Like every other red-blooded, iPod-listening, VW-driving, IKEA-buying, American yuppie, I spent most of the weekend like a lump on the couch watching “I Love the 90’s” on VH-1.
And like everybody else, I thought it was way too early to be nostalgic for the early 90’s. But after seeing some of the stuff they mentioned, I got to remembering: finishing up college, working my first job in Atlanta and listening to the radio at least 2 hours a day during the commute, and then moving out to the Left Coast. And remembering all the music I listened to through all of that. And it’s not on the “official” soundtrack that VH-1 is selling.
So everybody make up your own. Up to 15 tracks, of the stuff you were really listening to in the 90’s. Only rule is it has to have been released from late 1989-1999. Ideally, it got some airplay on MTV or the radio, or it’s from the same album as a Big Hit. Just so it’s not some obscure thing that nobody else has ever heard of (but I’ve broken that rule a couple of times).
Collective Soul - Gel
Dave Matthews Band - Ants Marching
Soundgarden - Spoonman
Weezer - Dope Nose
Matthew Sweet - Ultrasuede
Luscious Jackson - Naked Eye
The Prodigy - Breathe
Us3 - Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)
Squirrel Nut Zippers - Hell
Arrested Development - Tennessee
The Breeders - Cannonball
The Beastie Boys - Sabotage
Chickasaw Mudd Puppies - Lon Chaney
Donkey - Two on the Moon
The The - Dogs of Lust
Even more fun, try to guess which songs the poster still likes, and which ones he’s embarrassed to have liked back then!
You could run out and by The Buzz on www.musicspace.com or the soundtrack to Singles or Reality Bites
or you can get my mix tape from junior year in college
Pearl Jam - Jeremy
Rusted Root - Send Me on My Way
Dave Mathews Band - Crash
Dr Dre - Dre Day
Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit
Naughty By nature - OPP
Alice in Chains - Would
Beastie Boys - Sabotage
Temple of the Dog - Hunger Strike
U2 - One
Snoop Dogg - Aint Nothin But A Gee Thang
Green Day - She
REM - What’s the Frequency Keneth
Blind Melon - No Rain
Janes Addiction - Jane Says
Smashing Pumpkins - Today
House of Pain - Jump Around
Weezer - Buddy Holly
I’m ashamed, ashamed that I forgot that one. As well as The New Pollution by Beck.
And I guess it needs to have Tubthumping by Chumbawumba on it as well, but I dunno.
Pack it up, pack it in, let me begin, I came to win, battle me, that’s a sin! Get up, stand up, come on throw your hands up, if you got the feeling, jump across the ceiling…
Iggy Pop- “Wild America”
4-King Missle-“Detachable Penis”
5-Urge Overkill-“Sister Havana”
6-Butthole Surfers-“Who Was In My Room Last Night”
7-Mighty Mighty Bosstones-“Where’d You Go”
8-Rancid-“Nihlism”
9-KMFDM-"Drug Against War
10-Killing Joke-“Money Is Not Our God”
11-Prong-“Prove You Wrong”
12-Social Distortion-“I Was Wrong”
13-"They Might Be Giants-“Istanbul Not Constantinople”
14-Siouxsie and the Banshees-“Peek A Boo”
15-Public Image Ltd.-“Lucks Up”
I hardly ever watched much MTV, so making this list was sort of hard.
I hardly need remind everyone that Tears For Fears released two wonderful CDs in the 90’s, Elemental and Raoul and the Kings of Spain. I’m sure that entries from both albums will be appearing on people’s lists forthwith.
But seriously, people, didn’t anyone at least listen to “Break It Down Again”?
Janet Jackson “Rhythm Nation”
Duran Duran “Come Undone”
The Cure “Friday I’m in Love”
Deelite “Groove is in the Heart”
Arrested Development “Tennessee”
En Vogue “Free Your Mind”
Red Hot Chili Peppers “Under the Bridge”
Prince “Diamonds and Pearls”
Alice in Chains “Rooster”
REM “Losing My Religion”
Biggie Smalls “Get Money”
Tupac “Dear Momma”
Porno for Pyros “Pets”
Lenny Kravitz “Believe”
Dionne Faris “Hopeless”
Black Crowes “Conspiracy”
Lauryn Hill “Everything is Everything”
Fatboy Slim “Praise You”
These aren’t necessarily my favorite songs of the 1990s, but all of them capture a certain set of memories for me from middle school to college.
Isn’t this from Weezer’s msot recent album (released in 2002)?
I didn’t even start high school till the end of the decade, but these are the songs that I remember the most from elementary and middle school. Keep in mind that these aren’t all necessarily songs I liked then or now:
Ace of Base - The Sign
Counting Crows - Mr Jones (see also “A Long December,” “Round Here”)
The Spice Girls - Wannabe
C+C Music Factory - Gonna Make You Sweat
Alanis Morissette - You Oughta Know (see also “Ironic,” “One Hand in My Pocket,” “You Learn”)
Kiss Them For Me, Face to Face, and Fear of the Unknown
Extra Savoir Faire from TMBG
Then:
Whispering Your Name - Alison Moyet
Love To Hate You - Erasure
Walking In My Shoes - Depeche Mode
Gypsy Woman(She’s Homeless) - Crystal Waters
Control - Traci Lords
You Suck - (I forgot the name of the two girl band that did this even though they once toured with TMBG)
Peace In The Valley - Sabrina Johnston
It’s A Fine Day - Opus III
Crucified - Army of Lovers
Fastlove - George Michael
Closer - Nine Inch Nails
Frozen - Madonna
Come Undone - Duran Duran
Maria - Blondie
Morrissey - Sing Your Life
Love Is The Bomb - Radioactive Goldfish
Life(Everyone Needs Somebody to Love) - Haddaway
Save Your Love - Bad Boys Blue
Strong Enough - Cher
Missing - everything but the girl
Constant Craving - k.d. lang
I Saved The World Today - Eurythmics
Good Enough and Elsewhere - Sarah McLachlan
Cornflake Girl - Tori Amos
Tomorrow Never Dies - Sheryl Crow
I’m Only Happy When It Rains - Garbage
Enough Is Enough(No More Tears) - k.d. lang & Andy Bell
Beautiful Life - Ace of Base
You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You’re Drunk, Before, and Absolutely Fabulous - The Pet Shop Boys
Love, Sex, Intelligence - The Shamen
Baby Got Back - Sir Mix a Lot
Shoop - Salt ‘n’ Pepa
You Lied To Me - Cathy Dennis
I Will Survive - Cake
Well, that’s what comes to mind off the top of my head…
Well, Istanbul is on Flood and that came out in 1990. Peek a Boo was maybe '89 or '88 at the earliest. I’m to lazy to check for sure…all my records are in hiding untill the baby gets older and I really really hate going to allmusic.com these days.
Okay, the '90s were one of the best decades for music, in my opinion … and one of the best decades for me, since I graduated high school in 1990. Some of my favorites have already been named, and I may re-name a few, but the following are just a few in the collection immediately at-hand. This barely scratches the surface of my '90s “soundtrack”.
2Nu: “This Is Ponderous” Lisa Loeb: “Stay” Vanilla Ice: “Ice, Ice, Baby” Everything but the Girl: “Missing” Howard Jones: “The Prisoner” Cathy Dennis: “Just Another Dream” Tara Kemp: “Piece of My Heart” Roxette: “Joyride” Crystal Waters: “Gypsy Woman” Des’ree: “You Gotta Be” Dee-Lite: “Groove is in the Heart” Gabrielle: “Dreams” Haddaway: “What is Love” Seal: “Crazy” Jade: “Don’t Walk Away” Jill Sobule: “I Kissed a Girl” Nine Inch Nails: “Closer” Jody Watley: “Looking For a New Love” Letters to Cleo: “Awake” Lisa Stansfield: “All Around the World” Luscious Jackson: “Naked Eye” Merideth Brooks: “Bitch” Sarah McLachlan: “Possession” Southern Culture on the Skids: “Camel Walk” Soul 2 Soul: “Back to Life” Sixpence None the Richer: “Kiss Me” 10,000 Maniacs: “These Are Days” Robin S: “Show Me Love” TLC: “Red Light Special” The Rembrandts: “Just the Way It Is, Baby” Veruca Salt: “Seether” Fluke: “Atom Bomb” Chemical Brothers: “Setting Sun” Republica: “Ready to Go” Soho: “Hippy Chick” Happy Mondays: “Step On” Eleanor McEvoy: “Precious Little”
As per OP rules: None obscure - All got FM airplay
First Half[ol]
[li]The Cure Never Enough (Big Mix) 1990[/li][li]Was (Not Was) I Feel Better Than James Brown 1990[/li][li]Queen Innuendo 1991[/li][li]Ministry N W O 1992[/li][li]Dada Here Today, Gone Tomorrow 1992[/li][li]King Kong Old Man on the Bridge 1992[/li][li]Rage Against The Machine Killing in the Name 1992[/li][li]Whale Hobo Humpin Slobo Babe 1993[/li][li]Lightning Seeds Lucky You 1994[/li][li]Dink Green Mind 1994[/li][li]Jah Wobble’s Invaders of the Heart The Sun Does Rise 1994[/li][li]Soul Coughing Screenwriter’s Blues 1994[/li][li]Mike Watt Against the ‘70s 1995[/li][li]Southern Culture on the Skids Soul City 1995[/li][li]Son Volt Drown 1995[/ol][/li]Second Half[ol]
[li]Belly Now They’ll Sleep 1995[/li][li]Blink It’s Not My Fault 1995[/li][li]Collective Soul Gel 1995[/li][li]Stone Temple Pilots Trippin’ on a Hole in a Paper Heart 1996[/li][li]Tool Ænema 1996[/li][li]Filter & The Crystal Method (Can’t You) Trip Like I Do 1997[/li][li]Ocean Colour Scene Hundred Mile High City 1997[/li][li]Opus Live Is Life (Stadium Mix) 1997[/li][li]Prodigy Smack My Bitch Up 1997[/li][li]Third Eye Blind Graduate 1997[/li][li]Touch And Go Would You? 1998[/li][li]Goo Goo Dolls Slide 1998[/li][li]E-Z Rollers Walk This Land 1998[/li][li]Marcy Playground Comin’ Up From Behind 1999[/li]Moby Porcelain 1999[/ol]
Soul Coughing got FM radio airplay? A local deal, or one of the big-market same-programming-but-different-hosts-in-every-city-in-the-US channels? I’d never even heard of them before I got Cartoon Network and saw that they’d used a couple of their songs for videos.
A lot of good songs have been mentioned -
I Touch Myself - Divinyls
Little Miss Can’t be wrong - Spin Doctors
To Be With You - Mr. Big
Unskinny Bop - Poison
Silent Lucidity - Queensryche
dude…you listen to a lot of CHICK music for a guy!! Why don’t you toss a little Jewel and Tori Amos in there while your at it!
Ahhhh… the 90s were a great time. Nothing to do but lounge around in the same LL Bean Vintage Plaid Chambray Shirt, Long-Sleeve, jeans and a dirty white baseball cap that my entire college wore, listening to the same Dave Mathews Band, Pearl Jam, STP, Alice in Chains, Smashing Pumpkins, Soundgarden, Bob Marley, Phish, Rusted Root and Blues Traveler CDs that were issued along with the J Crew catelogues that appeared in our mailboxes each month. Good times.
