Oh, Manchester, So Much To Answer For

Chrisafer and I were talking today, wondering what it'd be like to look at the artists MTV put in their Buzz Bin (now called Buzzworthy) over time and see who was justified and who, well, wasn't. [Yes, these are the things we talk about.] Lo and behold, MTV.com has an archive listing every video they've ever Buzzed. So 'fer and I hopped on AIM and got to it. We'll be posting in 2-year chunks, alternating blogs. I'm leaving all punctuation, etc. as is. And if you think I'm wading through this to italicize album titles, you're wrong. First up, the early years - Reagan was still prez. [Each year links to the MTV Buzz Bin list for that year.]

1987 [MTV started the Buzz designation late in the year, ergo the smaller-than-norm number of videos listed.]
therealsubmeat: OMG they have the VIDEO for "Girlfriend in a Coma" online
therealsubmeat: it's funny - you look at '87's Buzz Bin, at least, and you can defend almost everything on there...
therealsubmeat: did the page load yet?
Crisafer: yeah
therealsubmeat: '87's pretty good, eh?
therealsubmeat: I mean, Ferry-PiL-Love & Rockets-Depeche-GLJ-Smiths-Alarm-Cure-New Order's a fine string.
therealsubmeat: Guadalcanal Diary were great, and shoulda been as big as REM
Crisafer: i loved wanna be a flinstone
Crisafer: as an example of my taste if goofy music
therealsubmeat: that was a good album, even
therealsubmeat: Gun Shy, I think.
Crisafer: wow, mtv was on target then
Crisafer: this is all the best from my first year in high school
therealsubmeat: funny to look at Buzz Bin from then and see how it was like a college radio playlist
Crisafer: exactly

1988
Crisafer: oh man
therealsubmeat: Flesh for Lulu!!!
Crisafer: the sugarcubes were the first band i saw without a chaperone
therealsubmeat: the poor man's Gene Loves Jezebel
therealsubmeat: I'm SO jealous.
Crisafer: yeah
therealsubmeat: I still remember the first time I ever saw/heard them
Crisafer: also the first time i smelled pot
therealsubmeat: it was the world premiere of "Birthday" on 120 Minutes
Crisafer: oh my god
therealsubmeat: we were all sitting around a friend's house and we just. stopped. everything. when we heard Bjork.
Crisafer: mandinka
therealsubmeat: utterly amazing.
Crisafer: i thought it was spelled "patti" smith
therealsubmeat: it is.
Crisafer: asses
Crisafer: :-)
therealsubmeat: and how 'bout that Godfathers song? that was GREAT.
Crisafer: oh yeah
therealsubmeat: think of the mixtape you could make from what they Buzz Binned!
Crisafer: i think i remember having a crush on one of them
therealsubmeat: you have crushes on anyone on TV.
...
therealsubmeat: ready for '89?
Crisafer: let's do it
Crisafer: though we didn't talk about mrs. paul simon
therealsubmeat: that was a good album.
Crisafer: an okay song, but even better when sampled
Crisafer: by....
therealsubmeat: a bit dated today
therealsubmeat: Brand Nubian!
Crisafer: Rock
therealsubmeat: "Slow Down"
Crisafer: such a good song
therealsubmeat: the video had traffic signals in it