1991.09.DD - MTV - GN'R Use Your Illusion Special (Axl, Slash, Matt, Dizzy) [VIDEO]

TRANSCRIPTION:
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Steve Isaacs (host): Into the Jungle. That was a depiction of how Axl Rose was welcomed to Hollywood and that song caught the ear of Clint Eastwood and he dropped the song into his movie The Dead Pool. And this of course isn’t the only Guns N’ Roses tune to be used in a feature film. We will have more about that later. Don’t go away, this is the Guns N’ Roses Use Your Illusion special. We’ve got a lot more when we come back.
 
Steve Isaacs: I’m Steve Isaacs. Welcome back to the Guns N’ Roses Use Your Illusion special. When Guns N’ Roses burst on the scene, they didn’t seem like any other band. They had (?) and a style all their own. One thing that they’ve been identified with is tattoos. Recently I visited the Sunset Strip tattoo parlor in Los Angeles, to talk to an artist who’s worked on the band.
 
[cut to interview with LA tattoo artist]
 
Steve Isaacs: Hey, big Mike, what exactly have you done?
 
Big Mike: Most recently I did Duff’s black graphic armband and I designed Axl’s girl, the one with the black graphic hair.
 
Steve Isaacs: Right on. What about the blue rose at the top of Axl’s shoulder? Where did that come from?
 
Big Mike: I think that came off Thin Lizzy, the album cover.
 
Steve Isaacs: Oh, that’s a trip. What about Slash’s, the woman with the rose in her teeth? What about that one?
 
Big Mike: Oh, that’s a great design. Slash drew it himself and brought it in, and Robert, our shop owner, tattooed it on him.
 
[cut back to Steve Isaacs in the studio]
 
Steve Isaacs: Let’s see some of those tattoos in action. This is a performance clip, shot live at the Ritz in New York. This is Bob Dylan’s Knocking on Heaven’s Door.
 
[cut]
 
Steve Isaacs: ... special, a look at Guns N’ Roses. After the release of Appetite for Destruction, GN’R followed up with the release of their LP Lies in November of 1988. This album consists of previously released material and has a few freshly recorded acoustic tracks on it. Although the LP was wracked with controversy, it joined Appetite for Destruction in the top 5. From Lies, this is Patience.
 
[cut]
 
Steve Isaacs: ... it was the first positive love song that he’d ever written. It started out as a poem that he wrote about his girlfriend at the time, now ex-wife Erin Everly. This was the second release from Appetite for Destruction. It’s an excellent example of Guns N’ Roses mixing hard rock ‘n’ roll wrists with some sensitive ballad lyrics. This is Sweet Child O’ Mine.
 
[cut]
 
Steve Isaacs: ... it was a song that catapulted them into world-class band status. Once you stick around, we’re gonna hear from the two newest members of the band, drummer Matt Sorum and keyboard player [cut]
 
Steve Isaacs: This is Steve Isaacs and welcome back to the Guns N’ Roses Use Your Illusion special. Where were you midnight Tuesday September 17th? More than likely you were one of the tens of thousands of people waiting in line at record stores all across the country to buy the most anticipated album of the year. There’s report that Use Your Illusions I and II went gold by selling 500,000 copies nationwide in the first two hours. The video You Could Be Mine is featured on Use Your Illusion vol. II and it’s also in the soundtrack of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s latest blockbuster movie, Terminator 2. Right now the Terminator is going to explain how he hooked up with Guns N’ Roses.
 
[cut to interview with Arnold Schwarzenegger]
 
Schwarzenegger: They have been big, big fans of Terminator and have expressed that many times. And I have been a fan of their music, so we checked into what it will be like to do a video together or to get some of the music.
 
[cut to edited parts from MTV interview with Axl, May 25, 1991]
 
Axl: ... It worked out really cool because we wanted to put out a version of the song You Could Be Mine. ... and we shot a video for it, we filmed the show in the Ritz and then, you know, I guess Arnold was flying back from Congress and going, (does Schwarzenegger impression) “I want to be in the video”.
 
[cut to MTV interview with Slash, May 25, 1991]
 
Slash: We hung out, really. We got along really, really well. And he gave the whole band jackets from the movie and these great French leather biker jackets, right? With bullet holes, everywhere.
 
[cut to line from Terminator 2: No problemo]
 
[cut to MTV interview with Matt, May 24/25, 1991]
 
Matt: ... really cool. He was kind of real soft spoken, nice guy.
 
[cut to line from Terminator 2: Hasta la vista, baby]
 
[cut to MTV interview with Slash, May 25, 1991]
 
Slash: ...we shot some footage of us coming out of the dressing room, there’s a stage door at the Roxy in L.A., where we come face-to-face with Arnold in his Terminator gear and it was all pretty funny. And...
 
Someone: Whooa!
 
Slash: ... pretty rotted by that point (laughs).
 
[Clip from You Could Be Mine video]
 
Steve Isaacs: Featured in You Could Be Mine is new drummer Matt Sorum, formerly of The Cult, who replaced Steve Adler, the original Guns N’ Roses drummer. Also new in the band is Dizzy Reed on keyboards. Right now here are the newest members, commenting on joining the biggest band in the world.
 
[cut to MTV interview with Matt, May 24/25, 1991]
 
Matt: Originally I was just going to go in and do the record, and then go back to The Cult. And then, as soon as a couple weeks of rehearsals went by, I went to a barbecue at Slash’s and he proposed the question to me. “Do you want to join Guns N’ Roses?” I kinda went, “Well, can I have a cocktail, please?” (chuckles)
 
[cut to MTV interview with Axl, May 25, 1991]
 
Axl: Well, Matt’s really solid, you know, and you can... Everybody in the band can rely on Matt’s playing. You know, the drums are, like, your anchor and he’s definitely the strongest anchor we’ve ever had. And one of the best drummers that there are, I think, in the world.
 
[cut to MTV interview with Slash, May 25, 1991]
 
Slash: We got used to working with Matt like that, then Dizzy came in and it was just piano which I’m used to listening anyway with whatever other bands it is I’m listening to.
 
[cut to MTV interview with Dizzy, May 24/25, 1991]
 
Dizzy: To me it’s just as anything else. I just looked at it as another challenge. And it’s like, if I can pull this off, I could definitely do anything (chuckles).
 
Steve Isaacs: Welcome back to Use Your Illusion. I’m Steve Isaacs. Use Your Illusions I and II entered the Billboard chart at number 1 and 2. Right now we’re going to see Paradise City, the third video from Appetite for Destruction. Part of this video was shot in Giants Stadium during their monumental tour with Aerosmith, and you also catch glimpses of the Castle Donnington festival, their flight on the Concorde and their trip through Manny’s Guitar Shop in New York City. Here’s Axl and the boys with Paradise City.
 
[Clip from Paradise City]
 
Steve Isaacs: That was Paradise City. You know, there is a saying that goes, “The flame that burns the brightest, burns out the quickest”. And when a band is as turbulent and controversial as Guns N’ Roses, you have no idea what the future holds. But the present is looking pretty bright. Let’s hope they can keep their fire burning for a long time. This has been the Guns N’ Roses Use Your Illusion special. I’m Steve Isaacs.
 
[End titles]

the interview portions of this video come from the MTV Alpine Valley 24 May 1991 Special