''I.R.S. Records Presents: The Cutting Edge'', also known as ''The Cutting Edge'' or IRS's ''The Cutting Edge'', was a music program that aired on

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

(US) from March 1983 to September 1987, on the last Sunday of every month. The show was retitled ''The Cutting Edge Happy Hour'' in 1986.

Background

The show was intended to feature performers who might otherwise not be seen on MTV, and featured the earliest appearances on MTV for acts like

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

, the

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and

R.E.M. R.E.M. was an American rock band from Athens, Georgia, formed in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. One of the first alternative ...

The co-founders of I.R.S.,

Miles Copeland III Miles Axe Copeland III (born May 2, 1944) is an American music and entertainment executive and former manager of The Police. Copeland later managed Sting's musical and acting career. In 1979, Copeland founded the I.R.S. Records label, producin ...

and Jay Boberg, also saw the program as an effective promotional tool for I.R.S. recording artists at a time when much of the music industry had not yet perceived the marketing value of music videos. Copeland later described himself as "the only record company executive ever to have had his own show on MTV".

Broadcast history

Produced by Jay Boberg and Carl Grasso of

I.R.S. Records I.R.S. Records was an American record label founded by Miles Copeland III, Jay Boberg, and Carl Grasso in 1979. I.R.S. produced some of the most popular bands of the 1980s, and was particularly known for issuing records by college rock, new wave ...

for MTV, and directed by

Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris Jonathan Dayton (born July 7, 1957) and Valerie Faris (born October 20, 1958) are a team of American film and music video directors who received critical acclaim for their feature film directorial debut, ''Little Miss Sunshine'' (2006). Later the ...

, the first year of the show featured a variety of hosts including

Jools Holland Julian Miles Holland, (born 24 January 1958) is an English pianist, bandleader, singer, composer and television presenter. He was an original member of the band Squeeze and has worked with many artists including Jayne County, Sting, Eric C ...

Jeffrey Vallance Jeffrey Karl Reese Vallance (born January 25, 1955, in Redondo Beach, California) is an American contemporary artist who lives and works in Los Angeles, California. He is best known for projects that blur the lines between object-making, install ...

, and

Wazmo Nariz Wazmo Nariz (born Larry Grennan in Chicago, Illinois) was a quirky New wave music, new wave singer and songwriter. His first success came with an independent single, "Tele-tele-telephone" which was recorded and released on the independent Chica ...

, before settling on Peter Zaremba, the lead singer of

the Fleshtones The Fleshtones are an American garage rock band from Queens, New York, United States, formed in 1976. History 1976–1979 The Fleshtones were formed in 1976 in Whitestone, New York, by Keith Streng (born September 18, 1955, New York City) an ...

. Interviews with musicians and performances were videotaped in clubs, recording studios and private homes. As it evolved, the program began to produce programs that focused on regional

music scenes Music is generally defined as the The arts, art of arranging sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Exact definition of music, definitions of mu ...

around the United States, such as in

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and different neighborhoods around

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. A 1985 episode filmed in Austin was an important contributor to the brief flourishing of the local "

New Sincerity New Sincerity (closely related to and sometimes described as synonymous with post-postmodernism) is a trend in music, aesthetics, literary fiction, film criticism, poetry, literary criticism and philosophy that generally describes creative works ...

" music scene. ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' critic Terry Atkinson, writing in July 1986, called ''The Cutting Edge'' "simply the best program about pop music that we have", with "the most interesting and adventurous new acts". In 1986, the name of the program was changed to ''The Cutting Edge Happy Hour''. The renamed show was videotaped at a single location, the Hollywood

Holiday Inn Holiday Inn is an American chain of hotels based in Atlanta, Georgia. and a brand of IHG Hotels & Resorts. The chain was founded in 1952 by Kemmons Wilson, who opened the first location in Memphis, Tennessee that year. The chain was a division ...

. A June 1987 episode presented a wide range of performers from

Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American musician, composer, and bandleader. His work is characterized by wikt:nonconformity, nonconformity, Free improvisation, free-form improvisation, sound experimen ...

Ladysmith Black Mambazo Ladysmith Black Mambazo are a South African male choral group singing in the local vocal styles of ''isicathamiya'' and '' mbube''. They became known internationally after singing with Paul Simon on his 1986 album ''Graceland'', and have won m ...

, but overall, the series became more focused on Southern California bands, and lost popularity before ending by September 1987.

References

{{Music based programs on MTV I.R.S. Records 1983 American television series debuts 1987 American television series endings 1980s American variety television series 1980s American music television series MTV original programming English-language television shows