I had to re-educate some co-workers who were praising Whitney for writing it.
I wondered, too. All these years and I never knew. I looked at the lyrics and apparently he won’t lie.
That thing sure does go on and on.
In my memories, 1993 was a terrible year for #1 singles and this list it. I’ll pass although I suspect that 1994 will only be marginally more palatable.
Totally agree (especially about Gentlemen). I used to be generally puzzled when people said how awful the decade was, until I look at charts like this. Good lord, no wonder I get funny looks when I tout the brilliance of 90s music.
In my memories, 1993 was a terrible year for #1 singles and this list it. I’ll pass although I suspect that 1994 will only be marginally more palatable.
I meant: “… and this list confirms it”.
Have we hit the nadir yet? We haven’t, have we?
Mr. Loaf wins the cavalcade of forgettables.
A Whole New World beats out a bad pack this year.
What, Meatloaf again? Given the rocky, horror show that the rest of the list represents, I guess he gets my vote.
I voted for Snow, in yet another shit year.
That.
Actually, it’s pretty easy to figure out if you just pay attention to the lyrics. I remember seeing Meat Loaf on Behind the Lyrics bust out a blackboard and a pointer in order to explain it to the audience.
Specifically, he won’t;
- Forget the way you feel right now
- Forgive himself if we don’t go all the way tonight
- Do it better than he does it with you
- Stop dreaming of you every night of his life
- Forget everything
- See that it’s time to move on
- Screw around
“Mr. Jones” made it to #5 and “A Long December” to #6 a few years later, which is the closest they’ve come to the top of the Hot 100. “Einstein on the Beach” was a #1 on the alternative chart in 1994, and their live album “Recovering the Satellites” topped the Billboard 200 in 1996.
I can’t believe 4 people (as of this writing) have voted for Informer.
I can’t even believe Informer got to #1 in the US. (Since Snow is Canadian, I could understand it getting there up here due to the CC push - although it didn’t, the damn thing peaked at #9, despite being unavoidable - but the US, one would assume it would have had to make it entirely on merit…or at best the novelty of a white guy doing Reggae. And as it has no merit and that novelty would wear thin after one or two listens of the song…)
UB40 got the vote ahead of Mariah. I could not possibly vote for Mr. Loaf.
Says you.
As far as piffle goes, you could do much, much worse than Snow’s “Informer”. Like, oh, say, the Black Eyed Peas? LMFAO? Or, hell, Whitney’s version of “I Will Always Love You”.
Meat Loaf, easily. The first rock concert I ever went to was his tour for this album. A few clunker tracks that don’t hold up well, but plenty of great tunes, including this one. I think the album is easy to make fun of because:
- Meat Loaf is not the name of a serious rocker.
- It was bad timing for a loud “rock and roll” album. As others have mentioned, sounds had changed; grunge and alt rock were a thing. Bombast and flamboyancy had become the purview of hip hop, not rock and roll. Springsteen had turned adult and introspective. It was way too soon for nostalgia or a return to old styles.
- In the age of video stars, Meat Loaf didn’t look the part.
(obviously, I’ve got a soft spot for the album. And if I have to hear one more person say, “the song is too long . . . what won’t he do for love, yuk yuk?” I will scream. There’s a clear answer in every. Single. Verse. GAAAAHHHHHHHH!)
Alladin for the win.
All of which are pretty much rubbish things to do for love, so you wonder why [del]he[/del] Jim Steinman needed to write a fifteen minute long song about it.
Second abstinence in a row.
I voted for Meat Loaf, but God, this was another lousy year.