Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
UR022: “1996 MTV Unplugged Season Retrospective” w/ Alex Coletti
0 Playsin 1 day
We’re kicking off 2026 by looking back 30 years to discuss the entire 1996 Season of MTV Unplugged with longtime MTV Unplugged producer/showrunner Alex Coletti. Tune in for some incredible behind-the-scenes stories, covers, and song clips courtesy of Alice in Chains, Tori Amos, Seal, Hootie and the Blowfish, Oasis, and George Michael along with some present-day “NPR’s Tiny Desk is the new MTV Unplugged” discussion.
If you dig the show, would like to share your own Unplugged memories, offer up a correction, or connect with the show for any other reason:
- You can email me at unpluggedrevisited@gmail.com,
- You can reach out on Bluesky at @willhodge.bsky.social, or
- You can leave a voicemail (that’ll maybe get played on the show) by dialing 234-REVISIT (234-738-4748)
Recommended![UR021: MTV Unplugged Beatles Covers (Paul McCartney, Annie Lennox, Hall & Oates, & more) [1990-2001] image](https://media.zencastr.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=112,quality=85/image-files/66ea0b235fcf51d2c9a0b7cd/43cbefc3-777c-4d93-9915-92abd82876d2.jpg)
![UR015: Mike Inez (Alice In Chains) [1996 MTV Unplugged] image](https://media.zencastr.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=112,quality=85/image-files/66ea0b235fcf51d2c9a0b7cd/ce95ba92-1808-4cb4-b4f5-2fb578ff7daf.jpg)
Transcript
Introduction and New Year Greetings
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome to Unplugged.
00:00:14
Speaker
Greetings and salutations. Welcome back to Unplugged Revisited, the podcast that celebrates, critiques, and dives deep into the last three and a half decades of MTV Unplugged. I'm your host, music journalist, pop culture anthropologist, and Unplugged obsessive, Will Hodge.
00:00:29
Speaker
First off, Happy New Year, my friends. I hope everyone's enjoyed a fantastic holiday season and managed to wrap up 2025 in your own personal iterations of health, happiness, and or unhinged chaos.
00:00:42
Speaker
I'm wishing each of you the best for 2026, and I hope the new year has already kicked off swimmingly for you. I'm genuinely so grateful for each and every one of you out there who keep tuning into my little obsessive passion project.
00:00:55
Speaker
And I'm extremely stoked for the opportunity to share another exciting year of the podcast with you. You guys are awesome. Okay, let's dispense with the Hallmark card schmaltz and jump into today's episode, shall we?
Reevaluating MTV Unplugged's 1996 Season
00:01:08
Speaker
I thought a fun way for Unplugged Revisited to kick off 2026 would be to travel back 30 years and conduct a bit of a broad stroke reassessing of MTV Unplugged's 1996 season,
00:01:20
Speaker
A deceptively subtle year that within the overall Unplugged canon can often fly under the radar, but actually holds some of Unplugged's most dynamic, most experimental, and most talked about episodes of the show's entire multi-decade run. Hi, I'm Kurt Loder and you're about to take in a very unusual edition of Unplugged featuring the squabble-infested English band Oasis.
00:01:41
Speaker
And if you're in the mood for some specific deep dives into a couple of the individual 96 performances, you can certainly check out my earlier episodes with Alice in Chains bassist Mike Inez,
00:01:56
Speaker
and Hootie and the Blowfish guitarist Mark Bryant.
00:02:04
Speaker
But for this episode, I'll be discussing the 96 season as a collective, briefly hitting on each individual performance from the likes of Tori Amos, Oasis, George Michael,
00:02:39
Speaker
Seal,
00:02:47
Speaker
and yes, even more talk about Alice and Hootie, but also trying to outline and define the unique color and character of the 96 season within the larger Unplugged story, as they tried to navigate the dance but between continuing to amass notable achievements, like still winning Grammys and notching platinum album certifications, while also responding to certain critiques and criticisms by releasing fewer unplugged albums, all while trying to just keep focus on the main goal of putting out a great live performance television show.
Interview with Alex Coletti
00:03:20
Speaker
To assist me with this retrospective reassessment, I could think of no better guess more perfectly suited to the task than the man who spearheaded the Unplugged crew through the entirety of its monumental, culture-impacting 90s run, longtime Unplugged producer and lore keeper, and my special guest today, Alex Coletti.
00:03:38
Speaker
Now, a few quick notes about the absolute legend that is Alex Coletti. Along with producing Unplugged from the day one pilot episode back in 1989, all the way through its landmark 90s stretch, into the 2001-2002 Unplugged 2.0 reboot, and even coming back for a few episodes here and there across the two thousand and twenty ten s Alex has also produced and directed a ton of other incredible TV shows, concerts, award ceremonies, and special events, including, but not at all limited to, a Super Bowl halftime show, a half dozen Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremonies, a half dozen episodes of VH1 Storytellers, both seasons of Elvis Costello's Spectacle, and about a hundred other cool things, including, most recently, the gorgeously shot TV series Words and Music, which just debuted on MGM Plus last November and has already aired episodes with John Legend, Sheryl Crow, Elvis Costello, and Alanis Morissette. Words and music.
00:04:41
Speaker
Which comes first? That makes you happy. This will take you places that you would never expect to go. There was an open notebook on the music stand. It was the day my life changed forever.
00:04:54
Speaker
In heart.
00:05:01
Speaker
Anger moves worlds. Anger sets boundaries. Kind of like a good man.
00:05:09
Speaker
I've been lucky enough to interview Alex for a few different publications over the years, including for this podcast early last year, where I had him walk us through the craziness of the three Neil Young MTV Unplugged episodes that exist. So be sure to check that one out if you haven't already.
00:05:25
Speaker
I always have such a fantastic time talking to him, and I'm extremely excited to have him back on the show today to walk through the 96 season and give us so many more cool unplugged stories. Like, who stopped their unplugged taping mid-show to eat a steak?
00:05:40
Speaker
Whose unplugged stage was completely covered in rubber restaurant flooring? And who showed up to every day of their unplugged rehearsal and the day of filming in the exact same outfit?
00:05:51
Speaker
We'll find out the answers to these questions, get a bunch more Unplugged stories, plus take care of a couple announcements and more on the other side of this vintage Unplugged commercial break.
00:06:02
Speaker
Miley.
00:06:05
Speaker
Unplugged. One night only. In one week, Miley takes the stage and takes over on a special MTV Unplugged.
00:06:17
Speaker
It's her voice, her special guests, her night, and she'll do exactly what she wants. Watch it live, don't hear about it later. MTV presents Unplugged with Miley Cyrus. Premieres Wednesday, January 29th at nine.
00:06:31
Speaker
I knew this episode would skew very 90s heavy, so there's a little 2014 MTV Unpluggedness sprinkled in to balance things out. Also, that Miley Cyrus Unplugged episode is one of the later era ones that Alex came back to direct, so there's also that little synergistic connective thread as well.
00:06:49
Speaker
Okay, on to the announcements.
Listener Questions and Teasers
00:06:51
Speaker
Announcement 1. Well, there's another chapter being added to the ever-twisting and turning saga of Kurt Cobain's iconic Martin D-18E that he played on Nirvana's classic MTV Unplugged episode in 1993 and which sold for over $6 million dollars at auction in 2020.
00:07:10
Speaker
After spending most of last year anchoring the awesome-looking Kurt Cobain Unplugged exhibit at London's Royal College of Music, where it was seen by a reported 15,000 visitors, it was recently announced that the guitar was not only donated for public exhibition to the RCM Museum, which also houses the oldest surviving guitar in existence, originally built in 1581,
00:07:33
Speaker
but that it would also be part of an international touring exhibition slated for this year. While the specific dates and locations haven't been officially announced yet, I think this is another really cool move for such an important piece of rock history, as when most of these significantly important guitars go up for auction, they often get snatched up by big money collectors who then store them away in their own private homes and offices.
00:07:56
Speaker
Which, you know, fair play to do whatever you want with what is now your own property. But for the most part, these pop culture artifacts only get shown off as high dollar trophies to the few folks in their inner circles, or maybe get trotted out for the occasional magazine spread.
00:08:11
Speaker
I think allowing Kurt's unplugged guitar to be enjoyed and experienced by a bunch of Nirvana fans all over the world as part of a touring exhibit is kind of the second best case scenario for this guitar.
00:08:23
Speaker
You know, short of the best case scenario, which is it making its way back into the hands of Francis Bean Cobain, where it should rightfully be and should have remained all along. If you want to hear more of the story behind this specific guitar and the wild journey from its 1959 oddball origins to its present day $6 million price tag, be sure to check out my interview with the exhibit's co-curator, music journalist Alan DiPerna, that I ran last May.
00:08:52
Speaker
I'm seriously hoping for the opportunity to see this magical, mystical guitar in person, so I'll keep everyone posted as dates and locations for the touring exhibit are announced.
00:09:05
Speaker
Announcement 2 I don't really do a whole standalone mailbag kind of thing, but I got a cool question from a listener that I thought would be fun to share. And who knows, maybe crowdsource some additional information on.
00:09:17
Speaker
Okay, here's the question from a listener named Jody in Ontario. On more than one occasion, I've heard you refer to Jeff Amund's infamous bass toss on the Pearl Jam episode. You also mentioned that the instruments for that show had to be procured in a mad scramble shortly before the recording of the show.
00:09:34
Speaker
The story I have heard is that the bass in question belonged to a staff member of the Unplugged show, and they were reluctant to offer the instrument to be used due to the cost-slash-sentimental value. The tossing of the instrument was apparently done specifically to freak out the owner. Can you confirm any validity to this?
00:09:52
Speaker
Alright, first, thank you so much for the email, Jodi, and for the kind words you said about the show, which I didn't read out loud because it felt a bit self-indulgent, but I absolutely appreciated them.
00:10:03
Speaker
But as far as your question, since I knew I would be talking to Alex for this episode, I actually ran it by him. So, Alex queued up the Pearl Jam Unplugged episode, specifically their incendiary closing song Porch where the bass toss happens, But he didn't recognize that specific grayish-black acoustic bass guitar as being one owned by somebody in the Unplugged crew.
00:10:25
Speaker
Which, I should note, was an occasionally common thing, as Alex himself loaned his own acoustic bass to Chris for Nirvana's Unplugged, and he loaned an acoustic guitar to Dominic Miller during Sting's Unplugged, just to name a couple instances.
00:10:38
Speaker
But then I mentioned to Alex that I thought that exact same grayish-black acoustic bass was also played by Kevin Scott during Joe Publix Unplugged, the one where they played their own set and then backed up Boyz II Men and Shawn East, which coincidentally was filmed the exact same night as Pearl Jam.
00:10:56
Speaker
So he pulled up that video and yeah, it totally looks like the same bass. So overall, Alex was pretty confident it wasn't a bass guitar from within the unplugged ranks, but he didn't know for sure if it was Joe Publix's bass or if it was brought in by someone at either of the band's labels or was maybe even borrowed from someone at Kaufman Astoria Studios where the episodes were being filmed.
00:11:19
Speaker
So, Jody from Ontario, sorry for the, uh, half answer that it was at least not an unplugged crew member's base, but the mystery remains as far as to whose exactly it was.
00:11:31
Speaker
I'll keep digging around a bit and see if I can come up with any more info on the now combo Pearl Jam Joe Public MTV Unplugged base. And if anyone out there listening knows anything else about this base... Or has your own burning unplugged questions you'd like me to try and track down information on? Shoot me an email, unpluggedrevisited at gmail.com.
00:11:51
Speaker
Who knows? If there are enough of them out there, maybe I can do my best Robert Stack and start a new Unplugged Mystery segment. Join me next time. Perhaps you hold the key. Perhaps you can help solve a mystery.
1996 Season Highlights and Milestones
00:12:06
Speaker
Let's keep things rolling with this episode's Uncovered. This is a segment where I quickly highlight a couple cool unplugged cover songs all tied around a singular theme.
00:12:16
Speaker
And to stay on brand for this year in review retrospective, this episode's theme will be, duh, covers from the 96 artist roster. I'll briskly roll through them in order of their taping.
00:12:27
Speaker
First up, an artist who has already appeared on two previous Uncovered segments. Seal, who nailed two genuinely awesome covers during his Unplugged taping, David Bowie's Quicksand and Jimi Hendrix's Stone Free.
00:12:42
Speaker
Stone
00:12:48
Speaker
Then we've got Alice in Chains filmed the day after Seal. And while they didn't perform a complete full cover song, their episode did feature snippets of a couple cool Metallica riffs and the old Hee Haw song Gloom Despair and Agony on Me.
00:13:05
Speaker
I'm a bad boy.
00:13:18
Speaker
The day after Alice in Chains, Tori Amos filmed her incredible Unplugged episode, which featured both a snippet of the old hymn Onward Christian Soldiers during her spoken word intro to Icicle, and a seriously stunning solo piano run-through of Judy Garland's Over the Rainbow.
00:13:35
Speaker
Somewhere over the rainbow
00:13:50
Speaker
Then we've got Hootie and the Blowfish, who, much like Seal, picked a pair of incredibly cool covers for their unplugged taping. Vic Chestnut's Gravity of the Situation, featuring their special guest Nancy Griffith, and my personal favorite of their whole set, a one-guitar, one-voice duet of Tom Waits' I Hope That I Don't Fall In Love With You.
00:14:10
Speaker
Well, I turn around and look at you, light cigarette. Wish I had the guts to bump one, but we never met.
00:14:21
Speaker
Next up, a cover snippet I almost included in my Bowie-themed uncovered a few episodes back, since he's the one who originally wrote it. It's Oasis tagging their own song whatever with a tweaked snippet of Mott the Hoople's All the Young Dudes, which they famously changed to be All the Young Blues in honor of their beloved Manchester City football team.
00:14:49
Speaker
And finally, one of the hands-down greatest unplugged cover performances of all time, George Michael singing slash stealing Bonnie Raitt's I Can't Make You Love Me.
00:15:15
Speaker
See, I told you, quick and easy. Six killer unplugged covers from the 96th season, many of which only exist within each artist's specific episode. Tom Waits, Judy Garland, David Bowie, and Hee Haw?
00:15:28
Speaker
It's called range, sweetie. Look it up. Alright, instead of a full-on intersection like I normally do, I thought I would preface my 96 season retrospective chat with Alex Coletti by just briefly giving a timelined roadmap of some of the major MTV Unplugged milestones that occurred throughout 96.
00:15:50
Speaker
At this point in the show's trajectory, with six full seasons behind it, MTV Unplugged was unquestionably an established and entrenched pop-cultural institution that had impressively outgrown their televised confines to net multiple Grammys, multiple platinum album certifications, and multiple radio hits.
00:16:10
Speaker
And its popularity even impacted language itself, as literally anything having to do with an acoustic guitar, or even just the broad concept of stripping things back, could easily and frequently get referred to as quote-unquote unplugged, with a non-copyright-infringing lowercase u, mind you, and everyone would know exactly what you meant by it.
00:16:31
Speaker
But, same as it ever was, there were also some naysayers towards the show, especially when it came to the idea of there being too many unplugged albums, and the dreaded concept of oversaturating the market.
00:16:44
Speaker
So around this time, there also started to be, whether it was driven by MTV, the artists, the labels, or just general public perception, a notable pumping of the brakes when it came to unplugged album releases.
00:16:57
Speaker
We only got one release in 1995, which was Bob Dylan from his episode the year prior, only one from the 95 season of Artist, which was Kiss, and only one would get released from the 96 season of Artist, which was Alice in Chains, but more on that one in a little bit.
00:17:13
Speaker
So, coming off its celebrated 95 season, which included another Album of the Year Grammy, this one for Tony Bennett, a triple platinum certification for Nirvana's Unplugged in New York, a 15 years in the making kiss reunion during their Unplugged episode, and even an MTV Unplugged book and CD-ROM interactive tour project.
00:17:34
Speaker
In the immediate aftermath of all of that, the 1996 MTV Unplugged season stacked up like this. In February, Nirvana's Unplugged in New York album was awarded the Best Alternative Music Grammy. i didn't screw it up, did I? No.
00:17:50
Speaker
In March, the Kiss Unplugged album was released from their Fall 95 episode. We got some members of the family here tonight. In April, four new Unplugged episodes were filmed, including a three-day filming session at Brooklyn Academy of Music with Seal, Alice in Chains, and Tori Amos, as well as the experimental first-ever Outdoor Unplugged, filmed with Hootie and the Blowfish at the University of South Carolina, which aired in late April as the 96-season opener, just three days after it was filmed.
00:18:22
Speaker
Hi, I'm Allison Stewart. Welcome back to Hootie Come Home, an MTV News visit coming to you from the University of South Carolina here in Columbia, where Hootie and the Blowfish will perform on MTV Unplugged in about 20 minutes. In May, the new Alice in Chains Unplugged episode was broadcast, marking their return to the stage after an almost two-and-a-half-year hiatus of live performances. So we've been...
00:18:45
Speaker
We've been waiting a long time to play this show. In June, both the new Seal and Tori Amos Unplugged episodes were broadcast, and Nirvana's Unplugged in New York was certified quadruple platinum, well on its way to eventually going eight times platinum. This is off our first record.
00:19:02
Speaker
Most people don't own it. In July, the Alice in Chains Unplugged album came out, and the Unplugged version of Over Now was released as a single and became a top five hit on alt-rock radio.
00:19:16
Speaker
In August, Oasis filmed their much-talked-about, almost disastrous but ultimately spectacular Unplugged at Royal Festival Hall in London, where Noel famously took over vocals for the entire show for a, shall we say, allegedly sore-throated Liam. um Liam ain't going with us tonight because he's a sore throat, so he's stuck with the Ugly Four, as they say.
00:19:39
Speaker
In September, the Alice in Chains Unplugged album was certified platinum just two months after its release. I would have to say that this is the best show we've done in three years.
00:19:49
Speaker
In October, the Oasis Unplugged episode was first broadcast, and George Michael filmed his MTV Unplugged, also shot in London, marking a major return to the limelight, stateside at least, as it was his first full concert performance in over three years.
00:20:06
Speaker
So Michael, welcome back. Mr. Norris. As some girl shouted out during the Unplugged the other night, welcome back. And finally, in December, George Michael's episode was broadcast as the 96 season finale.
00:20:19
Speaker
You got gift for what you take.
00:20:24
Speaker
So those are some of the most notable events and time pegs to keep in mind to hopefully provide some additional context and orientation to my conversation with Alex. Oh, and after we talk through a bunch of 96 Unplugged awesomeness, I also bring it forward into the present day by getting his insights on that whole cultural conversation around NPR's Tiny Desk Concert is the new MTV Unplugged.
00:20:48
Speaker
that's been going on for the last five or six years and still manages to pop up in music journalism and social media every couple of weeks. So make sure to stick around for that. All right, without further ado, let's welcome the new year by taking it back 30
Cultural Impact of the 1996 Season
00:21:02
Speaker
years. Here's my unplugged, revisited 1996 season retrospective chat with Alex Coletti.
00:21:09
Speaker
It's my extreme honor and thrill to welcome back to the show longtime MTV Unplugged producer and flame keeper and genuinely one of my favorite dudes to talk to ever, Mr. Unplugged himself, Alex Coletti. Thank you so much for being here today, my friend. I appreciate it.
00:21:24
Speaker
ah Thanks for having me. And thanks for those. ah missed well Yeah. Anyway, thanks. It's always hard to also ah narrow down your resume since if anyone just wants a lot of fun, just hop on IMDb and check out some of Alex's credits. You will be blown away.
00:21:40
Speaker
Well, anyway, so once again, you've been nice enough to once again, let me wrangle you into a conversation where I'll get to ask you about a bunch of unplugged stories at once so that we can craft a bit of a retrospective on the show's 1996 season, which even seven seasons in was still delivering some of its most dynamic, culture-impacting, and in a couple of specific cases, some of its most talked about episodes of the entire history, um and many of them that still rank pretty high on the you know, regularly recurring best of lists. So first off, you know, kudos on that amazing stretch of creativity and consistency that many years in. That's certainly no small feat in the television production game.
00:22:21
Speaker
Thanks, thanks. It's funny um to hear you talk about it because we never, at least I never, um looked at it in terms of seasons the way a network would. I mean, clearly we were budgeted year in, year out, but as far as, you know MTV wasn't the most traditional broadcast um channel. and And while there were shows that aired weekly or had eight or 10 episode runs, Unplugged was like, make them when you can with who you you know with the artists you want.
00:22:51
Speaker
um And here's your pile of money for the year and get as much out of it as you can. But we never really looked at it like we need to deliver 10 episodes for this year, this calendar year. So um things just fell within a year, more so than being a season.
00:23:05
Speaker
That makes sense. Yeah. And probably that that might have helped why the show was so consistently great creatively and all that sort of stuff is when you're not trying to be like, oh, we got to. We got to fill a 22 episode season, which, you know, the, your first season again, congratulations on that one. Cause that is still just mind blowing the amount of volume from that 1990 season.
00:23:27
Speaker
Well, to properly set up the 96 season, I feel like it's important to remind listeners of some of the show's notable milestones from the prior years. So, just as a reminder, in 1995 alone, Nirvana's Unplugged in New York album went triple platinum just a couple months after it was released.
00:23:44
Speaker
Tony Bennett's Unplugged won two Grammys, including the show's second album of the year win. Both the MTV Unplugged book and the interactive tour CD-ROM were released. And of course, y'all produced another killer batch of new episodes, including that monumental Kiss reunion.
00:24:00
Speaker
So I was curious how all of those things from 95 sort of colored your creative vision and decisions as you and the team headed into the 96 season. That's a good question. um I'm not sure they did. we We were on a roll for sure, um but it it didn't feel like it at the time. you know it It just felt like you know work. ah um you know The Grammy thing, that was cool. and And Nirvana won for Alternative as well. So that was a good a good year that that we were really racking up the Grammys. And and
00:24:34
Speaker
you know I think you might know this, maybe the viewers don't, the the Grammys changed how they picked album of the year after Tony won because we won, I think Clapton won and then Tony the following year.
00:24:44
Speaker
And it's now a committee. It gets to a certain point and then there's a small committee that picks the album of the year. It's not a a true vote. And I get it. You know, there's, there's a real difference between making an album in a studio and recording a live album that gets promoted nonstop on television.
00:24:59
Speaker
So, ah you know, there was no hard feelings about it, but it was funny. Grammys literally changed their rules because of our little show. That's awesome. That's quite another feather to have in your hat. Yeah, why not? but to But to answer your question, I don't know how it colored um how we looked at the next year, because again, i I don't think we looked down the road that far. It was always just the next kind of batch of shows.
00:25:22
Speaker
So another thing I was curious about during this sort of mid 90s era of the show was the amount of unplugged albums being released had seemed to sort of slow down a bit around this time. I mean, there was only one unplugged album released within 95. That was Bob Dylan from the year prior. yeah There was only one album um from the batch of 95 episodes. That was Kiss, which came out the next year in 96th. And then also only one album from the batch of 96 episodes, which we'll discuss in a little bit here. So what were some of the, ah you know, determining factors around those who gets an unplugged album discussions that were happening during that 95, 96 window?
00:26:05
Speaker
Yeah. And those are hard conversations to have with bands, right? Like, Oh, we don't think we want to put this one out or get behind it. And and honestly, that, that was the case with kiss. Kiss was not a show that, um, it's funny because before this call, I was looking online at Jean and Paul unboxing the, uh, alive 50th anniversary box and it looks pretty cool. yeah Um, I had known that I had grown up on that band and and then through MTV got to know them pretty well.
00:26:30
Speaker
And, and Jean had invited me down to a convention in Detroit to see what they were doing. They were doing a little acoustic set. So I had to sell it back to the, to the MTV higher ups and, and, and, and part of the bargain was that I would get ace and Peter involved, which, you know, luckily ah we did.
00:26:46
Speaker
Um, but then when it came time for the album again, some hemming and hawing. So Gene summoned my, ah my boss and I to his hotel and, and, uh, made a hard pitch off offered, um, offered some things that we can't really talk about on the podcast that were denied politely, um, declined. Um, but, um, but convinced, convinced Van Toffler, my boss that, um,
00:27:11
Speaker
that you know there was an audience and an appetite for the album. And it did well. It did well. Yeah, I remember even ah yeah, I was in high school when that came out. And that was ah such a huge moment and also such a cool thing that that episode ah broadcast on Halloween. That was a nice little touch as well. Yeah, yeah, that was fun. That was ah a throwback to the Paul Lin special, you know. There we go. Yeah, absolutely. Okay, well, let's jump into the sort of episode by episode rundown of the 96 season.
00:27:38
Speaker
I thought for each episode, I'll have you give me your top of mind snapshot memories first, and then I'll have a couple specific questions about each one, if that's cool. Let's go. really All right. Well, first up, the 96 season premiere featuring Hootie and the Blowfish.
00:28:10
Speaker
Well, that was you know the the one and only outdoor unplugged. you know We did it on location at their college at the horseshoe at USC. So that meant traveling and going down ah and and spending a week or so on campus, which was great.
00:28:24
Speaker
I was living in a dorm and ah eating some good barbecue and playing football with the guys in the mornings. and um And there were some guests, which you know I always remember, Glenn from Toad the Wet Sprocket and more pointedly, Lily Hayden on violin.
00:28:42
Speaker
um I think the first time I met Lily and she came out on stage and and I saw just how beautiful and talented she was, I said, yeah, this is now gonna be the who's that with Hootie show.
00:28:53
Speaker
You guys just blew it. So I do remember it it rained a little bit, which I remember, but we got through it um because microphones don't like water. um But it was it was a real nice experiment to try to do this outdoors on a college campus. It clearly meant a lot to the guys in the band.
00:29:12
Speaker
And I don't remember the set list completely off the top of my head, but Did they do, i hope that I don't fall in love with you. Yeah. The, yeah, the Tom Waits cover and it was just the two of them. Yeah. It was Mark and Darius. Loved Mark. And, and, and, and I remember a nice little after party somewhere um at a local bar that they hung out in college afterwards. So um really, really warm memories. In fact, I just worked with Darius for the first time a year ago. Hmm. and popped in in Nashville. while And mark I went to the stage door and knocked and Mark opened the door.
00:29:45
Speaker
Haven't seen him in 20 years. And he's like, I have a picture of you on my desk at home from us on the campus. So ah so it was great to see them again. Oh, that's amazing. I love that you use the word sort of experiment because there are always sort of two things about the Hootie Unplugged that always give them credit for that I think really made for this sort of experimental left of center unplugged experience. First of, you know, you kind of hit on a little bit. What do you have to what extra things do you have to worry about when you're filming an unplugged episode? A outdoors, B in front of a much larger crowd than normal um and see many of whom were, you know, rowdy college kids as opposed to maybe the the typical unplugged audience that might be at Brooklyn Academy of Music.
00:30:29
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. I mean, that all all those things were were were real. Having to do songs over, you know which happens on Unplugged, is easier in a studio with a small invited audience than maybe on a campus full of kids that are looking to go out afterwards.
00:30:44
Speaker
But we you know we we got away with it. It it was ah it was pretty seamless. I'm trying to remember some of the other covers because I do think they're, I'm trying to remember what Glenn sang with them Well, they did cover ah Gravity of the Situation, that Vic Chestnut. That's the one which to this day is one of my favorite unplugged moments ever yeah from from Sweet Relief, ah the Vic Chestnut, Gravity of the Situation.
00:31:11
Speaker
I was driving back from a wedding a couple of weeks ago in New Jersey and I just, the entire ride, I listened to the Vic and the Hootie back to back just kept repeating them. And one of my favorite covers of all time.
00:31:22
Speaker
That's awesome. I know they, they knocked it out of the park so good. And, you know, especially being from Georgia, huge Vic Chestnut fan and, uh, another fun little unplugged Vic Chestnut nugget the year prior live also covered Vic Chestnut. So yeah that's amazing.
00:31:37
Speaker
They did, um, uh, to, to the way to supernatural. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, the other thing I always kind of give Hootie credit for, for being sort of um experimental and and trying something new, I noticed that for their Unplugged, they also sort of use their Unplugged moment as sort of a new album launch vehicle for their second record, which is not you know something that normally folks use their Unplugged for. And I think the episode actually aired like literally just the day before the new album hit stores. Were there any discussions between you and the band about that approach of having fans hear these new songs for the first time via like non album unplugged versions?
00:32:15
Speaker
I don't recall, but I would imagine if anything, we discussed balance of new of familiar and unfamiliar material and just making sure that we we didn't tip too far the other way. Yeah. Assuming you're going to know the covers, yeah obviously the mega hits from the first album, you know, you have to it's It's just like structuring any good concert. You know you don't want you don't want to overdo the new stuff.
00:32:35
Speaker
Right. And they got it, too, because, you know, the thing that works about Unplugged is you're hearing a song a different way. So if you haven't heard the song at all, maybe it it's not as is impressive to hear the acoustic version of it. So it just is, ah you know, it just sits there as a song without really any context.
00:32:52
Speaker
Yeah, that's a good point. And then a last question that i have about Hootie, is this the episode that carries the distinction of having sort of the tightest turnaround time from filming to air? Because I think you guys only had like three days, right?
00:33:06
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. We mixed on site. Yeah. i forgot about that. We mixed on site and maybe even edited on the truck we filmed it on. wow Very cool. All right.
Notable Performances of 1996
00:33:16
Speaker
And then a month after Hootie, we got one of the all time greatest and bittersweet episodes of the entire Unplugged Canon. Let's talk about the stunning performance of Alice in Chains.
00:33:28
Speaker
And yet fight, and yet I fight this battle.
00:33:45
Speaker
Yo!
00:33:49
Speaker
Wow. That, you know, loved Alice always. And because of of some of their acoustic stuff, they were they were kind of an obvious choice for the show.
00:34:01
Speaker
i I was in l LA, so I flew up to their little compound in like this little industrial park and hear them rehearse. So I sat through a rehearsal, you know, probably two or three weeks prior to filming, which was a good time to talk about just, you know, talk them through what the what the day and the night entails, get them kind of in their in the right head for that. I probably had some set sketches with me and very nicely, i had to go to the airport and Mike Inez drove me to the airport after the rehearsal. Coolest dude. He's so great. Yeah. Yeah.
00:34:34
Speaker
It was just really good to, um to kind of hear What they were doing, because I I was able to go back and talk to set and lights and I had a real feel for also just making sure they had all, you know, they didn't need an acoustic bass or anything, because a lot of times I'd have to lend artists bits and pieces that they didn't have. And as I recall, they, they had had a hearts guitar player on rhythm guitar. Right. So they had an player. Yeah. Scott, who really was the glue and held a lot of that together.
00:35:05
Speaker
Also, also with Sean, you know, drums are such ah an important and tricky thing to get right on unplugged with rock bands. If it, if they play too heavy or too too loud, forces everyone to kind of crank up their acoustics and then it just doesn't doesn't sound unplugged anymore. It was actually really helpful to see that Sean kind of had it, you know, he had he had the right touch and the right feel, but I was able to kind of come back and and and then go go to Brooklyn Academy and kind of envision the right, you know, vibe for it.
00:35:33
Speaker
And in my other top of mind, that's when I met Danny Clinch, who's still a very good friend, but Danny did the artwork the label had asked him to shoot. So said, yeah, send him along, send him along. And we became lifelong friends.
00:35:46
Speaker
ah That's awesome. what ah What a good eye on that dude. I mean, his photos are just. One of the few like work photos I have framed here is is it an outtake from the Alice um shoot. hu That's amazing. Oh, I love hearing that. So first, you know, your set designs, did they have, uh, you know, Jerry's puke bucket or that something that he brought us last minute? But what was interesting was the, um, the rubber matting that we used on the floor.
00:36:11
Speaker
ah my set designer, Tom McPhillips had that idea. It's, it's what they use in restaurants because like, especially places where there's like blood or juice dripping, right. There's slats in the floor. So it, it, it, it's not slippery. But it was just something about the the black rubber that just had a vibe. And then the funny story is the lava lamps, because when we got there, as so let's let's keep adding lava lamps, but lava lamps need to heat up before they work at full capacity.
00:36:39
Speaker
And we didn't know that. So we plugged them in kind of late in the day. And that's why they're so sludgy, but they're perfect for Alice in Chains because they're just kind of working at half capacity. And they're not, you know, the the kind of trippy Grateful Dead things. They're more sludgy and and and perfect for Alice. So that was a a happy accident.
00:36:57
Speaker
That is such a cool touch. That's awesome. but Yeah, Jerry, Jerry was sick and Jerry had a bucket side stage. That's no lie. Glad he didn't have to use it. That's ah that's a good deal.
00:37:08
Speaker
Well, um there's no two ways about that. You know, Lane was was definitely, while he delivered an absolutely mind-blowing performance, it's clearly evident that he was in a bad spot at that time. At what point along the sort of planning and rehearsal stages, did you and the team know that he was in rough shape and did it ever fully get to a, this might not happen? No, it's funny because when I went up to Seattle, he was eating a bucket of chicken.
00:37:33
Speaker
i I remember he he had a kind of elbow bump me because he had KFC grease on his hands, on his half leather gloves. He had a good appetite. he was he was tearing into that bucket of chicken. So I walked away thinking, hey, lane Lane looks good. you know and And his voice, you know there's no denying it. But yeah, he looked skinny.
00:37:51
Speaker
He looked frail on set, but it was, you know, with his guitar player puking, it was hard to kind of focus. So it wasn't really a thing where we all said, oh, this is he he was great in rehearsal. He was great in soundcheck. So there was there wasn't really a question. Yeah. Yeah. OK, well, that's cool to know.
00:38:07
Speaker
I was always curious due to this like lightning in a bottle magic that this one ended up being, was it like immediately clear that this one would be getting the full album DVD treatment or did it take some convincing on anyone's part?
00:38:21
Speaker
Well, I kind of got the hint when, when the label asked if they could send clinch right there, they're sending somebody to do artwork. So, and just based on them being MTV darlings within the music and talent department production, we all love those guys. So I didn't think that was going to be a hard sell, but by the end of the night, it was just evident that that was, you know, one of the, one of the best unplugged performances ever. Oh, what a show. What a show. And then, of course, famously, know, some members of Metallica were in the audience for this one. And I was curious if you or anyone else in the Unplugged crew used the opportunity to try to convince them to, you know, maybe swing back by and do an episode themselves sometime. No, and I don't know why, again, you know, you give us way too much credit that these are all things that should have happened and would have been smart, but it was just kind of like, yeah, they're in the audience, fine. And it might've been because I forget the timing, but the thing they did with the orchestra with Michael Kamen was- Oh, the S&M concert, their symphonic. Yeah, it may have been around that time, so it felt like maybe they'd already kind of done their, not unplugged, but their thing that's kind of different, you know, from Metallica. Yeah, absolutely.
00:39:29
Speaker
All right. Well, then a couple of weeks later, the next episode that aired early June 96. What are your memories around the seal episode? Oh, it's all about to
00:39:44
Speaker
fly.
00:39:46
Speaker
My memories around Seal ah were that we had rehearsal on Easter Sunday morning, which I thought was weird. And then I got to rehearsal and they were like, oh yeah, it's Easter Sunday. We're not rehearsing. So I i had given up meat for Lent and I just couldn't wait. So I went to Kathy's Deli for a pastrami.
00:40:06
Speaker
i So that's my personal recollection. love that. But no, Henry was wonderful to work with. I had known some of his crew from various other things. It was, it was a very easy, low stress, uh, his voice, the song, you know, the, the, the Hendrix cover, um, it was just all great. It was, it was really, uh, an easy one.
00:40:26
Speaker
That's awesome. And, and so you guys recorded those three back back back, right? It was, uh, Alice, Tory and seal in the same little three day window. Yeah, exactly, at Brooklyn Academy. so So overnight we would change out the set a little bit and and you know swap out the the band gear.
00:40:43
Speaker
Tori being the easiest, it was just her and a guitarist. And I think she was in the middle of those three, if I'm not mistaken. Tory, I remember it more than Seal just because he was so easy. Like he yeah it and breezed out, you know, that's awesome to hear because like one of the things I always think about, I remember back watching the seal unplugged and he was around that time. He was like one of those pop stars that you were used to seeing him as just this like strikingly stark solo entity, like, know, no band, no instruments. I'm thinking his album covers, his music videos for crazy and kiss from a rose, all that.
00:41:17
Speaker
he just always cut this enchanting, like singular image, but then his unplugged seemed to be like the perfect vehicle to remind audiences about like his amazing songwriting and his ability to lead a band and even his own musicality playing acoustic on a few songs. So did you get the impression that something like that was sort of an intentional goal of his? I think doing the show definitely for him was that right to the,
00:41:43
Speaker
Probably had a tour coming and it was a good time to remind people, right, that it's not just a music video, right? There's a career here. ah Funnily enough, I saw Lorde last night. She wrapped up her her tour for the year at Barclay in Brooklyn. And um she's been closing with a different cover every night. and she closed with Crazy. Really? i hope that makes it to YouTube. I'd love to hear her sing that. It great. And a lot of people didn't know what it was. Really? Oh, that's heartbreaking. Well, it's a young crowd. right oh yeah. yeah What an incredible. Yeah, that' that's what a moment. Maybe she'll introduce a whole new generation because, wow.
00:42:17
Speaker
Awesome. um I'm going to check you two for that one. Well, ah you kind of already mentioned, you know, his Hendrix cover of Stone Free. I feel like he really like just had a stellar pair of covers that and then Bowie's Quicksand. Yes. With the quote unquote unplugged cover song, you know, already being a well-established tradition by this point. What were your thoughts on his two choices of this like bold swing and gorgeous execution of both of them? I mean, sitting there in rehearsal and hearing him do quicksand is still so vivid for me. um
00:42:50
Speaker
that That was stunning. and And just look, Bowie had that impact on every artist that grew up in the UK of a certain age, right? So from Boy George to Seal to Duran Duran, if you if you give them the choice of covering a song, they're going to go to the Bowie songbook first. us um The Hendrix one was, I thought, more risky and more bold.
00:43:08
Speaker
But yeah, the Quicksand is just one of my favorite Bowie songs. Very cool. Well, um next up, we already kind of you know started talking about her a little bit, but also broadcast a little bit later in June 96. Both were in the same month. Let's talk about the incredible like dual piano harpsichord episode from Tori Amos. Boys on left side, boys on my right side.
00:43:35
Speaker
Boys middle and you're not So Tori, we had a really good relationship. We had done some other show, um I think prior to this, knew her manager, knew her.
00:43:50
Speaker
They were just, it was just that time when all these bands were they were, they were just in the halls of MTV all the time. Like we were all in each other's world. So it was an easy one.
00:44:01
Speaker
She did have a guitarist with her who, you know, this is probably the first time I really turned a blind eye because a Tori already was unplugged, right? She played an acoustic piano. So how is this different?
00:44:16
Speaker
Well, let's go the other way. She has this guitar player and I forget his name, ah forgive me. Steve Canton, yeah. Yeah, there you go. Who was doing really textural and effects-driven stuff, right? real real real um chorusy kind of in in kind of an edge you know kind of painting uh soundscape if you will so it made sense to make the songs different that she'd have to go in a different direction and so you know any other band shows up with pedal board and an electric guitar and i'm like nope and because of of you know a little bit of a relationship and a lot of respect for her just Said, yeah, no, this is still the driving factor is 90% acoustic. But yeah, this brings something new to the material. So yeah, let's just ignore it. yeah But um what I remember about Tori was, and it's funny, it's the piano players. It was Elton John early on and Tori that came out and and had this moment of, oh my God, the audience is right there and I could see them.
00:45:15
Speaker
So she sat down, did the first song and said, I need a minute. And we walked backstage and she had to catch her breath. And we had actually ordered her a steak from Peter Luger. And she sat and ate her steak and went back, which when you think of Tori Amos, you think probably vegan. No, she went to a rare steak from Peter Luger's, turned around and went back out and kicked ass. That is amazing. I know it's hard to picture her eating a steak, especially mid-show. I mean, yeah.
00:45:43
Speaker
Yep. Just needed some, some, uh, some iron, I guess. Oh, that's amazing. That was actually one of my questions is that I know like during the broadcast, she kind of makes the comment about, uh, seeing the audience and it kind of freaking her out or overwhelming her. Um, but then that's always been a part of the lore that I've read here and there that like, uh, that she actually did stop the show for a little bit and go back. Yeah.
00:46:01
Speaker
Yeah. That's even cooler when you watch the broadcast all the way through. There's a certain look she gets at the end of the show of like the sense of accomplishment of making it through. And and you don't see Amos Unplugged being like that much of a heavy lift for her. Exactly. It shouldn't have been hard. Yeah.
00:46:19
Speaker
i'm I'm hoping she eventually, I think almost every episode of Unplugged, I'm always like, oh, please, you know, put it out even for Record Store Day or something. There's a CD of it out. um I think it's bootleg, but i ah there is a 1996 movie Unplugged, Jerry Amos.
00:46:34
Speaker
I'm looking at a CD with her with the artwork on it, so it looks kind of legit. Okay. it's um I don't see like a label, you know, affiliation on it or anything. Gotcha. Okay.
00:46:47
Speaker
I need to hop on eBay then because my VHS rips don't sound too good as MP3s. You know, and i remember her somewhere over the rainbow. That was a really special moment. But I'd forgotten that she'd done I'm on Fire by Springsteen.
00:46:59
Speaker
She did? Wow. According to this, according to the track list, I don't remember it. ok I don't remember it. but um Yeah, I didn't know. It must have not been – yeah, it definitely wasn't broadcast. I'm i'm more familiar with that than like the entire set list. but like she did I also love – it's not really a cover. It's more of a snippet, but the way she starts Icicle with um that old hymn, Onward Christian Soul. That's, here like yes.
00:47:24
Speaker
I was like, wow, that's a kid growing up in church. I was like, wow, that's amazing to hear. So like on Unplugged, as far as bands, ah you know, quasi covering old hymns, you're like Nirvana and Tori Amos. That's pretty great. Yeah.
00:47:37
Speaker
You know, and I remember the sheet music there, like a music folio came out of the Tori Unplugged. So I just Googled that real quick and it does not have Springsteen. I'm on fire. So I think that was a mistake. Oh, okay. Yeah. Someone on the bootleg got creative. Yeah. You know, she could have done like a, a two line, like little joke in between or something, but would have left that in the show. So absolutely. Yeah. But, um, but over the rainbow for sure was, was a beautiful, beautiful. Yes. That was such a stunning version.
00:48:07
Speaker
You know, um you kind of mentioned it with Elton, but also to me, like Tori's phenomenal Unplugged is one of the most like emotionally and musically vulnerable episodes, I think, in the entire Unplugged canon. And that sort of like minimalistic one voice, one instrument, except for, you know, the ones where she had her guitar player. It really reminds me of the Elton John and Melissa Etheridge sort of like oh just coming out here bare bones kind of thing. Mm hmm.
00:48:35
Speaker
What are some of the nuances that make those type of unplugs, the instrumentally uncluttered, you know, for lack of a better word, are they any easier or more difficult? yeah produce It's funny. You know, a lot of artists kind of go the other way on unplugged and just surround themselves with extra musicians. Right. But the ones that kind of come out and just, just do it solo little things like, you know, a cough or a sneeze or something gets gets, gets amplified because there's, There's no hiding any any wrestling in the audience. And that would drive me crazy in the edits.
00:49:08
Speaker
Little straight noises and pops and things. I'd i'd spend time chasing those down. But no, for the most part, you know, Melissa one, for instance, I don't remember us having to retake any songs.
00:49:20
Speaker
ah She went straight through top to bottom, including with Springsteen. So that that um Elton. It was early enough. i think Elton was so early on, we hadn't really come up with the idea that we could redo songs if needed. we got Because who am I going to who am i to tell Elton John, you know, you should probably do that last song again. Right.
00:49:37
Speaker
couple notes. But those ones, and who was the third one that did it completely alone? Yeah. I was just thinking Elton, Melissa Etheridge and Tori Amos. I'm trying to think of who else went out there by themselves. ju No, Jewel had a band. Oh yeah. She had, yeah. She had a full band. She had a full band.
00:49:52
Speaker
Yeah. She was one of those that actually was like, uh, Hey, I am always unplugged. So yeah. i think she got like Don Wass to help her out. Yeah. All right. Well, you know, continuing on through the 96 season, the show took a couple months off. And then in late 96, we got two more absolutely unforgettable unplugs, both coincidentally filmed in London a couple months apart. First up, one of the most storied rehearsal filming sessions in the show's history. Tell us about your roller coaster journey filming the Noel fronted self sidelined iteration of Oasis.
00:50:35
Speaker
Oh man, it was firstly, you know, seeing them this year was such a great full circle moment. I had, after the Unplugged, I shot them the following year in Manchester on the ah on the on the next album, All Around the World. We did a ah show at the G-Mex train station that was broadcast around the world. so So, you know, i would they for they were my band. They were one of those bands that I had a ah real affinity for. And then, you know, they went away for many years and they came back.
00:51:04
Speaker
and getting to see them really triumph at Giant Stadium was huge. It was it was really special. Yeah. And and brought back all the all the feels from this. But this was a funny one.
00:51:16
Speaker
Remember, this is, you know, Oasis mania. So management were super cool, but somebody, you know, we tend to figure out how to give out tickets to fans, right? So we do a radio station giveaway.
00:51:27
Speaker
we We were doing it at Royal Festival Hall, which is, you know, actually has an entrance for the the Royal family, right? The word Royal is no joke in the title. right It is the their their their theater.
00:51:38
Speaker
And the radio station was like, look, the minute we give out the the the location, you're gonna be overrun with people. So we decided that people would meet somewhere in central London and we'd bust them in, right? So that was that was the first thing that we didn't have to deal with on any other Unplugged, right? The idea stampeded of of being overrun by fans.
00:51:57
Speaker
So we dealt with that. Then there was a, you know, in in New York, ah studio instrument ah rentals, that's where you rehearse, SIR for short. In London, there's a place, Nu Nu's, and I think it was named after the man who ran it, Nu Nu.
00:52:11
Speaker
And it was pretty far out ah out of central London, but we'd take a cab every day, Milt, the director and I, about 40 minutes. And um you know the guys were usually in the pub next door, go grab them, come inside.
00:52:23
Speaker
you know They'd run the set and the first day, the whole band, and it it starts with you know Bonehead and Giggsie and then Noel and then Liam. And ah they ran the whole set twice, top to bottom.
00:52:34
Speaker
And you know I've told the story many times, but Liam was in a fairly striking, what looked like a Boy Scout outfit. Short green shorts, a kind of green short sleeve button down, green hush puppies, which remember at that point, different color hush puppies were a big thing again. yeah. yeah And he came in and he, they sounded great.
00:52:52
Speaker
It was fun. It was great. Next day, show up again, get the rhythm section out of the bar. Noel comes in. how you doing? Liam's a little late, he comes in. I'm just going to run it once and save me voice. Okay, great.
00:53:05
Speaker
We're in the same outfit, by the way. Never a good sign. Third day, show up, get the guys out of the bar. Noel comes in. Where's Liam? Well, let's start with Adam. And they start playing and then Liam shows up and goes, I'm just going to do a couple songs, Save Me Voice, in the same outfit.
00:53:21
Speaker
So... You know, this is now slightly concerning. Right. The next day we move all the gear over to Royal Festival Hall and a couple things happened. A radio station, somebody got a hold of my cell phone number. Whoa. Journalist and said, I'm going to leak the location of the ah of the event unless you give me tickets.
00:53:45
Speaker
I'm like, fuck you, dude. Right. Exactly. Like, all right. You want Beatlemania is going to bring bring it on. Go ahead. Release the the crack and. like So that was number one. Number two is Liam shows up in the same outfit. Oh my goodness. And he goes, my voice is fucked. I can't do this.
00:54:04
Speaker
So we've flown not only you know crew, but executives from from New York to London. I'd been there for weeks. you know This was not not expensive. um And you know it's show day. And Liam said, I'm not. So I looked at Noel. I said, well, you wrote them. You want to sing them?
00:54:23
Speaker
And he said, yeah. Great. That was it. That was that quick a conversation. It's like, okay, we're moving forward. um We're going to shoot the show. Like in my mind, it's like, we don't have to air it. We're here. We're going to shoot it. ya um And so at one point, the record a record company guy comes over and goes, what's going on? why is Why is Noel up there? Where's Liam? And I point to the floor. And in front of the dressing room, Liam is sleeping in the hallway in front of his dressing room door. He didn't even make it into the dressing room.
00:54:50
Speaker
Oh my God. oh So that moment happens. I'm like, that's why. So I get a my Jack Benson, my associate producer at the time on headsets. Hey, Alex, I need you. said, what's the matter?
00:55:02
Speaker
He goes, remember that Oasis mania problem? Well, come meet me at the side door. I go running. I'm like, oh shit, now this is it, right? Go outside, I open the door and our audio and video truck are parked in this back parking lot and there are three Oasis fans.
00:55:17
Speaker
It was a guy and two girls, I think, and they said, could you leave the door open a crack so we can hear? ah And so I got on headphones. I said, hey, I need three folding chairs put in front of the front row. Wow. Wow.
00:55:29
Speaker
And I said, come on, you're coming in with us. So we sat them there. And then because because of the whole Liam's not singing and there was still a lot of, ah ah my my my good friend, Mike Peters of the Alarm and his wife Jules were my guests.
00:55:44
Speaker
And I said to Mike, do you have your guitar? I may i may throw you up there to open. And I've never seen Mike nervous before, but he's like, I don't know if would open for a place. And his wife reminded me of this story recently. We lost Mike last year and we were talking about just reminiscing the stories. And I remember after she told me that asked him to maybe open up for them, but I forgot that he actually kind of buckled at the idea little bit.
00:56:10
Speaker
Right. He was a huge Oasis fan. In fact, he drove me ah from Manchester to Cardiff to see them rehearse. Oh. Which is, you know, to Mike, yeah, it's just down the road. It was about six hours round trip. Oh, gosh.
00:56:24
Speaker
But we had a great time. So anyway, ah those are my my personal recollections of Oasis was – and then And then, you know, the funny thing is we're shooting the show and Noel's doing great. You know, I've heard like i've heard Pete sing the songs that he's written for Roger, you right? It's not unheard of, but there's a certain point where one of my camera guys is is angling up and going, look at camera five, look at camera five. And I look up.
00:56:45
Speaker
And who's up in the opera box having a grand old time is Liam. And I want to say he's with Kate Moss. And i'm my memory may be Patsy Kensett. He's got a bottle of champagne. And he's heckling his brother from up top.
00:56:59
Speaker
and And we do the thing where the band walks off stage. And I run back and say, hey, what songs do we need to do over? And at that point, Liam walks across the stage in front of the whole audience with a bottle of champagne in his hand. And I think he said, do you want me to sing anything? And Noel told him to fuck up That is amazing. that That was actually one of my questions. I've seen this like fan shot audience video. Yeah. At some point during the show, like another mic comes out and it's like, oh, you know is Liam going to be able to join or not? But I didn't know he actually like made it on stage. Well, he walked right across the stage. Wow. So yeah, um that was that was kind of weird. And then funnily enough, when it was over, I went to say goodbye to the guys and and Liam just chatted me up like,
00:57:42
Speaker
No, no, like connecting. Like I may have just fucked you royally by not saying oh that you spent, I don't know, $400,000 to film. He was just chatty and it was great. Okay. I'll see you, man. Right. It was lovely.
00:57:57
Speaker
Oh my gosh. And I guess with a band like that, like 99% of other bands, there's no, if your lead singer's toast, there's no contingency plan, but like, was there ever a point of this one where it might've been called off or you're just like immediately Knowles, like I got it.
00:58:12
Speaker
It was immediately Knowles got it. and And like I said, we didn't have to air it, right? We had an audience coming, right? We had a band. we We, if anything, right, it was a great rehearsal. And then, you know, the record company could have said, hey, we'll pay, stick around another couple of days. We'll get Liam on stage in a few days, you know, sort him out, get him out of his outfit, get him some some different color hush puppies, whatever. But that's Really, you know, we all walked away feeling really good about what we captured. yeah um and And it was, you know, revelatory in some ways, which Unplugged, it and you know, strives to be at times um to hear Noel sing his own songs. You know, Talk Tonight it was ah is outstanding. Outstanding. Right.
00:58:51
Speaker
Plus that harmonica player they had. I mean, I had never heard somebody wail on a harmonica like that. Yeah, it was it was sold the horn section. It was great. It was great. yeah it was Now, I think I probably know the answer to this question, but of course, Liam famously filmed his own truly mesmerizing MTV Unplugged in 2019. He even released it as an album. So do you think now that the guys have buried the hatchet and everything, do you think this Unplugged will ever see a proper officially sanctioned release or is that?
00:59:19
Speaker
never gonna I thought you were going to go somewhere else, which I'm more excited about is, the you know, let let's, let's get the band back together and do an Unplugged the right way. Okay. I famously, before they got back together in one of my early episodes, I talked about how Unplugged was always this like great proving ground for, you know, reunions of bands coming back together, you know, Kiss, Led Zeppelin, Rod Stewart, Ron Wood, all that sort of stuff. And so before they announced they were getting back together, I was like, this would be the venue to do it. Like I always talked about how I would love unplugged to be the space that Oasis played another show together in the white stripes played another show. We're at least one step closer to one of them with Oasis. Just, yeah, it would be, it would be truly, you know, it would be worth bringing the show back for one episode. I'll tell you that.
01:00:05
Speaker
I'm telling you so many people like just on email and social media and stuff, they're always like, if they were to reboot unplugged, who would be the show to come back with? And I'm like an Oasis reunion show would be, that's, that's how you kick the doors in.
01:00:18
Speaker
Yeah. And Liam did a great, I mean, again, when I had nothing to do with that show. Um, the 2019, but he did a fabulous job. It was, it was really nice. Yeah. And quite stunning too. And that, yeah, the, the venue they were in, it was, that was amazing.
01:00:32
Speaker
I wish he had worn the green outfit though. That would have been such a nice touch. He at least did acknowledge ah right before he played once, he had invited Bonehead to play a couple songs with him. And he acknowledged that that was the second time that Bonehead at least had played MTV Unplugged, but not him. All right. Well,
Legacy of MTV Unplugged
01:00:50
Speaker
um okay. Then finally getting to the 96 season finale that they aired that December, the utterly magical episode with George Michael.
01:01:09
Speaker
What a voice. I have been very fortunate to stand next to some people that can sing. And I will say that George Michael and Amy Winehouse, top two, just left me serious.
01:01:20
Speaker
George, very funnily, and I didn't know this about him. If you look at his music stand, there's like a little wooden box attached to it. He controlled his own in-ear monitors. He would mix his own monitors throughout the show.
01:01:31
Speaker
very Very, you know, besides having absolute perfect pitch, um very, very ah fussy about his ears. And rather than driving a sound man crazy, he was just twiddling his own knobs there. um Not a euphemism, actually doing that. And ah and and just what a gentleman, what a what a pleasure. So they did a rehearsal at the BBC. They did a radio thing a couple nights prior that I got to go to. And that was really a great way to kind of hear the band. Mm-hmm.
01:01:58
Speaker
And George was lovely. ah He had friends and family there. And the the big drama, the big delay was he lost his tie. some Somehow between dress and show, he misplaced his necktie that he wanted to wear. And I think it sent us back about 20 minutes looking for a tie. Wow. um But other than that, it was fabulous. John Norris, I recall, came from New York and did an interview with George.
01:02:24
Speaker
And it was it was the first time, i don't want to say he came out of the closet, but it was very matter of fact how he spoke about his relationship. And I think it was the first time that he had done that on film.
01:02:34
Speaker
So I think he was in a very good headspace and just just that voice, that voice. unreal right uh i mean that bonnie rake cover as well like mean that song was already like upper tier echelon of amazingness and then he takes a run at it and you're like oh okay that's what it can sound like just fabulous yeah that was we shot that on dog island um i forget the name of the venue wasn't the same place we shot oasis and all i recall was We all had flights early the next morning and just stayed up and drank all night in the lobby of the hotel and just just ba literally basked in the glow of what an amazing, amazing show that was. And such a great way to close the season, too. I was so glad it finally got released because, again, you know ah I'm just a broken record about it. But like at the time, i was like, how is this not coming out as an album? But we... Finally in 2017, got it as at least the bonus disc. Yes. Yes. Listen without prejudice. resue Yeah. Just, oh, so good. So good. You know, I feel like the, to me, like his unplugged, while it's true that like many artists were able to turn in really amazing unplugs with just like one or two albums under their belt. I felt like his was a really fantastic embodiment of what an established like multi-decade artist could do because he he had some new songs from the new album because he had just released one a couple months prior. yeah
01:03:55
Speaker
He had a couple of his older like monster MTV hits and even reached a little further back, did a Wham song. And and then, of course, the Bonnie Raitt cover. Did you have many like set list conversations with him or did he bring that realized vision? He brought that completely.
01:04:13
Speaker
And, and I will, I will call out. So he did freedom 90. Um, and, and, um, he did a better unplugged version of freedom 90, uh, a few years prior or when MTV turned 10. They did a show called MTV 10. Madonna did something, she read letters or something, it was kind of like, not a performance, but like a performance art piece.
01:04:33
Speaker
Aerosmith played up in Boston and did something. I think R.E.M. was involved, but George was shot by my old boss, Joel Gallen, in a um soundstage in Los Angeles. And it it is the truest and best, I think, example of George Michael Unplugged, and it wasn't in the Unplugged show. So find that version of freedom.
01:04:53
Speaker
Yeah. A hand on the nose with short hats and fun, boy. Want kid just to funny me.
01:05:04
Speaker
And then, you know, I kind of mentioned that it did finally come out as the bonus disc in 2017. But do you remember, like back in the day, was that one of the ones that had any discussions about having an album that might have gotten turned down? I think because George had a new album out, it didn't make sense for them. You know, a lot of times it wasn't just about it was about the label priorities too, right? So it would have competed, I would imagine, with with the new album.
01:05:27
Speaker
That makes sense. Yeah. Okay. i help Yeah. all right. Well, ah finally, to to close out the 96 season retrospective, um I've actually got a little bit of a two part question about the show's legacy regarding. um I won't say copycats, but at least the show's influence and comparison to other musical performance shows. So first, 1996, you know, also marked the debut of VH1 Storytellers, which I know you later went on to produce quite a few episodes of as well. And then also PBS's Sessions at West 54th, that debuted the year after as well. yeah So I know you have to be diplomatic here, but I was curious what your thoughts on some of those mid to late 90s programs, as far as how they related or stacked up to the massive cultural footprints that Unplugged was making throughout the decade.
01:06:17
Speaker
I think by now in the few interviews we've done, you've picked up that I'm pretty clueless. And honestly, storytellers, although they were two floors down, I don't remember ever once a strategy meeting about what territory is ours versus theirs, right? Like what artists they can go to. I just saw Billy Corgan recently. I went to Chicago to see his opera over Thanksgiving and we caught up for a bit.
01:06:41
Speaker
And he was he was saying, remember when I did Unplugged? And I'm sitting there at dinner going, you did not do Unplugged. I was like, oh, you did Storytellers. He's like, oh, right. So even the artists confused those two shows. right And I did it many years later. you know The original shot on film directed by Mike Simon, like those are stunning. The Bowie one specifically. yeah I never went to a taping. I rarely watched them.
01:07:05
Speaker
I don't know why it never felt like it was for me. Right. You do your thing. I'll do this thing. Yeah. And it wasn't like espionage of like spying on each other or. But clearly, you know, the instruments sometimes were unplugged. Sometimes they were plugged in. But the intimacy of it, it was unplugged with more stories.
01:07:22
Speaker
You know, it it wasn't a new idea, right? It was a VH1's version of it. But again, shot on film, shot gorgeously. The stories are great. And again, I remember the Bowie episode. I wish I had been to that one. I think I i actually went to one. I went to Springsteen. Oh, yeah. And read that with the Count Basie.
01:07:39
Speaker
And that was amazing. That was like a lesson in songwriting. He broke down blinded by the light, you know, line by line by line. It was phenomenal. I know he didn't, but in my mind, he had a chalkboard and was like a teacher, right? It was just being in class.
01:07:54
Speaker
But yeah, I never really paid attention to storytellers. And maybe on the music talent level, maybe in higher conversations, but it's not like we only did the MTV artists. You could argue that George Michael was more of a VH1 artist at that point. You clearly can make that argument for Clapton, Rod Stewart, Bob Dylan, right? So um maybe because Storytellers came along it a little later, but the lines weren't that clear of of this is what's ours and this is what's yours. It was just, yeah I don't know, whoever got to the artist first and sold them on it, I guess. But it never felt competitive and and maybe it should have. I don't know. i just don't recall it ever factoring into what we were doing. Yeah. That's so funny. Being, being a snot nosed high schooler at the time, like we always called it, uh, MTV and mom TV. We called VH1 mom TV.
01:08:41
Speaker
And, uh, I remember in 99, Alanis was one of the ones who did both MTV unplugged and storytellers in the same year. And i was always like, so snobby about the unplugged being so much better than storytellers. Good for her.
01:08:55
Speaker
It's so funny. You know, Sessions at 54th Street, I think, and and Jim Gable directed those and Manny Rodriguez, people that I really you know respect and know. I think they went a lot further astray from the MTV kind of playlist artist wise. So I felt that they carved their own lane. Right. They they did.
01:09:15
Speaker
artists that we wouldn't have on MTV Unplugged necessarily. So I think they they found their own niche and and it was it was a beautiful show. That's awesome. I knew you'd be diplomatic about it. and That's the room where we shot a lot of the Unplugs, don't forget. that's i shot Nirvana in that room.
01:09:32
Speaker
You know, they they used no set, right? They had the bare acoustic walls. um But that's where we did Nirvana, Soul Asylum, Stone Temple Pilots, Duran Duran. That was Sony Studios. It's where I edited and mixed almost every show in the basement, but they had their own soundstage. Wow.
01:09:47
Speaker
On the best of occasions, we would shoot upstairs and then mix and edit downstairs. And it was all one-stop shopping. um So that felt like home to Unplugged. Yeah. But yeah, they did something different with it.
01:09:58
Speaker
And then look, you know, coming all the way up to Tiny Desk Concert, yeah you know, that's that's a very fun slant and new take on Unplugged. But, you know, does it owe us a little nod? Probably, yeah, sure.
01:10:11
Speaker
You know, do we owe the Elvis 69 Come X special a little something? Probably. Yeah, sure. There you go. That's fair. Yeah, that's actually literally the second part of that legacy question I was going to ask is I always, you know, it's it's been a topic of conversation for more than a decade, but easily in the last five to six years, it's kind of increased where In some music journalism and a lot on social media, it's a well-trod idea of like, hey NPR's tiny desk is today's MTV Unplugged. And part of it, I can see. Part of it, I vehemently disagree with. Understandably, I might be biased. But I was curious what your thoughts were before I maybe poisoned the well. But when you see NPR's tiny desk, does it feel evocative and in the same you know sort of lineage of MTV Unplugged? Or does it feel like two separate things?
01:10:58
Speaker
i I see nothing of Unplugged in it I watch it as a pure fan. I don't ever cross into the screen and go, oh, that's a thing, you know, that owes, you know, no I'm just watching it it it. What it does, and I think what Unplugged did well was it understood the medium, right?
01:11:14
Speaker
yeah It got the intimacy, right? You know, one one of the things that that a lot of people don't realize, and and again, not by design necessarily, but Unplugged worked back then, especially in the early days.
01:11:26
Speaker
TVs, you know, most people didn't have TVs hooked up to their stereos with soundbars and stuff. And your TV speaker wasn't great, but you know what sounded pretty good on it was acoustic music. Yeah.
01:11:37
Speaker
better than necessarily a rock concert, right? So we got lucky with that. And and obviously, Tiny Desk is is is geared for laptops, phones, internet, but it looks it looks like it was designed for those specific, for the for the medium itself. And that's what I like about it a lot, right? It wouldn't work as a, I wouldn't want to watch that on TV. wouldn't want to see that on the big screen, right? It's perfect for the for the phone, it's perfect for the laptop, it's perfect for the screens that it inhabits.
01:12:05
Speaker
The only benefit of putting it on a TV is sometimes if you just want to see if you can pick out what's on the bookshelf behind there, then then it helps to have it blown up. But yeah, otherwise it's it's great. Yeah. As a huge fan of Tiny Desk, I mean, i I have tons that I not only enjoyed watching them, but, you know, revisit. But it is always funny to me because I'm like, I think like musical performance, intimate, you know, sometimes when they pan in the room. it almost looks like they have about the same amount of people as like the Unplugged pilot. It's 50, 60 folks. you know yeah So you're like you get that intimate live music. There's some really incredible moments and all that. So I'm like, yeah, I i get i get the comparison that people make to MTV Unplugged, but then I'm also like, well, hey, until we have it like a tiny desk album, much less one that goes multi-platinum or wins a Grammy. It could happen. And I love that they make no effort, right? The set is there, you're in their space, right? And that's very different than Unplugged, where we tried to kind of create these these kind of environments for each artist that felt, you know, warm and comfortable in a place where they could create. This is like, We're crashing your office in the middle of the day and we're going to do a show and then we're going to leave and you're going to go back to your desks.
01:13:16
Speaker
You know, I always wish they would just cut away to somebody who is still working in the corner on a laptop. Just, you know, headphones on doing a writing piece or something. right Guys, I'm on deadline. Please keep it down. It's a great show and it's''s ah it's an honor to have Unplugged mentioned in the same breath. Yeah. Ah, that's very cool. I love that. One of, one of my favorite, if you, if you do want to see them when they kind of get crazy in the offices, uh, if you ever go back and revisit the Google Bordello, uh, tiny desk that, you know, the Russian punk acoustic punk band, um, he literally starts getting up on people's desks and is like playing guitar, walking around on top of people's desks. It's, it's absolutely amazing. Eugene is a force of nature. yeahp Yeah. So
Closing and Listener Engagement
01:13:57
Speaker
good. Well, Alex, again, i appreciate you so much for coming back on the show for, for kicking off 2026 by looking back 30 years at 1996. And just for once again, entertaining all of my questions about so many unplugged episodes at once. I really, really appreciate Oh man. Thanks for having me and, and have a great holiday. You as well, man. Thank you so much. all
01:14:18
Speaker
All right. Man, what an absolute blast to get to talk with Alex again. i hope everyone enjoyed that 96 year in review look back as much as I did. And my thanks again to Alex for being so generous with his year end holiday time off to reminisce with me.
01:14:33
Speaker
All right. I think that'll do it for this kickoff to 2026 episode. If you'd like to get in touch to share your own Unplugged memories, offer up a correction, or connect with the show for any other reason, including if you have any additional information on the Pearl Jam Joe Public MTV Unplugged bass conundrum, or even want to inquire about your own potential Unplugged mysteries, you can send me an email, unpluggedrevisited at gmail.com, leave a voicemail by calling 234-REVISIT, which is 234-738-4748, you can reach out social
01:15:05
Speaker
or you can reach out on social media As always, please take a moment to follow the pod on your platform of choice so that it'll automatically pop into your feed when it goes live next month. Until then, my friends, be kind to yourself and look out for each other.
01:15:20
Speaker
Unplugged Revisited is a son of a butch production. The show is written and hosted by me, Will Hodge. The show is edited by Amanda Hodge and myself. Podcast artwork is by Jordan Ullam, and you can find more of their incredible work at jordanullam.design.
01:15:35
Speaker
That's J-O-R-D-A-N-U-L-L-O-M.design. That is the beauty of Unplugged.