Mtv Unplugged

No, no acoustic guitars get smashed in Nirvana's turn at an "MTV Unplugged" (at 9 tonight); no drum kits are upended. All that gets overturned is any skepticism that the band's hooky, impressionistic blasts might not survive the telling translation from shelling down to shhh . Kurt Cobain's gifted songwriting has, of course, almost always had a core pop sensibility that renders its permutation here predictably effective.

Just when it seemed that this mostly acoustic series had run dry, Morissette jump-starts it with a marvelous performance that finds her rethinking her songs rather than just replaying them. The package includes four previously unreleased tunes, including a version of the Police's "King of Pain."

Dear Editor: I'm proposing an article that is a snapshot of the burgeoning "spoken-word" scene, via a diaristic account of one man's--one writer-performer's (me)--ambitions and activities during a recent visit to New York from Los Angeles, culminating in the taping of an "MTV Unplugged" spoken-word special (pilot for a proposed spoken-word series), in which I was a participant. Question: What on Earth (you may wonder--with a sneer of amazement?

*** BABYFACE: "MTV Unplugged" Epic Very few artists have mixed chops with good taste as adroitly or profitably as producer-songwriter-performer Babyface, the Midas of contemporary R&B. So it's hardly surprising that this album boasts more virtuosity and less empty shtick than many of the other "Unplugged" recordings.

For all the attention and acclaim alternative-rock goddess Courtney Love has received, she remains a largely unheard quality. Her band, Hole, hasn't had a mainstream radio hit, and its only formal Los Angeles shows since her stardom were at the relatively small Palace and Hollywood Palladium. The group's performance tonight on "MTV Unplugged" gives everyone a chance to catch up with Love with a flick of the remote.

Last year, there was The Tour, and now there is The Afterthought. Tonight's episode of the live acoustic music show "MTV Unplugged" features an hour of Paul McCartney and his touring band, sans lasers, giant movie screens and amplifiers, doing less obvious songs from the Cute One's past that weren't heard on the recent big world arena jaunt. (The show airs at 10 p.m. on MTV, simulcast locally on KLSX-FM (97.1).

The Boss Plugs In: Bruce Springsteen will make a rare TV appearance when he performs on the music series "MTV Unplugged" Nov. 11 at 10 p.m. Springsteen's "Unplugged" performance will be taped later this month in L.A. while he's here on his world tour.

With two home video packages each from Guns N' Roses and Metallica and one or two releases that might not be suitable for family viewing, it's a tough season for a rock 'n' roll Santa. The Calendar Video Shopping Guide of releases by some of pop's biggest names offers some help. The videos, listed alphabetically, are rated on a scale from one star (poor) to four stars (excellent). * The Black Crowes, "Who Killed That Bird Out on Your Window Sill. . .The Movie," Def American Visuals.

Electrical grounding: Never had it, never will. That could be the rallying cry of tonight's participants on "MTV Unplugged" at 10 p.m., who, for once, aren't pop singers with pickup cello sections but rather seven poets doing their usual neo-beatnik thing.

*** BABYFACE: "MTV Unplugged" Epic Very few artists have mixed chops with good taste as adroitly or profitably as producer-songwriter-performer Babyface, the Midas of contemporary R&B. So it's hardly surprising that this album boasts more virtuosity and less empty shtick than many of the other "Unplugged" recordings.

For all the attention and acclaim alternative-rock goddess Courtney Love has received, she remains a largely unheard quality. Her band, Hole, hasn't had a mainstream radio hit, and its only formal Los Angeles shows since her stardom were at the relatively small Palace and Hollywood Palladium. The group's performance tonight on "MTV Unplugged" gives everyone a chance to catch up with Love with a flick of the remote.

Be prepared for a shock when you tune in Bob Dylan's "MTV Unplugged," which debuts on the cable music channel tonight. From the opening chords of "All Along the Watchtower" through the concluding "Like a Rolling Stone," the poet of his generation looks--gasp!--as if he's actually enjoying himself. Dylan on the tube in past efforts has been a dicey proposition. His 1976 "Hard Rain" network concert special left many fans scratching heads over the sloppy performances and careless filming.

MTV, with its incessant music videos, was expected to lower literary aspirations of our youth, dumb 'em down, extracting them from the linear world of words once and for all. But not all of MTV is "Beavis and Butt-head" (where Butt-head snarls at any rock videos with written words: "If I wanted to read, I'd go to school"). Jumping on the explosion of spoken-word performance and poetry slams, MTV has produced commercial-sized bites of "Fightin' Wordz" from young poets.

Dear Editor: I'm proposing an article that is a snapshot of the burgeoning "spoken-word" scene, via a diaristic account of one man's--one writer-performer's (me)--ambitions and activities during a recent visit to New York from Los Angeles, culminating in the taping of an "MTV Unplugged" spoken-word special (pilot for a proposed spoken-word series), in which I was a participant. Question: What on Earth (you may wonder--with a sneer of amazement?

Electrical grounding: Never had it, never will. That could be the rallying cry of tonight's participants on "MTV Unplugged" at 10 p.m., who, for once, aren't pop singers with pickup cello sections but rather seven poets doing their usual neo-beatnik thing.

What was once a hip, informal TV hootenanny has inevitably turned into a cheesy cottage industry--"MTV Unplugged," that is, the formerly modest acoustic show that's now a bandwagon for superstars to jump onto and make product out of. Its trendiness can't help but inspire cynicism; then again, most of the episodes are nice. Young's "Unplugged" is a superior document of his last road trip, with no sense of being a TV soundtrack or a nostalgia fest.

What was once a hip, informal TV hootenanny has inevitably turned into a cheesy cottage industry--"MTV Unplugged," that is, the formerly modest acoustic show that's now a bandwagon for superstars to jump onto and make product out of. Its trendiness can't help but inspire cynicism; then again, most of the episodes are nice. Young's "Unplugged" is a superior document of his last road trip, with no sense of being a TV soundtrack or a nostalgia fest.

With two home video packages each from Guns N' Roses and Metallica and one or two releases that might not be suitable for family viewing, it's a tough season for a rock 'n' roll Santa. The Calendar Video Shopping Guide of releases by some of pop's biggest names offers some help. The videos, listed alphabetically, are rated on a scale from one star (poor) to four stars (excellent). * The Black Crowes, "Who Killed That Bird Out on Your Window Sill. . .The Movie," Def American Visuals.