Appreciation post: I finally quit watching MTV's Spring Break marathons on mute
Back in 1999 I had this habit of leaving MTV on for hours with the sound off while I did homework on my parent's couch in Toledo. I figured the Spring Break coverage was just noise and bikinis, so muting it did not cost me anything. Then one night my older cousin grabbed the remote, turned the volume all the way up, and I heard the host actually calling out which beach house was which on the Panama City strip. I had been staring at the screen for two straight weeks and never once knew there were little beach cams cutting in between the music videos. Turns out I had been treating the whole channel like a radio and missing half of what made it fun to watch. Did anyone else grow up keeping MTV or VH1 on silent just for the background buzz?
I used to do the same thing with VH1's Behind the Music, just left the volume low while I did chores. Then my roommate pointed out the band interviews were actually wild and I'd been missing the best parts. Wish I'd paid closer attention sooner.