Break out the eyeliner and your battered Siouxsie and the Banshees vinyl, because MTV’s two-hour tribute to all things angsty and indie is coming back both onscreen and online — with beloved host Matt Pinfield attached! Original episodes of 120 Minutes will begin airing monthly on MTV2 later this year, and starting March 18, fans of alt-rock can check out a weekly web show, 120 Seconds, on mtvhive.com. I’ve gotta tell you, folks, this announcement pushes all my nostalgia buttons — I can’t count how many hours of my youth were spent holed up in the rec room in the wee hours of the morning brooding and writing terrible poetry about my adolescent pain while steeping in the fabulous mope rock sounds of New Order, The Jesus and Mary Chain, and The Smiths. If you’re as excited about the 120 Minutes revival as I am, celebrate with a little “This Charming Man” after the jump.
ANOTHER trashy reality show???
you obviously never watched MTV in the 80′s and 90′s.
I think that’s sarcasm
My fave MTV show, no doubt. I used to tape it (I still have the one Peter Gabriel guest-hosted). It wasn’t just about the Smiths and New Order and goth (though it was great watching “Cult Classic” Bauhaus and joy Division videos there too). It was also about finding some real new, alternative music. This was where you first saw Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden before they became heavy rotation on MTV, and then there was the real obscure and some time twisted videos by bands His Name is Alive (Quay Brothers!) and Swans. There were so many great alt-rock bands championed here: Stereolab, Boo Radleys, My Bloody Valentine, Mercury Rev, Flaming Lips. I could go on…
Amazing show and ChristianPeopleMatch was amazing
Unfunny first poster.
I think there’s something about how hard you have to work to find/hear/see a band and the kind of following that band will have. For the youngn’s, you were lucky if MTV played the latest single by the JAMC once every other day, so you’d sit through far too many Genesis and hair metal videos to catch a peek. 120 Minutes (again, not an easy catch ‘cos it was on late Sunday nights and most of us had school early the next morning) was the ONLY time you’d catch the JAMC back to back with New Order, or the Smiths, or the aforementioned Siouxsie. It was a REVELATION for some of us.
Also, going a bit later, 120 Minutes was where I first discovered the Stone Roses, and Suede as well, among others.
YAY!!!! I’m so excited!!! finally music on MTV who would have thought????
Actually, it’s on MTV2 — but’s always news when an MTV affiliate actually plays music.
thanks, hans… =) and i did, andy; enjoy jersey shore!!!
This is not a reality show it was actually about music. It was well before all the ridiculous reality shows of now.
This is a music show not the kind of thing the flagship channel MTV does now with most of their lineup consisting of reality shows. That said, I am happy that 120 Minutes is returning, this time on MTV2. It exposed me to R.E.M. and alternative bands; probably influenced alternative rock’s huge dominance for about 6 of the 10 years in the ’90s.
awesome news!!
Agreed!! you don’t even have to wear black liner to enjoy this.. Wow, someone at Mtv must have brought one of their parents to work with them one day!! (hee hee)
I’m afraid it won’t be as good as it was back in the early 90′s when they played alot more industrial. Then they went more alternative, college rock and heavier stuff. If they focus on stuff like imperative reaction and assemblage 23 I will be watching for sure!
Best news of the week!! This is not a reality show, it is quality music programming, something which has been missing for this generation of MTV viewers. So stoked for the 90s nostalgia! and will be looking for the new clips online. lots of college late nights spent listening to this stuff. Bring it!
There was a time when this was the ONLY place you could go to hear new alternative music. Of course there was also a time when MTV played music, but I digress
YES!!!!!!!!!!!
YESSS!
I’ve been DVR-ing the 4 am weekly episodes of Subtereanean on MTV2 but it’s just not the same. I was so excited when MTV2 came out since they played music, and we know how that turned out. This is a small glimmer of hope for those of us who actually like music and could care less about herpectic orange-tanned buffoons and skaters-turned-stuntmen given infinite amounts of airtime.
I watch Subtereanean too. NewNowNext Music on Logo plays a lot of good new stuff.
But what kind of music will actually be on 120 Minutes? I know what they said, but considering what we DONT hear on the radio these days, I’m a bit confused.
Bring back The State!!
I’m afraid you’re confused. 120 Minutes was never a goth show. They played plenty of music that couldn’t be considered goth: Toad the Wet Sprocket, Ned’s Atomic Dustbin, Midnight Oil, Big Audio Dynamite, Blind Melon. In fact, they typically only played 1 goth/industrial song each episode.
Exactly, 120 minutes is dedicated to alternative music, not just Goth (since Goth usually falls under the umbrella of alternative music).
They also play some grunge music, which is DEFINITELY not Goth.
She didn’t say they ONLY play goth music–just that that’s what she liked about it.
I think it really helped make alternative music dominant on a mainstream level from 1991 to 1997.
Ahhhh, one of my favorite Smiths tunes. Thanks for that, Kristen. It’s been awhile!
Awesome.
SO unbelievably excited. This will be on my DVR as soon as the schedule hits. EW please keep us updated on the schedule. My favorite MTV show ever!!!!
Wow, I’m going to feel like I’m in my 20s again. I not only used to tape this, I used to hook up two VCRs to edit together tapes of all the videos I liked. MTV stopped being interesting to me after 120M was cancelled.
holy smokes Cal, did you also grow up in the UP of Michigan?? Lol, what we used to do for the love of music… I would tape songs from the TV to a cassette tape as we had like 2 radio stations, top 40 & oldies. Ugh! They sounded awful on that tape, but I had them!!
wow! we all know how appealing matt pinhead is to the young kids.
Screw the young kids. This show is not for the Jersey Shore loving crowd.