Jaz Coleman of Killing Joke looking a bit confused about how the band ended up on German music television program ‘Musik Convoy.’
As a frequent flier on the astral plane that is the Internet I never get tired of flipping through pages upon pages of YouTube in search of footage worthy of sharing with all you Dangerous Minds music fanatics. I cannot lie, I feel like I’ve hit the motherfucking JACKPOT today when it comes to these amazing clips that are also somewhat amusingly strange. And that’s because you are about to see musical gods like Nick Cave, Killing Joke, The Damned and Billy Idol lip-synching for their very lives back in the 80s on the short-lived German music television show Musik Convoy.
Musik Convoy was only on the air for a year but during that time they managed to get quite the cast of characters to “perform” on the show including a 1984 visit by The Cure who performed “Shake Dog Shake” with a beautifully disheveled Robert Smith, his signature red lipstick and hair askew. There are so many strange moments from the collection of videos in this post I just can’t pick a favorite. Like Nick Cave pretending to belt out an emotive version of “In The Ghetto” when you know—and he knows that you know—that he’s totally faking it. Or Billy Idol literally dancing with himself for two-plus minutes while miming “Eyes Without a Face,” or Robert Smith’s distinct indifference with his strange white microphone during another of the Cure’s appearance on the show. And since I’m feeling generous I also threw in twelve-minutes of the Ramones from Musik Convoy performing in front of a mostly solem, confused looking crowd of “fans” and soldiering through four songs: “Howling at the Moon,” Mama’s Boy,” “Wart Hog,” and “Chasing the Night.” I’ve said it before, the 80s were certainly full of fantastically weird times.
Nick Cave performing ‘In the Ghetto’ on ‘Musik Convoy,’ 1984.
The Damned performing ‘Shadow of Love’ on ‘Musik Convoy,’ 1985.
Killing Joke performing ‘Love Like Blood’ on ‘Musik Convoy,’ 1985.
Billy Idol (with Steve Stevens on guitar) doing ‘Eyes Without a Face’ on ‘Musik Convoy,’ 1984.
The Cure performing ‘Shake Dog Shake’ on ‘Musik Convoy,’ 1984.
The Ramones’ rather interesting appearance on ‘Music Convoy.’
Previously on Dangerous Minds:
Electrifying early-80s footage of The Cure, Bauhaus and The Smiths on the ‘Oxford Road Show’
‘Supersonic’: Mid-70s footage of The Damned, Thin Lizzy & T.Rex performing on UK kids TV show
Tension: Killing Joke live on German TV, 1985