Guiding Light holds the record for the longest run of any soap opera. It debuted in 1952 as a narrative doled out in 15-minute increments and made it all the way to 2009, when it was replaced by Let’s Make a Deal, hosted by Wayne Brady. When a show is around that long, it’s tempting to say that “everything” happened on it, but that category doesn’t intuitively include appearances by influential new wave bands. Yet that did happen too.
In 1982 the B-52s appeared on an episode during a promotional tour for their David Byrne-produced EP Mesopotamia. The premise was that there was a venue in the town, which bore the name of Springfield (yes, Springfield), in which musical artists would appear. Apparently Judy Collins appeared in another episode.
The two YouTube clips below capture the musical performances but not the parts in which Cindy, Kate, and Fred appear in a scene with some character from the show who aspires to be a professional musician. You can see the barest snippet of that scene in the VH-1 clip below. Oddly, the band ended up playing a non-single cut called “Throw That Beat in the Garbage Can” (at the request of the Guiding Light people, it seems) and “Private Idaho,” a track off of 1980’s Wild Planet.
Of course, it doesn’t matter what song they play, you know exactly what it’s going to be like and that it’s going to be great.
“Throw That Beat in the Garbage Can”:
“Private Idaho”:
The B-52s discussing the Guiding Light appearance on VH-1
Thank you Carol Yachanin!
Previously on Dangerous Minds:
Only assholes don’t like the B-52s (part 3)