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In middle and high school, I used to sit up late on Sunday nights to catch the best show on MTV, 120 Minutes. The show featured “alternative” music, and actually got better during the period (the early 90’s) when alternative went mainstream. As bands like R.E.M. and Nirvana hit the main MTV rotation, 120 Minutes remained committed to indie bands, which made it a must-watch for me, even though it was on at midnight on a school night.
Imagine my joy when a new blog began cataloging videos featured on 120 Minutes. Pointing to YouTube videos, the 120 Minutes archive has entertained me for hours. Some favorites: Yo La Tengo - Sugarcube (where the band goes to Rock School, taught by David Cross and Bob Odenkirk — I remember watching the night this debuted), The Replacements - Bastards of Young, Pixies - Here Comes Your Man, The Cowboy Junkies - Sweet Jane, and Sonic Youth - Bull in the Heather. Seriously, if you liked alternative or indie music in the 90’s, prepare to spend your afternoon watching videos.
For superfans, here’s an almost unbelievable archive of 120 Minutes playlists from 1986-2003. Got a favorite 120 Minutes story, or video you remember from the old days? Post it in the comments!
Sweet…120 Minutes was the first place I was able to see videos from the Sugarcubes, Pulp, Verve and a host of other groups that would probably never tour through Indianapolis. Always a Sunday-Monday favorite. I have no idea how I was then able to get up at 7 and make it to school on time.
posted by meridith on 8-28-2007 at 11:15 am
I LOVED 120 Minutes! I, too, stayed up late on school nights in high school to watch it. I know I discovered tons of music that way, but the only song that comes to mind is If I Only Had a Brain by MC 900 Ft Jesus. Fantastic.
posted by Molly on 8-28-2007 at 11:34 am
I remember discovering Sisters of Mercy & Concrete Blonde on 120 Minutes…and watching raptly as Robert Smith hosted to promote the Mixed Up album. “That was the night The Cure discovered blusher.” Classic!
posted by Denise on 8-28-2007 at 12:50 pm
My parents often found me Monday mornings sprawled on my couch with MTV’s morning shows blaring as I usually could not make it the full 120 minutes. I am still in love with the song “Banditos” by The Refreshments which I caught on there. Also, I remember seeing the unedited “Smack My ***** Up” video by Prodigy. This led to a strange conversation with a co-worker a few weeks ago when she asked about that cool video where all this stuff happens and then the camera turns out and you found out the whole time it was a girl.
posted by Scott on 8-28-2007 at 1:07 pm
OMG the MC 900 Ft Jesus reference totally brought me back… daaamn, kid! I feel old. Goes w/o saying I was a 120 Minutes fan too. I discovered tons of stuff thanks to the show. Meatbeat Manifesto… Ned’s Atomic Dustbin… Nitzer Ebb… the list goes on and on…
posted by Jill on 8-28-2007 at 1:39 pm
120 Minutes wrecked my Monday mornings at school in junior high and early high school, but at the time it was soooo worth it to see actual bands, and girls with guitars that normally went unnoticed in favor of C+C Music Factory and MC Hammer during the day.
posted by Kate on 8-28-2007 at 2:12 pm
OMG. My 2nd-favorite band of all time, James. The only time I ever saw the video for “Born of Frustration” was on 120 Minutes. That was definitely the best two hours of TV every week.
Too bad MTV sucks so mightily now. If they would do an MTV 120 Minutes channel, I would never ever leave the house. Ever.
posted by Rachel on 8-28-2007 at 2:15 pm
ha ha… back in the day I would stay up and watch 120 Minutes with a VHS tape cued to record cool videos.
i still have a few VHS tapes recorded from POST MODERN for goodness sake. anyone remember post modern?
posted by Shelly on 8-28-2007 at 2:33 pm
Oh, man, was this me in high school… I actually still have a big box full of VHS tapes that have 120 Minutes recorded on them. I would set it up on Sunday nights because it was on from 11 - 1 where I lived and I never could make it through the whole thing…
By the way, VH1 Classic is currently showing 120 Minutes. A lot.
posted by Suzanne on 8-28-2007 at 10:20 pm
I remember 120 Minutes fondly. The first time I saw Oasis perform was on that show - a blistering rendition of Supersonic that is, to my memory, still one of the best live performances I’ve ever seen on TV
posted by Joe on 8-29-2007 at 1:15 pm
“Bright Yellow Gun” by Throwing Muses. That was my song and oh so catchy….
posted by meridith on 8-29-2007 at 4:08 pm
Alice In Chain’s “Angry Chair” literally parlyzed me with awe the first time I heard it on 120 Minutes. I didn’t watch anything else on MTV (or any other channel, pretty much) but those 2 hours every week were my lifeline to cool music.
posted by Kimberly on 8-30-2007 at 1:08 pm
My “heyday” of 120 Minutes was quite a bit earlier than most of the videos on that list. I watched it religiously in the mid 80s especially when it was hosted by Alan Hunter and Kevin Seal.
I lived in the rural south at the time, and for me and my friends, it was like our link to the outside world. There was no internet, no Amazon… we had to try to get Port O’ Call and Record Barn to order stuff we liked. Sometimes it was like pulling teeth :)
But, still, even just talking about that show brings back a lot of good memories. Thanks for posting this stuff.
posted by Andy on 8-30-2007 at 8:25 pm
holy, thank you, thank you, thank you. this takes me back to one of the sweetest eras of music discovery. i was a teenager living in rural ontario at the time and had no access to fun shows like this; i had nothing but staticky campus radio and had to get my sister and friends to tape videoflows from muchmusic & mtv.
needless to say, you’re giving me the childhood i never had. sniff. thanks!
posted by connie on 8-30-2007 at 11:51 pm
Unfortunately, 120 Minutes was a little before my time, but I love all those cool alternative bands, and getting to see all those videos is awesome. Did they ever release any of this on DVD?
posted by bobwalrus5 on 9-5-2007 at 8:13 pm
Bobwalrus5 - I don’t know of any DVD releases of 120 Minutes (though many artists, like Radiohead, have their own video collections that are worth a look). Having said that, there were some “Best of 120 Minutes” CD’s in the early 90’s featuring the live performances many artists gave on the program. Check Amazon for very cheap used copies.
posted by Higgins on 9-6-2007 at 9:58 am
i love 120 minutes! Thank God for You Tube! I have some shows still recorded on VHS and watch them every now and then.
I lived in a very rural area as a kid and 120 was my only way to be exposed to that type of music.
posted by jason on 10-3-2007 at 4:46 pm