PlanetGrove.US05/16/2007
More albums that turn 20 years old this year….
MTV refused to play any Guns N’ Roses videos because of the album’s original cover. Based on the Robert Williams painting Appetite for Destruction, it depicted a robot rapist about to be punished by a toothy metal avenger. The band compromised and put the original cover art inside, replacing it with a cover depicting a cross and skulls of the five band members (Rose has this design tattooed on his right forearm), somewhat like Grateful Dead album artwork. This compromise did not satisfy MTV, and the network continued the video ban. Finally, David Geffen, then-president of Geffen Records called MTV and earnestly requested MTV play the “Welcome to the Jungle” video. MTV agreed to play it once, but only at 2 AM with a supposedly limited audience. Within 24 hours, “Welcome to the Jungle” became the most requested video on MTV.
Photo posted at 12:56
