When bands who don't like to mime have no choice in the matter...

[Blazer]

In the eighties it was a common practice to have a band over at a chart show and have them do a mimed performance to their hit. Most of the times the artists did their thing without a problem but there were also those who HATED the fact that they had to mime because they felt that it would take away their credibility.  Let's start a thread about bands who obviously don't like to mime for chart shows and basically take the piss out of it.


Iron Maiden - "Wasted years"
At this German chartshow, the members take over each other's roles, switch instruments around and just basically have a laugh. The audience and the producers however are not so amused.


The Golden earring - "when the lady smiles"
Preceeded by a small interview about their then upcoming (1984) tour of the USA, the guys perform their hitsingle with the drummer playing flight cases rather than the actual drums because "they were packed and ready to go and it would have been a hassle to unpack them for just this TV show performance"


Level 42 - "Running in the family"
Mark King's way of slapping is so rough on his thumb that he has to put electrical tape around it to keep himself from smashing his thumb to pulp. Given that: there's no need for him to submitting himself to such punishment at a mimed performance and as such, during most of the song his hands are everywhere except on the bass.


Oasis - "Roll with it"
Here the two brothers have switched roles and Leandsinger Liam is playing guitar and Guitarist Noel is out front singing, the rest of the bands is in stiches as the brothers do the best impressions of the other.

[Freuds_Cat]

This one needs a little explanation but is very worth it IMHO.

One of the biggest bands Australia has ever had is a band called Cold Chisel. These guys are from my home town of Adelaide. They were uncompromising in refusing all media and record company control over them. They really did things the long hard way but nevertheless their way. They are still refered to like a badge of honour as a reflection of the Australian spirit of defiance. A large number of us being descended from for  Convict stock n all.

Anyway the Australian equivalent of the Grammy awards back in the 80's was the TV Week Music Awards.

Chisel were asked to do a song on the show. Part of the deal was that they would mime one of their hits. They were a band that regarded miming as faking and cheating the fans so they argued the point until the channel agreed that they could play live but only them, no one else and only the 1 song. The mood after these negotiations was not a good one

What happened has passed into Australian Rock folklore.
The modified album track pretty much gives the bird to the major sponsor TV Week.
So the TV station execs were waiting for Khe Sanh or Cheap Wine and got a relatively unheard of song called My turn to Cry.

Then they smashed up the set just for good measure.



I guess the moral of the story is dont piss off a band at the peak of its popularity and then trust them not to screw you over.

[Blazer]

Raising this one up again...


Here's the Police performing on japanese TV, and Steward has set up his drums in a *AHEM* Unique way and Sting plays bass on a Saxophone...

[Barklessdog]

Here's Mime - watch around 2:09

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZxwXKb4R1A&feature=related

[Dave W]

That was as painful to listen to as it was to watch. He's no Del Shannon.

[Lightyear]

Here's Mime - watch around 2:09

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZxwXKb4R1A&feature=related

DEAR GOD!  I am scarred for life!  

And, to make matters worse, my eighteen year old daughter walked in while this was playing and she is now having seizures   

There should be some kind of anti-mime policy or something

[Chris P.]

Steve Marriott, during his Small Faces time, didn't bother to sing into the micorphone and sometimes even didn't bother to sing at all:)

There's footage of the early Who, with Entwistle miming bass in Macca style with his EB3 in left hand position!

[Freuds_Cat]

Here's Mime - watch around 2:09

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZxwXKb4R1A&feature=related

What cracks me up even more is the Bay City Rollers sitting with the host at the beginning and that stupid high speed camera boom, man that guy is insane!  Looks funny as hell though.

[uwe]

I think it's a very credible version of a song you really can't take too serious.

Never mind Dave has a sacred memory of it because on that night he got daddy's car to take out his highschool love for the first time ...

My lips are shut.

[Dave W]

I think it's a very credible version of a song you really can't take too serious.

Never mind Dave has a sacred memory of it because on that night he got daddy's car to take out his highschool love for the first time ...

My lips are shut.

He had a '61 Rambler American. No high school kid would want to be seen in a boxy, "sensible" economy compact unless there were no alternative, right? Except for one thing... all Ramblers came with seats that folded down into a big travel bed. It was relatively comfy and made certain activities much more fun.

Just for the record, she went to a different high school. 

[eb2]

I am reminded of The Sensational Alex Harvey Band's non-hit "Gang Bang."

I remember many people being less than happy lip synching on American Bandstand.  Two that stand out were John Cougar/Melancamp/whatever where the bass player played an upright while holding it sideways like a guitar, and a truly wonderful appearance by Public Image Ltd.  The latter was a lesson in trashing a place.

[uwe]

It strikes me how ergonomics were always high on your list.

"Just for the record, she went to a different high school."

Uhum, does that unprovoked, yet welcome clarification allude to reputational issues (whose?) or where you just your usual careful self? All this in the name of scientific evidence, I hasten to add.

And I always thought bass was your first love!

[uwe]

I am reminded of The Sensational Alex Harvey Band's non-hit "Gang Bang."

Roomy as the 61 Rambler American may have been, it is my understanding that our beloved Moderator abhors collectivist experiments.

[Dave W]

Roomy as the 61 Rambler American may have been, it is my understanding that our beloved Moderator abhors collectivist experiments.

Especially when the third participant is a poster of Che Guevara.

[uwe]

That would be a rather two-dimensional affair which kind of clashes with the concept of a threesome - I haven't quite come to grips with what that means then. 

I imagine that that poor old Rambler would also have been impounded by Herr McCarthy's Committee against Un-American Whatever had you ridden around with it and a Che poster!