Tied to the 90s: 10 Songs from the 1990s that you should probably go download

Welcome back to “Tied to the 90s“, a not-very complete guide to a decade that was. I’m your host, Yostal, and once more, I’ll be taking you through the pop culture landscape of the 1990s. If you have any suggestions for future columns, please email me at GoinYostal@gmail.com or leave me a comment.

Today, I’ll be looking at 10 Songs from the 1990s that you should probably go download. Now I realize that you may already have these, and that’s great. I realize that some of these choices will be more obvious than others, but if you get a “oh, yeah!” moment out of this, then my work is done.

1). “Always the Last To Know” by Del Amitri (from the 1992 album Change Everything)

Probably much better known in the U.S. for “Roll to Me” (the shortest top ten hit in U.S. history at just 2:12, by the way), this track from the boys from Glasgow has so much to like about it. It’s essential power-pop that hammers on a universal theme, in this case, the idea of being left by one’s significant other in favor of the new, but not seeing it coming. That is the surface read; on deeper read, there’s a hint of sarcasm and snark in the lyrics, to wit: “Or if he’s cheating on you, like I cheated on you / Oh, oh, oh / You were the last to know…” Reflective power pop will always win the day with me, and that’s why it’s on the list.

2). “Feel the Pain” by Dinosaur Jr. (from the 1994 album Without a Sound)

I can’t take credit for remembering this one straight up, the golfing in NYC video (as seen in the previous line’s linkage) is arguably one of the 90s most enduring music video images (if you can remember the band or the song, it’s even better.) But there’s also the great tempo shifts in this one, low key for two verses, and then just amps up in the middle, only to fall right back into line with it’s fuzzy guitars, only to kick back up again. It’s like there are two distinct songs going on here, but each one is really good. (Oh, and in spite of my admonition to go and download these ten songs, I don’t think this one is available through your larger commercials download ventures. My bad.)

3). “Nothing Lasts Forever” by Echo and the Bunnymen (from the 1997 album Evergreen)

“But wait,” you’re saying to me in that fake voice, “Echo and the Bunnymen is an ’80s band. They are not a part of your decade of expertise!” Technically, you’d be right, Echo and the Bunnymen did achieve their greatest fame in the 1980s. However, I distinctly remember this song being in heavy rotation on WPLT 96.3 FM in Detroit during the summer of 1997, and I have the handwritten song logs from work to prove it (something to make me less productive when I didn’t have an Internet enabled computer and I was told that the summer help should not be more productive than the regular employees, so I started listing every song the radio station played…I got really good at it, which is probably why I’m able to remember things like this.) Anyway, this is just like Adam Ant or Duran Duran’s 1990s comebacks, except people probably remember “Wonderful” or “Ordinary World” and they missed out on this one. Which is a shame, because it’s a nice little pop song, it’s very British and understated, but it comes back to that simple truth, all things are fleeting.

4). “Lucky Man” by The Verve (from the 1997 album Urban Hymns)

I’m not the world’s best Verve fan, though I do like their work a great deal. I can’t tell you everything Richard Ashcroft has ever done or why he is the most underrated and under-appreciated genius British music has ever produced. I accept this. I also like to think that I am a little bit better Verve fan than most people because this is my favorite Verve song. From the sweeping intro, to the melodic progression in the background, it doesn’t try to do too much. Ashcroft changes the lyrical tempo and flow around like a master, fitting more words in to the song than you would expect, but never left questioning what you have heard. And it builds towards a wonderful climax at the end. Plus, I’ve never quite figured out what he meant be “It’s just a change in me /something in my liberty”, which will always leave me coming back for another listen. I remember being struck by the use of this song in NBC promos for Mister Sterling, and thinking that it was a perfect backing layer. Plus, in liking and downloading this one, you’re making sure that the Verve make some money off it, instead of the Stones, so that’s something too.

5). “Bad Reputation” by Freedy Johnston (from the 1994 album This Perfect World)

I have a feeling that a lot of you won’t be able to place this one immediately, then you’ll listen to the track and have a “oh yeah!” moment. This feels like a song that would have been played as backing filler during a high school dance scene during a mid-90s teen movie, you know, if any existed, where the characters are conversing about a major plot point as this softly plays in the background, despite the fact that no one would really know exactly how to dance to it. (Yes, I am aware that it appeared in 1995’s Kicking and Screaming, but having not seen it in so long, I can’t place the context and I didn’t want to screw it up, and then I was really thrown to learn it’s somewhere in Kingpin. OK, anyway…). But it’s a really great track, it’s earnest and thoughtful, it goes back to questioning love, as so many great rock songs do. We don’t celebrate the love we know we have, that’s too easy; no, instead we must question love, we must understand if there is truly a connection between yourself and this other person, and that doubt and that enigma brings us great songwriting.

6). “Last Goodbye” by Jeff Buckley (from the 1994 album Grace)

(Dear Jeff Buckley fans, please feel free to skip #6 so I don’t embarrass myself with my lack of knowledge in this realm)…In my first Tied to the 90s column, I had suggested that Weezer’s “The World Has Turned and Left Me Here” was an example of a song out of time, where it would fit more comfortably in with the musical tableau of a later era than the one it is from. Well, here’s another one. Most people who have ever heard the name “Jeff Buckley” know him as the guy behind the cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” that appears (whether by Buckley or not) in episodes of [deep breath] House, Grey’s Anatomy, The L Word, The O.C. (twice!), Without a Trace, Cold Case, Criminal Minds, ER, The Shield, Nip/Tuck, Crossing Jordan, Rescue Me, LAX, Numb3rs, and perhaps most famously, by Buckley in the “Posse Comitatus” episode of The West Wing. But, digging just a little bit deeper on the Grace album, you get this track, which may be one of the most perfect songs written in the 1990s. It’s genuine, it’s passionate, it comes from a place where you know exactly what the singer means, and knowing that what is can never be again, because he will end up hurting that person. Giving up what you love because you love it, well, not exactly new ground there, but as always, the best stories are oft told.

7). “Step into my World” by Hurricane #1 (from the 1997 album Hurricane #1)

I’ll admit it, Volkswagen gets full credit for my knowing this one. I would never have heard of Hurricane #1 were it not for the VW Beetle ad which featured the song prominently (and seemingly ran in every commercial break.) But because of them, I have and I therefore am able to remind you of one of the truly great Brit-Rock songs of the decade. Some might say, wait, this sounds like Oasis light, and well, Bell did claim that it was “Oasis-inspired” and it would only make logical sense that Andy Bell would go on to become the bassist for Oasis down the line.

8). “Mother, We Just Can’t Get Enough” by New Radicals (from the 1998 album Maybe You’ve Been Brainwashed Too)

For the record, I have never seen A Walk to Remember. I just want to make this clear from the get-go. Anyway, thanks to one of my friends, I have a complete copy of a U2 concert in San Jose from the Elevation Tour. How do I know it’s complete? Because the first track on the disc is just crowd noise playing over the music that the lads played over the sound system as entry music. What did they select? That’s right “Mother, We Just Can’t Get Enough”. When Scrubs wanted to do a “showdown” montage between pharmaceutical rep Julie Keaton (Heather Locklear) and a pregnant Jordan Sullivan (Christa Miller) for Dr. Cox’s affection, what was playing over the montage? Yep, this track. This exceptional track that was vastly overshadowed by the success of “You Get What You Give”, it so clearly blends the influences that Grosse Pointe native Gregg Alexander (Wayne County, represent!) sought to blend together. Just a terrific modern love song.

9). “In the Meantime” by Spacehog (from the 1995 album Resident Alien)

How does a song that has a rhythm section that sounds like a connecting tone of a British phone line make this list? Well, actually, I’ll make the case that it’s because of that hook that draws me in every time. A one-hit wonder in the U.S., the pseudo-Bowie, glam-rock stylings of this tune are infectious, swinging up and down and looping back and around and it’s just a great all-around track. I longed to have something more clever to add to this, but sadly, I am left to pull up the old chestnut that Royston Langdon is married to Liv Tyler. (I happened to see Spacehog opening for Oasis on the Tour of Brotherly Love in 2001, which I still rank as one of the great concerts I’ve ever been to, between a decent opening act, the Black Crowes, and Oasis, a tremendous show all in all.)

10). “Love Spreads” by the Stone Roses (from the 1994 album Second Coming)

I probably would have gotten more credit for this one a couple of months ago, before it was used in a Cadillac commercial, but that does not do anything to diminish one of the all-time great guitar intros of the 1990s (similarly, I got all geeked when I heard it being used in an episode of CSI a couple of years back). I have always thought an MLB batter would do well to make this his at-bat music, because it’s just a great intro (the video line I have cuts off part of this, sadly, but nevertheless) which leads to just an all-around great song. The Stone Roses were universally acclaimed for the 1989 debut, but their contract status led to a five year delay in the release of their second album. The Wikipedia article notes that the album has an overall similarlity to the blues-rock efforts of Led Zeppelin, and you can hear it if you are willing. There’s seemingly not a lot of lyrical depth, but the catchy chorus of “let me put you in the picture / let me show you what I mean / the Messiah is my sister / ain’t no King man, she’s my Queen” is a really amazing flipping of the traditional notions of Christianity on its head. The fact that you can hear this song three different ways presents its own interesting Trinity. Or maybe that’s just me. It could very well be.

(Update: Now that you have finished this one, go check out Volume 2.)

That’s all I have for this week. I genuinely hoped you enjoyed it, and please come back next week for another edition of “Tied to the 90s”. Until then, this has been Yostal, logging off.