watching a lot of liz phair vidoes has gotten me all nostalgic for the show 120 minutes that used to air on mtv on sunday nights. it was fantastic. they played the best music videos and had the coolest guests. i loved the host dave kendall.





(he's the one in the 3rd photo. the others are jim shearer, mtv2 vj and matt pinfield, later host of 120 minutes before it was moved off mtv.)


check this site out for a history of the show:


http://www.altmusictv.com/120/



anyone besides katefan remember the show?

^I have a feeling that's gonna be before most of these people's time...
I LOVED Dave Kendall-I had a real crush on him-so cool, punk & smart.
That show really was like a Bible to me, WLY.

same here. it's how most of the artists during that time in that college scene got exposed to people like us back in the 80's. in the 80's and early 90's 120 minutes was required viewing for anyone who listened to music. i too loved dave kendall and thought he was the cooler host. matt pinfield was alright, but i was never too crazy about him. although i loved how much knowledge he had of music. i also loved the guy before matt. lewis largent. i always liked dave the best, but i though that lewis was cool too. i really liked the interview sections at the top of the second hour and the flashbacks they did as well. what shocked me later on in the show's history was seeing kid rock and incubus being played on 120 minutes. that really began the death toll for that music scene. now it's not even recognizable.

30 seconds to mars is now played on modern rock charts/stations. jerod leto is neither modern nor rock nor modern rock. it's sad really. the best surprise though was when suzanne vega was a host back in november of 1992 during her promotion of 99.9f. she introduced a nine inch nails video by saying she really dug this group. wasn't expecting that at all. you're right kate about many of the members not knowing this show. they also won't know it's sister show postmodern mtv which aired nightly.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PostModern_MTV



that show was just as cool as 120 minutes if not cooler and also required viewing. of course this is all back when music videos were cool. i always thought that the artists associated with the college scene (i hate to say alternative because it has become the way station for a lot of shitty music) had the best music videos. postmodern mtv eventually though morphed into alternative nation in 1993 with kennedy as host. i didn't really care for it as much.

Boot is diving up the proseeds sister.

^WLY-I LOVED PostModern MTV-I actaully have almost forgot about it till you mentioned it. Yes, it was a cool show & they had great interview clips interspliced into the videos-I always videotaped the Kate, Siouxsie, Cure, Sugarcubes ones, etc. I was also a total fan of people like The Primitives, the Darling Buds & Transvivison Vamp & I remember thinking it was so cool that they had interviews with them & played their videos during "regular" MTV hours & not just Sunday nights! I watched those videos I made to death, but wish I had them back! LOL!
You know, my main period of loving 120 Minutes was the period when they had hosts like Kevin Seals & Downtown Julie Borwn (bless her heart! Wubba Wubba Wubba), and then when Dave K. took over the show. I actually barely remember Lewis Largent or Matt-by that point I was either working, doing school stuff, or going to a lot of shows. I don't remember the Suzanne show, but I'm sure she was wonderful-she really is one of the only acoustic singer songwriters I think is truly amazing.
In the glory day, I remember there were always controversial guests-like Michelle Shocked & Sinead O'Connor who actually made comments about support for gays & feminism right on MTV in the late 80's & I thought that was the coolest thing-it was so liberating. We mentioned Sinead & while I have mixed feelings now about her & her career, she will always be the ultimate "angry woman" to me-MUCH more than any of the 90's chicks-riotgirlzz included. It's hard to explain to younger folk just how RADICAL O'Connor was at the time-with her shaved head look, angry, outspoken views-especially on the rights of women & gays-she was just such a total role model to me in my teen years, I will always respect her.
The music of the artists featured on that period of 120 Minutes-esp. Kate, Siouxise, the Cure, Sugarcubes, Bauhaus, the Cramps, Sinead, etc-will always be the most respected & important to me personally because it represents the music of a very liberating time period for me. The influence of those folk is still reflected in my every day being & I will always love & respect those folk-and 120 Mintues.
That is funny you mention Kennedy-did I tell you I met her several times? She's from Beaverton or Lake OSwego if I remember right. She was a real little Young Republican. Like if CC had a really unlikeable, polar opposite twin sister!

i never liked kennedy much to begin with. and i was less than impressed with alternative nation. when that whole scene became corporate a lot of the music that soon followed was homogenized and not at all in the spirit of the scene at all. there were obvious exceptions, but by large the scene never was the same. it happened around 1994 with the rise in popularity of nine inch nails, weezer (although i like later weezer now), and the offspring. the more and more mainstream the scene got the less and lees cool/unique it was and the later 90's suffered for it. there were some bright spots though. barenaked ladies (though they've been around for a long, long time), abra moore, patty griffin, mary lou lord, fleming and john, ben folds/ben folds five, third eye blind, the slip, elliot smith, the evinrudes, and lisa leob to name a few newer artists that still kept things interesting.

of course there were the old acts that were still around making music in the now alternative scene that still kept the roots and ideal of the old college scene. liz phair, the cure, depeche mode, new order, r.e.m., billy bragg, and suzanne vega to name some of the old guard. speaking of suzanne vega i don't see her as an acoustic artist much. after her 99.9f album especially. it was really dna who changed her whole career. after her 1990 hit tom's diner she would spend the next 11 years forging a new template that some called industrial folk with a heavier sound. stepping outside of her box. she returned to her roots somewhat with songs in red and grey. but she's been more industrial/rock to me than anything else. woman on a tier is nothing like her song luka at all. very heavy and industrial with the sounds of clanging pipes and such. but she is good. you mention a lot of good artists.

i notice that a lot of the artists i listened to who were part of the scene and 120 minutes were on elektra records. quite a few of them actually. and a lot of them were from athens or georgia. bands like guadalcanal diary for example. they were from georgia and they were on elektra. good times indeed. those days were some of the best. i also agree with you about sinead o'connor. sure, alanis sang about an ex-lover and giving head in a theater on jagged little pill but sinead o'connor actually ripped a picture of the pope on live national television. on snl to be exact. that was gutsy and that raw anger. alanis is a kitten compared to sinead. in fact i would go so far as to say that sinead paved the way for angry women to speak their voice in music moreso than liz phair. sinead was doing the angry thing back in the 80's and with much more force too i might add. i wish they would release the complete 120 minutes series on dvd. i would watch that. the show was the best music television program on in history.

^You're right on Suzanne-I think I meant to say that she was somebody I admire from more folky-acoustic roots. I'm actually really picky on "singer/songwriters"-I've just seen too many terrible people who thought they were talented. She has a real stage presence quite a few singer/songwriters lack. I'm sorry so many younger folk seem to just know her through "Luka"-she has an amazing body of work.
You know, WLY, I am actually feeling like I am still even beginning to process the 90's...I was there (and played a very active role), BUT I have such little affection for a great deal from that period-even things I sort've liked during the period. Frankly, most of the people I loved & still love/collect on from the 90's-folk who are identifed as 90's (Garbage, Tori, No Doubt, etc.)- always wore their "I grew up in the 80's alternative" badges clearly marked on their sleeves, so it's hard to classify them with a lot of the movements of the 90's.
I totally agree with you on Sinead (and some folk before her) as being much more of a prototype & role model for angry women than most of the 90's folks. She was much more bold & defiant to the point it ruined her mainstream career. But, as Sinead always pointed out, she wanted to be a protest singer-not a pop star. In a sense, she stayed true to her word.
I think Phair was much more introspective than defiantly "angry"-I think she spoke for a lot of "nice" (I mean that as the ugly stereotype it is for a lot of smart, kind, sensitive people) young people, especially women, who grew up in the burbs & were taught to be "perfect" & polite and not say words like c*ck & c*nt-I think Liz even hits on this herself in interviews-that she was considered the "practically perfect child" who wrote her bizarre ditties as entertainment & release from her environment. I honestly can't think of Liz Phair as being an "angry woman" in the way Sinead, Patti Smith, Siouxsie, Exene, etc. were, but I think she filled an important void that was missing at that time.

they've had a lot of cool artists on there....of course i've only watched clips on youtube!!

^Cool! I'm glad you do!

I love Kennedy!!!!

you are dead on with singer songwriters. a lot of the current crop and the crop from the mid-late 80's to early 90's don't have the stage presence that suzanne had. and suzanne was the one that really jump started the whole movement of female singer songwriters during that time. i really didn't care for a lot of the lilth fair artists around. they all seemed cut from the same cloth and with little stage presence. it's sad that suzanne doesn't get near the respect she deserves and not a lot of her songs are bigger hits. though i would say she is more known for tom's diner than luka. she plays that as often if not more than luka. and they all sing along with her too. it's very surreal.

a lot of the 90's artists that were around and in the spotlight weren't really that great. not my cup of tea per se. for a lot of the same reasons that you mentioned. they tend to wear everything on their sleeve. they're as transparent as most politicians. the ones that stick out in my mind from the 90's are ones that were for the most part under the radar that shouldn't have been. the list includes patty griffin, fleming and john (although they had a minor hit), sister 7 (on the arista austin label), lode, the sundays (although they had some minor success), abra moore (also on the arista austin label. also had a minor hit.) aimee mann (also had some minor success), mary lou lord, kara's flowers, the evinrudes, and juliana hatfield. although hatfield killed her own success. most of those on that list (which is just a sampling) had some minor success, but they never really hit it big enough to be on the radar on the larger scope. liz phair could fit that bill as well, but she had more success.

i think as alternative became more corporate and more popular, the true alternative went underground again. one aritst though never really took off in the 90's only to came out again in the 00's to become big huge acts. kara's flowers is the band that did that. their debut the fourth world on reprise came and went in 1997.it soon went out of print. it was an fantastic slice of power pop that was so great. and they were so young too. soap disco was a geat song of the 90's. then the band came back in 2002 as maroon 5 and went on to become one of the biggest acts. their kara flowers debut was going for $40 dollars used since it was out of print. then in may of 2004 it was remastered and re-released on rhino. i think you need to dust off the 90's again and check out some of the more underrated under the radar artists i mentioned. there are some really great artists out there and some really great albums you need to hear.

Oh, lord, you would...
Well, I'm sure you both think Sean Hannity is a real hunk & you can both compete to be his mistress....

Sean Hannity, grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

^SEE, I just KNEW you wanted to be his bedmate...

LOL! Not even sure I know what he looks like.

^OH, LIAR!!!
You LIVE for Fox News-I know you think it's "fair & balanced"...
Just even me typing the words "Conservative" makes you wet your panties...

You know, I barely remember Kara's Flowers, but I'll try and check them out again-I think I remember liking them back in the day at the record shop (If my swiss cheese memory serves me well...)
Do you remember a group called Mary's Danish? I thought they were really cool & talented-excellent live. They had a little bit of Alternasuccess & then disappeared. If they still making music, I'm not aware of it, but "Julie's Blanket" & "Hellflower" are still 2 fav songs of mine-I'm sure you remember them & probably liked them.
You & I totally agree on Lilith Fair-I applaud the concept of it & Sara did work her butt off orignally on it (I actually admire her more for that than her music), but, in all honesty, there were a lot of real "B-Team" acts that seemed to comprise most of the bills-in fact, I think that eventually killed it off. I usually worked while a lot of my co-workers went to it. And it seemed like when people I did really want to see (like Pat Benatar or Natalie Merchant) were on the festival, they weren't on the bill for Portland, or had to cancel or whatever. I know Liz Phair came to a Lilith Fair here (and I even forgot about that till I was talking with CC awhile ago), but I vaguely remember a friend telling me that her set was mega-short. That's another problem I have with those type of festivals. I honestly would rather pay to see "An Evening With" somebody.

When I saw Liz @ Lilith I think she did 5 songs. Loved it tho. Walked around getting stoned the rest of the day.