120 Minutes
From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.
120 Minutes was a television show dedicated to alternative and indie music. It ran on MTV and MTV2 from 1986-2003. For the first ten years, one could see artists as varied as Kate Bush, The Ramones, Morrissey, Kitchens of Distinction and Hüsker Dü just by tuning in. But as time went on, and MTV found shows like the Real World immensely profitable, the show found its time slot pushed further and further back. Perhaps adding insult to injury, the playlist was becoming more and more mainstream, playing the likes of Sum 41 and Staind. In 2001, the show was moved to MTV2, where it returned to the style of music it was known for.
On May 4, 2003, the show bid farewell on MTV2. Current host Jim Shearer shared the screen with Dave Kendall and Matt Pinfield (probably the most iconic of the 120 Minutes VJs). The two "classic era" hosts shared their favorite videos from over the years, finally ending with Siouxsie And The Banshees's "Kiss Them For Me". A full playlist can be found here (http://www.altmusictv.com/120/archive_mtv2.html#050403).
Not long after the end of 120 Minutes, MTV2 premiered a similar show called Subterranean, hosted by Jim Shearer.
120 Minutes in the UK
In the UK, 120 Minutes debuted in 2003 on MTV2 The format of the show is different compared to the original and Subterranean, in that there are no VJs, commercial breaks or MTV promotions save for a 'You Are Watching 120 Minutes' graphic that appears every so often. The two-hour strand concerntrating on playing 'the real alternative', including new and classic leftfield indie, rock, electronica and metal videos that may not be played on other channels or during the daytime, although some videos can be seen on MTV2's Spanking New Music programmes during the day. Artists such as Franz Ferdinand, Kaiser Chiefs and Bloc Party's videos were first played on this show before they achieved commercial success, and many videos are played on 120 Minutes before branching out onto the MTV2 playlist. Regular artists on 120 Minutes also include Bright Eyes, The Knife, Pavement, Sonic Youth, My Bloody Valentine, Kraftwerk and Björk.
Occasionally, the show has themes, including a festival report at the Triptych festival in 2004, and Kraftwerk, Hexstatic and Björk specials. Every Friday edition of 120 Minutes is especially dedicated to metal and hardcore videos from upcoming bands, and is known as 120 Metal Minutes.
The original timeslot was on a Saturday night at 1am GMT, with the show being repeated on a Thursday at 2am. From March 2005, the decision was made for 120 Minutes to be shown every night at 1am (2am on Saturday).
External links
- Altmusictv.com's 120 Minutes site (http://www.altmusictv.com/120/index.html) - contains playlists and a full transcript of the final interview.
- MTV2 UK's official website (http://www.mtv2europe.com/) - request threads can be found on the messageboards.
