{"id":504637,"date":"2026-01-09T21:39:15","date_gmt":"2026-01-09T21:39:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/504637\/"},"modified":"2026-01-09T21:39:15","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T21:39:15","slug":"mtv-rewind-lets-you-revisit-your-nostalgia-for-old-school-mtv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/504637\/","title":{"rendered":"MTV Rewind lets you revisit your nostalgia for old school MTV"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s been an eventful week for MTV-related news, which, when you consider the channel\u2019s declining relevance over the years, is news in itself. First came the widespread rumors that MTV<\/a> had shuttered for good. This is not true<\/a>. Several of MTV\u2019s music-only channels in the UK and Australia were set to shut down by the new year, and they did. Somehow the internet misconstrued this into the belief that MTV is gone. Because that\u2019s what the internet does.<\/p>\n

But the internet also does cool things, which brings us to some happy MTV-related news. Earlier this week word spread that an industrious coder who goes by the name of Flexasuraus Rex had created a web app that streams a nonstop flow of classic MTV programming. This news is actually true: MTV Rewind<\/a> offers (as of this writing) more than 35,000 videos, coming at you with invigorating randomness (although you can also zero in on particular decades and genre shows, like \u201cYo! MTV Raps\u201d and \u201cHeadbangers Ball\u201d \u2014 because in this niched-out, on-demand age, nothing is really random anymore). <\/p>\n

I spent a couple of hours with the app this week \u2014 I never said my job isn\u2019t fun \u2014 and found it to be a delight. Nostalgia is certainly a factor here; I\u2019m an \u201980s kid, which means I grew up on music videos (although I was first hooked on \u201cNight Tracks,\u201d over on TBS). MTV Rewind is a welcome reminder of the days when MTV was known<\/a> for actually showing videos. Some of the classics I remember are just funny now. Why are The Scorpions trapped in a giant cage in the \u201cRock You Like a Hurricane\u201d video, and how did those jungle cats sneak in? Why does it suddenly start raining in the middle of Jody Whatley\u2019s \u201cDon\u2019t You Want Me\u201d video? OK, that one is actually easy. Rain is sexy and mysterious. Anyone who has watched enough \u201940s film noir can tell you that. My brief Rewind swing included even more precipitation with Disturbed\u2019s arty, black-and-white \u201cIf I Ever Lose Faith in You\u201d video. When it rains, it pours.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

But the best part of my Rewind jaunt was the largely lost thrill of not knowing what\u2019s coming next, especially when you hit the \u201cshuffle all\u201d button. Today\u2019s mass culture suffers from a lack of surprise and spontaneity, which tend to fall by the wayside when you can get exactly what you want, exactly when you want it. MTV Rewind even includes vintage commercials, including the Duracell \u201cDancing Grandma\u201d spot and the Sunny Delight ad that made many wonder about the provenance of that \u201cpurple stuff\u201d that nobody wants to drink. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Music videos have been around long enough that they now have their own pantheon of directors, including Spike Jonze<\/a>, Hype Williams, Michel Gondry, and Anton Corbjin. It\u2019s funny to think that we can now long for a phenomenon once widely derided for its cheap surface thrills. After all these years, it seems we still want our MTV. <\/p>\n

Chris Vognar can be reached at chris.vognar@globe.com<\/a>. Follow him on Instagram at @chrisvognar<\/a> and on Bluesky at chrisvognar.bsky.social.<\/p>\n