R.E.M. appeared on MTV’s Unplugged twice, a decade apart, in 1991 and 2001. The band was arguably a bigger deal on the earlier performance, which followed the release of the multi-platinum Out of Time and hit single ‘Losing My Religion.’
They would go on the achieve massive success through the mid-90s but by the new millennium things had changed. Drummer Bill Berry left the band and their most recent releases sold less than anything they’d recorded since joining a major label.
MTV was hip to the huge Hispanic music audience earlier than most, featuring its first Spanish-language artist on Unplugged in 1995 ( Los Fabulosos Cadillacs received that honor).
They did one or two per year after that, with the most popular coming in August of 1999 when Shakira recorded her acoustic session in Manhattan. Shakira ended up releasing this set as an album which sold 5 million copies worldwide and won a Grammy for Best Latin Pop album.
Fiona Apple was just 19 years old when she recorded her first and only episode of MTV’s Unplugged.
Supporting her debut album Tidal, she demonstrated the combination of poise and nervous awkwardness she would exhibit throughout her career.
The very first episode of MTV’s Unplugged featured British pop band Squeeze along with a pair of American singer-songwriters, Syd Straw and Elliott Easton.
Through some cosmic coincidence, that debut episode aired exactly 28 years ago today, on Halloween of 1989. I’d love to say I planned it this way, but alas, it was fate.
Back when MTV played actual music rather than Teen Mom: Roanoke or whatever, my favorite series was MTV Unplugged. These were the Tiny Desk Concerts of the 90s, presenting acoustic sets in an intimate environment. The artists had to be pretty good to pull that off, so you got a wide range of talented acts.
Well, apparently MTV Unplugged is still kind of a thing, at least online and at least in Norway. I know that because I happened upon a viral clip of A-Ha performing a gloriously stripped-down version of their classic ‘Take On Me’ in Giske Harbor Hall, against a beautiful backdrop of mountains and sea.
Meet Me In Montauk 