Sigh. Lets reminisce about Late '80s "postmodern" indie, esp. "120 Minutes" with Dave Kendall

(I was browsing through one of the more esoteric Chicago video stores the other day and I came across a video compilation drawn from the first half of the two-volume Best of 120 Minutes deal: just videos, obviously, no Kendall, but I was nevertheless edge-of- seat all the way through. Especially for "Gone Daddy Gone," which was at the time a revelation. Now I'm hoping they did one for the second volume, as all of my old friend-swapped straight-off-the-TV tape-dubs have fallen to pieces, even the extra-special one with My Bloody Valentine and Trash Can Sinatras and Cocteau Twins and even Pastels videos on it plus 120 Minutes "flashbacks" of "Boys Don't Cry" and "Seven Seas.") (A notable pair not only because they're both ridiculously amazing but also because they share a stage- and-curtain composition and the latter has Ian Curtis in drag and I seem to remember Will Sergeant dressed as a penguin at some point.)

I saw an outake where Jonny Lydon tried to pull off his wig.

As far as watching 120 minutes I was into it back in the 80's then I started to get more into college/community radio and realized the were usually playing the crap that the majors/big indies wanted to sell to the general public. Hence Lolapalooza and the "Alternative Genre"-smells like horse shit.....

I very much remember Kennedy -- I mentioned her the other day on a thread and nobody said anything, so I conclude you hate me. *cries* A bit of a stretch, admittedly.

Anyone remember the Pogues retrospective where Christy Moore does a version of "Fairytale of New york"?

No, we just hate Kennedy.

Not even a nibble?

"Keeping it real is so boring." - Casey Spooner, Fischerspooner

Kevin Seal pretty much just read stuff off the teleprompter, but he was goofy and didn't take things seriously and was bearable.

Lewis Largent was atrocious and an utterly incompetent interviewer. I remember an uncomfortable interview he had with Cocteau Twins, and Robin Guthrie looked like he wanted to crawl away and die. If I remember correctly, Lewis said something like "That wasn't so bad, was it?" (Robin disagreed) and then Lewis offered to bake him a cake. Thanks Lewis.

Matt Pinfield is very knowledgeable about crappy bands.

I think _120 Minutes_ profoundly influenced my sleeping habits in junior high/high school. I would never set my VCR to time-record; I would stay up and only record the videos I wanted. Now, I kinda wish I had entire shows on tape, because I know there's a ton of good stuff that I missed (and seeing old commercials is always fun). Watching some of my old tapes, I'd often scream out "Noooo, why didn't I keep recording?" after seeing a video get cut off (Wire, Game Theory, Opal - they played this stuff on MTV!).

Remember the channel THE BOX? You'd call a 1-900 number, pay $2, and get to see ONE VIDEO. For pretty much half the time, "Put 'Em on the Glass" by Sir Mix-a-lot was on. In my small Tennessee hometown, they actually replaced MTV with THE BOX in the early 90s, and there were protests! John Cougar Mellencamp came to our town to give a free concert, the sole purpose of which was to get MTV back on (it worked). I am not making this up.

One of my favorite video/misc shows was Night Flight. The USA channel ran it from '83 to '88. They showed lots of leftfield videos, films, and cartoons -- all mixed up.

Yes, Johnson City (it's still my homebase). It was a little challenging to find out about non-Top 40/cock rock back then in the pre-WWW days (and then actually purchasing the stuff was another issue) - there was Night Flight, 120 Minutes, some magazines, and even the public library had some stuff (Laurie Anderson, Steve Reich!).

i must be the only one here who couldn't stand Kevin Seal. though i loved "120 minutes." and an undergrad classmate/acquaintance was Matt Pinfield (paging mr. appelstein to thread!)

i also remember the fateful time i first discovered a local (then) cable-access-type show called JBTV. was quite young at the time. don't remember how old exactly, but i do know Pee Wee's Playhouse was still on the air. and we had a black-and-white tiny TV that barely got anything in, with separate UHF and VHF dials to tune things in, aluminum foil---and i found it completely by accident.

it used to be a cool show, back then. playing stuff you wouldn't really see elsewhere (and i didn't have cable anyway). Jerry Bryant should've retired the first time he quit the show, though. it got really, really stupid and Just Like Everything Else after "alternative" broke. :P

i won my very first Discman from that show, too. 'twas nice. and random. have still got me on videotape somewhere. i look like a complete dork, but at least my hair was black and orange. XD

what i meant to say was, an undergrad classmate/acquaintance was Matt Pinfield's roommate. (mr. appelstein still welcome to tune in, of course!)

*takes a drink*

The couple of times I saw him do the bit, the few people that knew what he was talking about cracked up.

Dave Kendall RIP

For at least his first few months on the show, I assumed he was a character Kevin Seal was playing, since Kendall was only shown in silhouette or disguised with massive video distortion. Anyway, RIP.

R.I.P., I loved 120 Minutes from high school thru college. He was my favorite host, I didn't know until later that he also basically created the show.

RIP, he made a real impact, felt like his era was the most adventurous musically

Aw.

Damn. I more frequently forgot to set my VCR for 120 Minutes than actually recorded it. But the times I remembered, those videos and interviews were re-watch material that I lived on for months. Very formative to me and still ingrained in my brain. Thanks, Dave.

Watched it religiously. My real musical upbringing. Thanks Dave 🙏

"Coming up next....Swerrrveeedriver" RIP

whenever I see "Nitzer Ebb" I hear it in his voice.

he was right about his love of killing joke

also, I remember when he played some EPK pre-recorded interview with some members of an industrial group, I forget which, but one of the members was Martin Atkins who said in the interview that if he wasn’t a musician, he’d be a serial killer. Dave rejoindered with “ I think Martin would be a housewife rather than a serial killer.”

Pigface?

yeah!

Missed that this was the trend that was bumped. Like others, not sure how many episodes I saw but was appointment television for a few great years. RIP

He tried sooooooooooooo hard to make Inspiral Carpets/Madchester happen in the states, he must have been so bummed that only EMF & Ned's Atomic Dustbin could scrape into our charts. RIP

I only learned today that he created the show, wow. He was a bit of a goober as a host, but he obviously loved the music (especially post-punk, goth, industrial, etc.) and I respect that he brought attention to it.
My friends and I would imitate/mock him back in the day, saying something like "Here's another video from DEPECHE MODE" with an exaggerated British accent.
But I can honestly say that seeing "Carolyn's Fingers" by Cocteau Twins and "Can't Go Wrong Without You" by His Name Is Alive (with video by the Brothers Quay) on 120 Minutes was life-changing!

I remember many fond evenings of stealing a bit of my stepmom's chardonnay and watching 120 Minutes along with The Young Ones and Aeon Flux

Still so strange to think that 'alternative music' was basically relegated to a couple hours on Sunday night... all that changed in a few short years

and then just as swiftly changed back

yes, true!

My mother and stepfather had an apartment on Central Park West: My girlfriend and I had a party there when Mom and SF weren't there: a friend brought Dave Kendall to the party! he was very pleasant! It was exciting to hang with Dave Kendall!

Awe.

It trips me out that people didn't have KROQ, I know only people in Southern California could listen but it was so big and influential in the 89s.

*80s and 90s too via Nirvana.

See, we pretty much did not have access to "120 Minutes" in the UK. "Snub TV" was the closest equivalent, and that was I dunno, 40 minutes? and it was only on in short run series'.

"Coming up next....Swerrrveeedriver" RIP

― chr1sb3singer, Wednesday, July 15, 2026 10:07 AM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

whenever I see "Nitzer Ebb" I hear it in his voice.

― I? not I! He! He! HIM! (akm), Wednesday, July 15, 2026 10:48 AM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

He tried sooooooooooooo hard to make Inspiral Carpets/Madchester happen in the states, he must have been so bummed that only EMF & Ned's Atomic Dustbin could scrape into our charts. RIP

― imperial frfr (Steve Shasta), Wednesday, July 15, 2026 6:32 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

"From their new album, 30 Something, here's Carter...the UnSTOPpable Sex Machine!"

Jealous. I grew up without cable and relied on Friday Night Videos.

I only had access to MTV for a bit around '97, so Matt Pinfield was my 120 Mins guy. I remember him playing The Mighty Mighty Bosstones videos at a rate that suggested payola.

120 minutes’ glory years were in the Poppy Bush Interzone

Carter USM is definitely a definitive Kendall-core band, also Swervedriver as mentioned

I fully associate him with
Raygun…Naked Raygun

My friends and I were fully tapers as described above — 120 min was a much valued access point to new music as you didn’t have to talk to anyone to hear it.

I was totally sold on Madchester including but not limited to Inspiral Carpets. I saw the video for “Joe” and searched for that song fruitlessly until I gave up and eventually the internet solved my problem. It was not a very good song.

lol I saw Carter USM do their Inspiral Carpets cover live, I guess that makes me pretty Kendall-core.