I Miss "MTV Unplugged"

Recently I have gotten into watching old clips of bands I like playing their songs acoustically. I have always liked acoustic music, and to hear a song that is normally done electrically acoustically has always been something I enjoy.

This new passion has sent me down a Spotify rabbit hole that I am totally here for. I am being reintroduced to music that I used to listen to and adore. I heard some stuff from Alice in Chains, a band I don't even like, Nirvana, Tracy Chapman and Lauryn Hill. I have gone back and rewatched Blind Melon and Jay Z do their acoustic stuff. Hell, another band I don't like, Linkin Park, has some dope acoustic stuff. This all led me back to "MTV's Unplugged".

"MTV's Unplugged" one of the better shows that has ever existed. I used to live for this show. I would scout the TV Guide or the channel to see when the next "Unplugged" was coming. This was the best it got, especially after Nirvana showed how great this could be.  This begs the question, why did they stop doing this show? I know that MTV does not show videos anymore. Hell, they don't even show music anymore. Neither does MTV 2 or VH1 or any other "music channel". All these channels are all about reality shows. That is where they get their viewers. There is not a moment when I turn on MTV now and Rob Drydek's goofy internet show is on. VH1 seems to only feature shows about artists or athletes' wives. I don't even know what MTV2 shows anymore. So why not bring back "Unplugged" now? I would have to imagine it would be a humongous hit. When they did Jay Z unplugged it was a massive hit. And they sold a ton of records. They could pounce on the streaming numbers and make vinyls out of these shows featuring some big time artists. Taylor Swift could make a killing doing her new record acoustically. She already has the chops and millions of people would tune in. There are plenty of popular country artists that my wife listens to, and she loves acoustic music, so why not get some of them to do it? I would watch the hell out of someone like The Black Keys or Kendrick Lamar doing an unplugged set. That would be rad. You could even bring some older other artists to do it. I would love to see Talking Heads, or David Byrne, do one of these shows. Get David Gilmour an acoustic and let him rock some Pink Floyd. Foo Fighters would be a massive get, and Dave Grohl already knows how to deal with the whole unplugged thing. Get someone like Tobe Nwigwe to go out there and perform. He would crush. The opportunities are endless. I bet they could also get a bunch of artists to do it for charities they support. That would be cool and helpful. There is no shortage of options to book people to do it. Add on the fact that retro stuff is back in now, people, especially people from my generation, would eat this up. I mentioned making vinyls of these performances, I know all three of my brothers would buy the vinyl of the bands they like doing unplugged shows. I would be interested in the art work involved. The production of the show would be even better now due to advancements in technology. I cannot find a reason not to pursue this.

Bring "Unplugged" back. It would crush and be one of the coolest things MTV has ever done. It would also force them to revert back to music. The timing is perfect. Make it happen. It would be rad. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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