Paramore, Strange Tag-Teams Highlight mtvU Woodie Awards

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Four days before sending TRL out to sea in what will be an over-the-top pop-fueled spectacle, MTV honored another branch of its family tree with a more streamlined, indie-oriented affair. Hip-hop newcomer Asher Roth kicked off the 5th annual mtvU Woodie Awards last night at New York's Roseland Ballroom with a tune entitled "I Love College" before joining Chicago rappers the Cool Kids and a few dozen college kids for a mock frat party during the Kids' high-energy "Delivery Man." Roth and the Kids set the precedent for the evening's live performances with a set that embraced the target audience of the 24-hour college station without being overly flashy (save for the gold lamé and silver-sequined bikini-clad dancers that joined pop-punkers All Time Low).

Lykke Li, joined by Bjorn of Peter, Bjorn and John, showed you can remain edgy while playing the kazoo during "Dance Dance Dance" and broke out her dirtiest club moves for "I'm Good I'm Gone." Q-Tip joined Li on stage for the evening's first left-field collaboration for A Tribe Called Quest's "Can I Kick It?" before moving into a medley of "Move," "Vibrant Thing" and "Gettin' Up."

The evening's other collaborations were just as quirky: Spank Rock came out to join Santogold for "Shove It" and Chromeo added some vocoder flavor to Vampire Weekend's "The Kids Don't Stand a Chance." Other strange moments included Debbie Harry, sporting a white-blonde wig, introducing Santogold after proclaiming her adoration for the New Wave art rocker, Mark Hoppus scolding an audience member who grabbed at his shoe ("I'm not a piece of meat you can manhandle!") and the Britney Spears' "Womanizer" video getting the Rickroll treatment during a commercial break.

With the exception of Chromeo, none of the night's performers walked away with an award, though all were nominated. Paramore picked up Woodie of the Year from an inebriated >All-American Rejects (who couldn't resist plugging their upcoming album), while Breaking Artist Jack's Mannequin earned the Good Woodie for frontman Andrew McMahon's leukemia foundation. Check out the full list of winners below.

Winners of the 5th annual mtvU Woodie Awards:

Woodie of the Year - (Artist of the Year) Winner: Paramore (Atlantic Records)
The Breaking Woodie - (Best Emerging Artist) Winner: There For Tomorrow (Hopeless Records)
Left Field Woodie - (Most Original Artist) Winner: Chromeo (Vice Records)
Best Video Woodie - (Best Video of the Year) Winner: Motion City Soundtrack "It Had to be You" (Epitaph Records)
The Good Woodie - (Greatest Social Impact) Winner: Jack's Mannequin (Warner Bros Records) - "Dear Jack Foundation" -" Established by lead singer, Andrew McMahon, a leukemia survivor, this group raises money and awareness for cancer research.
Performing Woodie - (Best Tour) Winner: Atmosphere (Rhymesayers Entertainment)
College Radio Woodie - (Best Campus Radio Station) Winner: 91.7 FM, WICB Ithaca College
Best Music on Campus Woodie Winner: The Bride Wore Black

Related Stories:
• Breaking: Jack's Mannequin
• Q&A: Paramore's Hayley Williams
• Artist to Watch: Santogold

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Song Stories

“V.T.T.L.O.T.F.D.G.F.”

Fishbone | 1985

Quite a few musicians have utilized initials for song titles -- Michael Jackson's "P.Y.T.," Abba's "S.O.S.," Donald Fagen's "I.G.Y.," etc. But the more curiously initialed tune has to be "V.T.T.L.O.T.F.D.G.F.," short for "Voyage to the Land of the Freeze-Dried Godzilla Farts." Fishbone's original guitarist, Kendall Jones, explained to Rolling Stone, "When Norwood [Fisher] wrote it, he introduced it to the band saying, 'Man, I've been hearing about all these Nazi right-wing groups on the news saying the Holocaust was staged. So what if America said it never dropped two atom bombs on Japan, that it was actually Godzilla popping a couple off?' Only Norwood would come up with something that out." The same year "V.T.T.L.O.T.F.D.G.F." was released, the film Godzilla 1985 appeared in North America.

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