The mean streets of mid-80s Toronto; no doubt the authenticity-response was triggered in my still vulnerable, malleable brain...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6zMtTQix28
― Swag Heathen (theStalePrince), Sunday, 23 October 2016 18:22 (eight years ago) link
https://youtu.be/J6zMtTQix28
― Swag Heathen (theStalePrince), Sunday, 23 October 2016 18:24 (eight years ago) link
One more try; yeah, I don't post here much...
<iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/J6zMtTQix28?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
― Swag Heathen (theStalePrince), Sunday, 23 October 2016 18:31 (eight years ago) link
Ha, yeah, I did read that there was an earlier version but foolishly didn't even bother to go look it up and listen to it.
― DOCTOR CAISNO, BYCREATIVELABBUS (Doctor Casino), Sunday, 23 October 2016 19:08 (eight years ago) link
it's not 90s, but quite possibly my least favorite song ever is Timbuk 3 - "gotta wear shades" or whatever it's called
― brimstead, Sunday, 23 October 2016 19:24 (eight years ago) link
so glad i didn't graduate high school in the late 80s
*from*
this is the best genre, are there contemporary bands reviving this sound yet?
― Warmed Regards, (Stevie D(eux)), Saturday, 2 October 2021 03:17 (three years ago) link
does U2's "Mysterious Ways" fit this?
― Warmed Regards, (Stevie D(eux)), Saturday, 2 October 2021 03:18 (three years ago) link
Redd Kross's brilliant album Third Eye meets the criteria perfectly.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ad2HWkH7FDY
― everything, Saturday, 2 October 2021 03:27 (three years ago) link
I don’t know who Bob Standard is, but good posts ITT. Also, tipsy mothra’s long post re: r&b crossover (“without pushing it too hard…”) is terrific.
― juristic person (morrisp), Saturday, 2 October 2021 03:52 (three years ago) link
Don’t think I saw the Cranberries mentioned, but their debut seems pretty obviously to fit the trend… as does R.E.M.’s Out of Time album.
― juristic person (morrisp), Saturday, 2 October 2021 03:55 (three years ago) link
(or maybe Buck’s leads aren’t huge enough?)
― juristic person (morrisp), Saturday, 2 October 2021 03:56 (three years ago) link
I guess those LPs I just mentioned were more of on the “alt” side of the spectrum, embracing the era’s bright production sounds and positive vibes but with a subtler approach and minus some of the Big Rock moves. They’re only a few degrees to the left of Spin Doctors and INXS, though.
― juristic person (morrisp), Saturday, 2 October 2021 04:02 (three years ago) link
hmmm! the guitar sound on "Mysterious Ways" definitely puts it in the ballpark, but overall the mix is maybe a little too moody and full of stuff to fully qualify. in my mind the drumming is also kind of too interesting, but i'll have to listen to it later and see if that holds up. Out of Time has the positive vibes for sure, but is missing that loud boxy rhythm guitar sound... which i now feel is essentially descended from Boston?? "Cool the Engines" in particular seems to have a few of the pieces in place, especially the very clean, empty-feeling soundscape.
― I Am Fribbulus (Xax) (Doctor Casino), Saturday, 2 October 2021 19:14 (three years ago) link
im enjoying this thread but it has to be stated that “cigarette dangles” is an incredibly terrible song with an even worse video
i wonder to what extent geggy tah slots in here. also making a connection between the rhythm guitar vibe here and the later 3eb-1975 energy
― Vapor waif (uptown churl), Saturday, 2 October 2021 21:30 (three years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAina4g3xkU
― The 25 Best Songs Ever Ranked In Order (Deflatormouse), Saturday, 2 October 2021 22:20 (three years ago) link
Haha, that was just every big pop hit from 1990 to the spring of 1992, wasn't it? Minus ballads?
― Sequel to Sadness (Sund4r), Saturday, 2 October 2021 22:24 (three years ago) link
I'm certain that's the ad Dr C refers to in the OP. I only know most of these songs from the clips in that ad.
― The 25 Best Songs Ever Ranked In Order (Deflatormouse), Saturday, 2 October 2021 22:26 (three years ago) link
Been meaning to start a thread of huge hit songs that I only know short clips of from compilation CD commercials, there are lots
― The 25 Best Songs Ever Ranked In Order (Deflatormouse), Saturday, 2 October 2021 22:27 (three years ago) link
I do remember people talking about how this deal was going to be the sound of the 1990s before Nevermind really hit. Although you can count me as one of the people who thanks Nirvana, on balance, it was definitely an interesting moment.
xp o_O I think every one of those songs are permanently burned into my brain from middle school.
― Sequel to Sadness (Sund4r), Saturday, 2 October 2021 22:29 (three years ago) link
*is
― Sequel to Sadness (Sund4r), Saturday, 2 October 2021 22:30 (three years ago) link
Something always sounded uncomfortably contrived to me about a lot of these artists, even at the time. Like it was hard for me to imagine musicians organically getting together and being like "THIS. THIS IS THE MUSIC WE FEEL THE BURNING NEED TO MAKE."
― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Sunday, 3 October 2021 02:58 (three years ago) link
lol. yeah, hard to entirely picture a band jamming around in a living room and coming up with most of these arrangements. goes back to my reading that a lot of these may be bands who walked in the door with an incompletely-formed sound, and ended up getting pressed through a very odd combination of individually industry-standard production decisions.
"Cigarette Dangles" is pretty catchy in a weird way, and kind of noteworthy as a BDSM anthem from the perspective of a submissive male (i think?). i also appreciate that the lead guy has approximately the cool-guy presence of the dude from the Encyclopedia Britannica commercials. the video, with the words flying every which way, is a SERIOUS artifact of its time, but not bad i think?
the "Living in the 90s" commercial IS a pretty good match for the mix of songs! there are a few i don't really associate with these kind of ads ("What's Up Doc?" especially). my guess for the one i was thinking of in the OP is maybe a one-disc version by the same company, or some other repackaging of the material, cause clearly it'd have to be under the same licensing deal to also have "Joyride," "Right Here Right Now," and "Unbelievable." hmmm.
oddly, while i could easily imagine a time-traveling Geggy Tah ending up on that same CD, or a viable mashup of "Whoever You Are" with the vocals from "Unbelievable," they still feel like a really different thing to me. maybe cause i owned Sacred Cow and tried valiantly to really like it. they definitely had one foot in the turn-of-the-90s, pre-grunge "college-rock" world, and some attempts at jazziness or jam-band moves.... but otherwise their sound owes a lot to the mainstream of 1996-era alt-rock and maybe Pavement. see the guitars on "Lotta Stuff" and the chorus of "Century Plant." pretty far from "Life is a Highway" i think. but Third Eye Blind is an amazing connection IMHO --- that opening guitar barrage on "Semi-Charmed Life," which I've always heard as a sort of a pop-punk or alterna-power-pop thing, is pretty clearly descended from this whole era! wow.
― I Am Fribbulus (Xax) (Doctor Casino), Sunday, 3 October 2021 15:25 (three years ago) link
“Semi-Charmed Life” and “Two Princes” are basically the same groove.
― juristic person (morrisp), Sunday, 3 October 2021 15:57 (three years ago) link
yeah, i buy that. and two big ol' hits!
― I Am Fribbulus (Xax) (Doctor Casino), Sunday, 3 October 2021 16:06 (three years ago) link
How about Savage Garden (“I Want You”) as another late-’90s example of this sound? I guess they’re basically Roxette…
― juristic person (morrisp), Sunday, 3 October 2021 16:36 (three years ago) link
Lol yeah I always get those two mixed up.
Xxp I can't believe 'Living in the 90's' isn't THE one!! It's an odd name for a comp that came out in 1995, like an in vain attempt to encapsulate the present. Most of my friends were listening to Bush and Smashing Pumpkins at the time. "Nirvanaless 90s rock history-that-might-have-been" was so OTM.
― The 25 Best Songs Ever Ranked In Order (Deflatormouse), Sunday, 3 October 2021 23:30 (three years ago) link
Like, whatever I thought "90's music" meant in 1995, it certainly wasn't that.
― The 25 Best Songs Ever Ranked In Order (Deflatormouse), Sunday, 3 October 2021 23:32 (three years ago) link
Ha, from the ad, I was assuming it was from 92, like a compilation of big recent radio hits for casual listeners.
― Sequel to Sadness (Sund4r), Sunday, 3 October 2021 23:32 (three years ago) link
I like the sight edge of irony in the otherwise straightforward ad, when they put on shades and say “…and timeless legends” (or something) for Vanilla Ice. That’s very ’90s!
― juristic person (morrisp), Sunday, 3 October 2021 23:41 (three years ago) link
I had picked up two volumes of "now that's what I call music" ca. 92-93 while visiting relatives in the UK. Those tapes are exactly what you describe, big recent radio hits indiscriminately compiled for casual listeners. This is something else. They really seem like they're trying to define an era prematurely. The music already sounded old, I def didn't realize how recent most of it was.
Xp
― The 25 Best Songs Ever Ranked In Order (Deflatormouse), Sunday, 3 October 2021 23:41 (three years ago) link
I'm PRETTY sure the CD ad I'm thinking of is indeed from circa 1992, but it's also very possible my memory's playing tricks on me at this point, I have no idea really. for all i know my brain just mushed up "Living in the 90s" with two other ads and ended up with a comp that doesn't exist.
Savage Garden is an interesting reference. If I had to connect them to an 90s compilation it would be Pure Moods, though. The guitar tone isn't a bad fit for this thread, but it's SO buried in the mix, and absent for large stretches - the propulsion is coming almost entirely from the drums, keyboards and bass. I wonder if one of the countless CD-single remixes brings the guitars more to the front.
― I Am Fribbulus (Xax) (Doctor Casino), Monday, 4 October 2021 18:33 (three years ago) link
how did we miss this onehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBZUz4C6kqk
― licorice in the front, pizza in the rear (Whiney G. Weingarten), Monday, 4 October 2021 19:05 (three years ago) link
"King of Wishful Thinking" barely has any guitar in it at all! The horns are claiming the headliner role here. Once again I recognize the stylistic adjacencies, but I worry we're at risk of drifting into a general "uncool turn-of-the-90s pop" thread.
― I Am Fribbulus (Xax) (Doctor Casino), Monday, 4 October 2021 19:35 (three years ago) link
Alannah Myles' first single, that would eventually be overshadowed by Black Velvet, would fit, right?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQOrMzBewG0
― MarkoP, Monday, 4 October 2021 20:23 (three years ago) link
wow. never heard that before. yeah totally! the chorus is definitely like, the "steamy" version of this sound. the verses sound like a Microsoft Songsmith auto-generated track, or like the "untrained schmoe attempts to restore priceless painting" version of the Talking Heads. - what a weird mix/arrangement!
― I Am Fribbulus (Xax) (Doctor Casino), Tuesday, 5 October 2021 03:20 (three years ago) link
Lots of George Clanton's stuff mines this sound. The new song is maybe too breakbeat-y to properly qualify, but the vibe is right:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLemAUhT3Yc
― J. Sam, Thursday, 7 October 2021 16:57 (three years ago) link
kinda struggling to hear it tbh. but definitely an interesting set of 90s things to revive!
― I Am Fribbulus (Xax) (Doctor Casino), Thursday, 7 October 2021 20:09 (three years ago) link
Yeah I don't hear it in the George Clanton track at all.
The closest thing I could think of as being a modern example of this would be Paramore's Ain't It Fun, but that's like 8 years old and also pulling in some other sounds as well.
― MarkoP, Thursday, 7 October 2021 20:34 (three years ago) link
Vanilla Ice has a track like this!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckFy3v4Fhr8
― frogbs, Thursday, 7 October 2021 20:36 (three years ago) link
Road to riches? More like highway to hell!
― MarkoP, Thursday, 7 October 2021 20:42 (three years ago) link
okay that's amazing. like clearly they were going for a Rick Rubin thing with "Highway to Hell" but ended up on "Life is a Highway" instead. love it.
― I Am Fribbulus (Xax) (Doctor Casino), Thursday, 7 October 2021 20:58 (three years ago) link
i guess closer to Jesus Jones with the busy, rave (?)-influenced beat... but the highway thing was just too compelling
― I Am Fribbulus (Xax) (Doctor Casino), Thursday, 7 October 2021 21:00 (three years ago) link
This was a minor hit and a recurrent grocery store classic:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pavmG-YKLM
― So who you gonna call? The martini police (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 7 October 2021 21:08 (three years ago) link
I posted about how much I liked the album in the Soda Stereo thread, but Dynamo definitely has some tracks that fit this vibe:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2miCyVySnI
― Vinnie, Thursday, 7 October 2021 23:42 (three years ago) link
What was the message of "Black or White"? I just looked up the lyrics and ... I'm confused.
― Sequel to Sadness (Sund4r), Sunday, 10 October 2021 22:20 (three years ago) link
huh, never heard of Jude Cole before, though i'd bet i probably heard that song as a child. sort of the midpoint between this genre and "roots rock" I guess? with an extra splash of VH1 crooner energy.
apparently Cole started out in Moon Martin's backing band --- limited Googling suggests he may have played on "Rolene," but not the original "Bad Case of Loving You." following his late-80s moment in the spotlight, he went on to start a record label with Kiefer Sutherland (should have named it Stubble Records), marry Michelle Pfeiffer's sister Lori, and become manager and songwriter for the band Lifehouse, although apparently he has nothing to do with their one big hit.
― I Am Fribbulus (Xax) (Doctor Casino), Tuesday, 12 October 2021 13:33 (three years ago) link
They had two big hits!
― intheblanks, Tuesday, 12 October 2021 21:10 (three years ago) link
Jude Cole was involved with the second one, per wikipedia
― intheblanks, Tuesday, 12 October 2021 21:11 (three years ago) link