Greetings,
I certainly do enjoy a good music documentary. Heck, I might even enjoy a bad one every now and then. I've just always loved music, and I've always loved knowing how that music came to be and about the people who created it. Exposing myself to such things was one of the reasons I was so motivated to become a songwriter myself. So, you can only imagine how thrilled I was when, in 1997, I found out that VH1 would be giving me music documentaries on a weekly basis. And thus began the phenomenon of Behind the Music, which was, I think, a serious game changer. I don't think I had ever seen artists so willing to sit down and discuss all the highs and lows of their career. One of the things I loved best about The Beatles Anthology was that it included The Beatles themselves telling their own stories, rather than relying completely on "experts" who were just stating facts. Behind the Music carried on this legacy. Of course, they did interview outsiders, if you will, but we came to hear those artists talk about their own experiences. So, I was hooked from the beginning. I don't think I've ever seen an episode that didn't, at the very least, hold my interest. I even watched ones featuring artists I didn't like. But a few of the episodes of Behind the Music will always standout for me. And so, here are my personal favorites. My Top Ten episodes of Behind the Music. I think I'll just call it BTM from now on. Saves time, but you know what I'm talking about. Off we go.
#10. New Kids on the Block - This is one of the newer episodes of BTM, coinciding with their reunion, and it was called a "Behind the Music Event". Of course, it was. Their whole reunion was an event. Now, look, as someone who was there at the start of their career, this one held a lot of nostalgia for me, and it made me even more excited about their getting back together. Still haven't seen them in concert yet, though. Someday.
#9. Weird Al - One thing that stands out about this show is that they always talk about the most difficult parts of an artist's life. Unless they don't have any. And, at the time, Weird Al really hadn't had too much down in the dumps time. He even made fun of that fact within the episode. But after all the heaviness of so many episodes, it was a delight to have one that would just make us smile.
#8. Milli Vanilli - You always remember your first, as they say, and this one was the first for everyone. The very first episode and it covered one of the bigest scandals in music history. This was the one that hooked everyone, and rightfully so. It was a great story with which to begin, and if they ever air it again, I'd watch it for sure.
#7. Alanis Morrisette - I always love to hear people talk about their songwriting process, but there a few who I REALLY love listening to where that's concerned. One of those people is Alanis, and she talked a lot about it in her BTM episode. She has a way of speaking that people who don't get it might call pretentious, but I understand the importance of this craft, so I always enjoy what she says about it.
#6. The Monkees - I've loved The Monkees since I was a little girl, but back then, I only knew that I liked their music and they made me laugh on their show. I had no idea about the rough times, and that's never easy to hear. Although, this episode needs to be watched, if for nothing else than the "Mike Nesmith punching the wall" story. Oh, it's classic.
#5. Julian Lennon - I think I've mentioned once or twice that I despise great artists being underrated and underappreciated. I'm pretty sure that Julian Lennon is the patron saint of those people. I don't think anyone's parentage has ever been equal amounts of blessing and curse as it has been with him. Thankfully, he got some well-deserved attention with this episode.
#4. The Day the Music Died - Whist BTM primarily covered artists and their careers, they occasionally went into other territories. Some episodes dealt with movies that heavily influenced music, or even entire years that left a significant mark. In this case, they discussed three artists and the event of their deaths, Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J.P. Rivhardson a.k.a. The Big Bopper. I think this might have been the first hour and a half episode. It needed to be that long. There was a lot to talk about, and it was pretty heartbreaking. But their stories deserved to be told. I'm glad they were.
#3. Stevie Nicks - I know that the word "legendary" gets thrown around a lot, so much that it's one of those words that has almost lost its impact. But if one uses it to refer to someone like Stevie Nicks, its power is restored. Truth is stranger than fiction, indeed, and I'm sure a lot of writers wish they could make up the experiences that she has lived through. Yeah, LIVED through. Talk about a miracle.
#2. Andy Gibb - Here's another person that is severely underrated, possibly due to those to whom he is related. I watched this one, mostly, because it was around the time I really started getting into the Bee Gees. I cried for this episode. A lot. And I don't know if it's legitimately possible to miss someone you've never met, but I think you can.
#1. Goo Goo Dolls - Believe it or not, I remember the exact day that I first saw this episode. It had been a tough day, and I did not expect anything to help. But I sat down, starting watching the show, and suddenly I was getting drawn in to the story. Most of all, I gravitated to what John Rzeznik had to say about his bouts with writer's block, something I had been dealing with quite severely at the time. It was exactly what I needed to hear, and people might call me crazy for saying that this changed my life, but it did.
And there you have my favorite episodes of Behind the Music. I think they occasionally still make them, and I still watch. But I would love to, once again, get to watch those old episodes. Here's hoping we get a deal between VH1 and Netflix to get these on Instant Streaming. Or something like that. It would make me quite happy.
Love and full moons,
Becky the Writer
