Remembering SnubTV

1:24p.m., Tue 9 Dec 2008

In Episode 7 of the Nick & Gareth Podcast we mention Snub TV in passing as we play & discuss tracks by The Telescopes, Sparklehorse, Brendan Benson, Low & The New Pornographers.

Before the internet, before iTunes, Last.fm and mp3 blogs, how on earth did we discover new music? Thinking back it was all word-of-mouth, the music press and a handful of radio shows (Mark Radcliffe's "Out On Blue Six", John Peel and, later, Radio 1's Evening Session (with cheesy ol' Mark Goodier presenting). I'm sure there must have been a few TV shows but my fading memory can only recall two - The ITV Network Chart Show (which was only handy when they featured either the Rock chart or The Indie Chart which was every other week) and Snub TV.

Snub TV was short lived. Two short series but, for some reason, it's lingered longer in the memory than any other music TV shows of the era. I'm pretty sure there were others tucked away in the dead of the night schedules, but none as distinctive or memorable as Snub.

There's a slew of stuff on YouTube doing a search for "Snub TV" but, before I bother watching any of that and realise that it was way shoddier than my rose-tinted specs allow, here's the memories of bands i remember seeing on Snub TV. I'll add the YouTube links later...

Chapterhouse playing "Pearl" and being interviewed by Miki Berenyi in the snow. They revealed that they'd just moved to London. Miki asked where. They replied Camden. It sounded like the coolest place on Earth. I now know it's a shithole. (edit: ah, memory fails me - it was Finsbury Park, not Camden)

The Dylans, performing "Godlike". The video featured the singer shot from above and catching fruit that was being dropped from behind the camera POV. It was cheap and home-made, possibly created especially for Snub.

Dinosaur Jr., the promo video for 'The Wagon' with the scary plasticine animation. Also some footage of an earlier Snub appearance where the band play in somebody's backyard and Murph wears comedy spectacles. Brilliant interview with Mascis and Murph where they manage to keep the answers shorter than the questions.

Catherine Wheel, performing their debut single "She's My Friend"
Live footage. The intro blurb mentioned that this single didn't carry a bar code, sales weren't tracked because the band didn't think they'd manage to sell any. BTW the voice over on SnubTV was an ultra-sexy female voice, maybe THAT's why it's so burned into my brain.

James, performing 'Government Walls'
Live video, but the recorded version of the song may have been dubbed on top. Super boring.

Gary Clail on the On-U Sound System and the promo video for 'Human Nature' which utilised the Snub TV sting in the chorus. There was an interview with Clail too, in which he came over as deluded w**ker.

Spirea X, performing 'Chlorine Dream' live.
Great backstage interview in which the young shaver of a lead guitarist attempts to answer each question before being talked over by Jim Beattie. There was also some footage of giggly indie girls in the queue outside the gig which looked to be held in a school assembly hall.

Ride and the promo video for 'Drive Blind'
Which was a boring black and white video with the band sullenly performing this track from their first EP.

Pixies - 'Dig For Fire' promo
. With the cheapest video imaginable - a single shot of the band running over a pile of rocks on a beach, played at half speed.

The Telescopes - Celeste
Trippy video with the band in a circular (mostly white) striped room.

The Boo Radleys - Happens To Us All
A song seemingly featuring 2 chords, just an A and a G. Lead singer Sice smirks his way through the interview. The drummer and bassist look barely interested. The performance is at a gig.

Kitchens Of Distinction - Drive That Fast
A monochrome video with the camera circling the band who were performing in spotlights. Cuts faded into each other. Great song, I wonder what happened to KoD?

The Heart Throbs - She's In A Trance
Lovely, dreamy video of a lovely dreamy song - they were a Gil Norton produced 4AD band. I have this album on CD somewhere, but it's one of the early CDs that hasn't survived the rigours of time and thus it skips. A lot :(

The Darkside - 'Good For Me'
One of the bands that were put together out of the bits that fell off Spacemen 3. A dark video with the band stood in front of a couple of kaleidoscope-type lights. AN overhead camera reveals the, remarkably simple, keyboardist's part.

The Cramps - 'All Women Are Bad' and 'You Got Good Taste'
Live videos and live renditions of the songs too, which are superior to the recorded versions. An interview with Lux Interior and Poison Ivy in the back of a limousine was also featured.

The Wedding Present
A video shot in a graveyard. Involved ridiculous camera angles as the band stood around looking awkward and cold. Edsel Auctioneer
Leeds-based band, an offshoot of The Wedding Present.

The Scientist - 'The Bee'
A weird dance track built around a looped sample of a buzzing bee. Presumably it would be a dancing bee - can you see what The Scientist has done there? Clever, clever! The video itself seemed to be a hand-held, first-person-point-of-view affair with the camera(wo)man emerging from a cellar recording studio and wandering around in the dark. Some trippy visuals overlaid on the live footage

Frontline Assembly
Canadian industrial music, and scary, quite frankly. The video featured lots of fast moving highway and a man screaming the vocals, the tendons standing out on his neck like suspension bridge cables. Like I said.... scary.

Caveman - I'm Ready
Wycombe-based hip-hop duo. This song samples Hendrix' Crosstown Traffic. Another monochrome video which, I suspect, was a technique utilised to cover the cheapness of the shoot. The DJ pootles about on his two decks while an MC raps to camera and jigs around a bit. Top song.

The Young Disciples - Apparently Nothin'
Breezy video with the trio farting about in front of a stark white backdrop. There was an interview too - the DJ one (Femi?) didn't say anything, but was wearing a lovely tank top. There was also a clip from another promo for "Step Right On".

Galliano - 'Storm Clouds Gather' (and one other song)
Live gig footage blended with interview. All the band flaunt their jazz credentials by wearing silly hats. The two songs are from their first album "In Search of the 13th Note".

A Tribe Called Quest - I Lost My Wallet In El Segundo
Another mono-chrome promo video. With the band ambling into a diner and ordering food, Q-Tip rapping directly to camera while drinking coffee. It had a distinct lack of contrast which made it look like a fifties TV show. Like Mr. Ed or something. Great choon.

Massive Attack - 'Unfinished Sympathy'
The promo video, plus an interview, plus some clips from early videos (including one that looked David Lynch inspired with one of the Massives collecting beetles from a sink and putting them into jam jars).

Manic Street Preachers - 'Motown Junk'
As far as I recall, this was the first TV appearance of the Manics. James & Richey did most of the talking. The interview preceded the performance and it was good stuff: "we're not just another punk rock band"... "we don't want to spend years toiling around the toilets of Britain, we want to go straight to the big venues"... "we don't want to be in the NME, we want to be in The Sun and The Mirror, papers that people read"... fighting talk! I love fighting talk. Of course, the live footage proved that The Manics were indeed 'another punk band'. I was disappointed. I didn't foresee just how popular they'd become. It just goes to show how far a littler belief and determination can take you.

-- Wavy lines as the past becomes the future again --

Right! That's way too much detail to reasonably have in my head. I'm off to find the clips on YouTube and see how much the reality matches my memory.

Snub TV Links:

• Digital Web: Is The Web Helping Us Find New Music?
• Wikipedia entry for Snub TV
• Page on Freewebs listing some of the artists featured
• Go look on YouTube
• We mentioned SnubTV in epsiode 7 of the Nick & Gareth Podcast.