The EditoriaList: Best And Worst MTV VMA Performances
posted in: Features
There have been so many live performances at the MTV Video Music Awards that I couldn’t possibly remember them all. But according to a quick sampling, most of them were mediocre, some offensively so. The best and worst, however, stand out in the cultural memory. There were certainly some good ones and some horrible ones not on this list, but here’s what made the biggest impression:
The Best:
6. The Hives, 2002 “ Main Offender
A pretty rocking performance, but what puts this one over the top is singer Howlin’ Pelle Almqvist announcing that they’re out of time, so everyone can turn their televisions off, knowing full well that The Vines were just about to start playing.
5. Madonna, 1984 “ Like A Virgin / 1989 “ Express Yourself
Which Madge to choose? Express Yourself is clearly the better song and performance, confident and impressive. But Like A Virgin is still iconic, more than twenty-five years later. Believe it or not, that shit kind of shocked people back then.
4. Guns ˜N’ Roses, 1988 “ Welcome To The Jungle
I wanted to hate these guys so much in 1988, but I remember how this performance killed, in the midst of so much ’80s pop crap.
3. Nirvana, 1992 “ Lithium
It would have been better if they had just played Rape Me all the way through, despite MTV’s censorship, but Novoselic coming out on the losing end of a high flying bass guitar, with Cobain kicking him in the ass as he staggers off, evens things out.
2. Eminem, 2000 The Real Slim Shady / The Way I Am
Eminem walks into Radio City with a hundred doppelgangers of his alter ego (an interesting piece of performance art right there), and proceeds to mock and denigrate the shit out of awards shows in general and about a dozen of the biggest stars at this particular awards show.
1. Beastie Boys, 1994 “ Sabotage
The VMAs was never more punk rock than this. The Beastie Boys, rocking guitar, drums, and keys, bash the ever-loving shit out of their hit Sabotage with authority, and end it with Ad Rock flipping everyone the double bird.
The Worst:
6. Eurythmics, 1985 “ Would I Lie To You
Good band, but is the entire thing mimed? She’s not singing, obviously. What a crock.
5. Puff Daddy, Sting, Faith Evans, 112, 1997 “ I’ll Be Missing You
Sting brings such dignity and gravitas to this tasteful, creative, emotional, and non-cash-in tribute to that great fallen hero, Notorious B.I.G. Hashtag opposite.
4. The Monkees, 1986 “ Daydream Believer / I’m A Believer
The ’80s were especially hard on The Monkees.
3. Lil Wayne, 2011 “ How To Love / John
Mumble, autotune, mumble, autotune, mumble, pretend to play guitar, smash guitar, suck, fail.
Lil Wayne – How to love – Live VMA – 2011 found onR&B
2. Guns ˜N’ Roses, 2002 “ Welcome To The Jungle
Any chance I get to post this video is a gift. It’s sad what fourteen years can do.
1. Britney Spears, 2007 “ Gimme More
I think what happened here is Dr. Sam Beckett leaped into Britney Spears’ body just at the moment she was about to go on stage. Oh boy. I hope his next leap¦was the leap home.
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