A List Of Things Thrown Five Minutes Ago

YOUR HEART SKIPS A BEAT: For readers of a certain age (like, mine, plus or minus five years), VH-1's new VH-1 Goes Inside: Showtime at the Apollo special is absolutely mandatory viewing. It is the hip-hop complement to VH-1's fantastic I Love The 80's series, a wonderful piece of insta-stalgia for those of us who remember a time not so long ago when every rap performer had a crew of backup dancers and everything Naughty by Nature released went platinum.

I don't want to spoil too many of the delights of the Apollo special, but here's some of the stories you'll see:

--the time a 13-year-old Lauryn Hill got booed off the stage for botching Smokey Robinson's "Who's Lovin' You?" on Amateur Night.

--the night Chuck D of Public Enemy had to perform solo because Flavor Flav got arrested earlier that day.

--R. Kelly prancing around the stage with an "18 and Over" sign during one of his I-want-to-hump-everyone songs, in the time before The Troubles.

--Digital Underground appearing in disguise as "The Unknown Rappers", and, yes, Tupac's there too.

--Just SLAM! (slam!), duh duh duh, duh duh duh, let the boys be boys!

--a piece on that crazy lady who always sat in the front row and tried to hug every performer.

--Cameo appearances by such not-quite-forgotten stars as Speech (Arrested Development), Kid (of -and-Play) fame (with a full afro now), Taylor Dayne, Living Colour's Corey Glover, Heavy D, Treach and Kris Kross, who will in fact make you want to jump, jump.

It's VH-1, so it's re-airing a lot this week, starting tonight at 10:30pm. Do catch it.