120 Minutes: How I Wasted My Sunday Nights in the 1990s

Some of my fondest memories from high school include tuning into 120 Minutes every Sunday night on MTV. I discovered many bands, and in the process, developed my musical identity. I still have about fifty tapes of videos and interviews from the show, mostly from the 1990s. Watching them now is like a time capsule of how my musical taste changed. I wore those tapes out by watching my favorite episodes and videos over and over.

One of my favorite episodes featured Matt Pinfield interviewing Rancid, mostly because the videos they picked and bands they recommended were so varied, including oi tastemakers like the Business, shoutouts to the Swingin' Utters, and discussions of Operation Ivy and reggae as rebel music. My taped copy of this show is unwatchable because it goes back and forth between speeds, so I am glad Eyesore Video Channel posted it on YouTube.


Another favorite episode was when Henry Rollins and Jerry Lee Lewis co-hosted the show. This odd juxtaposition was even stranger than it appears in print. Rollins brought the snark, while Jerry Lee added a few sidebar comments. I might mention that this lineup would only be possible in the 90s. I can't find a video of it online, but I particularly remember Rollins, in his stilted 120 minutes hosting fashion, introducing the music video for Sublime's "Date Rape" and quipping that the title of the album 40 Oz to Freedom was "very inventive." As Sublime became increasingly popular after the death of Bradley Nowell, my friend Joe and I unceremoniously roasted the band by quoting Rollins. Although this was in poor taste, I can't help but still chuckle thinking about it now. Sublime was definitely sophomoric, but the album was slightly more inventive than its unfortunate title.


Exploring The 120 Minutes Archive is giving me major 1990s indie music flashbacks. I still find it hard to believe that MTV played most of these videos at all. I'm sad that I missed most of the Dave Kendall era, but I definitely watched every episode from the Lewis Largent era through Dave Holmes. I remember trying to find the show in the early 2000s and finding that MTV replaced it with electronic music before moving it to MTV2. There are many other episodes I could talk about. Check out the episode with Ween or Lou Barlow from Sebadoh/Dinosaur Jr. But I'm not going to because I want to go dig some of those tapes out of the closet.

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