Found in the 90s
For my daily songs I had recently done 80s August and it was awesome! There were so many good songs. I could easily do an entire month on each individual year of the decade and I would still not run out of songs. (Therefore, that is a thing that is going to happen.) It led to me doing 90s November.
That was not as awesome. It wasn't bad either; just different. Let's spend some time on that.
For one thing, I knew going in that it was during the 90s that I started to disconnect from contemporary music. I wasn't even sure if I would know that many 90s songs. I looked at the top hits year by year, and came up with enough.
The first thing that was not surprising was that the bulk of the songs that I wanted to use came early in the decade. You could still hear some of the 80s New Wave influence. Also, I was still regularly watching MTV and VH1, because they were still playing music videos. The Real World would start in 1992, and that would be the beginning of the end of television as a means of me finding new music.
Of course the other big divider was my mission. 1990 through 1992 was finishing high school and starting college. I entered the Missionary Training Center February 3rd, 1993, and I don't think any of my 1993 songs were heard by me that year. Until August 8th, 1994, I was not listening to any non-religious music.
Now, songs did sometimes still enter my consciousness. "Rumpshaker" was released by Wreckx-n-Effect in 1992, but I don't remember hearing it then. It was playing a lot in Fresno in the summer of 1993. It was the same deal with "Jump" by Kriss Kross. Also, there was a school meeting of some kind that we were at (I think it tied into some tutoring, but can't remember for sure), where for examples of consciousness and communication, they talked about the similarities between "Whoot There It Is" from 95 South and "Whoomp! (There It Is)" by Tag Team, and how it seemed to originate from an old cheer, but I never heard the actual songs until later.
I almost had nothing for 1994, but in 1995, back in school, yes, I remember hearing and really liking Real McCoy. I also remember seeing a dorm-mate with "eal McCoy" on the back of a T-shirt, and trying to build a conversation off of that, but it was a Neal McCoy shirt. Awkward!
(I broke year order to put "Run Away" on Thanksgiving, in commemoration of the Turkey Trot, even though it didn't go as planned. If not that, I would have gone up to 1999 for "Thank You".)
Still, the quantity of songs liked does peter out as the decade goes on. Some of that was the direction that music had gone in. Rap got much harder (more gangster) and I never got into grunge. There were other things that I could have put, but I didn't. I will write more about that tomorrow.
Overall the thing that really impresses me is that even for the years when it seemed like I was pretty much living in the past musically, there were songs that I knew for every year. Culture and art permeate. That is okay, though it is valuable to be aware of it.
So 90s November ended up feeling all right. It wasn't as exhilarating as 80s August, but there was no chance of that anyway. I mean, that's just science.
The full list:
199011/1 “Feels Good” by Tony! Toni! Toné!11/2 “Been Caught Stealing” by Jane's Addiction11/3 “Because I Love You (The Postman Song)” by Stevie B11/4 “Enjoy the Silence” by Depeche Mode11/5 “If Wishes Came True” by Sweet Sensation11/6 “Blaze of Glory” by Jon Bon Jovi199111/7 “All 4 Love” by Color Me Badd 11/8 “Rush Rush” by Paul Abdul11/9 “You Could Be Mine” by Guns N' Roses11/10 “The One and Only” by Chesney Hawkes11/11 “Right Here Right Now” by Jesus Jones11/12 “You Don't Have To Go Home Tonight” by The Triplets199211/13 “I'm Too Sexy” by Right Said Fred11/14“Let's Get Rocked” by Def Leppard11/15 “Tennessee Arrested” by Development11/16 “Finally” by CeCe Peniston199311/17 “Come Undone” by Duran Duran11/18 “The River of Dreams” by Billy Joel11/19 “Boom! Shake the Room” by DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince11/20 “(I Can't Help) Falling in Love With You” by UB4011/21 “Regret” by New Order199511/22 “Run Away” by Real McCoy199411/23 “Undone (The Sweater Song)” by Weezer199611/24 “How Bizarre” by OMC11/25 “It's All Coming Back To Me Now” by Celine Dion11/26 “Where Do You Go” by No Mercy199711/27 “All Cried Out” by Allure199811/28 “This Kiss” by Faith Hill 199911/29 “So High” by Tal Bachman11/30 “Thank You” by Dido
That was not as awesome. It wasn't bad either; just different. Let's spend some time on that.
For one thing, I knew going in that it was during the 90s that I started to disconnect from contemporary music. I wasn't even sure if I would know that many 90s songs. I looked at the top hits year by year, and came up with enough.
The first thing that was not surprising was that the bulk of the songs that I wanted to use came early in the decade. You could still hear some of the 80s New Wave influence. Also, I was still regularly watching MTV and VH1, because they were still playing music videos. The Real World would start in 1992, and that would be the beginning of the end of television as a means of me finding new music.
Of course the other big divider was my mission. 1990 through 1992 was finishing high school and starting college. I entered the Missionary Training Center February 3rd, 1993, and I don't think any of my 1993 songs were heard by me that year. Until August 8th, 1994, I was not listening to any non-religious music.
Now, songs did sometimes still enter my consciousness. "Rumpshaker" was released by Wreckx-n-Effect in 1992, but I don't remember hearing it then. It was playing a lot in Fresno in the summer of 1993. It was the same deal with "Jump" by Kriss Kross. Also, there was a school meeting of some kind that we were at (I think it tied into some tutoring, but can't remember for sure), where for examples of consciousness and communication, they talked about the similarities between "Whoot There It Is" from 95 South and "Whoomp! (There It Is)" by Tag Team, and how it seemed to originate from an old cheer, but I never heard the actual songs until later.
I almost had nothing for 1994, but in 1995, back in school, yes, I remember hearing and really liking Real McCoy. I also remember seeing a dorm-mate with "eal McCoy" on the back of a T-shirt, and trying to build a conversation off of that, but it was a Neal McCoy shirt. Awkward!
(I broke year order to put "Run Away" on Thanksgiving, in commemoration of the Turkey Trot, even though it didn't go as planned. If not that, I would have gone up to 1999 for "Thank You".)
Still, the quantity of songs liked does peter out as the decade goes on. Some of that was the direction that music had gone in. Rap got much harder (more gangster) and I never got into grunge. There were other things that I could have put, but I didn't. I will write more about that tomorrow.
Overall the thing that really impresses me is that even for the years when it seemed like I was pretty much living in the past musically, there were songs that I knew for every year. Culture and art permeate. That is okay, though it is valuable to be aware of it.
So 90s November ended up feeling all right. It wasn't as exhilarating as 80s August, but there was no chance of that anyway. I mean, that's just science.
The full list:
199011/1 “Feels Good” by Tony! Toni! Toné!11/2 “Been Caught Stealing” by Jane's Addiction11/3 “Because I Love You (The Postman Song)” by Stevie B11/4 “Enjoy the Silence” by Depeche Mode11/5 “If Wishes Came True” by Sweet Sensation11/6 “Blaze of Glory” by Jon Bon Jovi199111/7 “All 4 Love” by Color Me Badd 11/8 “Rush Rush” by Paul Abdul11/9 “You Could Be Mine” by Guns N' Roses11/10 “The One and Only” by Chesney Hawkes11/11 “Right Here Right Now” by Jesus Jones11/12 “You Don't Have To Go Home Tonight” by The Triplets199211/13 “I'm Too Sexy” by Right Said Fred11/14“Let's Get Rocked” by Def Leppard11/15 “Tennessee Arrested” by Development11/16 “Finally” by CeCe Peniston199311/17 “Come Undone” by Duran Duran11/18 “The River of Dreams” by Billy Joel11/19 “Boom! Shake the Room” by DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince11/20 “(I Can't Help) Falling in Love With You” by UB4011/21 “Regret” by New Order199511/22 “Run Away” by Real McCoy199411/23 “Undone (The Sweater Song)” by Weezer199611/24 “How Bizarre” by OMC11/25 “It's All Coming Back To Me Now” by Celine Dion11/26 “Where Do You Go” by No Mercy199711/27 “All Cried Out” by Allure199811/28 “This Kiss” by Faith Hill 199911/29 “So High” by Tal Bachman11/30 “Thank You” by Dido
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