Watch Guided By Voices make their drunken TV debut in 1995
At the height of their fame, Guided by Voices were known for partying, drinking and kicking ass with two-minute alt-rock songs. Their headline shows often ran for three or four hours and involved a revolving set of around 60 songs, which they somehow managed to play while completely rat-arsed. There was a sense that Guided by Voices intended to enjoy every moment of their overnight success, as is clear from this footage of their live TV debut in 1995.
Formed in Northridge high school by drummer Kevin Fennell and guitarist Mitch Mitchell, Guided By Voices recruited frontman Robert Pollard after learning of the star quarterback’s talent for churning out dynamite songs. “I never knew he had this musical interest,” Fennell told The Guardian in 2012. “I was hooked from the start, by the whole package. I thought he was a genius, and I said: ‘You need to do something with this.’ But he was reluctant. He was self-conscious, and he lacked confidence; he felt he’d be misunderstood.”
It took Guided by Voices five albums of leftfield psych pop before they made a breakthrough. “My family was like: ‘When are you gonna quit doing this? It’s an awful expensive hobby you got, making these records that nobody even cares about,'” Fennell recalled. “But I knew Bob was a true genius. They didn’t have to understand it. The important thing was, we understood it.” Thankfully their fifth album, 1992’s Propeller, won the group praise from the music press and New York rock royalty alike. After being wined and dined by various indie labels, Guided By Voices signed to Matador.
A year later, having quit their day jobs to hit the road, GBV landed a spot on the short-lived Jon Stewart Show, a late-night talk show which aired on weeknights on MTV. As well as launching Stewart’s career as a TV host – he would go on to front The Daily Show – the program saw performances from an array of memorable acts, including Killing Joke, The Breeders, Marilyn Manson, Sunny Day Real Estate, Bad Religion, Warren Zevon, Notorious BIG and more.
For its 64th episode – broadcast on March 30th, 1995 – the Jon Stewart Show welcomed Guided by Voices for a drunken performance of three tracks from their brilliant album Alien Lanes. From the moment they rip into ‘King and Caroline’, it’s clear they’re completely trashed. And yet they hold it together perfectly. Make sure you check out the footage below. Keep an eye out for the red Solo cup in Richard Pollard’s hand.
