
	Best of Most Wanted

Best of Most Wanted on German MTV Dec. 26th 99

Article by: Dan Larsen, Jan. 6th 2000.

MTV Germany did what MTV Europe and later the other local MTVs never dared. They admitted to have had a superb VJ called Ray Cokes.

On December 26th 1999 MTV Germany had a "Best of" weekend with a lot of glimpses from old shows that had been on MTV, both in Europe and in the motherland, USA. And when going through the European archives they couldn't help but see the huge pile of tapes with Ray on Most Wanted. So they found an old "Best of Most Wanted" from 1993 and decided to show it.

The show had been aired on MTV Europe after the 1993 season of Most Wanted, but it was great to see it again. And this time I got it on tape. :)

It was great to see Ray on MTV again. I would like to thank MTV Germany for showing this program. It was about time Ray was remembered on the network. Since his exit after the X-Ray Vision shows, MTV have more or less denied having had Ray as VJ on the screen. So it was good to finally see him with the MTV logo in the upper right corner again. :)

The "Best Of..." show was the same as the one that was showed during the winter break after the 1993 season. It was introduced by Lisa I'anson, the then great MTV News presenter. She gave the microphone to Steve Blame, who then pretended to be recieving Ray outside the MTV Studios in London with hords of people screaming at him and begging for autographs. And from there on it just went on with a lot of great clips from the past season.

We saw short bits with some of all the big guests that had visited the show. You can see some screen shots of them here: (place mouse pointer over picture to see the name of the artist - do not click it)

Björk Fresh Prince + Jazzy Jeff Iggy Pop Phil Collins

Salt'n'Pepa (Bingo wall of death) Shaggy (singing with Ray) Ugly Kid Joe Flossy - the stuffed sheep!

During the season of Most Wanted Ray Cokes also was fortunate enough to get to jam with some of the big artists of the time:

Jamming with Aerosmith Jam with BB King Daryl Hall Joe Satriani

Most Wanted had many competitions during this season. Amongst other things, a family won the opportunity to get a live feed from a U2 concert directly into their own livingroom - totally exclusive. Plus, they got to be part of the concert themselves, via the huge monitors on the stage where U2 had their Zoo TV tour. Other exciting happenings that year was a trip to a Hard Rock Cafe where Ray, of course, tried to pick up one of the cute waitresses (in Germany I believe?)...:

Hey there.... ;) Ray in the field reporting Take That with a lucky winner in Disneyland, Paris. Ray and winners on U2's Zoo TV

The "Best of..." also featured a lot of clips from the everyday shows, where nothing big happened, but where each and everyone was something special anyway. One of the items that made the show great was the Bingo Wall of Death, that many guests have been tortured on:

Have you ever smoked... Bingo wall of death Have you ever fancied someone of the same sex... Ray smashes the glass of the bingo ball machine! Someone had the brilliant idea of hanging a map in the studio... hmmm

It's going well isn't it?! A busride on the Cure tourbus Davina spotting talent for a band on the Marathon Weekend On the phone with Germany - Ray has many fans there...

Rob tied to chair on Bingo Wall of Death! Substitute host Angelo get in a tub of beans... I love my guitar. Elvis??

Danish VJ Maiken Wexø hosted the show a few times. Well.... Wayne and Garth (Mike Meyers and Dana Carvey) Damn set!!! Pushing over table...

Take That was a whole chapter on it's own in the history of Most Wanted. Ray became good friends with them, and they appeared on the show several times. Every time hundreds of girls gathered outside the MTV building. Ray Cokes, man of the people, friend to the stars, did his best to please the crowds outside.

Thanks for reading this short, but pictureful, review of the Most Wanted Best Of as showed on MTV Germany during Christmas 1999. Hope you enjoyed it.

Download a zip-file with all of the above screen-grabs in larger format here. (3.6MB!!)

This page has last been updated: 21-05-01