''Amp'' was a

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing devic ...

program on

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

that aired from 1996 to 2001. It was aimed at the

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electro ...

and

rave A rave (from the verb: '' to rave'') is a dance party at a warehouse, club, or other public or private venue, typically featuring performances by DJs playing electronic dance music. The style is most associated with the early 1990s dance mu ...

crowd and was responsible for exposing many

electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that started in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mostly used to ...

acts to the mainstream. When co-creator Todd Mueller (who had worked on this with

V. Owen Bush V. Owen Bush is a Canadian designer, producer, and filmmaker who uses immersion and participation to create transformative social experiences. His works have been seen worldwide in venues such as digital planetariums, live concerts and events, IMA ...

, Amy Finnerty and show co-creator Burle Avant) left the show in 1998, it was redubbed ''Amp 2.0''. The show aired some 46 episodes in total over its 6-year run. In its final two years, reruns were usually shown from earlier years. ''Amp'''s time slot was moved around quite a bit, but the show usually aired late at night or in the early morning hours on the weekend. Because of this late night time slot, the show developed a small but cult like following. A few online groups formed after the show's demise to ask MTV to bring the show back and air it during normal hours, but MTV never responded to the requests.

Format

The show was possibly inspired by the underground public access show "TV w/ Ray Cathode" (later named Dizzy TV) that started airing on

Manhattan Neighborhood Network Manhattan Neighborhood Network (MNN) is an American non-profit organization that broadcasts programming on five public-access television cable TV stations in Manhattan, New York City. The country’s largest community media center, MNN operates tw ...

public access TV in 1993 and ran from 1993–1999. TV w/ Ray Cathode was an underground experimental television show created by Beau Tardy that aired abstract video imagery with electronic music soundtracks by

FAX +49-69/450464 FAX +49-69/450464 (also known as simply Fax or Fax Label) was a German record label founded in Frankfurt in 1992 by ambient musician Peter Kuhlmann (who recorded as Pete Namlook, a phonetic inversion of his surname). It was originally devoted t ...

Thomas Fehlmann Thomas Fehlmann (born 1957) is a Swiss composer/producer who lives in Berlin, Germany, and has been active in electronic music since the 1980s. He is currently active on the Kompakt record label based in Germany. Fehlmann is an on-and-off member ...

, Sun Electric,

The Orb The Orb are an English electronic music group founded in 1988 by Alex Paterson and Jimmy Cauty. Known for their psychedelic sound, the Orb developed a cult following among clubbers "coming down" from drug-induced highs. Their influential 19 ...

Aphex Twin Richard David James (born 18 August 1971), best known as Aphex Twin, is an Irish-born British musician, composer and DJ. He is known for his idiosyncratic work in electronic styles such as techno, ambient, and jungle. Journalists from publicati ...

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and many others. TV w/ Ray Cathode show producer Beau Tardy also worked at MTV and was a colleague of Todd Mueller but never contributed to Amp. The format of the show strongly resembled the original MTV model of broadcasting primarily music videos, but without VJs to host. The show started with an intro and logo, some basic information about that week's show contents via onscreen text, then an hour of electronic music was played before the show's conclusion. Most of the video clips were created specifically for Amp. Nick Philip, a San-Francisco based multi-media artist created the first video for Amp, "Meccano" by Sun Electric.Darren Keast
Computer World
'.

East Bay Express The ''East Bay Express'' is an Oakland-based weekly newspaper serving the Berkeley, Oakland and East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. It is distributed throughout Alameda County and parts of Contra Costa County every Wednesday. The ' ...

, August 29, 2001 Occasionally, non-electronic but still classic music videos were aired for the sake of

nostalgia Nostalgia is a sentimentality for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations. The word ''nostalgia'' is a learned formation of a Greek compound, consisting of (''nóstos''), meaning "homecoming", a Homeric word ...

within the electronic genre, such as Ofra Haza's music video for " Im Nin'Alu," which was sampled by several electronic artists in the early 1990s.

Compilations

The show was popular enough that MTV produced two compilations of songs by artists featured on ''Amp''. '' MTV's Amp'' was released in 1997 and '' MTV's Amp 2'' came out a year later in 1998. Both albums were released by

Caroline Records Caroline Records is a record label originally founded in 1973. Initially founded in the United Kingdom to showcase British progressive rock groups, the label ceased releasing titles in 1976, and then re-emerged in the United States in 1986. ...

Artists commonly featured on the show

* 1.8.7 *

Astral Projection Astral projection (also known as astral travel) is a term used in esotericism to describe an intentional out-of-body experience (OBE) that assumes the existence of a subtle body called an " astral body" through which consciousness can funct ...

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Autechre Autechre () is an English electronic music duo consisting of Rob Brown and Sean Booth, both from Rochdale, Greater Manchester. Formed in 1987, they are among the best known acts signed to UK electronic label Warp Records, through which all of Au ...

Aux 88 AUX 88 is an electro group from Michigan, United States. AUX 88 is composed of Tom Tom (Tommy Hamilton) and Keith Tucker (DJ name DJ K1.) and BJ - William (POSATRONIX) Smith (BJ)and Anthony Horton (Blak Tony). The group was originally formed a ...

Banco de Gaia Banco de Gaia is an English electronic music project, formed in 1989 by Toby Marks (born 1964, South London, England). The music of Banco de Gaia is mostly categorized as ambient dub and downtempo. Marks works to cross genres, often using Ar ...

Brian Eno Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno (; born Brian Peter George Eno, 15 May 1948) is a British musician, composer, record producer and visual artist best known for his contributions to ambient music and work in rock, pop a ...

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* Crystal Method * Digital Assassins * Dr. Octagon *

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* The Future Sound of London *

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* Emergency Broadcast Network *

Ken Ishii is a Japanese DJ and record producer from Sapporo. He graduated from Hitotsubashi University. He has released work under his own name as well as under the pseudonyms: FLR, Flare, UTU, Yoga, and Rising Sun. Strongly influenced by Detroit techn ...

Kraftwerk Kraftwerk (, "power station") is a German band formed in Düsseldorf in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. Widely considered innovators and pioneers of electronic music, Kraftwerk were among the first successful acts to popularize t ...

Josh Wink Joshua Winkelman (born April 20, 1970), better known by his stage name Josh Wink, is an American electronic dance music DJ, label owner, producer, and remixer. He is a native of Philadelphia, United States. A pioneering DJ in the American rav ...

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* Orbital *

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Roni Size Ryan Owen Granville Williams (born 29 October 1969), better known by his stage name Roni Size, is an English DJ and record producer. He came to prominence in 1997 as the founder and frontman of Roni Size & Reprazent, a drum and bass collective. ...

* Speedy J * Tipsy *

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* Tricky *

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References

External links

Complete episode guide to videos played on Amp; includes partial guide to Amp 2.0
{{DEFAULTSORT:Amp (Tv Series) 1990s American music television series 2000s American music television series MTV original programming Dance television shows 1996 American television series debuts 2001 American television series endings