Party Animals Take Over After MTV Show

The Scene: The massive party at Universal Studios on Thursday after the eighth annual MTV Video Music Awards. Rock ‘n’ roll’s annual street party/fashion show has become the Oscar night of the “Beverly Hills, 90210” generation.

Who Was There: Thousands of guests packed Universal’s stairway terrace area. However, in contrast to past years, few of the artists presenting or receiving awards attended. They took off immediately for private parties. The scene had the look of an outdoor record industry convention. In general, MTV needs to invite more of its target audience--more shallow adolescents, fewer jaded industry types.

The Buzz: Having Paul (Pee-wee Herman) Reubens open the show was inspired brilliance. It was MTV at its best.

Dress Mode: There was much visual wonderment. The whole night is more about fashion than music. For women, the basic idea is to be wearing something that would drive your father crazy if he saw you leaving the house in it. For men, the idea is to look rich, artistic and cool all at the same time--David Geffen meets David Lynch with David Bowie. For some mistaken reason, about 5% of the men came in black-tie. They looked like lost waiters.

More Style and the Lack Thereof: For men, a classic outfit would be lizard skin cowboy boots (or unlaced Air Jordans), carefully torn jeans, a tuxedo jacket worn over a black T-shirt plus a Metallica baseball cap worn backwards. For women, apparel ranged from Sequin Hell to post-Madonna lingerie. You could shrink-wrap what’s left of the Soviet Union with the amount of spandex on hand.

Comment: “Will someone take James Brown down to Melrose, please !” said one woman. “I mean, those clothes .”

Rumination: Breast implants in junior high school students are a sure sign of social malaise.

Happiest Campers: Record company executives who got their kids into the party. Finally, finally they found something to make the ungrateful brats happy.

Chow: Yes, somewhere at the end of long tedious lines there was food.

Quoted: “I kept my eyes on my own work,” said drummer Michael Bland about Prince’s erotic dance ensemble.

Also Quoted: “I don’t care if you’re a peacock or a President. Do your job--slam it,” said Freedom Williams of C + C Music Factory. “And MTV knows how to slam it.”

Ask Milli Vanilli: Is using a body double the video equivalent of lip syncing? Will this become Video-gate? In the case of one female nominee, what you see is not what you get.

Observed: It was a night of Big Hair. As an example, the line in the ladies room was for the mirrors. Also guests left the show early. Before the Best Video of the Year award, it looked like the eighth inning at Dodger stadium.