Today’s playlist celebrates the September 5 birthdays of Queen’s Freddie Mercury, En Vogue’s Terry Ellis, Inner City’s Kevin Saunderson, Al Stewart, Loudon Wainwright III, and The Impalas’ Joe “Speedo” Frazier; and the September 6 birthdays of Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters, The Cranberries’ Delores O’Riordan, Jimmy Reed, The Cardigans’ Nine Persson, Macy Gray, Sylvester, N.O.R.E./Noreaga, CeCe Peniston, Nightcrawlers’ John Reid, Dum Dum Girls’ Dee Dee, and Foxy Brown.
“It’s been seven hours and fifteen days.” “Never trust a big butt and a smile.” “Rollin’ in my 5.0 with my ragtop down so my hair can blow.” So many memorable songs hit in 1990. Here are thirty of the year’s best:
Nineteen ninety-four was not one of rock and pop music’s pivotal years. I didn’t realize how lackluster it was until compiling this week’s Throwback Thursday playlist. I always begin such lists with a look at the pop charts of the year being spotlighted. What a sad state of affairs they were in 1994! I found around 15 good songs that peaked in the top 40 that year, and included all of them in this list (except for Ƭ̵̬̊’s “The Most Beautiful Girl in the World,” which is not on Spotify). A few great songs came close to making the Top 40, such as Nine Inch Nails’ “Closer” (peaked at #41) and The Breeders’ “Cannonball (peaked at #44). More great (mostly “alternative”) tracks would have made the Billboard Hot 100’s top 40 if not for Billboard‘s archaic rule that in order for a song to be eligible for the Hot 100, it needs to be commercially released as a single. Record companies stopped releasing many singles in the late 80s so as to force consumers into buying more profitable full-length albums. What that means is the Hot 100, which was supposed to represent the 100 most popular songs in the US, did not represent the 100 most popular songs in the US. And what mad the top 40 in 1994 was a lot of wussy drek. And Kurt Cobain died in 1994. Not a good year for music. Here are its gems:
It’s Throwback Thursday, and on today’s playlist we go back to 1992. Compiling this list made me notice (or remember) what a kickass year for music 1992 was. The success of Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” a top ten pop hit around the world months after it was sent to alternative radio, came as a complete surprise to the band’s record label and management, and seemed to kick open the doors for weirdos and freaks (I use those terms affectionately) to find their place in the sun and on the charts.
The left field entries weren’t solely from the guitar rock field. Shakespear’s Sister’s “Stay” was a song (or two songs) that stood out from the pack and was not something one would have expected from a former member of Bananarama and someone who co-wrote and sang backup on Eric Clapton’s hit “Lay Down Sally.” And Right Said Fred’s “I’m Too Sexy” endures all these years later.
To me this era was a golden age for hip hop. Arrested Development, Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth, Kris Kross, Das EFX, Sir Mix-A-Lot and House of Pain hit creative peaks, while rap duo P.M. Dawn hit number three with “I’d Die Without You,” an unexpected ballad with nary a hint of the hip or hop.
Nineteen ninety-two was the year we met Mary J. Blige and Billy Ray Cyrus. It was the year many more people got to know Red Hot Chili Peppers, k.d. lang and En Vogue. And while new names were dotting the Hot 100, there was still room for more hits from Michael Jackson, Madonna, Prince, Whitney Houston and U2.
Here are thirty musical highlights from 1992, a year that most definitely was not wiggida wiggida wiggida wack.
Inspired by the season and the November 28 birthdays of Randy Newman, En Vogue/Lucy Pearl’s Dawn Robinson, The 5 Royales’ Johnny Tanner, The Fleetwoods’ Gary Troxel, Chamillionaire, R.B. Greaves, William DeVaughn, Bruce Channel, The Foundations’ Clem Curtis and Motown founder Berry Gordy Jr.
Inspired by the October 19 birthdays of Fugees’ Pras, Divine, Peter Tosh, Jennifer Holiday, World Party’s Karl Wallinger, Jeannie C. Riley, George McCrae, The Doobie Brothers’ Patrick Simmons, Gloria Jones, and Patrick Cowley.
Inspired by the September 26 birthdays of Olivia Newton-John, Roxy Music’s Bryan Ferry, En Vogue’s Cindy Herron, Marty Robbins, Everything But the Girl’s Tracey Thorn, David Frizzell, Lynn Anderson, Nicki French, Dr. Jeckyll & Mr. Hyde’s Andre Harrell, Julie London and George Gershwin; and the September 25 birthdays of T.I., Santigold, The Fresh Prince, Childish Gambino, Cecil Womack and Catherine Zeta-Jones.
Inspired by the September 5 birthdays of Queen‘s Freddie Mercury, En Vogue’s Terry Ellis, Loudon Wainwright III, Inner City’s Kevin Saunderson, and Al Stewart.
Inspired by Black Music Month, LGBTQ Pride Month, the June 5 birthdays of The Psychedelic Furs’ Richard Butler, Badfinger’s Tom Evans, Ronnie Dyson, Laurie Anderson, Aesop Rock, Marky Mark, and Cherish’s Felisha and Fallon King; and the June 4 birthdays of The Mamas and the Papas’ Michelle Phillips, Freddy Fender, Peter & Gordon’s Gordon Waller, El DeBarge and Devin the Dude.
