Here are a few observations after watching 90 minutes of MuchMoreMusic (M3), the new "adult" music video network that launched yesterday - late and with no fanfare - on Videotron Cable 57:
(Shaw customers have to wait till Oct. 9.)
* Don't trust anyone under 40. Of the 20-odd videos I watched, 16 were by artists who could accurately be called "baby boomers." There was a spotlight on Paul Simon (produced in 1990), promos for an upcoming special on Phil Collins and numerous ads for the new VH1 Divas album. Welcome home, Mr. Clapton.
* Rap is for kids and viewers of MuchMusic. If you don't count Leonard Cohen, M3 seems to be 100% rap-free.
* Today's "buzz cut" on MuchMusic is tomorrow's "vintage video" on MuchMore. Artists like Alannah Myles, Amanda Marshall, OMC and Duncan Skeik got airplay on MuchMusic when their hits were hot. Now that they're not, they're welcome on M3.
* No commercials for Depends - yet. That new minivan looks nice, though.
* Ninety minutes of so-called "adult contemporary" videos can be just as mind-numbing as the much more youth-oriented MuchMusic, the mental equivalent of eating an entire box of Capt. Crunch in one sitting. MuchMoreMusic is more like eating a tub of Haagen Dazs and then falling asleep on the couch.
It's still a good idea.
By sheer force of will and after an intense campaign of lobbying, MuchMoreMusic is finally on the air and well on its way to being a fixture among "25-plus" folk fed up with the relentless, IQ-flaying barrage of sights, sounds and blue jeans ads MuchMusic has become. M3 offers a refreshing and laid-back alternative.
While described as "Canada's VH1," M3 appears to have more depth than being a nursing home for aging light rock hits. There's a healthy element of Canadian content featuring worthy artists like Jann Arden, the Cowboy Junkies, Bruce Cockburn, Joni Mitchell and Robbie Robertson. Worldbeat gets its due, from Bob Marley (the first video MuchMoreMusic played yesterday) to a "ClipTrip" show on Chilean group Inti Illimani airing on Monday. ClipTrip will profile a different worldbeat artist every week.
It's refreshing to watch music videos uninterrupted by obnoxious veejays, epileptic fit-inducing quick cuts or spastic camera footage of screaming teens with their noses pressed up against the glass of the Chum/City-TV building in the hopes of catching a glimpse of Master T interviewing Puff Daddy. You can relax, because here's the best part of all: MuchMoreMusic has no Veejays! (the grim spectre that Dan Gallagher would be seen on TV again is unfounded).
The station is formatted in what they call "video flow," just one laid-back tune after another and tempos rarely faster than your resting heart rate.
M3's regular features will include the twice-daily MuchMore With (insert name of favorite AC star here).
Every Saturday, you'll get the MuchMoreMusic Countdown of who's hot among the cool.
Behind the Music runs Thursdays, exploring the lives of 40-something icons like Billy Joel, Boy George, Gloria Estefan and Madonna.
And if you feel like really tripping back in time, check out The Ed Sullivan Pop and Rock Classics every Sunday night. This will be followed by the weekly MuchMoreMusicMarquee. After Phil Collins this Sunday, Bruce Hornsby will get intimate and not interactive on Oct. 11.
There are a variety of specials on the way. The one-hour, twice-monthly series SpeakEasy premieres on Oct. 14 with an exclusive Celine Dion interview. The show will be hosted by Jana Lynne White, one of the few on-air personalities you'll see on M3. Coming in November is a special called Endless Harmony ... the Beach Boys and Their Music.
And don't miss the official MuchMoreMusic launch party happening next Monday. Guests include Chris Isaak, Holly Cole, the Rankins and Marilyn Manson (kidding, just kidding).
Meanwhile, if you like what you see on M3, there's the MuchMoreMusic double-CD set in stores now, featuring everyone from Annie Lennox to Neil Young, from Sting to Seal.
This may be a slower-paced video network, but they don't waste any time.
