Feeling Old Maybe?

Recently I stumbled upon an article that discussed a website/blog where the owner is trying to compile all of the video lists for every 120 Minutes show that aired on MTV (1986-2003).  Here’s the website:  http://tylerc.com/the-120-minutes-archive/.  Back in the day (for me, that means around 1991 forward) when I could catch the show I would try.  Back then MTV actually meant videos and interviews with artists/bands, but those days went out the door the day Pedro showed up on The Real World 3.  I used to like 120 Minutes and Headbangers’ Ball (less so Headbangers, though Beavis and Butthead did get me to watch a few more episodes) but didn’t get to catch either show as much as I should have.  Who knows where my musical tastes would have veered had I watched them more consistently.

Anyway, I’ve been “thumbing” through the website and have been fascinated by a few things.  One, there are a number of the bands represented on here that I still like immensely that I liked then:  R.E.M., Sonic Youth, Pearl Jam, to name a few.  I know Sonic Youth came out years before, but I remember seeing the video for “Bull in the Heather” on here.  Two, there are a TON of bands that I didn’t appreciate then that I do now:  Blur, the Cure, the Smiths, and Soul Coughing to name a mere few.  In fact, I hated the Smiths for a long, long time until a quirky romcom came out a few years ago ((500) Days of Summer) that reintroduced them to me.  Three, there are quite a few bands that were on back in 1991 that are still around now and are still relatively popular:  Social Distortion, R.E.M., Sonic Youth, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, to name a few.  One could argue Social Distortion is more popular now in some ways than they were then.  Four, Trent Reznor let Pretty Hate Machine’s popularity ride out for years until he released Broken.  I’m blown away by this, because it felt like Pretty Hate Machine came out many, many years ago (in fact, it was originally released in 1989).

When I read this article and then found the website, I felt like this was a treasure trove.  At the click of a button I could locate songs and artists I hadn’t listened to in years nor could remember their names until now.  The nice thing about the site, too, is the links to searches for the videos (most of the songs have links).