How Blind Melon became the first alt-rock victims of MTV
It’s a story you’ve heard a million times before: MTV was the place for pop music and hair metal all throughout the 1980s. Unless you were a special exception, like R.E.M. or The Cure, alt-rock was yet to be a major player on the network, especially if a band didn’t fit in with the new wave sounds of the time. Then came a little group called Nirvana.
The alt-rock explosion likely wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for MTV. The video for ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ was broadcast almost hourly in 1992, and from that moment on, the gold rush began. Established grunge peers like Pearl Jam and Soundgarden were all ready to step in, as were old guard outfits such as Sonic Youth and newer bands like Stone Temple Pilots. Bands came in all different flavours, but one thing was certain: you needed a video in order to break big.
It was the perfect storm to swallow up a band like Blind Melon. Formed in Los Angeles in 1990, Blind Melon were already making waves in the industry before they had even released their first album. That was thanks to lead singer Shannon Hoon’s friendship with Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose. The pair had known each other back when they were both residents of Lafayette, Indiana, and when Hoon moved to Los Angeles, he reconnected with Rose. Hoon would provide backing vocals for a number of songs on the Use Your Illusion albums, including singing the higher octave co-lead vocal on the single ‘Don’t Cry’.
By 1992, Hoon had already been on MTV thanks to his guest spot in the ‘Don’t Cry’ video, but most viewers had no idea who Hoon was. That would change once Blind Melon released the second single from their self-titled debut that year. The album’s first single, ‘Tones of Home’, was more indicative of the band’s overall sound: psychedelic, groovy, and harder-edged. But Blind Melon also had a few softer and folkier numbers, namely the bluesy stomper ‘Change’ and the delicate country rocker ‘Drive’. It also had a catchy acoustic number called ‘No Rain’, which soon got the MTV treatment.
Directed by Samuel Bayer, the same director who helmed the ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ video, the clip for ‘No Rain’ gave Blind Melon and immediately recognisable identity. Sitting in a field of flowers with acoustic instruments, Blind Melon instantly became the throwback hippies of the alt-rock boom. The ‘No Rain’ video also prominently featured ‘The Bee Girl’, a young actress dressed up in the same garb as the girl featured on the front cover of the band’s album.
As the video for ‘No Rain’ began to get major exposure on MTV, Blind Melon became increasingly uncomfortable with the song’s success. Although it opened doors for them to appear as a major rock act, it also pigeonholed them into a sound that wasn’t quite the style that the band played. Blind Melon were heavier than ‘No Rain’, but the success of the song and the video began to overshadow the group. Hoon responded by indulging heavily in drugs and alcohol, problems that were already well-known to the band but exasperated by the sudden success that they experienced.
The group managed to finish their follow-up, 1995’s Soup, which featured a more diverse array of sounds and genres. However, Hoon’s drug problems continued, and before the band were scheduled to play a concert in New Orleans on October 21st, Hoon was found unresponsive in the band’s tour bus. He died of a cocaine overdose at the age of 28.
Today, Blind Melon’s legacy largely lies in the hands of the ‘No Rain’ video. As a seminal work of the early ’90s, ‘No Rain’ continues to be fondly remembered for its success at the tail end of the first wave of the alt-rock explosion. But it also quickly became a cautionary tale for bands who were willing to play ball with MTV, as Blind Melon became dwarfed by the video that gave them the most success.
Check out the video for ‘No Rain’ down below.
