‘Twas the Pepsi Power Hour in 1987, and Erica Ehm asked Michael Schenker a question about fast guitar players. In just a minute and 15 seconds, he responded with a remarkable amount of wisdom. From MuchMusic.
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VHS Archives #100: The Final Episode of the Pepsi Power Hour
The final episode of the Pepsi Power Hour aired at the end of the summer of 1991. The man with the sad honour of signing off was veteran Michael Williams. Off and on, Williams hosted the Power Hour since 1986 if not earlier. It was filmed at a welding shop in Calgary, Alberta. Because metal? (Bad, bad idea! Audio engineers, your thoughts on this setting?)
Williams played Metallica’s “One”, and “Hunger Strike” by Temple of the Dog. The shape of things to come.
The episode also features an interview with a new band called The Scream, featuring an up-and-comer named John Corabi. A couple years later, and Corabi would be the new singer in Motley Crue.
The very last band ever played on the Pepsi Power Hour was Van Halen. It was a big interview by Kim Clarke Champniss regarding the new album For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge. The very last song ever played was “Runaround”.
The Power Hour was supplanted by the inferior Power 30. It was a significant change. I rarely missed a Power Hour. The Power 30 was rarely worth catching. However, look for the ad for a promising new Saturday show called Start Me Up – three hours of rock!
YouTube has forced me to butcher this video to get it up, so there are no music videos. The Van Halen interview is mutilated. There are some ads and all the talking. It’s history!
Speaking of history: 100 VHS Archives! And counting! I started posting these in 2019 and I still have plenty of files left to upload, and a few more tapes to play. I’ve been taking it easy lately because the software is user-unfriendly and my VCR is making odd noises. But we’re not done. Not by a long shot.
Click here to check out all the VHS Archives!
VHS Archives #99: Duff & Matt from Guns N’ Roses backstage in Toronto – with an Axl Rose cameo (1991)
Use Your Illusion wasn’t even out yet, but Guns N’ Roses were two solid weeks into a tour chock full of new and old music. MuchMusic’s Dan Gallagher talked with Duff McKagan and new member Matt Sorum before their show on June 7 in Toronto. Was there an album really coming?
MuchMusic was into adding strange visual effects to their videos in the early 90s. That choppy visual is not mine. That is from the source broadcast.
Axl Rose had hurt his ankle and was giving the injury a stretch, riding around backstage on a bike. Stay tuned to the end! I hope that was gum.
Topics discussed:
- “Popping the question” with Matt Sorum.
- The broad appeal of Guns N’ Roses.
- Unexpectedly playing “November Rain” for the first time in a year in front of 20,000 people.
- Rock In Rio.
- Punk covers recorded for a future album.
- Tattoos.
VHS Archives #98: Blackie Lawless vs. Erica Ehm – 1992 reunion interview
VHS Archives proclaimed that video #43, Blackie Lawless’ 1989 Power Hour show, was the best interview with the man that you’ll ever see.
Every hit deserves a sequel.*
Unfortunately by 1992, when Blackie returned with new album The Crimson Idol, MuchMusic cancelled the Pepsi Power Hour and replaced it with the half-hour Power 30. No more hour-long in-depth shows with an artist like Blackie. This shorter talk is from midday in the summer of ’92.
Erica and Blackie joke around, but still get serious. They maintain their excellent rapport from the prior encounter. Topics discussed:
- Spinal Tap’s three concerts in a single day, and Blackie’s cameo in the VHS release.
- The concept behind new CD The Crimson Idol.
- Pete Townsend.
- The price for anyone who wants to make it in the music biz.
- New video “The Idol”.
Once again well done to Erica Ehm who did the best with the limited time at hand.
* Kevin does not agree.
Awesome Music That Makes Your Skin Vibrate: Two Hours of Brent Jensen on the LeBrain Train
A million thank-you’s to Brent Jensen, the author of No Sleep’Til Sudbury, Leftover People: A Journey Through Post-Rock & Roll America and All My Favourite People Are Broken. Chatting music is what we love to do here, and it was a privilege to speak with someone so saturated with musical knowledge, stories and connections. When you watch this show, I hope you feel the kinship that we music diehards share.
Obscure format junkies: Check out 0:24:10 of the video for info on a format Sony were working on called “The Cube”. It would have been a six-sided format around the time of the compact disc.
You can buy Brent’s books at Amazon, and you can check out his podcasts at nosleeptilsudbury.libsyn.com. (I’ll be checking out the Sandy Horne from the Spoons episode ASAP!) If you’d like some merch, contact him directly and he’ll hook you up. Details at the end of our video.
A million more thanks to Superdekes for setting this episode up. My brother from Thunder Bay should be known as “Superfan” after his meticulous homework and attention to detail!
There will be no sleep tonight as I hit the web looking for all these tunes! From Saxon, to Kick Axe, to Maiden (with and without Blaze), to Priest (with and without Ripper), please enjoy the music that makes our skin vibrate.
For those who missed it, here is the 11 minutes that Youtube missed, but Facebook had. Unboxings: Jeff Scott Soto, John Norum, The Black Crowes, Frank Zappa, Def Leppard.
VHS Archives #97: Fred Coury & Stephen Pearcy of Arcade (July 17 1993)
By 1993, Ratt had broken up and Cinderella split with their drummer. Singer Stephen Pearcy and drummer Fred Coury then joined forces in a new hard rock band called Arcade. Promoting their debut album, Arcade played RPM in Toronto on July 17 1993 — their only Canadian date. They stopped by MuchMusic’s Start Me Up program (one of the only shows still playing rock music) for a quick chat with Michael Williams, who was introducing them on stage later that night.
With former bands never mentioned by name, Arcade discuss their current lineup and the Toronto Grand Prix. Was Pearcy wasted?
VHS Archives #96: Brighton Rock play ball with Erica Ehm and Duane Ward (1991)
This video is for the one and only Buried on Mars!
Up to bat: Erica Ehm (MuchMusic)
Pitcher: Duane Ward (Toronto Blue Jays)
Catcher: Gerald McGhee (Brighton Rock)
Umpire: Greg Fraser (Brighton Rock)
In 1991 Brighton Rock released their third album Love Machine, featuring backing vocals by Duane Ward of the Toronto Blue Jays! Erica Ehm got to play ball and ask questions of all of them. Questions about:
- Duane’s “theme song” by Billy Joel
- How Brighton Rock hooked up with Ward
- What they do when they hang out
- The first video “Hollywood Shuffle”
- Life after the Jays
Let’s play ball!
VHS Archives #95: Kory Clarke of Warrior Soul gets political (1991)
Warrior Soul are a heavy band with a charismatic lead singer named Kory Clarke. Though their subject matter varied over the years, Kory was never afraid to get political. In this interview from 1991 supporting their second LP Drugs, God and the New Republic, Kory addresses controversial lyrics like “the goddamn president can go to hell.” Check it out. From MuchMusic’s Power 30.
VHS Archives #94: Mick Mars and Nikki Sixx’s Decade of Decadence – double shot!
“…Give us some time to work on what we wanna do now. Which is…so different, that it’s gonna take time. You can’t just go ‘we’re gonna do something different’ and just crank it out. I mean you gotta experiment and it’s going to take a lot of songwriting and trial and tribulations. So it’ll be four years between albums for us at least.” — Nikki Sixx
These are two of the interviews that made me really, really excited for the future of Motley Crue. Nikki and Mick did a pair of MuchMusic interviews in the same day that aired on different programs. Mars and Sixx were engaged and enjoying themselves. I’ve edited the two interviews together here for you. The first is a live session with Steve Anthony. They take live questions in front of that big glass MuchMusic window with a legion of fans outside. The second is a brief one in the basement with Teresa Roncon from the Power 30.
Subjects broached:
- Best shows
- Duluth
- Glue
- Parents still hating them
- “Black Widow”
- Decade
- The next LP
VHS Archives #93: TDM talks to George Clooney and Jennifer Lopez about Out of Sight
Out of Sight was a cool movie. Based on a classic Elmore Leonard novel, the headliners (among a star-studded cast) were a couple young newcomers named George Clooney and Jennifer Lopez. He was still known as a TV doctor and she was not yet “J Lo”. MuchMusic’s Terry David Mulligan spoke to both in this brief clip from MuchMusic’s FAX program (hosted by Rebecca Rankin). From an era when George Clooney was not yet a superstar.
This clip is unfortunately symptomatic of MuchMusic’s waning years. Less music videos, and more mainstream programming. But since Clooney kicks a million asses, and Out of Sight was brilliant, please enjoy this video!
