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As much as it pains me to make this observation, it seems that a new “Retro” genre has emerged. It’s the music of the 90s.
Some of us remember the 90s as if they were yesterday, but for those who were just entering high school at the time, these songs make up the soundtrack of their adolescence.
Everyone always seems to be more musically aware during the time of life when peers begin exploring varied tastes for the first time. Elementary schoolchildren are less apt to explore anything beyond the esoteric, while high school kids tend to develop their identities based on the songs that they relate to as individuals.
For my generation, the songs we have only begun to forget are being nostalgically revived by those whose adult lives were just taking shape at the time. If you are under 30 years old, these songs hold a far greater significance than anything that came before or after.
As in any musical era, the 90s were replete with single-album successes and one-hit wonders by artists like: Arrested Development (People Everyday), Joan Osbourne (What if God Was One Of Us), Tag Team (Whoomp, There it is), Ini Kamoze (Hotstepper), House Of Pain (Jump Around), and the Wallflowers (One Headlight). Consequently, other musicians were just coming into their own in the 90s, firmly leaving their mark in pop-culture history.
Here are the most influential artists or bands of an era that can now be called “Nouveau-Retro”, and as a result, by which the 90s will always be remembered:
10) Sheryl Crow: You know her now, but some of us remember seeing this hot chick sing, “All I wanna do is have some fun” for the first time, and watching her instantly become a household name. Sure, she paid her dues singing background for the late Michael Jackson, but it was her own contribution to music that enamored audiences throughout the 90s. And who among us males hasn’t envisioned her in a nurse’s uniform, giving us a sponge bath while singing, “If it makes you happy…”? I really must stop now.
9) Oasis: While the Gallagher brothers are the last guys you would ever want to speak before a school assembly, they made a fierce impact on the music scene in the 90s. For their brash talk, violent sibling rivalry and cliche rockstar behaviour, their album What’s The Story Morning Glory set the world on fire. The song Wonderwall soared to the top of the charts seemingly overnight, and set the stage for songs like Don’t look Back In Anger, and the album-closing anthem Champagne Supernova. The success of that album also encouraged many to look backwards (though not in anger) to their debut album, Definitely Maybe. They followed up with Be Here Now in 1997, which was met with great success as well. While their popularity may have dwindled slightly in North America, the band’s four subsequent albums have received rave reviews from audiences abroad. Their lead guitarist, Paul Arthurs, ironically carries the nickname “Bonehead”, despite repeated incidents of moronic behaviour on behalf of Liam and Noel Gallagher.
8) Nirvana: Before Kurt Cobain took his life (if Courtney was your girlfriend, you might have done the same), the emergence of Smells Like Teen Spirit as a pop hit, immediately accelerated this new genre called “Grunge” right into the mainstream, despite every intention to achieve quite the opposite. Nirvana’s grinding distorted guitars and hard drums shook the establishment the way Hendrix and Zeppelin had done in the late 60s, only this time, their was a depressing video to go with it.
7) Spice Girls: The most outstanding phenomenon of the decade. While scores of talented girl groups rose and fell, the Spice Girls became a viral success, even in spite of the fact that their lead-in song was complete and utter nonsense. That first hit, Wannabe, with the recurring refrain of “Tell me what you want, what you really really want…” somehow paved the way for them to become the hottest girl-group in history. There are music producers that are still shaking their heads. Sources around David Beckham swear that when he and Victoria (Posh Spice) argue, he still tells her how much her music sucked. Still, the girls continued to score huge hits with; Stop, Say You’ll Be There, and Spice Up Your Life. While Victoria travels the globe tending to the less fortunate in Manolo Blahniks and Jimmy Choos, the others wait their turns to appear on Dancing With The Stars, The Biggest Loser, Hell’s Kitchen, and The Bachelorette.
6) Boyz II Men/Backstreet Boys/N’Sync: This decade witnessed a boy band boom like never before, but these three reigned supreme. Boyz II Men brought back the soul sounds of the 70s with a little hip-hop hue and dominated the charts with every album.
The other two bands were very similar, but what separated them from each other? Who cares? Every decade has seen bands like this that appeal to tweens and their moms, and these bands did just that. I tried to avoid listening, but they were both talented groups of guys who were well produced and marketed. If you were a DJ playing a Sweet Sixteen in the 90s, and you didn’t play Backstreet’s Back or N’Sync’s I Want You Back, you risked getting shot in the face with a confetti canon, or worse, you could be sprayed with one of those string streamer things. When they start compiling the “Greatest Hits of the 90s”, expect to see all of these guys in multiple positions.
5) Alanis Morissette: Jagged Little Pill was the biggest surprise of the music scene because previous attempts to turn Alanis into a pop diva had failed miserably. It just goes to show how much a really bad ending to a sexual awakening can do for your art. There was too much information on that album for my comfort, but the emotions were so real, and her style was so raw and angry, that every song seemed to really hit home. The pressure to follow that debut success was so monumental that critics and fans thought she would crack. Then, she contributed the song Uninvited to the soundtrack of City of Angels, which served as foreplay for her sophomore endeavour, Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie. It may not have sold as well as “Pill”, but then, Michael Jackson’s Bad never sold as much as Thriller, and that didn’t make it a bust. She’s still making music despite having more money than many medium-sized countries. That’s artistic dedication.
4) Dave Matthews Band: The “Grateful Dead of the 90s” became famous for their annual summer tours across North America. Their first album, Recently, was a live EP taken from shows performed in Virginia and Charlottesville from whence they hail. Their 1994 release, Under the Table and Dreaming, gave us What Would You Say (with John Popper of Blues Traveller playing harmonica), and they could do no wrong from then on. The band also had hits with Crash into Me, Too Much, and Tripping Billies to name just a few. Then to cap off the millenium, the band took part in the Woodstock ‘99 concert and then released their third live album aptly-entitled, Listener Supported. They even turned the video footage from that album into a PBS television special, and then released it as their first DVD. They have also been nominated for about 230 Grammy awards in the decade (I’m estimating of course). The moral of the story is, if you build good music, the people will come.
3) Mariah Carey: In 1990, out of nowhere steps this young diva with a voice previously reserved for large black women praising the lord. The fact that she was 19 and already shtupping her not-yet divorced middle-aged boss, Sony President Tommy Mottola, might have foreshadowed her soon-to-be-uncovered eccentricity, but it wouldn’t have mattered. From the moment we heard Vision of Love, or Love Takes Time, and discovered that this pretty little 19 year-old, not only sang, but wrote these magnificent ballads, our hearts were won. On her follow-up album, Emotions, the title track wowed us with a high note that had not been heard since Minnie Riperton’s Loving You in the 70s. Her obvious vocal prowess cemented her status as reigning diva, even with Whitney still ruling the charts. Two decades later, she hasn’t stopped doing her thing.
2) Red Hot Chili Peppers: This funk-infused rock band with a penchant for frontal nudity survived many ups and downs in the 80s. They lost 2 members to drug-related departure and death. They temporarily employed Dead Kennedys drummer D. H. Peligro, who didn’t last, but stuck around long enough to introduce the remaining Peppers to John Frusciante who would become their most awesome lead guitarist (apologies to Dave Navarro). RHCP began the final decade of the millenium with the album Mother’s Milk. Then in 1991, the album Blood Sugar Sex Magik landed them on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine, and the rest is history. To those who are indifferent to this group’s charms, I say, “You betta axe somebody!”. Give It Away, Under The Bridge and a great cover of Stevie Wonder’s Higher Ground, are just a few of their early hits. Aeroplane, Scar Tissue and Californication ushered us into a century that would bring Can’t Stop, Hump De Bump and Dani California. They show no signs of slowing down.
1) Tupac Shakur/Notorious B.I.G. (a.k.a. Biggie Smalls): I apologize to all rap fans for lumping these two adversaries together, but circumstances dictate that they remain inexorably linked in the annals of music history. Both broke major ground in Hip-Hop in the early 90s, Tupac on the West Coast and Biggie in the East, sparking a well-documented division among the major players in the Hip-Hop community. Biggie was murdered just 6 months after Tupac, provoking a plenitude of questions and accusations from gang warfare to Tupac staging his own death (I could swear I spotted him in Tel-Aviv last summer). The only thing we know for sure is how they affected the Hip-Hop landscape for years to come. Both possessed the gift of slinging prose that expertly rode their respective rhythms. Both left a tremendous body of work that still holds up. The 90s belonged to them.
*Honourable mention must also go to Celine Dion. Those of us who grew up in montreal were already aware of her talents, but never guessed she would become the world’s leading Diva in the 90s and beyond. It’s worth noting that she, like Mariah, married her much older manager. Maybe there’s a secret there somewhere. I’m in the wrong business.
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