T.R.L. Gives Me A Throwback

Last night was the last episode of TRL on MTV. I remember when Carson Daly hosted it and I would sneak around my parents to watch the Backstreet Boys and other favorite acts of mine perform on the stage as they counted down the top 10 music videos of the day. In those days you had to call in your vote, kids, no texts or Internet options... I definitely just showed my age. So, last night, the backstreet boys were there and they performed a few songs that make me wish I was nine again and had Nick Carter plastered all over my wall. They performed "All I Have To Give" which ironically, was one of the first videos I saw on TRL. They also performed one of their new hits, "Inconsolable". I love this song as much as their old stuff, it highlights each of their voices, minus Kevin of course, but nonetheless is a good tune.

I remember so vividly the first time I saw the Backstreet Boys... I was downstairs and they were on the news station my mum had on. They were described as "another Beatlemania" by the newscaster. Immediately, since I had no real connections other than the telephone, I called my best friend to have her go on the Internet and see if she could find anything about them. My family had a computer but I couldn't go online anytime I wanted. She said she saw some pictures and they were good looking. After that I remember listening to the radio non stop trying to get a listen to what everybody was talking about. Finally, a DJ put it on the airwaves, "Baby... Oh... Even in my heart I see... you're not being true to me..Deep within my soul I feel, nothing's like it used to be..." Looking back on it now, it's so cheesy but at that time what had befallen my young impressionable ears was that of the quintet composed by God, in my mind at least. It was as if I finally had an identity among my school mates. I was a Backstreet Boy fan who specialized in Nick Carter-ology. I was obsessed. Even to this day I still listen to them and have a tiny crush. I never got to go to one of their concerts. I don't have a t shirt like I've always wanted, I never got to say I met them. I remember trying to save up money to try and go see them. Only to save up to $48.72 and find out it's on a school night. My mum was not going to let me go. I was crushed. Even last night I felt a little envious of the girls that got to be at the Times Square studio, like the envy I had for the girls all over the world that got to see them perform.

I hope, I desperately hope that MTV replaces the time slot with actual music or music videos. I stopped watching TRL after 2002. It just didn't do anything for me anymore. They had people who didn't have talent or flash-in-the-pan artists would make appearances. I wanted what had come and gone. I really hope MTV promotes people that young kids can look up to or have fun listening to. It seems everything back then was about innocent love or girls or having fun. Everything now is adult. Let the kids be kids and let them sing about kid stuff. I will miss TRL but most of all I will miss the music and artists that it had brought to my attention, and those artists who still hold my attention regardless of their popularity on the radio or television.

<- then..

<- and now

And I still think Nick is adorable.