Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Tell it to her Tuesday

Janet's Tell it to me Tuesday is pretty predictable this week- last week was 80s, the week before was 70s (and I missed it!), and this week:

What are your top ten nineties artists or bands?

Again, in no particular order:

Foo Fighters: Ok, I lied about no particular order. Am lovin the Foo Fighters. We were almost out of the 1990s when I realized that all those songs I liked were from the same band, and I started buying their albums. If Janet does a top 00s list next week, they'll be on there too.

Matthew Sweet: I remember "Girlfriend" being on the radio a lot when I started dating this guy named Andrew in 1992. He bought the album. A few years later, 100% Fun came out like a kick in the head. Loved it, still do. Some of the more recent stuff is more hit-n-miss, but Girlfriend, Altered Beast and 100% Fun are fantastic albums.

Cake: Like the Foos, this might also be on a 00s list as well. Like most folks, I came in with Fashion Nugget, hearing The Distance on the radio, and have never looked back.

Offspring: Specifically, Smash. We played the hell out of this disk.

Neo Psuedo: You probably don't know who these guys were. If you do, you're lucky, and I'm sure we went to a show or ten together. While the rest of Our Fair State was gaga over Bruce and Bon Jovi, those of us in the Great Free State of South Jersey had the hoppin' local Philly music scene to enjoy. Many a night, we went with Rob S. and other friends to see these guys at the North Star Bar or some other venue, dancin' the night away. (Obviously, that was pre-kids.) These guys are the reason I'm Sharon GR not R, a story for another time. Buy Vanity Frisbee (which is good but doesn't compare to the sound they had live) and see if you can figure out why.

John Hiatt: Papagoose started playing Stolen Moments when we were in college, and I spent the next several years seeking out old and new John Hiatt albums. I know much of his music was recorded in other decades, but the 90s in music means John Hiatt to me.

Black Crowes: Loved Shake Your Money Maker and Southern Harmony and Musical Companion; I kinda lost interest after that. Great stuff, though.

Live: I was just listening to Throwing Copper yesterday. Great disk, that, and Mental Jewelry. If all you've ever heard is Lightning Crashes, you've missed a lot. Go get more.

Stone Temple Pilots: No explanation, none needed. Good stuff back in the 90s.

Again, I can't quite come up with ten. I remembered who I forgot in the 80s, though; Melissa Etheridge. Maybe next week I'll remember who I forgot in the 90s.

UPDATE- I remember who I forgot. Sonia Dada. How could I forget? Their great vocals and sound were amazing. The only song you ever heard was probably "You ain't thinkin' bout me," which is a great opening to the band, but you should have looked further; the whole album (like "Day at the Beach" after it) was remarkable. They had a 2-song cd, which was mostly a radio promotion at Christmas and had then singing "Silver Bells" on it. Lucky me, a former DJ friend gave us a copy- and I love it.

Sorry, guys. I didn't mean to forget you.

UPDATE #2- They Might Be Giants! Good lord, how could I have forgotten them? Well, maybe because they're almost a '00 band to me now- my kids listen to them incessantly. Not just their current kids albums, either- Flood and Apollo 18 are big hits here right now.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

We've definitely got some overlap, although I'm only halfway through mine and not ready to post yet. Probably not too hard to figure out where.

Natsthename said...

LOVE the Hiatt!

And I totally spaced and left out Matthew Sweet. That Girlfriend albums is one of my favorite albums ever!

Greg! said...

I'm thrilled to see that the Neo Pseudo CDs are still in print. Sure, the old State College stuff is only underrepresented on the Laughing Symbols compilation, but at least the stuff is there.

I remember seeing LIVE live at the Mann about the time Mental Jewelry came out and was getting airplay on XPN. They kinda dropped off my radar after Secret Shamadi, but those first couple of discs... great stuff every time it occurs to me to pull one off the shelf. And it's sadly ironic that the references to Desert Shield in Mental Jewelry feel somehow dated now; it's not the passage of time; it's the futility of repetition.

You guys have me thinking I may try one of these lists for myself...

Janet said...

Neo Psuedo- never heard of. How is it that everyone is stumping me with one artist at least this week?

I loved that Sonia Dada song. I can still listen to it on repeat. I never understood why it wasn't a big hit.

UnHoly Diver said...

You're right, I've never heard of Neo Pseudo. ;)
Not a big Cake fan, but otherwise, I like your list.