For this week’s “120 Minutes” Rewind, we present this quite awkward interview of Robin Guthrie of the Cocteau Twins during a 1994 appearance to promote the release of Four-Calendar Cafe. Guthrie admits to host Lewis Largent that it’s his first-ever U.S. television appearance, and discusses the band’s origins, fatherhood and Elizabeth Fraser’s indecipherable lyrics.
Check out the full 8-minute clip below (via Raymi paralisisnyc):
Robin Guthrie on “120 Minutes,” 1994
PREVIOUSLY ON SLICING UP EYEBALLS
- ‘120 Minutes’ Rewind: Siouxsie Sioux and Budgie of The Creatures — 1990
- ‘120 Minutes’ Rewind: Depeche Mode meets MTV contest winner in London — 1991
- ‘120 Minutes’ Rewind: The Psychedelic Furs submit to the ‘120 X-Ray’ — 1989
- ‘120 Minutes’ Rewind: Killing Joke’s Jaz Coleman testifies under the ‘120 X-Ray’ — 1989
- ‘120 Minutes’ Rewind: The Sisters of Mercy, Sonic Youth, Nitzer Ebb at Reading — 1991
Bless his heart, he was harder to understand than LIz!
I’m simply surprised that Lewis Largent-era 120 Minutes acknowledged the Cocteau Twins
I don’t really remember what 120 Minutes was paying attention to in those days, but I think 1994 was kind of the high-water mark for the Cocteaus’ visibility in the U.S. The album had a domestic release on Capitol, they did a couple of cool videos for the singles, and they toured the states with Luna opening. That was a good double bill!
I saw them in Detroit on that tour, but unfortunately no Luna!
They also had some visibility on The Tonight Show around the time of that 120 interview.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4arnK6ZFck&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Someone commented that this performance was taped on the day Kurt Cobain was found dead, which is a bit harrowing.
Thanks for sharing that link! Good stuff!
I love Robin Guthrie. That said, I’ve interviewed hundreds of musicians over the years and he was the ABSOLUTE worst by a country mile. Rude, condescending, and a complete pain in the ass. I didn’t think I had too bad of an array of questions, but at one point he stopped me and said, “Have you even HEARD any of my music?” (For what its worth, I’m a completist who owns practically everything he’s ever had a hand in.) Maybe my questions were awful, or maybe I caught him on a really bad day, who knows… but that experience has forever tainted my opinion of a guy I once called my favorite musician of all time.
Guthrie was about how I expected him to be. But this guy interviewing him is pretty much a putz. I can almost never understand how they can find such clueless people for these shows. I guess all they need is the right “look”.