I loved MTV Europe in the early 90s - the music I discovered through that was so broad spectrum. Songs like Hobo Humping Slobo Babe by Whale, Crucified by Army of Lovers, anything by Nina Hagen and Jellyfish. Rock block on VH1 was fab too. My Dad rigged our hi-fi up to the TV so we could blast music through the house and I made so many mixtapes!Wow, Ron Mael!! Never thought he'd get a mention on here. Sparks had a bit of a mini-resurgence in Europe (when I used to watch MTV Europe - and they solely played music videos, instead of reality crud) in the 1990s and I scoured old record shops to buy most of their older albums. Kimono My House, Propaganda, Indiscreet, Big Beat, Introducing Sparks, Whomp That Sucker and Angst In My Pants are probably, for me, their "golden era".
Ron is very witty, erudite and his lyrics are fabulous. They've had fallow periods but they are very unappreciated in the UK, I think.
Apparently (also my heroes, and a pop duo) Pet Shop Boys and Sparks DON'T get along, but I don't know why. Think I read that on some PSB Forum thread years ago. Envy, or some sort of spat, not sure.
Hate MTV now!