evolution?

Tim Skold never had a glam voice in the vein of Sebastian Bach or even Bret Michaels. Rather, he was always more closely aligned with Taime Downe. Perhaps the gritty voice opened the doors for a successful industrial - and later - goth career?

For my money, Tim Skold did his best work with Shotgun Messiah, but that doesn't mean I don't think he's a talented musician. In fact, he's a great producer and he can play multiple instruments. Plus, there are some good qualities to Marilyn Manson, but it's just not my cup of tea.

Here's Tim Skold with Marilyn Manson:"This is The New Shit" from the album The Golden Age of Grotesque.

So, do you prefer Tim Skold with Shotgun Messiah or Marilyn Manson?

Only the Good Die Young

Researchers at the Centre for Public Health at Liverpool John Moores University have released findings of the most worthless study of all time. Yes, it seems rock stars really do die young. Who would have thought?

Here's a newswire from Reuters:

LONDON - Rock stars -notorious for their "crash and burn" lifestyles - really are more likely than other people to die before reaching old age.

A study of more than 1,000 mainly British and North American artists, spanning the era from Elvis Presley to rapper Eminem, found they were two to three times more likely to suffer a premature death than the general population.

Between 1956 and 2005 there were 100 deaths among the 1,064 musicians examined by researchers at the Centre for Public Health at Liverpool John Moores University.

As well as Presley, the toll of those dying before their time included Doors singer Jim Morrison, guitar hero Jimi Hendrix, T Rex star Marc Bolan and Nirvana's Kurt Cobain.

More than a quarter of all the deaths were related to drugs or alcohol abuse, said the study in the Journal of Epidemial Community Health.

"The paper clearly describes a population of rock and pop stars who are at a disproportionate risk of alcohol and drug related deaths," said Mark Bellis, lead author of the study.

He said the study raised questions about the suitability of using rock stars for public health messages such as anti-drug campaigns when their own lifestyle was so dangerous.

"In the music industry, factors such as stress, changes from popularity to obscurity, and exposure to environments where alcohol and drugs are easily available, can all contribute to substance use as well as other self-destructive behaviors," the report said.

Highest risk:

It found that musicians were most at risk in the first five years after achieving fame, with death rates more than three times higher than normal.

Hendrix, Bon Scott of AC/DC and punk rocker Sid Vicious all died within five years of hitting the big time, said Bellis.

Among British artists the risk of dying remains high until around 25 years after their first success, when they return to near normal life expectancy.

That bodes well for rock survivors like The Who's 63-year-old Roger Daltrey, who famously first sang "I hope I die before I get old" in the song "My Generation" back in 1965.

But this trend was not found in North America, where aging rockers remain almost twice as likely to suffer a premature demise, particularly from heart attack or stroke.

American stars Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead, Carl Wilson of the Beach Boys and Johnny Ramone of the Ramones all died in their 50s.

Bellis suggested that the high death rate among older American musicians could be related to the continent's greater appetite for reunion tours, exposing the artists for more years to an unhealthy "rock'n'roll" lifestyle.

It could also be due to the poor medical outlook for impoverished American ex-pop stars who have no health insurance, he said.

Americans have a penchant for reunion tours, eh? So be it. Here's a Van Halen video: "Dance the Night Away"

;

Should we take bets on how long it takes for the rock n' roll life on the road to tear the mighty Van Halen apart?