( CNN ) -- Children of the '80s and '90s fondly remember a time when MTV actually played music videos . It was an era filled with art and glory and rebellion , and our parents were convinced this devil channel would surely encourage us to snort drugs and murder puppies and alter our report cards so that a D in math looked like a B . Truth be told , I almost got away with that last one . It was definitely worth a shot . But I hardly fault Guns N ' Roses for my dishonesty . I blame long division . Of course , these days , MTV is known for its reality programming , and the network has basically become a giant bouncy castle for America 's drunk , tanned , and pregnant . As a viewer , it 's kind of like virtually enrolling at Arizona State . However , on Thursday , to celebrate the Fourth of July , MTV and VH1 decided to go with 12 straight hours of music video programming . And news of this decision played out nicely all over the Web as excitement built for a short taste of that bygone era . Though , to be fair , the online anticipation rather reeked of moth balls . The younger generation probably did n't care . Damn kids . Get off my lawn . After reading a few of the many trending articles about the upcoming `` Music Independence Day , '' I actually spent some time Wednesday afternoon nostalgically searching YouTube for old videos from what many argue were MTV 's glory years -- when Nirvana competed for airtime with Eric Clapton and Van Halen and Metallica and R.E.M . and Sir Mix-a-Lot . Yes , those were the days . Or maybe THESE are the days . The very thing I was doing -- instantly calling up videos on YouTube -- is part of the reason why MTV does n't air them in the first place . We 've got everything we want just one mouse click and Twitter link away . So , do n't hate on MTV . It 's a business . And if there was money in music videos , that 's what they would show . But there 's not . The real money is in watching rich kids try to boink each other on Laguna Beach . However , not during America 's Independence Day ! Thus , as a civic duty to my generation , I decided to dedicate one full hour of my afternoon to channel surfing between MTV and VH1 just to see what the music video experience feels like in 2013 . Yes , it was tough investigative journalism . But at least it did n't require pants . My mission started just around 1 p.m. when , after several minutes of cable box confusion , I finally clicked over to the low-numbered SD channel for MTV . Apparently , I do n't get it in high def . And I have to say that being out of the 800s felt dirty and weird . `` People actually watch this crap ? '' Nevertheless , I bravely entered a proletariat cave of low technology , and the first video already playing was ' N Sync 's `` Tearin ' Up My Heart '' from the late '90s . Of course , it was that absolutely terrible boy band music , but at least it was fun to see a young Justin Timberlake in the early stages of his world domination . The next video was Maroon 5 's `` Moves Like Jagger , '' at which point I promptly moved like Jagger over to VH1 . Mind you , the song is totally fine , but there 's just a whole lot going on in the video -- too much movement -- and I was fairly certain I was about to have a seizure . MTV 's sister network , on the other hand , seemed to be dedicating the bulk of its airtime to emerging indie bands , and I was immediately introduced to a duo called Johnnyswim and their video for `` Heart Beats . '' It was decent , actually . And slower . Thus , I was no longer foaming from the mouth . So , things were looking up . Throughout the rest of the hour , I surfed back and forth , catching videos from artists I 'd never heard of like Nabiha and Flume . And I also saw some hits from more mainstream talent like Eminem , Outkast , and Gwen Stefani . The highlight was actually LMFAO 's `` Party Rock Anthem . '' And I ca n't believe I just wrote that . But it 's a video that simply does n't disappoint . It 's colorful and happy and absurd , and somehow it just fixes any situation . `` I 'm afraid the test results show you have syphilis . '' `` It 's all good , doc . Everyday I 'm shufflin ' ! '' `` Right . But seriously . You 're gon na need some penicillin . '' In the end , my hour of modern music videos definitely was n't what I remembered from my youth , but it was still interesting and fun while it lasted . That said , I admit I was more than happy to turn off the TV and move on to other things . I 'm a busy man , and it 's not like I can outsource my regularly scheduled 2 p.m. nap . Not that it matters , what with all the noise coming from outside . Damn kids . Get off my lawn .
For Independence Day , MTV and VH1 dedicated 12 hours to music videos . The most watched was " Bad Romance " by Britney Spears with over 100 million views on YouTube. `` Party Rock Anthem '' is as good as penicillin .