THE RETURN OF MTV'S 120... SECONDS?

MTV has sort of re-launched their 120 Minutes franchise as 120 Seconds.  Every few years, MTV realizes that it isn't relevant in music anymore, and tries to reclaim the importance it had in the '80s and '90s (although I think their ratings are as good or better than they've ever been).

120 Seconds features former 120 host Matt Pinfield hanging with various bands who fit the format.  I saw one segment with The Kills, and another with Richard Ashcroft, who was probably on the show back in the day with The Verve.

I always liked Pinfield. I remember seeing him on MTV for the first time, I think he was filling in on 120 before he landed the gig full time.  For a while, he seemed to be hosting every show on MTV, including an early version of TRL. But you could tell that they didn't hire him because he was a model, and they didn't hire him because he was a slick TV guy.  He was a music fan. One of us.  He got a bit lucky, but did a great job.  I felt represented by him.  It's too bad that he threw it away, due to drugs.  I'm not dishing anything that isn't public.  I saw him hosting a concert a few years ago, and he said he was going to rehab the next day... I think the rehab worked out for him that time.

A new monthly version of 120 Minutes will also air on MTV2.  I heard they may re-air classic episodes as well. That show turned me, and thousands (or millions) of others, on to lots of new music back in the day. I'm glad it's back, but I wonder what its impact will be.

NEIL YOUNG - LONG DAY, GREAT PERFORMANCES

It seemed like such an odd day: it was Conan O'Brien's last day as the rightful host of NBC's The Tonight Show, and while that was a bummer, the Hope for Haiti telethon put on by MTV put everything in perspective. Tom Hanks appeared at both events, as did Neil Young.

Although the telethon aired (live) before Conan, Conan taped his show before the telethon, so both Tom and Neil probably had to jet across town.  It all worked out.

Neil performed at the telethon with his fellow Farm Aid chairperson Dave Matthews.  They did a pretty stark acoustic duo version of Hank Williams' "Alone and Foresaken." On Conan, he performed one of his classics, "Long May You Run" (the title track of the lone Stills-Young Band album, released in 1976). If you saw the show, it ended with Will Ferrell dressed as the late Lynyrd Skynyrd singer Ronnie Van Zant, leading Max Weinberg and the band through "Freebird." The performance was cooler looking than sounding, because Will's voice got annoying. But when he wasn't singing, he was making out with some chick, or playing (what else?) the cowbell. But a funny point was that he was wearing the same Neil Young Tonight's The Night t-shirt that Ronnie used to wear. The band were joined by supporters Ben Harper, Billy Gibbons and Beck. And Conan actually played a pretty face-melting guitar solo himself.

Back to Neil.  What I didn't know (until I checked the great fansite Thrasher's Wheat) was that yesterday, Neil's long time film making collaborator L.A. Johnson passed away. L.A., who worked on the Woodstock film, worked with Neil as a director or producer on many of his films, including Journey Through The Past, Human Highway, Rust Never Sleeps, Weld, Year Of The Horse, Silver and Gold, and also worked on Neil's albums including Greendale and Living With War.  He also worked on the video content on the Archives box set, and was working with Neil on the Linc-Volt documentary.

NEIL YOUNG PLAYING CONAN'S LAST NBC SHOW TONIGHT

Image and info from MTV. So, after you finish watching MTV's Hope For Haiti telethon tonight (or you can listen to it on SIRIUS XM's The Pulse) you can switch over to NBC to watch Conan O'Brien's final show as host of The Tonight Show. As everyone probably knows, Jay Leno takes over after the Winter Olympics. Tonight's musical guest will be none other than Neil Young! I wonder what he will play.

I look forward to see where Conan (along with his great band, The Max Weinberg 7) ends up. 

RADIO ON THE TV: MTV2'S HEADBANGER'S BALL

Metallica - Headbangers Ball - MTV Shows

When I was a kid, there were a few sources that I used to learn about metal. (1) Cooler looking older metal kids (2) the radio show "Metal Shop" and (3) MTV's Headbanger's Ball. When MTV ditched the Ball, I don't think anyone thought it was a good idea. They replaced a true metal show with a show hosted by a chick whose main claim to fame was (I think) that she was nanny to Courtney Love's daughter Frances Bean. Even the MTV people realized that they messed up! The Ball was an institution. It's been back on MTV2 for a few years, and lately, it's hosted by a good friend, Jose Mangin. No, I'm not trying to name drop here - yes, I know Lynn Hoffman from A&E's Private Sessions, and Eddie Trunk from VH1's That Metal Show. But these are cool shows if you are a music fan! And I don't have the channels that Elvis Costello's show airs on, and I don't get the channel that Henry Rollins' show airs on either. I've been meaning to check both of them out. Back to Jose, I know him from SIRIUS|XM, he has been the guy behind Liquid Metal, and before that, Hard Attack, and I've never met someone with the enthusiasm for music that Jose has for metal. He loves all kinds, from Cannibal Corpse to Poison to KoRn, he loves all of it. I'm not always down with his tastes, but like with Eddie Trunk, I appreciate his true passion for the music. I'm not sure what his schedule is on MTV2, but if you love metal, you should check it out.