Here's to you MTV!

Well, its official.  MTV has announced their focus on Millennials, casting aside Generation X… the generation that made MTV.  Sad news indeed.  I’d like to give a big FU to MTV.  Not just for this recent admission, but for the crap they have been broadcasting for the past 20 years.  There was a time when MTV was about music television.  It was certainly a revolutionary, but simple, concept that changed music forever.  Play popular music but with supporting video.  It changed everything.  No longer were we sitting by the radio listening to music while doing something else.  Now we were completely focused on the music as a total sensory experience.  And when I say focused, I mean sitting like a zombie starring at the TV, one music video after another… completely enthralled.  It was a perfect formula and our generation shaped it.

Then something along the way happened.  Something terrible.  MTV changed focus from what made them great, music television, to a soap opera channel.  I blame the Real World and it was all down hill from there, recently culminating with Jersey Shore.  While this metamorphosis was occurring, MTV did still try to retain the Generation X market via MTV2.  This worked for a while but ultimately failed.  I want my MTV!

As I mentioned, we shaped MTV, but in a way it shaped us as well.  It changed how we absorbed music and how we responded to it on a social level.  Do you remember going into school on Monday after seeing the latest and greatest new MTV Video over the weekend???  MTV Network President Van Toffler said “Millennials are really about authentic reality and family” and that MTV “played up the camaraderie and famliy elements on Jersey Shore to appeal to them”.  What???  Has he seen Jersey Shore???  If this is any reflection on what Millennials are about, or if they are at all being shaped by MTV’s content… God help us all.

Certainly on some level I can understand MTV now focusing on Millennials.   They spend the most time in front of the television and apparently care far less about music than our generation had.  I wonder though, would Gen-Xers spend some of our prime time viewing hours watching MTV if there were still something that appealed to us?  Its hard to say because, despite their recent admission, MTV cast us aside many years ago.  So, again MTV… FU.  How’s that for cynical?

~cg

The "Smells Like Teen Spirit" Single Artwork

Considering The Slacker Factor is a podcast and webspace targeted directly at Generation X, whose musical apex is squarely planted in early 90s grunge, what I’m about to say will no doubt offend some and may even be considered downright sacrilegious. So, let me just come right out and say it…

I never need to hear Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” again. That’s right, the GenX anthem that epitomizes all things slacker is not aging well in my eyes. In fact, the second I hear those opening power chords, I instinctually reach for the dial or digital preset button to find just about anything else (within reason, of course… I’m not about to choose any American Idol reject over the voice of our generation (I think, anyway).

It’s not really Kurt’s fault though. In 1991, when Nevermind was released unto the unsuspecting public, it was all I needed to puff out my chest and get all angsty. After all, this was the theme song to many a drunken slam dance, late night rally to plan our world domination, or solo introspective moment. But just three years later, after Kurt Cobain’s untimely death in 1994, the song sank into nostalgia. Hearing it then, we’d take a second to imagine what could of been, what still might be, and what contributions our generation was making (or not making) to the world. But now, it’s lost all that sense of nostalgia, emotional connection, and is just plain tired.

I blame radio. I’ve just heard it too many damn times. Back in the day when “alternative music” really started to affect the mainstream population, it felt like Generation X was poised to bring slacker culture to the whole world. You could tune into just about any radio station format – from “Modern Rock” to “Top 40″ and hear the evidence of how deep “Teen Spirit” had penetrated society. The video was aired every 10 minutes on MTV, which meant you couldn’t escape it no matter where you were. It was ubiquitous angst. But, there is a fixed limit on many times you can repeatedly feel those strong emotions when a song comes on. There are only so many times that that melody, those driving drums, that distorted guitar, and the gruff vocals can penetrate your heart.

Unfortunately, I think this fall from grace is inevitable. Just think of all that cutting edge rock and roll from the 60s and 70s – Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Jimmy Hendrix, The Doors. They changed the face of music and lead a cultural revolution. But now, 40 years later, the whole genre is relegated to the dusty corners of the radio, ipods, and vinyl albums with not a record player in sight. And I’m sure that even our parents, who were there for the birth of “freedom rock”, aren’t going out and getting stoned, practicing free love and “imagining world peace”, when “Dazed and Confused” makes it’s 55 thousand, 227th appearance in their ears.

So, by no means am I debasing or marginalizing “Smells Like Teen Sprit.” I just don’t think there is any way to avoid this slide into staleness. Music should always evoke that same passion we all felt in 1991. And if the songs of our youth are no longer able to arouse those feelings, maybe we should move on and explore new music that sing about our current struggles like, I don’t know, the trappings of corporate America, the unending demands on our time from the kids and their all-encompassing social lives to the responsibilities of supporting household in a down economy, the unpaid bills and the fears of being trivialized as a generation. Actually that sounds like god-awful music. So barring that, maybe we can at least tap into some of Nirvana’s deeper album cuts or smaller hits yet still amazing songs like “All Apologies” or “Rape Me.” Or maybe I’ll just go listen to Pearl Jam instead – at least they’re still putting out new music.

- Robert LaFrance

The Slacker Factor Podcast, Episode 6:  Pondering Nirvana

Haunted by a love/hate relationship with the music of our past, Rob struggles in his quest not to achieve Nirvana. We are confused by guys/girls and the words around them in a discussion on gender speak. Finally, Chris attempts serenity with NPR’s top songs of the decade and breaks out cool/questionable jazz.

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Links:

Meandering Rant on the Lack of Teen Spirit by Rob

Book Report: Gender Speak

Music Segment: NPR’s 50 Most Important Recordings of the Decade