I remember that one. Didn't know what the lead singer looked like - much more wholesome/clean cut look than most alternative acts.
― skip, Monday, 18 January 2021 23:45 (three years ago) link
wow, "Good Intentions" is quite pretty! slightly outside of scope here (1995) but totally fascinating to me. Toad the Wet Sprocket was a name I saw many times when browsing through the used CD bins, but I never actually knew what they sounded like. Would have guessed something harder-edged and "alternative," but in hindsight it seems like a perfect name for a "college rock about halfway between REM and Gin Blossoms" type of band. nice to finally learn that.
― this honking's on a bobo (Doctor Casino), Thursday, 18 March 2021 14:19 (three years ago) link
Dionne Farris opened for Bryan Ferry in 1995. She performed a 13-minute version of "I Know."― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Sunday, September 9, 2007 5:18 PM (thirteen years ago) bookmarkflaglink
― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Sunday, September 9, 2007 5:18 PM (thirteen years ago) bookmarkflaglink
ah man
― maf you one two (maffew12), Thursday, 27 May 2021 00:25 (two years ago) link
Sheryl Crow has a few qualifying songs here, I think --- at the least, her cover of "Sweet Child o' Mine" off the Big Daddy soundtrack, and arguably all of the Globe Sessions singles: "My Favorite Mistake," "Anything But Down," and one I've never ever heard called "There Goes The Neighborhood." This was basically a flop period for her between the total radio/MTV ubiquity of the s/t, and the poppy comeback of "Soak up the Sun" a few years later. Maybe some of these still crop up in certain playlists/contexts, but for me they are hazy memories.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CowwMR1hDPM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmIlUKo4dQc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJqmyOeOnWk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOw-ak2aJS8
And, not a single, but I could swear "Superstar" off the self-titled album got some half-hearted airplay towards the end of that release cycle. Implanted memory?
― I honk along darkened Bobo-doors (Doctor Casino), Monday, 2 August 2021 13:48 (two years ago) link
I feel like I definitely still hear My Favorite Mistake from time to time, but not really the other covers.
Though speaking of covers from the Big Daddy soundtrack, I also remember radio playing Shawn Mullins cover of George Harrison's What is Life at around this time, and that's certainly been forgotten.
― MarkoP, Monday, 2 August 2021 14:08 (two years ago) link
Though looking at the charts it also might be a case of Sheryl Crow in this era still being a pretty big deal in Canada.
― MarkoP, Monday, 2 August 2021 14:12 (two years ago) link
Yes, in Toronto, video/radio pIayed My Favorite Mistake a lot (even recently), There Goes the Neighborhood occasionally, and Anything But Down at least once.Mildly successful cover versions of well-known songs don't tend to be revived very much, or remembered.
― Halfway there but for you, Monday, 2 August 2021 14:19 (two years ago) link
i sang "anything but down" at karaoke the other week, went over well
― STOCK FIST-PUMPER BRAD (BradNelson), Monday, 2 August 2021 14:20 (two years ago) link
arguably all of the Globe Sessions singles: "My Favorite Mistake,"
SOMEBODY is not listening to light rock stations
― Guayaquil (eephus!), Monday, 2 August 2021 15:26 (two years ago) link
"my favorite mistake" was a top 10 airplay hit and tbh was probably bigger than "soak up the sun"
― dyl, Monday, 2 August 2021 15:31 (two years ago) link
Yeah, MFM is one of maybe four Sheryl songs I can count on hearing if stuck in a situation with a light rock/adult contemporary station playing all day.
It's a constant on in-store audio networks too.
― “Heroin” (ft. Bobby Gillespie) (C. Grisso/McCain), Monday, 2 August 2021 15:45 (two years ago) link
this is reassuring lol cuz I partly loved "My Favorite Mistake" because no one much mentioned it at the time, therefore it felt like MY Shery Crow single.
TGS her best album imo
― So who you gonna call? The martini police (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 2 August 2021 15:48 (two years ago) link
wow clearly i was way off about MFM! i personally have heard Soak Up The Sun wayyyy more times, but mostly thru retail/restaurant playlists I think.
― I honk along darkened Bobo-doors (Doctor Casino), Monday, 2 August 2021 15:53 (two years ago) link
Checking Spotify, I see MFM should be in her Top 10, but isn't for some reason. Surprised to see it would be at the near-bottom of that list (only 16 mil spins).
― “Heroin” (ft. Bobby Gillespie) (C. Grisso/McCain), Monday, 2 August 2021 15:55 (two years ago) link
SUTS is her third-biggest on Spotify, after "All I Wanna Do" and "If It Makes You Happy".
― “Heroin” (ft. Bobby Gillespie) (C. Grisso/McCain), Monday, 2 August 2021 15:57 (two years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWVWGKg-r1c
Tracy Bonham: "The One", her follow-up to "Mother Mother"
― Precious, Grace, Hill & Beard LTD. (C. Grisso/McCain), Wednesday, 22 September 2021 03:30 (two years ago) link
Which I see now was posted (and linkrotted) back in '12, so here's the follow-up to that, "Sharks Can't Sleep"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVl6ZzScxqk
― Precious, Grace, Hill & Beard LTD. (C. Grisso/McCain), Wednesday, 22 September 2021 03:39 (two years ago) link
For whatever reason, whenever Bonham comes up, I have to go look up "Mother, Mother" and try to remember what it sounds like. I think I started listening to alt-rock radio just a couple months after its moment in the sun.
"Sharks Can't Sleep" is pretty cool, SUCH a 1996 sound... that midtempo chug with the moody, kinda watery guitar figure on the verse, the pounding A A A A, B B B B chorus, and the little dip into 60s studio effects 2/3 of the way through. Does feel more like an album track, maybe even a good album-closer, than a single.
"The One" on the other hand feels a bit weighed-down by the post-grunge trappings. I can imagine a bouncier, power-poppier version of that chorus working better... fill out the space with backing vocals or a bit of keyboard or horns or something, rather than with that pummeling wall of distorted guitars.
― I Am Fribbulus (Xax) (Doctor Casino), Sunday, 26 September 2021 17:25 (two years ago) link
I'm not sure if I've ever heard that before but if you played me the first 15 seconds I would've assumed it was Blur
― kinder, Sunday, 26 September 2021 17:40 (two years ago) link
(Sharks Can't Sleep, I mean)
― kinder, Sunday, 26 September 2021 17:42 (two years ago) link
Could Ben Folds Five's "Song for the Dumped" drift into this category long-term? Hard to imagine any teens glued to alt-rock radio at the time not remembering it, but has it had any shelf life at all? Can't remember hearing it anywhere in the wild in twenty years.
"Battle of Who Could Care Less" almost certainly qualifies. "One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces" also was apparently a single, with a music video, but I don't honestly believe that got on the radio and stuff.
― I Am Fribbulus (Xax) (Doctor Casino), Thursday, 21 October 2021 13:14 (two years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gBCdP7AfTE
Bush - Cold Contagious. Third US single off Razorblade Suitcase, and the gas was out of the hype tank. In my memory, the radio kept playing "Swallowed" and the Sixteen Stone singles, and quickly ignored this. It's a slow burn (or a slog if you're not 100% on board with grunge aesthetics), even in this four-minute edit of the six-minute album version. ("Greedy Fly," the second single, did much better on paper, and is probably not as forgotten, but still has to be one of their most obscure hits.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8TrkCObypE
Bush - Letting the Cables Sleep. This is a 2000 single from their '99 album, the one where they explored "electronica." In this case this means an OK Computer type sound, which I think is a more interesting fit for Gavin's voice and songwriting than the cluttered and exhausting "Chemicals Between Us." I always kinda liked it, and even put it on a mix CD once!
An aside: I know the 90s are back (and stuff), but are the kids really listening to Bush?
― Doctor Casino, Saturday, 11 June 2022 21:55 (one year ago) link
they're listening to kate bush instead
― dyl, Saturday, 11 June 2022 21:57 (one year ago) link
Bush was really fucked when they ran out of Nirvana albums to bite.
― an icon of a worried-looking, long-haired, bespectacled man (C. Grisso/McCain), Saturday, 11 June 2022 22:23 (one year ago) link
My friend has been doing a series on his blog which may be of interest here: writing up the songs from the Album & Modern Rock charts that _didn't_ cross over Pop.
https://vjbigsuit.wordpress.com/2022/02/14/fools-gold-vol-1-ready-for-a-good-time/
― an icon of a worried-looking, long-haired, bespectacled man (C. Grisso/McCain), Saturday, 11 June 2022 22:29 (one year ago) link
oh, that's fun! good method for digging up stuff in this zone. and would be an amazing resource for an equivalent thread on the early 90s (which is way further from my wheelhouse).
― Doctor Casino, Sunday, 12 June 2022 00:19 (one year ago) link
lol there's a Bush-knockoff BritGrunge band called Addict covered in the first entry!
― an icon of a worried-looking, long-haired, bespectacled man (C. Grisso/McCain), Sunday, 12 June 2022 01:32 (one year ago) link
I remember "Letting the Cables Sleep". I think my older brother also put it on a mix CD at the time circa 2000.
― MarkoP, Sunday, 12 June 2022 02:03 (one year ago) link
my other half put Addict - Monster Side on one of his first mixtapes for me. not heard it for 20+ years!
― kinder, Sunday, 12 June 2022 17:20 (one year ago) link
thanks for the blog link, enjoying this project!
― kinder, Sunday, 12 June 2022 17:57 (one year ago) link
razorblade suitcase is alright
― brimstead, Sunday, 12 June 2022 21:42 (one year ago) link
"Monster Side," wow... yeah, haven't heard or thought about it in 20+ years, but every second of it was familiar.
― Doctor Casino, Monday, 13 June 2022 01:31 (one year ago) link
More Brit Nerf Grunge
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQTqX11zNjU
Feeder: "Cement"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zc1ljqKNEMk
Feeder: "High"
The latter track popped up on the Can't Hardly Wait soundtrack.
― an icon of a worried-looking, long-haired, bespectacled man (C. Grisso/McCain), Wednesday, 29 June 2022 01:20 (one year ago) link
Dionne Farris opened for Bryan Ferry in 1995. She performed a 13-minute version of "I Know."
That song is an absolute banger.
― immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Wednesday, 29 June 2022 01:28 (one year ago) link
Self-XP Wow, reading Feeder's wiki--didn't know they were one of those Status Quo-style 'huge at home, barely known in the US bands'. 11 Albums!
― an icon of a worried-looking, long-haired, bespectacled man (C. Grisso/McCain), Wednesday, 29 June 2022 01:31 (one year ago) link
25 Top 75 singles!
Who knew?
― an icon of a worried-looking, long-haired, bespectacled man (C. Grisso/McCain), Wednesday, 29 June 2022 01:33 (one year ago) link
Only two of the original band members are left at this point?
― immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Wednesday, 29 June 2022 01:35 (one year ago) link
Yeah, the drummer died in 2002.
― an icon of a worried-looking, long-haired, bespectacled man (C. Grisso/McCain), Wednesday, 29 June 2022 01:48 (one year ago) link
I've always wondered, at what point does a band simply become a group of musicians operating under a name, a la most sports teams? Is it like the ship of Theseus? A friend of mine back in college once saw Herman's Hermits . . . without Herman.
― immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Wednesday, 29 June 2022 01:52 (one year ago) link
it's from 2000 but "Shaniqua" by Little T & One Track Mike seemed like such a huge track when it came out, now I find that basically no one remembers it
― frogbs, Wednesday, 29 June 2022 01:57 (one year ago) link
I remember it! I saw the video on late-night MTV once, and never again. It stuck in my head for some reason.
― JRN, Wednesday, 29 June 2022 04:02 (one year ago) link
that stuff was like its own distinct genre, like
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgBYdsKqCsM
and
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BXzphHiHD8
I remember Bad Ronald debuting on MTV and thinking "wow, I guess anyone can be in a band now"
― frogbs, Wednesday, 29 June 2022 04:09 (one year ago) link
^^Did this start with Beck, or G.Love, or even Sublime?
Seems like the biggest hits of this style were "Hooch" by Everything, "Better Days" by Citizen King, and I guess "Steal My Sunshine" by Len. Good-timey Alternative Hip Hop Rock?
― an icon of a worried-looking, long-haired, bespectacled man (C. Grisso/McCain), Wednesday, 29 June 2022 05:21 (one year ago) link
Sugar Ray probably fits in there somewhere too.
― an icon of a worried-looking, long-haired, bespectacled man (C. Grisso/McCain), Wednesday, 29 June 2022 05:22 (one year ago) link
Beastie Boys possibly the year zero, and later on Gym Class Heroes ran with it all the way to the bank.
― an icon of a worried-looking, long-haired, bespectacled man (C. Grisso/McCain), Wednesday, 29 June 2022 05:29 (one year ago) link
On a different tip, I'm not sure if this ever broke out of the "Alternative Station Sunday Night 'College Music' Show" circuit, but I did hear this on the radio.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6pc-tWwccU
Drugstore (featuring Thom Yorke): "El President"
― an icon of a worried-looking, long-haired, bespectacled man (C. Grisso/McCain), Wednesday, 29 June 2022 05:51 (one year ago) link
I had never heard “Shaniqua,” Scapegoat Wax, or Bad Ronald (the last one is pretty great).In addition to the other artists mentioned, this mini-genre seems kind of Bloodhound Gang–adjacent
― Bunheads Pilot Enthusiast (morrisp), Wednesday, 29 June 2022 06:06 (one year ago) link
i remember "shaniqua" but it seemed like one of those songs you would only encounter on mtv and nowhere else
― dyl, Wednesday, 29 June 2022 06:26 (one year ago) link
^^Did this start with Beck, or G.Love, or even Sublime?Seems like the biggest hits of this style were "Hooch" by Everything, "Better Days" by Citizen King, and I guess "Steal My Sunshine" by Len. Good-timey Alternative Hip Hop Rock?
yes, yes, and yes, maybe even "Summer Girls" as well. it's definitely Beastie Boys adjacent, like what if the Licensed to Ill Beasties made Hello Nasty
personally I could not get that "I've been waiting all day for that Bad Ronald" line out of my head. what does it mean
if nothing else these videos seem like they were a lot of fun to make!! always amused by the constant dancing and fist pumping regardless of what the music is doing which suggests they had no idea what the video was gonna look like when they were filming it
― frogbs, Wednesday, 29 June 2022 13:55 (one year ago) link
Oh I made a playlist a while back that I posted elsewhere on here that's very much stuff all in that vibe:https://open.spotify.com/track/1TF61rLJ7HQPgpFMHfblPA
Just added Bad Ronald in there as it fits. Shaniqua is a bit too funky and hip hop for the overall vibe of the playlist.
― MarkoP, Wednesday, 29 June 2022 15:26 (one year ago) link