Too Much Fun Making Music TV
Reliving MuchMusic's magical creative environment with Steve Pratt
Rock stars roaming the halls. Gonzo television. Constant laughter. It was all in a good day’s work at MuchMusic, the iconic Canadian music video network that invented the new rules of TV by breaking all the old ones.
If you’re not Canadian, MuchMusic was our Northern version of MTV. It was less polished, more authentic, and more passionate about the actual music.
A new nostalgia for the Nation’s Music Station has been triggered by Sean Menard’s 299 Queen Street West—a documentary about the rise of MuchMusic and its unconventional VJs. And it got me reminiscing with
of —an amazing Substack about rediscovering your inner artist in life. Subscribe today, trust me…We both realized that while all the VJs and prominent executives have shared their memories, there was one group whose voices have not yet been heard—the producers that no one knows and no one cares about. So that’s what we’re going to do here…
Two Nerds Attempt to Fit Into the Most Surreal Office Ever
and I have been close friends and collaborators for almost 25 years, but we first met at 299 Queen Street, both of us starting our music television careers on the very same day—Steve producing the news for Much and working with VJs, and me, developing and producing the news for MuchMoreMusic, just a floor up. We came during what was arguably the last truly creative era of MuchMusic before the infestation of reality shows and reruns drowned out the music. Hired by the incomparable Denise Donlon, we both arrived wide-eyed and were thrown into the craziest, most energetic television experience of our careers.
Jordan: We came around 2000 and left two years later. What a time, eh? It was a place where we could just do stuff and put it on television. And right before we left, a lot of that freedom changed. We were so lucky to be in this ‘magic pocket’ of MuchMusic.
Steve: I think we were there during the peak audience era—there were always thousands of people outside, and concert stages were built out into the street.
My first week on the job, there were live shows with The Tragically Hip, Kid Rock, and Britney Spears. My head just exploded. It quickly becomes normal when you work there, but I still remember how surreal it was in that first week, trying to do work, there's a band sound checking feet away from you at full volume, and Britney walks right past your desk.
Jordan: Growing up with Much, you think it would be like a dream every day, but it all quickly becomes normal. I remember walking past Ginger Spice wearing ankle weights. Celebs at work became so normal that I recall being really pissed off at Shaq because he was standing in the way of the camera booker. I just needed to get work done and I was mad at Shaq!
Steve: It was also intimidating starting work there, and not just because of all the big names all around. Everyone we worked with was SO cool and I felt like the least edgy person in the building. I had the haircut of Lego Businessman and I was working with Strombo and Sook-Yin. I was such a nerd.
Jordan: Me, too! They teased me about my jeans! I also had imposter syndrome. I came from the CBC TV arts world where I was reporting on the Calgary Glenbow Museum, and then went straight to being assigned as the wrangler for Lenny Kravitz. It was “Hey new guy, you babysit Lenny and make sure he gets to the stage with The Guess Who!”
Weird Road Stories - the Best Stories Weren’t Live
Live television just screams creative freedom - making shows on the fly without a net. But for producers like us, there was also a lot of magic and creativity in crafting taped pieces and telling really fun (and often unusual) stories. Like making out with Kathie Lee Gifford…
Steve: I think you and I both tried to bring the sensibility of what we loved at the time, which was Letterman, Conan, the Daily Show. We wanted music news to be fun, instead straight, boring, and self-important. We both gravitated to doing the weird thing rather than the obvious thing. You used to do interviews with the people that a) no one else wanted to interview or b) did not belong on Much OR MuchMoreMusic. And they were always AWESOME.
Jordan: I remember Kathie Lee Gifford coming in to plug a book. No one wanted to interview her. She wasn’t cool. So I jumped in, and I spun our chat that I had a crush on her, and she ran with it. The interview turned into a cougar flirting thing, and we ended up kissing! From then on, I had a framed and signed picture of her on my desk, and people would ask if that was my mom.
Steve: That was SO unexpected, awesome, and funny. A producer making out with Kathie Lee Gifford is like the least…
Jordan: …rock n’ roll thing ever, yeah.
Steve: And you not only did it, but it aired and everyone loved it.
Jordan: Yet I got my hand slapped for putting myself on air. I was used to being on the air from past gigs, so I just did it. Little did I know, no one but the official VJs could be on the air. And here I showed up on TV, some dude necking with Kathie Lee!
Steve: I never did anything on-air—Much had such an abundance of talent. George Stroumboulopoulos hosting RapidFax (which we turned into MuchNews), and he’s just so phenomenal to work with—we had a ton of fun. And other VJs like Bradford How and Rachel Perry were so funny and talented. I remember Bradford and I did this hour-long countdown pre-show for a Live@Much special with Ricky Martin. We found an 80-year-old Latin dancing teacher, and she taught Bradford the Lambada. It was sexual AND hilarious at the same time.
Jordan: Our news headlines were basically punchlines. Karen Bertelsen was a wonderful collaborator and host for that. We chose what to report and then made fun of most of it. What a gig. The beauty of my role at MuchMoreMusic was that I was sent out as the interviewer with the Much team along with George and interviewed the biggies.
Once, when George and I flew to New York for a Mariah Carey interview, I made Mariah cry. We weren’t supposed to bring up her personal life, but Mariah and I really bonded and she opened up to me. A lot. After my interview, she went on a “hiatus”and tabloid shows like Inside Edition were calling me to get dirt on her “last” interview. Maybe I’m responsible—sorry Ms. Carey!
Steve: Being on the road was amazing. We would go somewhere to interview a big artist, but we’d try to make the most of being in a different city and shoot all these other stories while we were there. I remember being in Charlottesville to kick-off a Dave Matthews world tour in the college football stadium. And it turned out the opening act for Dave Matthews was Neil Young and Crazy Horse. So it was crazy.
Jordan: Whoa.
Steve: We heard there was someone in Charlottesville that people called the Midnight Runner—it was some local legend who went running shirtless in tiny fluorescent jogging shorts in the middle of the night. Bill Welychka and I did a whole gag searching for the Midnight Runner. And we found him in the end, and it was like, what am I doing? I loved producing those stories more than the big interviews!
Jordan: That brings up a good point. We were always hustling extra stories to make the most of the trips.
There's one time immediately after 9/11 we were sent to New York to do a Shakira interview. We ended up adding Natalie Merchant, then going to Laurie Anderson's house, which I know Lou Reed was living in. And then it got even better—Tony Bennett took Jana Lynne White and I for a 2-hour stroll near Ground Zero, where he sang his love of The Big Apple, baby.
With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility
Tackling big social issues was a really big part of the DNA while we were there. It wasn't just wild, unfettered rock and roll. A lot of people were trying to make positive change happen and do the right thing—leadership at Much recognized they had a unique opportunity to create social good with their very big megaphone.
Steve: Denise and Tania Natscheff were both inspiring leaders in tackling important social issues. Whether it was travelling with musicians to shoot War Child documentaries, covering elections with Much Votes…
Jordan: Social issues with Too Much for Much specials…
Steve: I don't think anybody is doing that anymore either. Certainly not the social media companies…
Jordan: I got my early politics dose from Much as a young viewer. And was schooled about censorship and a bunch of bigger ideas.
Steve: I don't think there's anything today with the cultural force Much had. It was the cultural tastemaker for what’s cool and interesting, what’s socially important, and what's new and next. I don't think that exists anymore.
Why Did They Trust Us All So Much?
Pretty much everywhere else in the media at that time, everything was rigid, formatted, and micromanaged. Stick with the formula! Put on your fake anchor voice and play it straight! MuchMusic was the antithesis of all that. They attracted amazing, talented people and let them loose every day to do their best work.
Steve: I've never had that much creative freedom on that size of a stage before or after.
Jordan: There was a tremendous amount of trust. Before and since, we were micromanaged by executive producers, clients, and network people. The Much team just trusted us. They trusted everybody. You don't see that anymore. Even the record companies would shell out a lot of money for us to promote something, but let us do it our own way.
Steve: Much hired real people with real personalities and let everyone just be themselves. Obviously, all the VJs. They were also the first mainstream media outlet to see the magic of Nardwuar and put him on the air (kudos, Chris Nelson!). Here’s the most unusual thing—they let us producers be ourselves and tell stories in our own ways, too. They had Ed the Sock as a VJ—a sock puppet! And it was hilarious! It was amazing.
Jordan: I was used to grumpy older camera guys rolling their eyes at my shoots. At Much it was “let’s try this” and they’d love the play and add weirder ideas to the mix.
Steve: Everybody worked so hard and they were so good at what they did, right? The floor crew that did live TV all day were just unbelievable pros. These are the best people on the planet at doing what they do, so what a treat to be able to go screw around with them. They just went with it like a jazz band and nailed it.
Jordan: It's a little bit of a cliche, but it really didn't feel like work most of the time. It was also a different culture of celebrity. Just the access we had to artists. You just call up, “Hey, can I, uh, hang out with David Byrne during his rehearsal today?” And it was an instant yes.
Steve: And the VJs were such big celebrities in their own right, too. Musicians would request VJs. Bono wanted to be interviewed by George and Thom Yorke wanted to be interviewed by Sook-Yin. You quickly realize how lucky you are when your coworkers are requested by some of the biggest stars on the planet because they are so good at their jobs.
Jordan: I think it adds to the myth, but it's frustrating that there were no camera phones back then. We can’t prove anything!
Steve: We’ll vouch for each other.
Jordan: Deal.
 | A guest post by
|
Awesome read. thanks for sharing these stories
I loved hearing about “the good old days” exceptional writing, both from Jordan and Steve.