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120 REASONS TO LIVE

120 Reasons To Live: Dramarama

Nothing did more to further the cause of Alternative Nation-building than 120 Minutes, MTV’s Sunday-night video showcase of non-mainstream acts. For nearly two decades, the program spanned musical eras from ’80s college rock to ’00s indie, with grunge, Britpop, punk, industrial, electronica and more in between. MAGNET raids the vaults to resurrect our 120 favorite and unjustly forgotten videos from the show’s classic era.

#112: Dramarama “Last Cigarette”

After last week’s self-important proclamation that, for some reason, the final 10 120 Reasons To Live entries should, like, count for something and represent important musical moments … well, here we are with the ultimate alt-rock footnote, Dramarama. Originally from Wayne, N.J. (of Fountains Of … fame) and later situated in Los Angeles, Dramarama was beloved by KROQ (Dramarama bassist Chris Carter went on to produce 2004 Rodney Bingenheimer documentary Mayor Of The Sunset Strip) and got signed by Elektra in the ’90s. “Last Cigarette” is from 1989’s Stuck In Wonderamaland, and there’s something annoyingly honest about it, in some ways the same as a country song that doesn’t mince words or seek to deliver any message but the plainest one: “Last cigarette/One before I go to bed.”