It’s not that often when metal creeps its way into mainstream pop culture. So when metal/hard rock acts do actually pop up in beloved sitcoms, dramatic films, cartoons or even reality series, it’s kind of awesome. So in the weekly column Remember When, Metal Insider recalls the most random instances of metal’s elite appearing in front of the camera.
Did Carcass really appear on Friends? Well they weren’t featured in person (which is a shame we could go on and on about how great it would have been to see a clip of “Carnal Forge,” “Embodiment,” “This Mortal Coil,” “Corporal Jigsore Quandary” or “Incarnated Solvent Abuse” on Friends, but they did get a rather nice plug back in the day.
It was during the episode entitled, “The One with the Cheap Wedding Dress,” which was first aired towards the end of the seventh season back in March 2001, some 16 years ago. Friends would go on to have 10 seasons in total – and over 200 episodes – and is one of the most popular TV shows of all time, having been aired around the world and currently on Netflix.
The seventh season focused mainly on the pending wedding of two of the show’s six main characters – namely Monica Geller, played by Courteney Cox, and Chandler Bing, played by Matthew Perry. In episode 17, the one in question, Monica and the other girls – Rachel Green (played by Jennifer Aniston) and Phoebe Buffay (played by Lisa Kudrow) – do a spot of wedding dress shopping where Monica meets Megan Bailey (Andrea Bendewald), another bride-to-be. To cut to the chase, Monica and Megan end up fighting over one particular wedding dress that they both want and while Monica wins, she is later blackmailed into letting her have it. Before that though, we get some nice references to Carcass:
Megan: What band have you booked for the wedding?
Monica: My fiancé wants The Swing Kings.
Megan: Oh, you are so lucky. My fiancé wants the heavy metal band, Carcass.
Phoebe: Is that spelt with a C or a K. My god that doesn’t matter. They are both great!
Later (after Monica has got the wedding dress they were fighting over)…
Monica: She [Megan] has booked The Swing Kings on the day of our wedding and said I couldn’t have them back unless I gave her the dress.
Phoebe: Does that mean Carcass is available?…
It is not exactly something you would expect, but then the odds of a number of things happening in life can be rather unexpected. Still Carcass was indeed mentioned in an episode of Friends and so too have a number of other bands, including Iron Maiden, Motörhead, Hootie & The Blowfish, KISS, Jethro Tull and a few others that we probably shouldn’t mention here.
It all makes you wonder where else metal has crept in. Perhaps on The Simpsons? Wait we’ve already covered that! Knew there was a point to these Remember When columns. Anyway, you can relive the moments Phoebe Buffay showed her love of Carcass and by extension heavy metal music below:
