THE BIG F — Kill the Cowboy

JUL 01 1989 · 12:00

THE BIG F — Kill the Cowboy (1989) Era: Late-80s Alternative/Hard Rock Transition (1989) - Straddling the cusp of LA glam's decline and the emerging alt-rock underground; Elektra Records-backed single from a post-Berlin power trio navigating Headbangers Ball and 120 Minutes simultaneously. High curatorial value as a documented 1989 performance video from an act occupying a statistically rare dual-genre MTV rotation slot. Represents an under-archived stratum of the LA rock scene — not mainstream glam, not yet grunge — and carries biographical significance through its Berlin alumni lineage. The quantitative editing profile (479 cuts, 0.57s ASL) provides a measurable benchmark for pre-grunge MTV performance clip norms. Director unknown status flags it as a priority candidate for future provenance research. Context: Released in 1989 on Elektra Records, 'Kill the Cowboy' arrived at a pivotal moment when the Los Angeles rock scene was fracturing — glam metal was commercially dominant but creatively exhausted, while a harder-edged underground was coalescing around acts soon to be labeled alternative or grunge. The Big F occupied a genuinely liminal position: formed by John Crawford and Rob Brill, veterans of synth-pop act Berlin, alongside guitarist Mark Christian, the band grafted post-punk aggression onto hard rock structures. The single's dual MTV homes — Headbangers Ball and 120 Minutes — encapsulate that liminality perfectly, as few acts in 1989 received rotation on both shows. The video's rapid-fire editing pace (0.57s avg shot length) mirrors the kinetic urgency of the music and positions it as a precursor to the visceral performance-clip aesthetic that would define early-90s alt-rock MTV content. Director notes: The video was produced in 1989 to support the 'Kill the Cowboy' single released on Elektra Records (catalog PRCD 8179-2). It received airplay on MTV's Headbangers Ball and 120 Minutes. No production company, director, or crew credits appear in any currently indexed database including IMVDb, Discogs, Wikipedia, or RateYourMusic. The quantitative fingerprint (0.57s avg shot length, 479 cuts, warm incandescent color temperature) is consistent with a modest-budget performance clip shot on film in a rehearsal space or small club environment, typical of Elektra's lower-tier promotional budget allocation for non-charting acts in 1989.