1986-87

[Keir]

Does anyone else think it strange that there was nothing on MTV for nearly a whole year from the end of Heavy Metal Mania to the start of Headbanger's Ball?

I know that there were 5 Heavy Metal Mania episodes in '86 (no I do not have these, unfortunately):
1/17/86 Dee Snider hosts w/ Ozzy & Dave (Y&T)
2/20/86 Dee Snider hosts w/ Jon Bon Jovi
3/22/86 Dee Snider hosts
4/17/86 Dee Snider hosts w/ Ron Keel
5/22/86 Dee Snider hosts w/ Metallica & Bobcat Goldthwait

Then there is a huge gap until the first HBB episode on 4/18/87. It's not like metal was any less popular during this period. Was there something else on MTV during this time that I don't know about?

[Headbangers Ball]

Yeah it is kind of strange, in a way. But my guess (and this is only a guess) is that since Dee Snider was the main host for Heavy Metal Mania he had other commitments, you know, had to be in the studio recording with Twisted Sister and had to go out and tour with Twisted Sister, all that PMRC stuff was going on back then and he was involved with that. So, I guess it's possible that Dee just couldn't commit to any more shows and MTV had figure out something else. So, they probably scrapped HMM and had to come up with a new show, new name, new host, etc. and I guess it takes a while to put all that together and to get it right.

[Keir]

In HBB Uncensored, Dee says that after a year and a half of doing Heavy Metal Mania, he asked MTV to start paying him and they said no, so that is why HMM ended (not sure if it was as simple as that, but that's what he said). It just seems like it shouldn't have taken that long to get HBB started especially since they just had the regular day VJs do the show until Adam Curry started in 88. One other thing Dee said was that he hosted HMM until 87. He may have been thinking about the HBB episode he hosted in 87 (since that doesn't agree with what he said about doing the show for 1 1/2 years) or maybe he just had the wrong year, but is it possible that there are HMM epsiodes we don't know about? I haven't seen the 5/22/86 episode, so I don't know if there's anything in that to indicate that it was the last show. I also haven't seen the 4/18/87 episode of HBB, so I'm just taking your word for it that that was the first one.

[Keir]

I think I may have the answer! There was a half hour show called the Metal Shop. I actually know someone who has a bunch of episodes (on Beta!) but I need to convince him to send them to me.

[Headbangers Ball]

Nov 3, 2008 14:22:49 GMT -5 Keir said:

In HBB Uncensored, Dee says that after a year and a half of doing Heavy Metal Mania, he asked MTV to start paying him and they said no, so that is why HMM ended (not sure if it was as simple as that, but that's what he said). It just seems like it shouldn't have taken that long to get HBB started especially since they just had the regular day VJs do the show until Adam Curry started in 88. One other thing Dee said was that he hosted HMM until 87. He may have been thinking about the HBB episode he hosted in 87 (since that doesn't agree with what he said about doing the show for 1 1/2 years) or maybe he just had the wrong year, but is it possible that there are HMM epsiodes we don't know about? I haven't seen the 5/22/86 episode, so I don't know if there's anything in that to indicate that it was the last show. I also haven't seen the 4/18/87 episode of HBB, so I'm just taking your word for it that that was the first one.

Ahhh, I see, so it was a money thing? I had never heard about that and I had tried to look for information on what happened to Heavy Metal Mania but never found anything. I couldn't find any interviews where Dee was asked about it or anything when I started working on this site. I guess you can't blame him for wanting to get paid though, right?
I'm not sure about the date of the show but I know in one HMM show that I have he says "unfortunately this is the last show for a while." So, I take it that it was the last show until Headbangers Ball.
Also, I do recall being bummed out when they took HMM off the air and that there was a huge gap in between HMM ending and the start of HBB. I also remember VJ's saying during that time "for those of you wondering what happened to HMM, don't worry were working on a new show that will be better, longer, and it will be a weekly show rather than a monthly show"
But I remember hearing that several times and wondering what's taking them so long LOL!

[Headbangers Ball]

Jan 8, 2009 9:42:33 GMT -5 Keir said:

I think I may have the answer! There was a half hour show called the Metal Shop. I actually know someone who has a bunch of episodes (on Beta!) but I need to convince him to send them to me.

Oh yeah, I do remember another show that I think was short lived called the Metal Half Hour. I have some clips from it on some compilation DVD's.
I can't remember if The Metal Half Hour was before or after HMM. I'm thinking it came after HMM. I didn't get to see that show much because where I lived I think it came on around the time that school was ending (3pm) so by the time I got home from school it was over. I don't remember a show called Metalshop other than the radio show Metalshop. I have some of those Metalshop radio shows on CDR. I could be wrong though...who knows? If you find out more about this let us know.

[Keir]

I never did get that tape of the Metal Shop, but I just got a DVD with Vinnie Vincent and Dana Strum hosting MTV's Metal Music 1/2 Hour. I haven't watched the whole thing yet, but it appears to be 2 episodes from December '86.

[Keir]

Some more clues to the mystery:

I recently got a 4 hour compilation of MTV videos from around 85-86. Several are from a show called "Metal Shop 1/2 Hour". Pretty much everything but the videos is cut out, but I could tell that the hosts included Downtown Julie Brown and China Slick Kantner (some strange choices those...) Unfortunately there were no clues as to the dates of those episodes. I am guessing that it started as Metal Shop 1/2 Hour but they ran into legal trouble with the syndicated radio show named Metal Shop so they changed it to Metal Music 1/2 Hour.