50 Memorable Songs Of The Late 1990s That Apparently Only You Remember, Even Though They Were Totally On The Radio And Stuff

John Squire, that is.

"Love Is The Law" actually racked up some decent Alt-Rock airplay for a month or so that summer. This follow-up, while having a much splashier video, didn't fare as well, although I do remember hearing it (alongside loads of other forgotten also-rans) on Muzaks at the time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iv3J4HTThpQ

Seahorses: "Blinded By The Sun"

yeah dyl i agree the "vanished from the internet" thing was both overstated and vaguely defined. i expect it just genuinely never occurred to the hosts to use print resources to try and narrow down the title/artist. which is kinda lame! weird that they got as far as talking to veteran radio promo people, but not to that point.

I think the issue was that the song is called "So Much Better," and those words don't actually exist in the lyrics. So if all you have is the lyrics and they're not on online anywhere, it's hard to get to the title/artist.

(But yeah, the song was out there, so it's not like it had totally vanished.)

That “Destiny” song is surprisingly good

(canceled on arrival, tho, for the f’d-up shot in which the “fat chick” twirls around and turns “hot”)

This thread has made me search for the tracklists on the Now! that’s what I call music compilations from Mexico. We only had 8 of them, but the selections we’re a tad weirder than those from US/UK. I’ve no idea what parameter they used to pick these songs since: a) some of them weren’t billboard top singles in Mexico or anywhere else? b) to the point you never really heard them on the radio, c) not even big hits on mtv that I’m aware of.

Let me point some examples after the break.

Apologies for the format, I’m copy/pasting from Discogs. Apparently the Mexican version of Now went all the way to 10, I lost track after Vol. 6 since there was a 2 year gap between 6 and 7 and they lost me. At any rate here are the 10 comps if you’re interested, some songs I can’t even recognize, overall I like the variety in every one of these.

https://www.discogs.com/es/label/1764152-Now-Thats-What-I-Call-Music!-7

Please take a look at least until Vol. 6 - which is the final volume of the 90’s - Lots of songs in there that could fit in this thread.

Ugh didn’t copy paste properly.

Anyhoo click on the link, you’ll find them there.

Ha, first one has Duran Duran's version of White Lines.

The Cranberries Free To Decide 3:52
–George Michael Fastlove 4:52
–Bryan Adams The Only Thing That Looks Good On Me Is You 3:24
–Def Leppard Slang 2:36
–Everything But The Girl Wrong 6:40
–Fool's Garden Lemon Three 3:09
–Pet Shop Boys Se A Vida É (That's The Way Life Is) 4:03
–The Cardigans Love Fool 3:15
–Larry Mullen And Adam Clayton Theme From Mission: Impossible 3:27
–Bon Jovi These Days 4:30
–Queen You Don't Fool Me 3:14
–Melissa Etheridge I Want To Come Over 5:25
–The Cure Mint Car 3:30
–Babylon Zoo Spaceman 4:00
–Pulp Disco 2000 4:32
–Sting Let Your Soul Be Your Pilot 4:29
–Shaggy Boombastic 3:47
–Gin Blossoms Follow You Down 3:45
–Roxette June Afternoon 4:11

Just copy-pasting Vol. 3 in here as an example. Vol. 3 was released in 1996 and I was 11 and it was the first cd I ever bought in my life.

Pains me to say these were actually the first songs I heard from almost every act in here... this includes “legacy” acts such as The Cure, Pet Shop Boys, Def Leppard, George Michael and even Queen.

It annoys me nowadays, but at the time, “lemon tree” was the most fun cut in here for me. I had a thing with my cousin were we would rewind the song over and over again to hear the intro and act as we were the ones shattering the glass. The Paul McCartney-esque sing along quality to it also made it a maddeningly catchy song.

Songs I loved and still do: Lovefool, Follow You Down, Disco 2000, Boombastic and Wrong.

Songs I found weird, in a bad way: Spaceman

Songs I found weird, but in a good way: Se a Vida E and Fastlove.

Songs in here I found lame and still do: Songs by Roxette, Sting, Melissa Etheridge and Bon Jovi which have dull titles I wont even type.

Xpost:

As in Grandmaster Flash’s White Lines!? I had Vol. 1 but I must have blocked that memory from my head. I feel like this is the first time I learn about this.

I need to listen to this right away. Brb

That was terrible. I must have blocked that memory from my head on purpose.

I’ve now discovered that Duran Duran has a covers record. Is it worth listening to any of it, or are the results as ghastly as that “white lines” cover?

White Lines and the parent LP are mainstays of "worse record" lists.

Seahorses are a great pick! Kinda surprised they never came up before, I've always had them in my general 90s alt-rock playlist. I believe my station played "Love is the Law" exactly twice - once for me to go "ooh what is that?" and another time for me to tape it. cool riff, lyrics were fun to sing along to at the time. now strikes me as a little bit sluggish and overstuffed.

"Blinded by the Sun" is new to me. man, what a 1997 video. i wonder how many other Britpop acts had serious attempts to market them in the US before it became obvious circa Be Here Now that the American pop audience at large wasn't actually here for the genre, just "Wonderwall" and to a lesser extent "Champagne Supernova."

Wow, I'd forgotten about "Lemon Tree!" I think that similarly got exactly one week of one play per day before getting abandoned. Would not have guessed the band hailed from Pforzheim, Baden-Württemberg. Moka, that Volume III list is otherwise a fascinating mix of pretty big, popular songs that have nonetheless faded from the collective memory ("Fastlove") and shit I've never heard of in my life from massive massive artists. Fascinating.

xp I had "Leech" by Eve 6 on a mixtape in high school. I've only maybe heard it once in the past 10 years but I probably know about half of the lyrics.

Re: Evan Olson, my first thought was that Reply All should have hit up ILM with a Song ID thread.

I listened to that podcast — it was entertaining enough, but I agree with whomever above said that the whole “call Xgau and everyone else under the sun” thing, before they suddenly “had the idea” to search Facebook, seemed like a fake out.

https://www.facebook.com/nealobermeyer/posts/10105397416710613

"When I did my study abroad in England in 97-98, there was this amazing song I would frequently hear in McDonald’s, grocery stores, etc. and none of my native English friends I was with ever knew who or what it was. In the ensuing 22 years, I’ve done everything I could think of to try to find this song — I’ve bought pretty much every Now compilation from 1995-1998 in the hopes it would be there; I’ve downloaded singles charts looking for songs I didn’t know, in the hopes that it could be uncovered that way. It wasn’t until recently, when listening to the SiriusXM 90s on 9 channel, that it occurred to me that *there are surely UK 90s web radio stations!* So the past two days, I’ve started listening to four different 90s-specific web radio stations based in the UK. While I wouldn’t expect to find this long-lost song in the first 36 hours, it is blowing my mind how all four of these stations seem committed to playing Michael Bolton’s “Love Is A Wonderful Thing” approximately once an hour.

EDIT: I initially intended this post as essentially nothing more than a shaggy dog story leading to my befuddlement at UK web radio’s fascination with Michael Bolton’s “Love Is A Wonderful Thing.” I didn’t intend it as a call for assistance, because I don’t remember enough details about the song in question to be able to realistically enlist anyone’s help. I’ll know the song when I hear it, and I really do hope to hear it again someday, but I just don’t remember enough to be able to put anyone else on the job. However, that hasn’t stopped many of you from wanting to be helpful; I think you’re most likely wasting your time, but I appreciate your desire to help solve this mystery. So in the interest of minimizing your wasted time, here’s everything I can think of that could possibly narrow it down:

1. I heard the song multiple times within the 1997-1998 academic year. The only time I can precisely pinpoint would be March of 1998, because I remember asking a friend in McDonald’s over Easter break if she knew the song (she did not).

2. This was not a well-known song; I asked multiple native British people (some English, at least one Welsh) if they knew the song as we would hear it playing (they did not). However, it was mainstream enough to be played in stores, and that’s the one thing that gives me hope I can someday find it.

3. From what I remember, I’d say the song is around 120 bpm; I’d consider it on the slow end of something that could be considered electronic dance music.

4. I would classify it as dance-pop but with a somewhat spooky sound. The best sonic connections I can draw to this would be the tempo, sparse production and soulful vocal stylings of Stardust’s “Music Sounds Better With You.” The Disclosure song “Holding On” featuring Gregory Porter also reminds me of it. When I first heard Gregory Porter’s voice, I was hopeful it was him, but he didn’t release music until 2010, so it’s not him.

5. In about five minutes last night, I put together a really quick sketch of what I remember of the vocal melody, which I shared in a few threads below. I am not going to share that here, because I think that whatever random synthesizer I chose to capture the vocal melody has set people on the wrong path. That audio clip was really just intended to capture the tempo and vocal melody line — nothing more. If you look for that audio clip in the comments below, please listen with that framing.
6. If you find it, I’ll offer you your choice of a high-five or a hug when it’s safe to do so. I need to keep the prize pretty worthless because I don’t want to entice people into wasting their time. I’ve spent 22 years on this, and I know what it sounds like!"

(Copied from a shared facebook post).
The audio clip is this, but bare in mind it's just the melody, which is male vocals

https://onedrive.live.com/?authkey=%21AIc4%2DT8gbtwUfNU&cid=48D95192749E505F&id=48D95192749E505F%2114325&parId=48D95192749E505F%21469&o=OneUp

He doesn't remember any of the lyrics?

No, guess not. I used to listen to 90s UK web radio and never heard that Michael Bolton song either

now resolved!

What was it? It sounded very vaguely familiar.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwxpMIEZ9fg

^ Roy Davis Jr ft Peven Everett - Gabriel (Live Garage Version)

I’ve been reading a book mentioned in the “Good Books About Music” thread, by the drummer of the band Semisonic, about his experiences in the music biz. (The only Semisonic song that I’ve ever been familiar with is “Closing Time,” which I’m not a fan of).

The drummer writes at length about the band’s first single, “Down in Flames,” which was chosen by the head of their label; they didn’t agree that it was a good single choice, but were advised not to question this guy’s judgment. It was pushed to radio, with very little success; MTV also buried the video, because of its prominent “fire” imagery (this was right after a kid set a fire, allegedly under the influence of Beavis and Butt-head). Anyway, it’s a pretty decent song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1BHPX0Vwto&app=desktop

This is the book, btw. I don’t super recommend it — most of the details are pretty pro forma — but it’s a good, light insomnia read.

Kinda disturbed at how a song like Jars of Clay - Flood has 5M views on youtube and Geggy Tah - Whoever You Are which is a stupid awesome song only has 288k. I thought Geggy Tah was way more popular than that.

I mean I guess Jars of Clay is popular because it has some Christian push or something but still, how does 'whoever you are' not have at least 1M views?

The second version that comes up in a search is an audio-only upload from 9 yrs. ago with 149K views. (I agree the official video upload should get more “traffic,” tho)

Wait — 149k is less than 288k. Sorry, I’m tired, hitting the sack

interesting pairing!

the christian rock thing helped the big Jars of Clay album go platinum, which already means a lot more people who would have been spinning the disc (and, maybe, *not* spinning a lot of other discs? so they really get to know and remember the songs?) in the mid-90s. i can't seem to find a sales number for geggy tah's /sacred cow/ but i'd be surprised if it even went gold. they had one single, received as an alt-novelty, which got to #16 on Modern Rock. i also feel like i've been at parties or karaoke nights where "whoever you are" gets played and a lower-than-i'd-expect percentage of millennials go "oh, THIS song!" it kinda just came and went after a few weeks, i think. i suspect even many people who bought the album didn't keep it long, as there's not a lot that really sounds like "whoever you are." anecdotally, iirc i got mine from the used bin not long after the song's heyday....

another comparison for Jars of Clay - the (sorta christian-feeling) "Counting Blue Cars" by Dishwalla, which peaked at a similar #15 on Modern Rock, but had a *much* longer presence on radio that year, and sold to non-christians who dug its soft/loud dynamics, giant hook, and bono-esque aspirations to profundity. spotify numbers:

Geggy Tah, "Whoever You Are" - 1.8 mil
Jars of Clay, "Flood" - 6.5 mil
Dishwalla, "Counting Blue Cars" - 23 mil

more surprising to me: Geggy Tah have another song, "Holly Oak," from another album, with 900k spotify listens. never heard of it, but the rest of their material is down at like 35K, so it must be on some playlist or a not-super-popular soundtrack, or something.

Doc, "Counting Blue Cars" went #15 on the Hot 100, and was #1 with a bullet on Modern Rock. It was inescapable that summer. #DishwallaTruther

I’m awake again, and clear on how numbers work.

Didn’t realize the Geggy Tah guy was such an accomplished producer.

oh oops, was misreading/misremembering. yeah CBC is objectively a much bigger hit.

Asked Siri to play "Flowers" by The New Radicals (thanks to all the NR talk going on today) and its the Apple Music algorithm selected this song to play afterwards:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xejQogXzrPw

I couldn't tell you a single other thing about Toad the Wet Sprocket--I think they may have had one or two bigger hits?--but I remember liking this one despite it not getting a whole lot of airplay. Anyway, good job Siri!

pride and joy of santa barbara california

Yeah I'm not too familiar with this one. "All I Want" and "Walk on the Ocean" are probably their best known songs, though they had a few other modest hits as well.

lol is that Monica

Friends soundtrack

I remember that one. Didn't know what the lead singer looked like - much more wholesome/clean cut look than most alternative acts.

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.

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

ah man

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 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.

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.

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.

i sang "anything but down" at karaoke the other week, went over well

arguably all of the Globe Sessions singles: "My Favorite Mistake,"

SOMEBODY is not listening to light rock stations

"my favorite mistake" was a top 10 airplay hit and tbh was probably bigger than "soak up the sun"

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.