In a recent video interview with Metal Hammer, Scott Ian revealed the Anthrax song MTV banned for ‘mocking the mentally impaired.’
“It was submitted to MTV, which was a bit of a long shot anyway for a band named ‘Anthrax’ and playing the music we played,” the guitarist recalled about their ‘Madhouse’ music video.
The video showed people in straitjackets moshing in a mental hospital. MTV found it offensive to the mentally ill. Ian added, “And MTV came back to us and very politely said, ‘We will never air this. You are banned from MTV because we feel that you are making fun of the mentally impaired. We were like, ‘What?!'”
The musician further shared, “We were like, ‘F*ck MTV anyway! Who need this sh*t?!’ This was before [popular rock and metal programme] ‘Headbangers Ball’ became a thing in the 80s.”
“We were very excited about it. I think the label put out a press release saying we were officially banned from MTV. Of course, that gets people excited,” Scott revealed.
MTV changed their view on Anthrax as the band became more popular in the late 80s. Their cover of ‘Antisocial’ became a hit, and in 1989, MTV held a contest where the winner could have their home trashed by the band.
Bassist Frank Bello talked about the contest in a 2014 Loudwire interview, saying, “It was fun because we could legitimately break things. We broke things and they [MTV] were gonna pay for it. Think about that: ‘Go in there and break stuff.’ ‘Fine!’ I think the owners got a little scared ’cause we were going for it […] but we had a ball, man.”
Anthrax released their latest album, ‘For All Kings,’ in 2016 and are now working on its long-awaited follow-up. Ian told Guitar World magazine in September that the delay in the new Anthrax album is because they’re taking their time to make it perfect.
