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Less Cowbell, More Behind the Music: Psychoanalytic Explorations

2010; Elsevier BV; Volume: 49; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/j.jaac.2009.10.010

1527-5418

Laura M. Prager, Craigan Usher,

Theater, Performance, and Music History

Wildly popular in the late 1990s and early 2000s, VH1's Behind the Music explored the struggles of musicians (relationship woes, drug abuses) that fueled their most famous albums and songs. Over time, perhaps weary of hearing about “rehab” visits and recording studio snits, Behind the Music's audience dwindled, and now most people are more apt to recall a parody of the program—Saturday Night Live's “More Cowbell”—than the show itself. Recall that “More Cowbell” is a sketch that features Will Ferrell playing a percussionist who outlandishly overpowers his bandmates with vigorous cowbell tapping, while the band's producer, played by Christopher Walken, exhorts Ferrell to offer more: “Guess what?! I've got a fever, and the only prescription… is more cowbell!” Thus, what lingers of VH1's fascinating orientation toward pop music has been overshadowed by the catchphrase it spawned.