Bob224
John SiracusaHow does the new Paramount+ release of old MTV Unplugged episodes not have the single best performance from the whole series? YouTube to the rescue… https://youtu.be/_AQByCFr0gs
YouTube
Kevin Dente@siracusa Clapton’s Layla gives it a run for its money. Except maybe for the fact that Claptop is a scumbag.
Waylon Jeggings@siracusa that was a really good quality copy too
David Anson@siracusa I haven’t seen any MTV unplugged episodes, but somehow I remember seeing this one back in the day!
Arcticulate@DavidAnson @siracusa I remember seeing an Unplugged episode being on while flipping the channels and thinking something like: ”Oh, it’s not a music video. Well, instant skip, then!”. I didn’t appreciate it the way I do now: I mean, that clip sounds great. Back then I wanted cool videos and I used to enjoy reading the ”Did you know?” trivia text of music videos.
That was anywhere from 1991-2000. I had MTV as part of channel bundles from ≈1991 to mid-2010s.
@DavidAnson @siracusa Maybe I should emphasize that I’m talking about the MTV Europe channel. Not sure if there were differences in the TV schedule or just a matter of technical differences with satellite distribution and NTSC vs PAL broadcasting.
Skean Harshly KC1WKV@siracusa absolutely the best one. Saw Natalie live at UMass Amherst in, I think, early '96. What an amazing show.
And now I'm second guessing my memory. Went to look up her set list, and can't find any record of her playing there around that time frame. But have fairly vivid memories of who I went with and what vehicle I drove which leaves a pretty tight window. Too many substances then? Too old now?
Edit: found it. 2/21/96. 29 years and a week.
Mark Gardner@siracusa Beg to differ: #LLCoolJ set the #MTVUnplugged bar and then burned it down in 1991: https://youtu.be/f2eiCVzPiCg
LL Cool J - Mama Said Knock You Out (Live)
Jonathan@siracusa the recording of this exact performance is also on Apple Music
@rawrdimus It’s also been in my iTunes library since it was released in the 90s.
Bob Wertz@siracusa I had no idea these were on Paramount+. So many great performances.
Adam Hawkes@siracusa my money was on Nirvana, but this is...unreal.
Chris Frederick@siracusa What a fantastic song—I can’t count the number of times I listened to this performance growing up. I also have a soft spot for Like the Weather, which captures the feeling of cold, grey winter days in upstate New York so well.
Fun story: the 10,000 Maniacs are from my home town, and one day the keyboardist paid a visit to my middle school music class. Probably would have been around the time of that MTV Unplugged performance (though I didn’t see it on TV).
Casey Liss@siracusa Mariah Carey’s cover of “I’ll Be There” would like a word.
Andrew Laurence@caseyliss @siracusa Tony Bennett has entered the chat.
@siracusa (Because the Night is very. Fucking. Good.
But it’s not the best ever.)
Sondek@caseyliss @siracusa Stand aside please. The winner is coming through. https://youtu.be/fregObNcHC8?si=JRVbqTHsblb4nv3g
Nirvana - The Man Who Sold The World (MTV Unplugged)
@sondek @caseyliss @siracusa Nirvana can come through, but Ladies Love Cool James: https://social.sdf.org/@mjgardner/114079466308340887
Mark Gardner (@[email protected])
@[email protected] Beg to differ: #LLCoolJ set the #MTVUnplugged bar and then burned it down in 1991: https://youtu.be/f2eiCVzPiCg #HipHop #music
Steve Mintsioulis@caseyliss @siracusa you can pry George Michael’s Freedom 90 from my cold dead hands. The vocal warmups at the start are a must. For some reason the Freedom 90 section is in a separate video. I’ve listed it first.
George Michael - Freedom '90
@stevemint @siracusa Shhhhheeeeiiiiiitttttt I don't know if I can choose between Freedom 90 and I'll Be There.
Excellent call.
@caseyliss glad to have reminded you of something beautiful!
sayrer@caseyliss @stevemint @siracusa what about Nirvana doing 3 Meat Puppets songs? I like that one a lot. Nirvana (1993)
Jared Counts@caseyliss @siracusa Hey! No fighting you two!
Save it for the tier lists
https://atp.fm/join
poswald@siracusa always loved the way her voice breaks slightly in the bridge. Another great unplugged track was Lauryn Hill doing Mr. Intentional
John Jusayan@siracusa 💯Agree with this. I bought the MTV Unplugged CD of this and ripped it into iTunes.
Dennis Wilkinson@siracusa Some of my favorites (almost all from the first season) are missing from Paramount+, including that 10,000 Maniacs/Michael Penn episode, the episode with Squeeze, and the Michelle Shocked/Indigo Girls episode.
Tony West@siracusa the remix of this in Les Mills RPM spin class is one of my favourite tracks. Haunting at times, really hard climbing at others.
Fredrik Björeman@siracusa Goosebumps!
@siracusa It's too fast vs this one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_BcivBprM0
I also think you missed a “57 Channels and Nothing On” Springsteen reference in the last episode.
Patti Smith Group - Because the Night (Official Audio)
EasterBuy/Listen - https://LegacyRecordings.lnk.to/psg_e!btnAbout the album:'Easter' is the third studio album by the Patti Smith Group. Released by Arista R...
@sayrer I did not.
@siracusa well, I figured, but you didn't explain it to them
@siracusa oh, I think I've heard you talk about this one, but I couldn't find the link:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Defiant_Ones_(TV_series)
There are some details of Jimmy Iovine producing Springsteen during the day and Patti Smith at night, which later became strangely Apple-relevant.
Mattias Karlsson (he/him)@siracusa Goosebumps 🖤
Nico 
@siracusa because you’d have to subscribe to the Paramount Premium ++ service
Ben Munson@siracusa what an omission
Nicolas Sabatier@siracusa Good choice. I really love the MTV Unplugged of Alice In Chains. So beautiful, so heartbreaking. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EKi2E9dVY8
Alice In Chains - Nutshell (MTV Unplugged - HD Video)
Noel Walling@siracusa Oh, wow, I haven't thought about 10000 maniacs in ages.
Amy Parent@siracusa oh I didn’t know about this cover, this is great!
Marina Epelman@siracusa I do wonder why the subset of episodes they posted seems so arbitrary. A rights issue, perhaps?
@marinaepelman That's my guess.
Kevin Miller@siracusa Wow I didn’t know @tiffarment was such an amazing performer! 😉
mingistech 
@siracusa I agree, my dogs love that performance.
Matt Trevor@siracusa Is this a self-plug? Looks like you're playing the organ
Craig Chamberlain@siracusa this is by far my favourite MTV Unplugged performance. Aha -Take on me like you’ve never seen before. 👌
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-xKM3mGt2pE&pp=ygUUVGFrZSBvbiBtZSB1bnBsdWdnZWQ%3D
a-ha - Take On Me (Live From MTV Unplugged)
Slaíne@siracusa I’d forgotten all about this track thanks. I just asked Siri to play me the “10,000 Maniacs Essentials” playlist and this was the first track 👍