The Mrs. and I were talking at lunch about how she played ‘Name that tune’ with her high school students the other day, and they couldn’t name the “Sweater Song” by Weezer. The holiest of holy 90’s anthems… ranking slightly under Nirvana’s “Teen Spirit.” Then she went into horrific detail about how no one knew about Micro-Machines and the Micro-Machine man. I threw my Chili’s Honey Chipolte Chicken Strips to the ground, and demanded she take back the false truths… Okay, I’d never throw away perfectly good food, but I still demanded she take back the false truths.
Doing the math they were born around 90-93. I was born in 81′, yet I know about U2, The Cars, Devo, Stripper, and Bon Jovi. How can they not have a grasp of a decade of Seattle music? Has VH1 not made enough episodes of Behind The Music? Yet, they know Sir Mix A-Lot’s butt anthem. Trust me, I’ve chaperoned a dance.
I like lists, so I’ve been thinking of 5 ULTIMATE 90’s 92′-96′ Rock songs that represent my decade of coming of age that I would introduce to gen-I[nternet]. Feel free to compose your own list using a decade of your choice. I feel like this could be another one of those music memes.
1. Weezer - The Sweater Song (1994): Before Emo was Emo, there was Rivers Cuomo and the Blue Album. Not to be confused by Nada Surf’s “Popular” (1996), “The Sweater Song” predated Nada Surf with all the teen angst and featured dialog during the song. Revolutionary at the time. It was required to have at least one copy of Weezer’s Blue album.
2. Pearl Jam - Jeremy (1992): Pearl Jam was the sh!t of the 90’s. Well, before Eddie Vedder became all Mr. Environment. Jeremy was based on a school suicide shooting. Vedder belts the song with emotion in a range that every dude with long hair could sing “OOOOhhh ooooohhh, Jeremy spoken.”
3. Soundgarden - “Blow Up the Outside World” (1996): Check out the drummers haircut in this video. It was kind of the mullet of the 90’s. Long, but still short enough not to look like your mom. A lot of dudes sported this haircut.
4. The Toadies - Possum Kingdom (1995): At the heart of my 90’s rock out songs… I rocked out to this song many different times. Throw in a hard bass guitar and a nasty lead singer and you’ve got Korn.
5. Stone Temple Pilots - Vasoline(1994): This says it all, a comment from the YouTube Video: “another hidden treasure of 90’s music kids today should get to know. art. - wojtek0000.” I don’t know how to describe STP, but it was a staple of my 90’s rock diet.
So, did I miss any truly great 90’s rock songs? By chance, has anyone picked a new band? I’m curious to hear back on this one.
I loved VH1’s pop-up videos. That was such a cool little show. Unfortunately now, in order to see your music videos (minus reality shows), you have to order the individual VH1 channels for various categories of music.
Thus explaining why most of the world is stuck watching THS and Flavor of Love 3.
That’s a pretty male centric list. I’d include Cranberries or Breeders or Hole. I graduated HS in 95 and the Indy alt rock station played a lot of those bands. Breeders definitely.
That’s insane! I was just listening to my Weezer - Pinkerton album (the best Weezer album) the other day. I really enjoyed this blog Shoo. It brought back some great memories. Thanks for the walk down memory lane.
My Blue Album is still in heavy rotation in the car. It’s part of my independant music appreciation class for my kids. They love the “Surfing Song” (not sure if that’s the real title, it’s track 6), but I’m trying to stress the nuances of the album such as the drunk banter of the too-excited “D’ja hear about the party after the show?…..Take it easy bro!”
I’m several years older than you, but think you have a nice list going, so I guess that makes me tragically hip?
Nice list shoo. While I know all of them, I can’t say that I rocked out to them. As these were all coming out I had just graduated college and was trying to be a new husband, move into 2 new apartments and figure out the whole job / Chemist career thing.
Some of her students should have heard Possum Kingdom as it’s on the Guitar Hero 2 playlist.
I started getting into Dave Matthews around ‘95 or ‘96. You can make fun of me. I don’t care. ‘Ants Marching’ was and still is great stuff.
And what’s wrong with Edie being Mr. Environment? Pearl Jam was always super political. Edie’s still a bad a*s.
Dr. Dre’s Chronic album
)
ALL of Pearl Jam’s Ten
Beck - Odelay (Two turntables and a micROphone)
Sting’s Fields of Gold (yeah, thas right)
(I’ll have to post more on my blog later this week
Popular by Nada Surf is still one of my favorite songs. I was born in 85, so I might be a little young, but I can remember watching MTV and VH1 in the summers off from school. And how can we forget rap stars like the Beastie Boys and Run DMC?!?
I have to narrow this down to the college years, or this list would be epic. In Charleston, there was a little record shop called Positively 4th Street. Most of my housing and food money was spent on CD’s from bands like Lemonheads, Dinosaur Jr., Counting Crows, The Breeders, Candlebox, Blind Melon, The Offspring, Bush, Toad the Wet Sprocket, Blues Traveler, REM, Cracker, Live, Weezer, Oasis, Jane’s Addiction, Radiohead, Better Than Ezra, and there’s probably a bunch more I’m forgetting (besides the mandatory Nirvana, STP, Pearl Jam, RHCP, etc).
Really though, if you need a primer on early 90’s music, you only need the Reality Bites soundtrack. Let’s also not forget stuff like Primus, POTUS, Dead Eye Dick, James, Crash Test Dummies, and other goofy stuff.
Tell Mrs.Shoo’s class to step away from the Soulja Boy for a few minutes a day and listen to real music.
Ugh… It makes me feel so sad when kids don’t know about these rock epics.
Youd think they’d at least have a CLUE, since they are most certainly into Guitar Hero, and I know there’s at LEAST one STP song on that game.
Russ, great lists. I recently had a return to Toad the Wet Sprocket and bought 4 of their CD’s from Amazon.
Nice blog Shoo. Good work.
What about the wallflowers? Am I the only one that loved them? Russ, your list was great. Makes me wanna go through that box of CD’s in my attic.
Toadies are in the my car CD player now. Woot. All bands listed, I love.
How about Siamese Dream by the Smashing Pumpkins? That has GOT to be up there in the top 3 albums of the early 90s (1993 to be exact). I mean, it’s mandatory. Bonus points to anyone who owned Gish before Siamese Dream was released.
Other than that, Russ covered just about everything that I could think to list. I would throw in a little INXS for good measure, although I was never a huge fan.
Good memories.
Henny Penny, you’ve got to follow up with the essential feminine version of this list. The Cranberries and Garbage are still in my rock rotation.
Russ, Awesome list… Toad the Wet Sprocket, Blues Traveler, Live…
Jeremy - A chemist?
Jeremy W - I am a huge Beastie Boys fan. What time is it? It’s time to get ill.
Yes, a chemist. I got Dow chemical to pay for part of my education so I felt obligated to at least graduate with that major. I did actually work in the field for a whole 3 years before jumping ship and getting into software development and networking. I still have an award hanging on the wall my team won from when I was working for the research division of the then named AlliedSignal (now Honeywell). I got my dose of corporate culture in a large corparation and got out. I’m much happier in my cubicle and 3 monitors than I was running around the lab all day dodging explosions and breathing fumes escaping from the fume hood.
This feels weird since I’m sitting across a cubicle wall from you.
Yes, it’s weird that you are just across the wall. I guess we’re just passing digital notes. - Don’t let the boss catch us!
Hmm i see your list and was wondering where Radiohead’s Creep is?
good call because =w= is classic!
I think that Alice in Chains has to be somewhere close to to the top of the list. If we were talking about Albums of the 90’s the Single’s soundtrack I think is the one of the best albums ever.