Following the lead of Amanda at Pandagon and then Norbizness, I thought we might like to discuss the new collection of '90s music put out by Rhino. All of the bloggers here at LLatPoN spent their salad days in that glorious decade, so I'm sure we'll have plenty to say.
Here's some of the playlist, with my deep thoughts on them:
U CAN'T TOUCH THIS, M.C. Hammer: This is what leads off the collection, and I can't think of anything better suited to the task of putting you back in 1990. Proper!
BALL AND CHAIN, Social Distortion: A nice '90s rocker. I saw these guys in college, and Mike Ness was at the bar before they went on stage. He had so much ink on his skin I thought he'd been attacked by Squiddy, the giant squid.
GROOVE IS IN THE HEART, Deee-Lite: Anything that brings in Bootsy Collins and Q-Tip is alright by me.
NEW JACK HUSTLER (NINO'S THEME), Ice-T: I just had a flashback to "New Jack City" and remembered they had Judd Nelson playing a crazy, violent cop. Right. Judd Nelson.
HARD TO HANDLE, The Black Crowes: Yes, what better way to celebrate the music of the '90s than to include a remake of a '60s song.
O.P.P., Naughty By Nature: I have to admit, the sampling of the Jackson 5 in this song was a real novelty when I first heard it. The 1,024,235th time? Not so much.
INTO THE DRINK, Mudhoney: Thrilled to see some Mudhoney on here. If you didn't live through the late '80s, you can't understand how much we needed the emergence of grunge. MTV was in the middle of the Hair Band Age, and had a requirement to play those neon-vomit videos of Poison every five minutes.
I'M TOO SEXY, Right Said Fred (R*S*F*): No, you're not.
ONLY SHALLOW, My Bloody Valentine: Shoe-gazer music, so named after the "dance" done at its concerts, which mostly consisted of shy unloved singles swaying back and forth and looking at their feet. Still, a gorgeous song.
BABY GOT BACK, Sir Mix-A-Lot: He apparently is an assman.
THEY WANT EFX, DAS EFX: Excellent (or "efxcellent") hiphop with some surprisingly good riffs and samples.
LITTLE MISS CAN'T BE WRONG, Spin Doctors: Ugggggghhhhh.
UNDER THE BRIDGE, Red Hot Chili Peppers: Once I heard this in a supermarket, I knew the Chili Peppers were dead. This wasn't exactly "Catholic School Girls Rule," you know?
CONNECTED, Stereo MC's: I know I should hate this song, but for some reason I can't.
IF I CAN'T CHANGE YOUR MIND, Sugar: This is Bob Mould. This is Bob Mould on anti-depressants. Any questions?
THE DEVIL'S CHASING ME, The Reverend Horton Heat: Phenomenal band. Surprised to see them here. If you ever get a chance to see them live, go. I said go, dammit.
GENTLEMEN, Afghan Whigs: Great song from another great band. A friend saw them in Boston in the early '90s, and Greg Dulli punched the bass player in the middle of a song. They rolled off stage, continued the fight, and then came back to finish the set. Awesome.
MMM MMM MMM MMM, Crash Test Dummies: No, no, no, no.
WHAT'S THE FREQUENCY, KENNETH?, R.E.M.: Thank God it wasn't "Everybody Hurts."
BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S, Deep Blue Something: Easily the worst song of the decade. Worse than the Macarena. Remember the chorus to this gem? And I said "What about Breakfast at Tiffany's?" / She said "I think I remember the film / And as I recall, I think we both kinda liked it" / And I said "Well, that's the one thing we've got" That was the chorus!
TUBTHUMPING, Chumbawamba: Apparently, Chumbawumba is cockney for "one-hit wonder."
This is just scratching the surface. There's tons more there to talk about, so have it and let's party in the comments as though it were the last year of the 1990s.
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4 comments:
Didn't know Hard to Handle was a remake. But I did see the Spin Doctors live (I was only 16! gimme a break), and I can verify that they do suck. A lot. But I might still listen to Two Princes if it came on the radio. Don't we all like a few embarrassing songs? Like, Hey Jealousy? (and still remember the words?)
The high school grunge scene was totally annoying. Every time there was a new band out, everyone would say that they were listening to them "before they got big"... sorry, buying Ten when Evenflow came out does not a kool kid make.
NO MYTH - Michael Penn: His career was doomed after he became a kiss-of-death VH1 Artist of the Month. All that matters is that I still like him.
SILENT LUCIDITY - Queensrÿche: I was addicted to the video. So lush.
BALL AND CHAIN - Social Distortion: I called the college station to request this--the DJ scoffed! I didn't know that songs had to be so obscure to be cool. Sheesh. I still turn it up in the car!
JUMP AROUND - House Of Pain: Still moving the masses to jump exuberantly at weddings. Raise your hands in the air like you don't care!
Yep. "Hard to Handle" was originally an Otis Redding tune. A great one, though I think for some reason it didn't get released until after his death. '68 or so.
I was in college when grunge broke, working at a radio station that had its finger firmly on the musical pulse. I remember when Nirvana's "Nevermind" came out, and I dismissed it as yet another SUB>POP grunge album, no different from the rest. Went on fall break the week before the album hit stores, and had three -- count 'em, three! -- chances to see Nirvana along the way, performing that album in clubs for 200 people or so. Every time, we decided to just go get drunk. I am an idiot.
I had a copy of that Michael Penn album, too. Someone on another blog said whenever they hear that song, they like to imagine it's Chris Penn signing it. Heh. Personally, I'd go with the third brother, Sean, and watch him punch out the cameraman making his video.
When I was home from winter break (how PC of me) back in college, I won tickets to see the Afghan Whigs on Christmas day (from 97X - bamm the future of rock n' roll). Anyways I didn't tell me parents about the show, I just wolfed down dinner and bolted - much to their angerment (not a real word I know).
Greg Dulli (lead singer) starts the show by swaggering on stage and saying "which one of your girlfriend's am I going home with tonight?". As my good friend Mayor Quimby says - "Best Rock Show EVAH"
I'm afraid responding to this post would require that I accept that the 90s has ended. And that just ain't gonna happen.
Long live Seaquest DSV!!
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