OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD
Part 1:
https://go.gale.com/ps/retrieve.do?tabI ... &inPS=true
Part 2:
https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=AONE&u=ny ... kmark-AONE
Part 3:
https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=AONE&u=ny ... kmark-AONE
Panam, if I ever meet you in person somehow, I absolutely owe you a beer. At LEAST. Thank you!! And it turned out it was from the SIXTEENTH, not the THIRTEENTH. Damn you, defunct KLF fan encyclopedia and your sixteen-year-old typos!
Mmmmmm... It's that time of the year again - chestnuts roasting on an open fire and Vulture HQ decked with boughs of holly and ringing with the sound of sleigh bells, carols and arguments about whether Neil Young's finally lost it. Two years ago it was the 100 Greatest Albums. Last year we chose the 100 Greatest Songs. Now we present 90 from the 90s, a progress report on the decade and an entirely undefinitive guide to the pop music of the past six years.
Another celebrity panel was assembled from The Times, BBC Radio 1 and the music business. What we kept at the back of our minds was the thought of a music fan who'd been exiled to Venus on December 31, 1989. These are the 90 tracks we'd play to summarise what he or she had missed - no more than one per artist or band. If you want to hear what the tunes sound like, listen to Radio 1 between 9am and 4pm on New Year's Day
(This would also seem to indicate more lists to look into, but that's another search for another day - gonna just savor this victory!)
Years listed are the ones they give.
90 | James | Sit Down | 1991
89 | Del Amitri | Always the Last to Know | 1992
88 | Annie Lennox | Why | 1992
87 | Outhere Brothers | Don't Stop (Wiggle Wiggle) | 1995
86 | Freak Power | Turn On, Tune In, Cop Out | 1993
85 | The B-52s | Love Shack | 1990
84 | The Cranberries | Linger | 1994
83 | The Orb | Perpetual Dawn | 1991
82 | Salt-N-Pepa | Let's Talk About Sex | 1991
81 | Ini Kamoze | Here Comes the Hotstepper | 1995
80 | Black Grape | In the Name of the Father | 1995
79 | Soul Asylym | Runaway Train | 1993
78 | Wet Wet Wet | Goodnight Girl | 1992
77 | Shaggy | Oh Carolina | 1993
76 | The Source feat. Candi Station | You Got the Love | 1991
75 | The Farm | All Together Now | 1990
74 | Eric Clapton | Tears in Heaven | 1992
73 | Ace of Base | All That She Wants | 1993
72 | Echobelly | Insomniac | 1994
71 | Radiohead | Creep | 1993
70 | Edwyn Collins | A Girl Like You | 1995
69 | Tasmin Archer | Sleeping Satellite | 1992
68 | Pet Shop Boys | Being Boring | 1990
67 | Kylie Minogue | Confide in Me | 1994
66 | Jamiroquai | Too Young to Die | 1993
65 | M People | Moving on Up | 1993
64 | Sting | If I Ever Lose My Faith in You | 1993
63 | Stereo MCs | Connected | 1992
62 | Paul Weller | Wild Wood | 1993
61 | Björk | Big Time Sensuality | 1993
60 | New Order | World in Motion | 1990
59 | k.d. lang | Constant Craving | 1992
58 | World Party | Message in the Box | 1990
57 | Bobby Brown | Two Can Play That Game | 1994
56 | D:Ream | Things Can Only Get Better | 1994
55 | Billy Bragg | Sexuality | 1991
54 | Bruce Springsteen | Streets of Philadelphia | 1992
53 | Adamski | Killer | 1990
52 | Boyz II Men | End of the Road | 1992
51 | Elastica | Stutter | 1993
50 | The Cure | Friday I'm in Love | 1992
49 | Céline Dion | Think Twice | 1994
48 | Enigma | Sadness (Part 1) | 1990
47 | The Grid | Swamp Thing | 1994
46 | 2 Unlimited | No Limit | 1993
45 | Mariah Carey | Without You | 1994
44 | The KLF | Justified and Ancient (Stand by the Jams) | 1991 [thank you, you crazy-ass song, for getting me here]
43 | Deee-Lite | Groove is in the Heart | 1990
42 | Shabba Ranks | Mr. Loverman | 1992
41 | Suede | Animal Nitrate | 1993
40 | Sheryl Crow | All I Wanna Do | 1994
39 | Right Said Fred | I'm Too Sexy | 1991
38 | Erasure | Blue Savannah | 1990
37 | Snap! | The Power | 1990
36 | Michael Jackson | You Are Not Alone | 1995
35 | Des'ree | You Gotta Be | 1994
34 | Meat Loaf | I Would Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That) | 1993
33 | Bon Jovi | Keep the Faith | 1992
32 | Massive Attack | Unfinished Sympathy | 1991
31 | Primal Scream | Movin' on Up | 1992
30 | Lightning Seeds | The Life of Riley | 1992
29 | Shakespear's Sister | Stay | 1992
28 | Whitney Houston | I Will Always Love You | 1992
27 | Seal | Crazy | 1990
26 | Reel 2 Real feat. Mad Stuntman | I Like to Move It | 1994
25 | The Prodigy | Everybody in the Place | 1992
24 | Crowded House | Weather with You | 1992
23 | Prince | The Most Beautiful Girl in the World | 1994 [I love how this is in the midst of his "The Artist Formerly Known As..." phase]
22 | EMF | Unbelievable | 1990
21 | Arrested Development | Mr. Wendal | 1993
20 | Supergrass | Alright | 1995
19 | Coolio feat. L.V. | Gangsta's Paradise | 1995 [they have to explain what the word "homies" means and they misspell it...]
18 | Sinéad O'Connor | Nothing Compares 2 U | 1990
17 | The Beautiful South | A Little Time | 1990
16 | East 17 | Stay Another Day | 1994
15 | Portishead | Glory Box | 1995
14 | Madonna | Justify My Love | 1990
13 | Bryan Adams | (Everything I Do) I Do It for You | 1991
12 | Warren G feat. Nate Dogg | Regulate | 1994
11 | Simply Red | Fairground | 1995
10 | U2 | One | 1992
9 | The Shamen | Ebeneezer Goode | 1992
8 | Youssou N'Dour feat. Neneh Cherry | 7 Seconds | 1994
7 | Take That | Back for Good | 1995
6 | DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince | Boom! Shake the Room | 1993
5 | R.E.M. | Losing My Religion | 1991
4 | Blur | Girls and Boys | 1995
3 | Oasis | Live Forever | 1994
2 | Nirvana | Smells Like Teen Spirit | 1991
1 | Pulp | Common People | 1995
The most interesting thing here is that while that top five still seems pretty sensible, given how three of the top five are among the top five of the '90s on AM (the other two being "Unfinished Sympathy," which came lower, and "Bitter Sweet Symphony," which wouldn't be released for another two years; plus, the other two in the Times' top five still rank very high on AM), there are some really left-field picks as well. I'm not overly shocked at the lack of representation for American hip-hop in a British newspaper in the mid-90s, but I AM surprised at which songs they picked and how high up they were. By 1995; 2Pac, Dr. Dre, Nas, A Tribe Called Quest, Wu-Tang Clan and its individual members, and Biggie Smalls had all dropped career-defining albums that I'm pretty sure were huge hits on both sides of the pond. But not a one of them features here, while "Mr. Wendal" brushes the top 20 and the Fresh Prince is sixth (although, to be fair, "Boom! Shake the Room" is a great fucking song). Not much for American alternative/grunge either besides the most obvious stuff; Nirvana is the only major grunge act featured here and the other alternative acts included were already pretty well-established in the UK (R.E.M. in particular). No real metal, not even Metallica. But whatever. I like how much dance music is represented.
Overall. it's a fascinating time capsule, especially since some of the artists here hadn't even put out their career-defining work yet (Radiohead, for one big example) and some of the defining artists and songs were also still on the horizon. I might look up some more from the Times now that I have this awesome resource (again, thank you Panam!) but this is one of my proudest list-finding moments in all my time on AM.