IF YOU WERE A KID in the late ’80s or ’90s, you probably have fond memories of MTV Unplugged and VH1 Storytellers. Nirvana’s Unplugged set was rightfully lauded as one of their best collections of music; Jay-Z and Kanye West both rocked the mic on Storytellers; Eric Clapton’s Unplugged album won six Grammy awards; Lauryn Hill recorded her last collection of new music on Unplugged; and if you were really cool in the ’90s, you loved the Dave Matthews Band episode of Storytellers (kidding … sort of).
Well, both programs went through some serious growing pains (Korn Unplugged … really?), but now they seem to be back on track. My Morning Jacket recently recorded an epic set for Storytellers, and in a mash-up of the channels, Adele recorded an episode of Unplugged for VH1. Considering The National, Vampire Weekend and Arcade Fire all hit the top of the charts last year, maybe it’s not shocking that good music is hitting the MTVs of the world once again.
