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Post by kds on Sept 10, 2021 19:05:03 GMT
Was it only 1989 that Yo! MTV Raps debuted? I would have guessed earlier ... though now that I think about it, I wouldn't have thought it could be much earlier. That certainly was a big point of interest for me at the time, along with its afternoon companion Hard 30 (or Hard 60). Rap and hard rock, that pretty much had 13-year-old me covered.
There was simply no challenging the Ray Parker Jr original Ghostbusters theme. Honestly I don't even recall the Run-DMC song at all.
You mention Bobby Brown as being on that soundtrack for Ghostbusters II. While I don't remember that, he was also HUGE that year. As noted above, he had the top-selling album. Honestly, I never got it. I hadn't been a fan of (or maybe even known?) New Edition, and didn't care about him. That hip-hop influenced R'n'B never really hit home with me, either. Rap, yes. Classic R 'n' B, yes. But somehow, never the twain shall meet... On Our Own was one of his biggest songs as I recall. The RUN DMC Ghostbusters theme plays in the movie during the obligatory "we're back in business" montage. The launch of Yo MTV Raps, coupled with rap featured prominently in a movie that whose cast (and probably target audience) was mostly white, really seemed to show that rap was a force to be reckoned with. And, it was the first of my brief rap phase, which ended at some point in early to mid 1992.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Sept 10, 2021 22:08:16 GMT
1989
The late '80s are known for hard rock and heavy metal, but a look at the year-end Billboard singles shows a preponderance of RnB, if anything. Although there are a few power ballads in there, as well as some traditional pop.
No. Title Artist(s) 1 "Look Away" Chicago 2 "My Prerogative" Bobby Brown 3 "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" Poison 4 "Straight Up" Paula Abdul 5 "Miss You Much" Janet Jackson 6 "Cold Hearted" Paula Abdul 7 "Wind Beneath My Wings" Bette Midler 8 "Girl You Know It's True" Milli Vanilli 9 "Baby, I Love Your Way/Freebird Medley" Will to Power 10 "Giving You the Best That I Got" Anita Baker 11 "Right Here Waiting" Richard Marx 12 "Waiting For a Star to Fall" Boy Meets Girl 13 "Lost in Your Eyes" Debbie Gibson 14 "Don't Wanna Lose You" Gloria Estefan 15 "Heaven" Warrant 16 "Girl I'm Gonna Miss You" Milli Vanilli 17 "The Look" Roxette 18 "She Drives Me Crazy" Fine Young Cannibals 19 "On Our Own" Bobby Brown 20 "Two Hearts" Phil Collins
In 1989, I started to DJ. I was sitting in, I guess you could call it training, with a very popular DJ. After about 15 minutes of playing music, I realized that my music collection which consisted largely of The Doors, The Beach Boys, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, and Sparks wasn't gonna cut it. And, it wasn't long before I realized that those 20 songs listed above^were the ones I had to play...and purchase. You see, I didn't own or listen to a single one of them. Oh, I knew them. Let's say that I kind of knew them. I still listened to Top 40 radio so I heard them there. And, I still watched MTV and they were featured there. So, I scrambled and hustled and borrowed records, tapes, and CDs from any sources I could locate those songs and taped them on Maxell XLIISA 90-minute cassettes. And, with that, I began a twenty-year DJing career. BTW, almost every one of those above songs were great dance songs, either fast dance or slow dance.
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Post by jk on Sept 11, 2021 12:04:14 GMT
OK, folks -- 2002! Looking through the list of albums from that year, I see I own one ( The Beginning Stages of... ~ The Polyphonic Spree) and am a big fan of another ( Lil' Beethoven ~ Sparks). As for singles, I have a soft spot for the following: "Clocks" ~ Coldplay "Lose Yourself" ~ Eminem "Dilemma" ~ Nelly ft. Kelly Rowland "Where's Your Head At" ~ Basement Jaxx "A Little Less Conversation" ~ Elvis vs. JXL "Murder On The Dancefloor" ~ Sophie Ellis-Bextor The Spree's debut is one of those albums I bought on the recommendation of a newspaper review and actually liked! From it, this is "Soldier Girl": en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Polyphonic_Spree
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Post by Kapitan on Sept 11, 2021 12:17:49 GMT
2002 is right in the midst of my return to contemporary music. Slowly I was listening to more and more bands after having spent much of the '90s on classic rock, jazz, and a few specific artists (e.g. Zappa). A young adult without much in the way of expenses, I was seeing live music multiple times a week, usually local or small-club level acts costing next to nothing but sometimes really paying off.
I'll think about specifics later, but now I'll just comment on one of jk 's bands mentioned, the Polyphonic Spree. In a lot of ways they fit right into what I was into in those days, soundwise. They also had quite a gimmick going with their weird little (well, not LITTLE) cult thing. Robes, a bazillion people ecstatically singing on stage, and the rest of it. Honestly I still find it weird.
My musical criticism of them then would sound familiar now: EDITOR, PLEASE! The songs are overlong and repetitious beyond what I can take. It's fine for A song, but not for ALL THE songs. However, it goes in with their cultish style. The idea is repetition, which is common in religious music (the singalong nature) and mantras, for example. I preferred most of all their 2007 album The Fragile Army, but that's for another year.
Also, it's worth noting one of their band members in years gone by was Annie Clark, today better known as the acclaimed St. Vincent.
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Post by B.E. on Sept 11, 2021 14:22:33 GMT
With the aid of albumoftheyear.org, I think I'll catch up on this thread. In 2002, I was still following contemporary rock music, so these are legitimate "favorites" that I listened to and enjoyed at the time (and in some cases still do today).
George Harrison's posthumous Brainwashed. I love it.
Weezer's 4th album, Maladroit. Their hardest rockin'. Rivers takes the opportunity to show off his ability to shred. This is the first album that came to mind when JK chose 2002. I listened to it last night. Still really enjoy it.
Audioslave's s/t debut album. This is the band of Rage Against The Machine with Chris Cornell. I had been a big Rage fan (who had broken up a few years prior). A pretty great rock album for the day (or any day, for that matter)! And my appreciation for Chris Cornell has only grown over the years. What a fantastic vocalist! Listening to the album right now, and really digging it.
Bruce Springsteen's The Rising. I should probably listen to this one today...
Foo Fighters' 4th album, One by One. I was a fan of theirs through this album (then my interests just shifted and I've yet to check out their subsequent albums). Though I remember liking it at the time, I don't recall much about it outside of the lead-off track "All My Life". Love that one.
Nirvana fans also got one of my favorites of theirs, "You Know You're Right", on the Greatest Hits comp released that year.
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Post by Kapitan on Sept 11, 2021 14:50:28 GMT
The new albums I recall really liking at the time included these:
Beck's Sea Change, a breakup album with a lot of acoustic guitars and strong vocals. It was hard to believe that just a few years prior, he was this thrift-shop dressed genre blending near-hip-hopper of "Loser." I didn't like Beck when I first heard him circa '94, but once I heard Mutations and Midnite Vultures, I was fully invested. Sea Change was a huge favorite for a few years.
Wilco finally released Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, which had already leaked but also famously been the subject of record company squabbles that ended up with the same label that originally dropped them signing them (to a subsidiary) for more than they'd have made in the first place. Really cool album at the time, though I'm not sure it holds up especially well. (I do still like it.)
The Streets's Original Pirate Material was a HUGE favorite at the time, a British rapper with none of the braggadocio that was so typical of rappers at the time. Hilarious album, though admittedly some of the humor for me was simply his accent and British slang. Let's push things forward, shall we?
Wondermints released Mind if We Make Love to You, which featured two songs with Brian Wilson background vocals. This was my favorite 'mints album.
Of Montreal released what what might be both their most real-band album (as opposed to Kevin Barnes fully controlling everything and just using other musicians as necessary in roles he wrote), as well as their most straight-ahead rock album, Adhils Arboretum. The band broke up shortly thereafter, Barnes being not suited to a real band. But it had one of my favorite of their tunes, the garage-rocking "Jennifer Louise."
Lastly, Tom Waits released not one but two albums on the same day, both based on music he had previously written for the theater. One, Alice was based on Lewis Carroll's obsession with a young girl (who later inspired "Alice in Wonderland") and had been produced as an opera of the same name by Robert Wilson. The other, Blood Money, was from another work by Robert Wilson, this time his musical adaption of Georg Buchner's Woyzek.
Here is a great appearance by Waits on David Letterman's show promoting the albums. As usual, Waits was very funny in the interview (which begins about three-and-a-half minutes into the video, after the performance of "All the World is Green").
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Post by jk on Sept 11, 2021 14:51:46 GMT
2002 is right in the midst of my return to contemporary music. Slowly I was listening to more and more bands after having spent much of the '90s on classic rock, jazz, and a few specific artists (e.g. Zappa). A young adult without much in the way of expenses, I was seeing live music multiple times a week, usually local or small-club level acts costing next to nothing but sometimes really paying off.
I'll think about specifics later, but now I'll just comment on one of jk 's bands mentioned, the Polyphonic Spree. In a lot of ways they fit right into what I was into in those days, soundwise. They also had quite a gimmick going with their weird little (well, not LITTLE) cult thing. Robes, a bazillion people ecstatically singing on stage, and the rest of it. Honestly I still find it weird.
My musical criticism of them then would sound familiar now: EDITOR, PLEASE! The songs are overlong and repetitious beyond what I can take. It's fine for A song, but not for ALL THE songs. However, it goes in with their cultish style. The idea is repetition, which is common in religious music (the singalong nature) and mantras, for example. I preferred most of all their 2007 album The Fragile Army, but that's for another year.
Also, it's worth noting one of their band members in years gone by was Annie Clark, today better known as the acclaimed St. Vincent.
Noted! I had no idea. Well, the visual side of the Spree holds no appeal for me at all. Nor does the one-big-happy-family vibe -- yuk! The music is quite fun though -- and very colourful. Their second album sounds at times like The Beatles doing Oklahoma. (I haven't played either in at least a decade.) The Sparks album is more to my liking these days:
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Post by Kapitan on Sept 11, 2021 15:15:30 GMT
I thought of another album I loved that year: the Flaming Lips' Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots. I wasn't a big Lips fan until The Soft Bulletin, but then this, their next album, really hit me. It was a success, too, hitting #50 here and #13 in the UK.
Honestly I often thought of the aforementioned Polyphonic Spree as a less interesting, and more aiming at some sort of spiritual bliss, version of the Lips. But that is largely based on the similar voices of the lead singers, as well as the music itself.
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Post by carllove on Sept 11, 2021 16:53:27 GMT
I thought of another album I loved that year: the Flaming Lips' Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots. I wasn't a big Lips fan until The Soft Bulletin, but then this, their next album, really hit me. It was a success, too, hitting #50 here and #13 in the UK.
Honestly I often thought of the aforementioned Polyphonic Spree as a less interesting, and more aiming at some sort of spiritual bliss, version of the Lips. But that is largely based on the similar voices of the lead singers, as well as the music itself.
Kapitan - You beat me to Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots! Nothing more fun than seeing The Flaming Lips perform “Do You Realize ??” live. Also, the final track on that album won a 2002 Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance. I remember 2002 for being the year of Eminem. I did buy a copy of The Eminem Show as well as the 8 Mile Soundtrack. Not my usual cup of tea, but I think he is talented and he puts on a good show. I saw him at Kanrocksas in 2011 and it was one of the best shows I have ever seen. I used “All My Life” for my Skydiving video soundtrack, so yes I love what The Foo Fighters did that year. I’m not a huge Coldplay fan, but A Rush of Blood to the Head is a solid effort with “The Scientist” and “Clocks”, my two favorite of their singles on it. I can’t help it, but “Work It” by Missy Elliot is a catchy song that I will always get up and dance to. My favorite Album from 2002 is the debut Audioslave. I was a big Soundgarden fan, so it was a natural progression, and that album did not disappoint. To this day, I miss Chris Cornell. Such a talent. Funny thing is, while he sounded great live, he didn’t connect with the audience the way an Eddie Vedder or Bono does. I felt that his performances were a bit disconnected from the audience. That’s why I didn’t go see Soundgarden perform on May 14, 2017 at Starlight. Four days later, he would be gone 😢
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Post by Kapitan on Sept 11, 2021 17:15:47 GMT
I can’t help it, but “Work It” by Missy Elliot is a catchy song that I will always get up and dance to. While not a huge fan, I always respected Missy Elliott. She was one of the rappers who really did the form what I consider a great favor by making it FUN again. The '90s rap scene was dominated by so much nonsense with the so-called gangsta rap trend (and the real-life consequences). Around the end of the decade and into the '00s, a few rappers returned to what I consider the real rap roots of dancing, fun, etc.
She was also a leader in videos. Her videos were amazing.
I mentioned The Streets in one of my earlier posts about this year. In some ways, he was similar as an escapist. Though he was more like what in rock would be an indie rocker than someone like Missy, who was HUGE and commercially successful. Here is one of his songs from that year/album, "Let's Push Things Forward."
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Post by B.E. on Sept 11, 2021 17:37:25 GMT
I used “All My Life” for my Skydiving video soundtrack, so yes I love what The Foo Fighters did that year. After listening to it twice this morning, it's been stuck in my head all day! By the way, this topic is really sending me back. I'm going through my concert tickets and a list I kept of every show I attended. Now, I haven't gone to many concerts, so it wasn't a hard list to maintain , but even still I'm discovering that I completely forgot about a few of them! For instance, I nearly mentioned The Vines' debut album, Highly Evolved, in my earlier post, and I'm reminded now that I also saw them live in November of 2002! Anyway, back to the Foo Fighters, I saw them perform once - at the Global Citizen Festival in Central Park in 2012. Dave mentioned during the concert that it was their last show "for a long time". I just checked. It was their last show for over 2 years. I’m not a huge Coldplay fan, but A Rush of Blood to the Head is a solid effort with “The Scientist” and “Clocks”, my two favorite of their singles on it. I am/was (barely) a casual fan of theirs. They've got some good/great stuff, no doubt. I saw them in 2005. I enjoyed the concert. And I'm reminded now that Rilo Kiley opened for them. That's a group that Kapitan might have heard of. I remember some of my bandmates circa 2002/3 liked them. In fact, their album, The Execution of All Things, was released in 2002 (I noticed it mentioned by albumoftheyear.org and it, indeed, rang a bell). I remember performing one of their songs. All I remembered was the bassline but after skipping around that album I found it - "Capturing Moods". It's a pretty darn good song, I think. It really builds. I love that line about selling your baseballs cards to pay the rent - "yeah". And the "I don't mind waiting" section/refrain is quite beautiful. My favorite Album from 2002 is the debut Audioslave. I was a big Soundgarden fan, so it was a natural progression, and that album did not disappoint. To this day, I miss Chris Cornell. Such a talent. Funny thing is, while he sounded great live, he didn’t connect with the audience the way an Eddie Vedder or Bono does. I felt that his performances were a bit disconnected from the audience. That’s why I didn’t go see Soundgarden perform on May 14, 2017 at Starlight. Four days later, he would be gone 😢 It really is a strong album! It certainly didn't disappoint.
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Post by Kapitan on Sept 11, 2021 17:44:39 GMT
Rilo Kiley: I have to admit I didn't ever get into them, but I did begin listening to Jenny Lewis a few years later, with her Rabbit Fur Coat. It's later I realized she was the singer from Rilo Kiley.
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Post by kds on Sept 11, 2021 21:41:54 GMT
I don't like Coldplay, but I have to admit, I like Clocks.
I began working in promotions for an active rock station in 2002. As I recall, the current rock scene wasn't so good. Thankfully and mercifully, the rap / rock thing that took off in the second half of the 1990s was losing steam. However, the grunge lite movement was quite popular.
Speaking of grunge, I really didn't care for the subgenre in real time. But, by 2002, I did come to appreciate Alice in Chains and Soundgarden. And 2002 saw new albums related to both.
Jerry Cantrell released his second solo album, Degredation Trip, which was pretty solid. Chris Cornell fronted Audioslave. Despite my never really liking Rage Against the Machine, I liked Audioslave. Like a Stone, I Am the Highway, and Show Me How to Live in particular were songs I love. Although, I wish the album was a little tighter than its 65 minute runtime.
Zakk Wylde's Black Label Society released their best album to date - 1919 Eternal. Although they had better albums ahead. Speaking of Wylde, it felt like guitar solos were once again welcome in modern rock.
Rush ended their hiatus with their Vapor Trails album. I think its pretty weak. Unfortunately, the lone time I saw them live was that tour, and their second set had a lot of the new (at the time) songs.
Dio released Killing the Dragon. For my money, its the best Dio album since 1987's Dream Evil. As I mentioned in the 90s thread, several artists released some subpar albums in the 1990s, just to return to form in the new century. Dio is a prime example. First with 2000's Magica which saw him ditch the attempts at contemporary styles and return to the world of fantasy he forged back in the mid 70s with Rainbow. But Killing the Dragon really felt more like classic Dio to me. Although, he did get a little contemporary, most notably on his 9/11 tribute song, Rock and Roll.
That's all I have right now. But another note of 2002. Pepsi released a soda called Pepsi Blue. I think I was the only one who liked it. And I always associated the blue raspberry drink with the summer of 2002. Well sir, Pepsi re-released it this summer. And it was nice to have a couple this summer to take me back to my early 20s, when things were a little more simple and less nasty and divisive.
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Post by jk on Sept 11, 2021 22:15:47 GMT
I don't like Coldplay, but I have to admit, I like Clocks. Same here!!
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Post by B.E. on Sept 11, 2021 23:03:18 GMT
Revisiting "Clocks" right now and it's reminding me of U2. It's got that grand, ethereal sound AND it's propulsive, driving, like some of U2's most classic songs. (The type of song that's great to drive to.)
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