Pepsi Power Hour

The Pepsi Power Hour was a live one-hour program that aired on the MuchMusic television channel in Canada from 1986 to 1991. It ran once weekly every Thursday, until 1989 when a Tuesday hour was added. The show was dedicated to hard rock and heavy metal music videos, and showcased a variety of well and lesser known artists. It balanced coverage of major international acts, with newer bands, and a variety of Canadian acts both major label and independent. For example, members of Canadian bands such as Brighton Rock, Helix, and Triumph were invited to co-host the show. On other installments, independent artists such as Mif from Slash Puppet were brought in for live, in-studio interview segments. International artists also often co-hosted, such as Iron Maiden, Rob Halford, and Motorhead. The format of the program varied, but in general it was hosted live by one of MuchMusic's VJ's. The VJ would play new and old metal videos, taped interviews, play requests, and go over recent metal news. Fans were encouraged to write in requests every week, and the most creative of which were often shown. The show offered contests, for prizes such as meeting or interviewing bands, or for rare merchandise. Frequently, episodes would feature live interviews with artists in or outside the MuchMusic studio. Occasionally, artists would also perform songs live in the studio. A notable example was Rik Emmett, who co-hosted an episode and played the then-new Triumph single "Let the Light" acoustically before jamming with his co-writer Sil Simone in a guitar battle. Emmett was later brought back to co-host a special episode entitle The Axemen Cometh, which showcased popular guitar soloists of the time.