What do U2, Korn, The Dave Matthews Band, Van Halen and Radiohead all have in common? Throw Linkin Park, No Doubt, The Cure and Nirvana into the mix, too.
They’ve all been included among the groups on MTV2’s “22 Greatest Bands,” a two-hour musical countdown that will premiere at noon Monday on the all-music network. MTV2 viewers, who voted on-line from about 100 choices or cast write-in votes, chose the acts.
Unlike other such countdown-type shows, the program was not designed to list the greatest bands of “all time,” which likely would have found acts such as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin among the finalists. This poll’s goal was to simply name the greatest bands that had their greatest string of commercial success during the post-MTV era, circa 1981.
“These type shows are really good when you can kind of look back, but not too far back, into our own past and see how things have progressed,” says Alex Coletti, executive in charge of programming and production with MTV2. “Music video is our stock and trade at MTV2, and music is the core of every program we do. That’s our one and only criteria.”
Program host is VJ Riki Rachtman, who gained fame in the late “80s and early “90s as host of MTV’s “Headbangers Ball.” The program also provides video clips from the bands and comments from music journalists and national recording artists, who weigh in on the musical and cultural significance of each band’s contributions to the history of rock.
“We wanted different opinions,” Coletti says. “It’s water-cooler stuff. You want people to talk the next day and say, “Do you believe so and so was number this and this one was number that?’ People love that, and having a well-rounded field of people commenting on it kind of gives it some context and some depth.”
Other acts on the list are Oasis, Green Day, Smashing Pumpkins, Alice in Chains, Metallica, R.E.M. and Guns “N Roses. Interesting enough, Phish, which has done little with music video, also made the cut.
“They just have a huge, huge following, and their fans chimed in,” Coletti says.
“The jam-band thing hasn’t really crossed over into video very much, as it’s more of a live experience, so it’s kind of cool to expose them to people that watch MTV2 and don’t know what they’re all about. “
Pearl Jam, which cracked the Top 10, gets lots of accolades from both journalists and musicians. Another band that made the list, Aerosmith, was actually formed a decade before MTV made its debut, yet the band still assimilated itself brilliantly into the MTV era.
“A part of what makes a band is the chemistry, not only musically, but personality wise, and video is where that really comes across,” says Coletti. “And bands that get it really use that to their advantage.”
Three groups on the list, R.E.M., U2 and Gun N’ Roses, are well known for their innovative use of music video and are former recipients of MTV’s “Video Vanguard Award,” which honors artists for lifetime achievements in the medium.
The show airs again Monday at 10 p.m., Wednesday at 10 a.m., Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at noon and 5 p.m. and Sunday at 11 p.m. Though you’ll have to tune in to see who earned the top spot and who placed where, or whether one of favorite MTV-era bands made the cut or not, Coletti says its still a fun watch.
“People always like lists and ordering things,” says Coletti. “It’s kind of arbitrary in a way, but I do think people get a kick out of that “my-band- is-better-than-your-band’ kind of thing. Fans are very loyal to their groups.”
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AP-NY-08-27-03 0918EDT
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