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November 12, 2009
6. Elvis Costello on Saturday Night Live, 1977
Back in 1977, most of America hadn't heard of Elvis Costello. His albums were available via import, but the British rocker hadn't yet connected with the general public. Saturday Night Live was the hippest show around, and all eyes were locked on its taste-making power. After the Sex Pistols' legal troubles forced them to back out of the December 12 show, Costello was brought in as a last-minute musical guest. For his television debut he wanted to play "Radio, Radio" — a raging indictment of radio's increasingly commercial direction, and record companies' strict control of what people hear — but his label was clearly unfamiliar with the definition of irony. Columbia Records ordered him to play "Less than Zero" instead. Elvis had barely begun playing their chosen song when he launched into "Radio, Radio." The impromptu moment got him banned from SNL for twelve years; in 1999, with a little help from the Beastie Boys, he returned as a conquering hero. — E.L.
5. Kurt Cobain wears a dress on MTV's Headbanger's Ball, 1991
Strange to remember now, but before there was such a thing as "grunge," fledgling Seattle rockers Nirvana got filed in the "heavy metal" section. That's how they ended up on MTV's Headbanger's Ball, home of all the teased hair, misogyny, and homophobia that '80s metal had to offer. Needless to say, feminist homophile Kurt Cobain couldn't resist the chance to appear on the show in a dress, raising a wry middle finger to the macho audience he despised (see also "In Bloom"). Nevermind might've knocked metal off the charts, but symbolically, Cobain's gown was the last nail in the coffin. — P.S.
4. The Dead Kennedys' Frankenchrist, 1987
Tipper Gore famously called out Prince for the explicit lyrics to "Darling Nikki," but her group of bored/censorious Senate wives, the PMRC (see #7), wasn't in any position to tackle Warner Bros. Instead, they picked on a smaller target: progressive hardcore icons the Dead Kennedys, who'd included an H.R. Giger painting called "Penis Landscape" in their album Frankenchrist. Charged by the state of California with "distributing harmful matter to minors," lead singer Jello Biafra decided to fight the charge on principle, eventually getting the case thrown out. Gore referred to the charge as a "cost-effective" way to send a message; resistance was less cost-effective for Biafra, who ended up $55,000 in debt. — P.S.
3. Sinead O'Connor rips up the Pope on Saturday Night Live, 1992
Irish singer-songwriter Sinéad Marie Bernadette O'Connor had achieved worldwide success with her 1991 album I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got. Everyone expected soulful eyes and a shaved head when she appeared as the October 3 musical guest on SNL. They got O'Connor performing an a cappella version of Bob Marley's "War" and trading the words "child abuse" for Marley's original "racism." Them, staring directly at the camera, O'Connor produced a photo of Pope John Paul II as she sang the word "evil." She ripped up the photo, saying "fight the real enemy." This made a lot of people see her as the enemy. Two weeks later, she was booed off the stage at Madison Square Garden during the Bob Dylan tribute concert, Saturday Night Live refused to re-air the original episode, and the following week host Joe Pesci produced the taped-up picture and said, "I would have gave her such a smack." — Michael Gonzalez
2. John Lennon and Yoko Ono's Bed-In, 1969
As if controversy didn't already surround the famous couple, when John Lennon and Yoko Ono married in March 1969, they invited the press into their honeymoon suite for seven consecutive days. The press expected canoodling (and maybe a duet). Instead, they found the pair protesting in their pajamas. With the Vietnam War hovering, the famous lovebirds decided to use the publicity surrounding their wedding to lobby for peace. The bed-in featured signs that called for "Hair Peace" and "Bed Peace" and lots of visitors, especially when they moved their show to Montreal. At the close of the second round, Lennon called for a guitar and equipment to record "Give Peace A Chance" with Tommy Smothers, Timothy Leary, and members of the Canadian Radha Krishna Temple. The song made it to number fourteen on the Billboard chart. — Lauren Modisette
1. Bob Dylan Goes Electric, Newport Music Festival, 1965
Bob Dylan was the wunderkind of the folk community. At the 1965 Newport Folk Festival, he took the stage with an electric guitar and a full band. The crowd's reaction was not pretty; the hardcore folk purists who'd made Dylan their young-buck god considered his new sound the worst kind of treason. After three songs, Dylan threw up his hands and walked offstage. While the official backlash happened after the performance, there are still conflicting tales about that night. Some festival-goers contended Dylan's performance was met with a smattering of boos; others claim there were no boos whatsoever. Some say the bad reception came from the audience, others camps state it was from other musicians backstage, or the press section. Pete Seeger recanted his negative reaction to the set — "If I had an axe, I'd chop the microphone cable right now" — with the explanation that he was reacting to the poor sound system and not the radical act of Dylan going electric. Whatever happened, it was an iconic moment and a huge spark for rock 'n' roll. — L.C.
Commentarium (50 Comments)
This is an amazing list. I can't decide which is my favorite but I had no idea about the Jarvis Cocker incident. That video is hilarious. He's like a cartoon character.
Don't get me wrong, I love MJ, but Jarvis Cocker might be the greatest man walking the earth! Is there a cooler rock star out there?
Awesome list - but I have to say I was a little disappointed to see Bob Dylan in spot number one. I love his music, but I never understood why he's such a 'counter-culture' icon. As far as I can tell he's just a guy trying to get rich and famous with a harmonica instead of a guitar.
I mean, the sex pistols played their banned song on a ship in front of Parliament - are you really going to compare that to plugging in a guitar?
Would the Sex Pistols have even gotten on board a boat, if Dylan didn't trailblaze new ground by pissing off an audience?
Yes they would have.
A. Doubtful they gave two shits about Dylan. The Sex Pistols and their peers generally hated all mainstream rock n' roll acts and were very vocal about it.
B. Early punk was about 1,000 times more controversial than Dylan could ever dream of being.
C. By going electric, Dylan was only making his sound more relevant to the times. It wasn't about being a rebel.
Let's not get into a pissing contest. It's all relative to the permissiveness/norms of society/culture at the time. You have to keep these things in context...
If those featured weren't 'artists' these so-called rebellious acts would be seen, rightly, as the antics of super-annuated children. Amazing how quick some are to excuse the bad behaviour of celebrities.
What exactly is "bad" about their behavior?
Decent list, but Nirvana on Headbanger's Ball as one of the top 15 rebellious moments of all time? I gotta take issue with that, especially since I was a pretty big HBB fan (and Nirvana for that matter). First off, the story behind the "incident" is that it was just a bad joke, i.e. Kurt was wearing a gown to the "Ball." It wasn't some grand rebellious statement. Second, it wasn't even the most rebellious action by Nirvana. How about booking an hour long unplugged show, and then telling the producers they weren't going to do a single "hit?" That was a much bigger "fuck you" to MTV. Third, nobody gave a shit about it at the time because HBB was on at midnight on Saturday's, and Nirvana was just beginning to break. Fourth and last, to call HBB the "home of all the teased hair, misogyny, and homophobia that ’80s metal had to offer" is pretty inaccurate. Although it may have had some hair band ties when it first started and Adam Curry hosted it; by the time that interview had taken place the show had completely transformed. Very little mainstream metal was played on the show, and instead it featured tons of underground, thrash, death, and even some punk.
To be fair, that was some head of hair on Adam Curry. Big yet maintained- you can't say the same about Rikki Rachtman's- out of control. I think honorable mention to Nirvana playing the beginning of "Rape Me" at the 1992 VMAs before going into "Lithium" and of course before Krist Novoselic creating a classic rock and roll moment when he blundered his guitar toss and smacked himself right in the head. Never did I find unconsciousness so cool.
All in all a pretty solid list, maybe a few missing bands. But hey there is only so much you can cover with 15 slots
YOU LEFT OUT TINY TIM !!!
- and Presley on Ed Sullivan - more censorship (shot above the waist - actually ES was OK with it, but the sponsors were not.)
Tiny Tim is bigger than Rock 'N' Roll. If this were a list of "15 Greatest Acts of Rock Rebellion in the History of Human Accomplishment" -then yes to Tiny Tim!
Is that Pearl Jam editing themselves out in the first line of Porch there. Not very rebellious.
I notice the article carefully avoids mentioning which former Senator, nearly successful Presidential candidate and bloviating green hypocrite was chairing the Senate committee and fronting for his wife! Ms Gore, indeed!
@ Lizzzi - everyone knows Tipper Gore is Al Gore's wife. I don't think not mentioning "Al" is a vast left-wing conspiracy...
San Quentin, may you rot and burn in hell. . .
May your walls fall and may I live to tell. . .
May all the world forget you ever stood. . .
And may all the world regret you did no good.
what about the manic street preachers top of the pops performance of "faster" dressed as balaclava wearing terrorists? they were already controversial but talented enough to be considered guns n roses meets the clash when they ditched the guitar licks and power vocals to release 1994's "the holy bible", an album as intense and difficult as its title was inflamatory as its cover was unconventional. raging against everything from politics to media to the beauty myth to tipper gore (she gets about) richey edwards' lyrics were as personal as they were confrontational. as a band they risked everything here - it would all end in tragedy, but this was the act of rock rebellion that defined that time for me. nirvana were controversial and talented but also manipulative - like eminem, the controversy was orchestrated to a large extent
This list should have included Jimi Hendrix on the Lulu show. He was supposed to play Hey Joe, started the song and stopped about a minute in, said he was dedicating a song to Cream who had just broken up, and proceeded to rip into a version of Sunshine of Your Love. Where do you think Elvis Costello got the idea? Or you could have included another Hendrix moment. Deconstructing the Star Spangled Banner at Woodstock was very controversial.
Any list of great acts of rock rebellion that doesn't include the emergence of Little Richard is not a list at all
You forgot appearance of the Jefferson Airplane on the Dick Cavett Show when Grace appeared in blackface and rode a rocking pony backwards while holding its tail.
Another Doors moment is when Morrison, who was the son of an Admiral, was booked as the band at a friend's, who was the daughter of another Admiral, Society Cotillion in Newport, Rhode Island at one the exclusive "houses" there.
Another moment was Joe Cocker as a lead act to the Airplane at the Fillmore East when, already sloshed, he would drain a beer before every song. After about 30 minutes he began projectile vomiting all over the stage and so on. Someone shouted, when he finished "Pop another beer, Joe!"
The ultimate act of rock rebellion was when Jean-Luc Godard filmed the Airplane on the roof of a hotel near Wall Street which lead to an almost riot and Marty Balin getting arrested etc. It was the first time any director had filmed the band in NYC and lead to a wave of such filmings of the Rolling Stones and so on. I could go on but it's like we discovered all this stuff in the 60's and it is to laugh what people think is original today. The things I mention were much more shocking then, "Mrs. Cleever, how's the beaver?"
Props to Scott for Hendrix!
I forgot that during the first true Summer of Love the bands at the Family Dog and the other dance venues would toss out acid and mescaline (sp) from bags. Owsley was in charge and this was truly psychedelic and the drugs had not yet become illegal so a good time was had by all.
kurt sux. kurt is dead.
how is "the emergence of Little Richard" an act?
Where the hell is Fuck Tha Police? Easily the most dangerous thing ever done by any rock band. You included PE, so obviously there's no exclusion of rap- what gives?
The Arizona governor at the time was not Symington, but Evan Meacham (oddly both were impeached)
I love PE, but "By the Time I get to AZ" was stupid. The people of AZ had nothing to do with Mecham's decision, in fact they impeached him FOR IT. Should have called it "By the time I get to Ev's cushy mansion in Paradise Valley". Hell, AZ is the only state in the union where THE PEOPLE voted in an MLK holiday. The others were imposed by legislators. You think "the People" would vote for MLK in most of ther states? Yeah, right. PE got this one waaaaaay wrong. Sorry, I can't celebrate a moronic "protest song" that made Arizonans out to be racists when it was the work of ONE IDIOT GOV.
Where's Elvis ripping it up on Milton Berle in 1956?
Where's Jerry Lee playing all country to a stoned hippie audience or playing all Rock 'N Roll at the Grande Olde Opry
The people of Arizona voted against the holiday in 1990. When PE wrote the song, Symington was in office (he took over in March of '91) and he was against it. Meacham's impeachment was for obstruction of justice and misuse of funds. Symington actually resigned from office when he was convicted of brank fraud (which was overturned in 1999)
Elvis banned from SNL from 1977 until 1999 - that's 22 years, not 12!
Elvis Costello banned from SNL in 1977, Elvis Presley died on his toilet in 1977- coincidence, or government conspiracy?
stones on sullivan, lets spend the night together
uh. did you actually watch the madonna like a prayer video you used? cause the sound is a bit sped up.
Actually bmac - Elvis Costello appeared on SNL again in 1989, then AGAIN with the Beastie Boys in 1999. So 12 years is correct. If only they'd ban Ashley Simpson as well...
The emergence of Little Richard was MORE than an act of rock rebellion, it was the invention of rock rebellion itself.
"Pearl Jam has a worldwide fan base, and they’ve been copied by everyone from Creed to Nickelback. If only credibility could be mimicked"
YEAH, AND THEIR ARE DOING TARGET COMMERCIALS NOW!
I remember watching Sinead tear up the pope on SNL. Not being particularly religious, I didn't realize just how daring it was, but I knew it was bold. I didn't remember the part about substituting the words 'child abuse', but when I read that I was thinking how this was quite some time before all the headlines about pedophile catholic priests were coming out all over the country. It makes me wonder if she knew more than she was willing to talk about back then. I think it's fair to say that she was right.
so Cobain wearing a gown is more rebellious than The Who breaking everything? And Hendrix's pyro response?
Also seemed to overlook Rage Against The Machine's PMRC stand at Lollapalooza
Nothing with Townshend wacking someone with his guitar like Abbie Hoffman or the fireman that came on a the Fillmore to tell The Who the place was burning down?Or as the last dude says destroying all their gear when they can't afford it? No Keith Moon either ? Huhhh ?
Wait a minute. I didn't know that Jarvis Cocker vs. Michael incident. That was hilarious.
Nice but maybe you should follow up with the top fifteen moments of rock n' roll co-option, sometimes rockers pat themselves on the back a little too much about being rebels, as if by just playing rock they were rebels by nature; I recall the Anton Newcombe from the Brian Jonestown Massacre talking in the movie "Dig" about getting The White Stripes on the radio as revolutionary, what a pathetic revolution! I wish more rockers had spoken out against the invasion of Iraq . . .
When Pearl Jam first announced they were doing the Target thing I admit I was surprised and the credibility question of course crossed my mind. But I think to have early 90s expectations of 2009 Pearl Jam is unfair. For every Target deal, they cater to their fans (esp. the Ten Club) first when it comes to ticket sales, contribute to and promote causes they believe in and finally, show no sign of appearing on American Idol.
My favorite act of rock 'n' roll rebellion involves Courtney Love throwing stuff up from the sidewalk at the fabulous platform on which Madonna was practicing her Imperial accent for Kurt Loder on the occasion of some big goofy MTV awards show. The nation of rock needs more of this kind of drunken spectacle.
I'd give honorable mention to Alice in Chains just for having the balls to write an unashamedly pro-drug song like Junkhead. "What's my drug of choice? Well, what have you got? I don't go broke / And I do it a lot." Talk about rebellion. Of course, that whole overdose death thing adds a fitting punctuation mark to the story.
whatever....nirvana is still remembered. they showed really cool music and we had a happy time by now. see and listen to live at reading festival.
How about Trent Reznor telling his audience to steal his music after Interscope told him they were charging his fans more because the fans would be willing to pay it?
No rage against the machine? playing infront of the new york stock exchange? standing nude for 15 mintues against censorship? climbing a prop on stage during an awards ceremony to protest limp bizkit winning?
I'm partial to Tom Petty threatening to title an album $8.98 back in 1981 when MCA, who distributed his Backstreet Records imprint, wanted to gouge his fans by charging them a dollar more than the industry standard (as Googling indicates they did with Steely Dan and Olivia Newton-John).
In a similar vein, The Clash managed to release the triple album Sandinista! at about the same time for about the price of a single LP. Whether judicious editing might have produced a more compelling and cohesive work or whether the sprawling result put them in the same league as bombastic blowhards like Emerson, Lake and Palmer which punk rock was then supposed to be replacing is rather beside the point...