3 Bands that Gave ‘Beverly Hills, 90210’ Some Rock Cred

When you think about music that was quintessentially ‘90s, you might think of grunge or the swing revival. We should also remember the impact the TV series Beverly Hills, 90210 had on popular music. Initially, the show offered a reflection of what was popular in music, such as when Shannen Doherty’s character Brenda Walsh listened to R.E.M.’s “Losing My Religion” to cope with her breakup with Dylan McKay (Luke Perry). In Season 5, the Peach Pit After Dark nightclub opened up, offering a new premise for the show to regularly feature new music.

The show even had three soundtrack albums, the first two of which provide a snapshot of ‘90s pop music, with songs like “The Right Kind of Love” by Jeremy Jordan, “Every Day of the Week” by Jade, and “Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)” by Us3. Instead of merely mirroring what was on Top-40 playlists, Beverly Hills, 90210 would sometimes give exposure to indie or alternative rock artists. Here are three artists you might not have expected to show up at the Peach Pit After Dark or other locations in L.A.’s most famous zip code, but each had their moment on the popular prime time show.

The Cramps

The seminal punk band performed on the show’s 1995 Halloween episode entitled “Gypsies, Cramps and Fleas.” The Cramps can be seen and heard performing “Mean Machine” and “Strange Love” at a Halloween party at the Peach Pit After Dark. The former is the leadoff track from The Cramps’ Flamejob album, which was released a year before the airing of the episode. Of the latter, guitarist Poison Ivy said in an interview for The Devils Spacecake fanzine that it was “strange doing a cover song. Cause that’s a Slim Harpo song.” She also noted that 90210 star Jason Priestley “knew our songs.”

The Flaming Lips

Whereas The Cramps went with a relatively deep cut and cover song for their 90210 performance, The Flaming Lips played their 1993 radio hit “She Don’t Use Jelly.” The band were featured on a 1995 episode called “Love Hurts,” and they were a key part of the story, as they were a big-name “mystery band” booked by Valerie Malone (Tiffani Amber Thiessen), the Peach Pit After Dark’s proprietor. The band is shown performing the first two minutes of the hit, most of which is uninterrupted by dialogue. Steve Sanders (Ian Ziering) vouched for the band’s indie cred, saying, “they’re not Michael Bolton” and “I’ve never been a big fan of alternative music, but these guys rocked the house.”

If you thought The Flaming Lips’ vocalist Wayne Coyne might have had some misgivings about performing on 90210, you’d be partly right. He told Yahoo Entertainment, “When Beverly Hills, 90210 called us, if this would have been a year earlier, or six months earlier, we probably would have thought, ‘No, we’re too cool; we don’t do those sorts of things.’” By the time the show contacted the band, they had already gained a great deal of exposure due to the success of “She Don’t Use Jelly.” Coyne explained that changed their perspective. “It occurred to us that [going on 90210] would be ridiculous and absurd and funny,” he said. “It didn’t really matter if it was artistically good or bad or whatever.”

The Cardigans

The Swedish band The Cardigans did have a big pop hit in 1996 with “Lovefool,” but they wound up performing the song on 90210 because one of the show’s writer/producers was unable to secure an even bigger act. The episode “Graduation Day, Part 2” first aired in May 1997, shortly after the Spice Girls had topped the Billboard Hot 100 with “Wannabe.” Larry Mollin was one of the writers tasked with finding a band to perform at the 1920s-themed college graduation party for Kelly Taylor (Jennie Garth) and her friends. Mollin told TeenDramaWhore.com he managed to book Spice Girls, and he went as far as telling Priestley the group were “fans of the show.”

Much to Mollin’s disappointment, Priestley replied, “I’m not doing the show.” So The Cardigans were booked instead, and they performed (or at least lip-synched) “Lovefool” and “Been It” at the party. While Mollin was pleased with the episode overall, he remarked The Cardigans were “one of the weaker groups we had. …Priestley was directing that and he wanted to insert his stuff and that ‘20s theme.”

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