They’re cool, they’re crazy, they’re fabulous... They’re The Flaming Lips, and on March 1, 1995, they blew the minds of Beverly Hills 90210 viewers by booking a gig at the Peach Pit...or, rather, at The After Dark, the Peach Pit’s after-hours club.
In case you’re wondering, yes, those first three adjectives featured in the opening paragraph were indeed utilized within the band’s intro before they took the stage of The After Dark to perform “She Don’t Use Jelly,” and given the profound weirdness of the Lips’ material at the time, the idea of them turning up on such an unabashedly mainstream TV series was...well, it was just weird.
Fortunately, you may rest assured that the whole experience was just as surreal for the band as it likely was for the viewers, though it was also one which they appreciated.
”When they called, we laughed all week,” singer-guitarist Wayne Coyne told Entertainment Weekly at the time. ”We hoped they wouldn’t come to their senses and change their minds. There is no downside. If people see this as us losing credibility, then they’re trying too hard to be cool. If this is selling out, let’s do it, ’cause it’s funny.”
Also funny: the lines delivered by a couple of the cast members in the middle of the band’s performance of “She Don’t Use Jelly.”
David Silver (Brian Austin Green): “Hey, is that the Flaming Lips?”
Steve Silver (Ian Ziering): “Well, it’s not Michael Bolton, that’s for sure!”
If you’re champing at the bit to either revisit this momentous occasion in both ‘90s TV and alt-rock history, you’re in luck, because we’ve found a clip, but fair warning: the clip is of excruciatingly bad visual quality. That said, the sound qualify is more than sufficient for you to hear these awful lines in all their glory, along with a fine performance by the Lips, who no doubt got more exposure in these precious few minutes than they had received in their entire career up to that point. In other words, kudos to them for taking advantage of an amazing opportunity when it was offered to them.
Plus, as Steve says after the Lips’ performance, “You know, I’ve never been a big fan of alternative music, but these guys rocked the house!”
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