Parker's selections include ""Slash And Burn"" from his new album Human Touch. New Jersey guitar band the Smithereens, and veteran British artist Graham Parker, are featured in this edition of ""MTV Unplugged."" Smithereens band members Jim Babjak (guitar/vocals), Dennis Diken (drums/vocals), Pat DiNizio (vocals/guitars/harmonica) and Mike Mesaros (bass/vocals) perform a medley of hits spanning their ten year career, including ""Only A Memory,"" ""A Girl Like You,"" ""Behind The Wall Of Sleep,"" and ""Blood And Roses,"" all penned by DiNizio. But after we scrambled around town for a pair of acoustic guitars, the two w We thought the title of the show said it all, but it turned out we needed to be a little more explicit in our instructions: Unplugged wasn't exactly part of the American vernacular at this point. For rehearsals, Chris Difford and Glen Tilbrook of Squeeze showed up with electric guitars. (The first episode of the season is an encore presentation of the pilot which aired November 26, 1989.)Īn excerpt from the MTV Unplugged book.""October 1989.Our coming-out party almost didn't come off at all. Musical highlights include Glenn Tilbrook and Chris Difford of Squeeze performing a rendition of their classic hit ""Pulling Mussels From The Shell,"" as well as a song from their new album Frank, ""She Doesn't Have To Shave."" The show is hosted by singer/songwriter Jules Shear. In fact just looking at Eddie Vedder's face is a show unto itself: he's a lead singer to rank with the greats, aside from the vocal power from projecting so much on his face (you don't know whether he'll kill someone, have an epileptic fit, or just pet a sheep), and he has a lot of joy in his performance, at one pointy riding a wave or something on his stool! This is what fans want to see, and circa 1992 the most versatile and perhaps just flat-out talented Seattle band deliver the goods.The season premiere of ""MTV Unplugged"" features performances by British rockers Squeeze, solo artist Syd Straw, and Elliot Easton from The Cars. But of course it's impossible to neglect the classics like Alive, Even Flow or Jeremy which after being played out on radio for so many years still pack a wallop when given the ferocity and harrowing spirit of the live performance. We get, for example, one of the finest and most energetic performances of any song of the 90s, with their number Porch. And yet, for 35 minutes, Pearl Jam fans or just anyone looking for a solid rock show get their minutes worth. It is what is is, and gives the MTV folks perhaps TOO much time for commercials. It's one of those cases where the only real flaw is a typical limitation of television: it's only 35 minutes long! Even on the recently re-release on DVD (it comes with the deluxe package of the Ten reissue) there are no extra songs, no extra pieces of fat like when Nirvana or Alice in Chains had their unplugged performances released. They're so into the swing of things, as are the audience, that nothing goes wrong. Pearl Jam live rarely disappoints and this collection of songs straight from their first smash Ten (save for the State of Love and Trust song which you'll recognize if you've listened to enough rock radio over the years but for some idiotic reason was left off the album) is one of their classic shows.
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