The guidelines, reasoning, and 50 rejects are in the post below this one.
There is no use in blabbering on and on, so let’s get to it…
100. Wesley Willis – "O.J. Simpson" (1995)
from Wesley Willis
You know how some lists start off with a not-so-serious pick just to grab attention and get things started? Yeah, me neither.
But seriously, Wesley Willis was one of those artists that you either loved or hated. He was a diagnosed schizophrenic who made his “demons” go away by playing music on his Casio keyboard. The music itself isn’t anything to write home about as it is usually just the demo track (with variations here and there) from the keyboard. But the lyrics are downright hilarious and with “O.J. Simpson” Wesley said what I’d like to think many people discussing the trial on TV wanted to say: “He is a fucking asshole. OJ Simpson had no business killing Nicole and her friend, Ronald Goldman.” Rest in peace, you magnificent bastard.
Note: Wesley actually made a few videos, but not for this song. This video is a fan-made tribute that I think Wesley might have appreciated.
99. Dave Matthews Band – "Crash Into Me" (1996)
From Crash
Okay, I’ll come clean here. I really don’t care for Dave Matthews or his band. I didn’t even want this song on the list or any song of his for that matter (though “Ants Marching” isn’t the worst song in the world). I put him at #99 so I could rant a little bit about how much I hate him and how much college students seem to adore him. They think he’s “amazing” – and if I hear “amazing” describe another band I’m going to punch a baby. I don’t get it. This song might be an example of his appeal as it is romantic without being completely sappy, and I suppose it would put an impressionable freshman “in the mood” as they say. But whatever, if we’re talking sex songs I’d rather get down to NIN’s “Closer” or White Zombie’s cover of “I’m Your Boogieman.” Either way I wouldn’t mind if DMB never made another album ever again.
98. Primitive Radio Gods – "Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth With Money in My Hand" (1996)
From Rocket
Hey look at that, unwieldy titles before garbage like Fall Out Boy and Panic at the Disco became popular! This song was (obviously) a one-hit wonder and in my humble opinion never really distanced itself from the mopey, droning mellow rock that was mildly popular at the time. One point of interest might be that the hook in the song is not supplied by a guitar but by a sample of B.B. King singing a classically clichéd blues line: “I been downhearted baby / Ever since the day you left me”
96. Mazzy Star – "Fade Into You" (1993)
From the Dangerous Minds sounrtrack
We all had our gangsta phase in middle school, and Coolio’s contribution to the Dangerous Minds soundtrack may have either begun it or ended it depending on how old you were when this song came out. As a testament to its lack of staying power, I don’t remember much about this song other than Coolio had crazy hair in the video and that “Weird Al” made a parody (which is later on this list) that was superior in nearly every single way.
94. Rammstein - "Du Hast" (1998)
From Sennsucht
How do you explain the popularity of a German-singing industrial band in
93. Limp Bizkit - "Faith" (1997)
From Three Dollar Bill Ya'll
Did we ever take Fred Durst seriously? I don’t honestly remember. However, this cover of a George Michael song wasn’t too horrible and it put one of rap-metal’s most annoying bands on the map. (Disclosure: I own a few of their cd’s and not all their songs are bad… but most of them are.) On a personal note, a bar in Whitewater – where I went to college – used to play this song on the dance floor… except the DJ would mix in parts of the George Michael version when the song got heavy, which turned into an unlistenable mess. Thanks a lot, ass pipe.
From Tragic Kingdom
When did Gwen Stefani go crazy and start making bad music? It certainly wasn’t with 1996’s
91. Dandy Warhols – "Not if You Were the Last Junkie on Earth" (1997)
From The Dandy Warhols Come Down
It’s hard to put a finger on exactly what the Dandy Warhols sound like, other than to say it’s pop music for hipsters. “Junkie” may be their only radio hit to date, though how a video that featured dancing syringes didn’t get bigger and launch the band into super-stardom I’ll never know. For further Dandys goodness, look for “We Used to Be Friends” or “Godless.”
from Resident Alien
“In the Meantime” wasn’t even on my radar until a friend alerted me to it. Since I had the ranking all finished up, I wasn’t going to put it on until I realized that I had a song listed twice. So Spacehog’s one and only hit is like the red-headed stepchild of the list. It’s really not a bad song at all but at the same time it’s not all that special. Brit-pop always seems to have that effect on me.
89. The Flaming Lips – "She Don’t Use Jelly" (1993)
from Transmissions from the Satellite Heart
The Flaming Lips are favorites of the indie crowd, I think, because they’re just so weird. Their sound – and I’m completely making this genre up – is something like post-modern psychedelia. “She Don’t Use Jelly,” however, is more of a straightforward rocker despite the goofy lyrics. I put the live version of the song below because I was hoping Wayne Coyne (vocals) would be jumping around in a bunny suit, or that there would be gigantic beach balls floating around the venue… but no such luck. Oh well. “She Don’t Use Jelly” is a good, lighthearted song that counters nicely to a lot of the seriousness of the 1990’s.
88. Primus – "Wynona’s Big Brown Beaver" (1995)
from Tales from the Punchbowl
From one weird-ass band to another weird-ass band, Primus checks in here with a song that really might be about a pet beaver, not Winona Rider as some people speculated when the song came out. Easily their biggest single ever, “Wynona” was also nominated for a Grammy.
87. The Breeders – "Cannonball" (1993)
from Last Splash
Hooray for chick rock! Pixies bassist Kim Deal was unhappy with her input in the band, so she started her own. The Breeders never really amounted to anything much, but “Cannonball” was a pretty good single and represents their only commercial success to date. Also, the bass line at the beginning is pretty cool.
86. Cypress Hill – "Insane in the Brain" (1993)
from Black Sunday
Does anyone know any other words to this song besides “insane in the membrane, INSANE, GOT NO BRAIN!”? In what is the first of many Beavis and Butt-head references on this list, I can remember them watching this video and Beavis singing it like a dumbass. It was awesome.
85. Sublime – "Date Rape" (1992)
from 40 oz. to Freedom
Date rape in real life = not funny. “Date Rape” video with Ron Jeremy as a judge = comedy gold. The song features a moral lesson, “It does not pay to be drunk and horny,” but also has the extremely darkly funny line: “Come on baby don’t be afraid / If it wasn’t for date rape I’d never get laid!”
84. Filter – "Hey Man, Nice Shot" (1995)
from Short Bus
It’s getting harder and harder to come up with some lines about each song. It’s weird, because I liked these songs then and continue to listen to them now… but there’s really nothing left to say about them.
The only thing interesting about the song is not its music or its lyrics – neither is particularly bad, mind you – but what the song may be about. I heard at first that it was about Kurt Cobain’s suicide. Another rumor is that it was about Budd Dwyer’s on-air suicide. And then I swear to God I heard some Milwaukee DJ say it was about the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand. So there’s that. And one other tidbit that I didn’t know about Filter is that, according to Wikipedia, the band was formed in
from Eight Arms to Hold You
Hooray for chick rock, part 2! *semi-screechy voice* Leave me (riff) right here! (riff) I don’t wanna go!” That’s the part I remember most from the song, and the part that will now get stuck in your head. “Volcano Girls” wasn’t actually Veruca Salt’s – who were named after the character of the same name in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – first hit. That honor would go to “Seether,” which may or may not be the source of that band’s name.
82. Collective Soul – "Where the River Flows" (1995)
from Collective Soul
If there was a case for Collective Soul to be excluded from the top 100 list, it’s that my dad once liked Collective Soul. True story. Anyways, VH1’s list featured “Shine,” the first hit by Collective Soul. While not a bad song, I think the singles from their self-titled cd were better. “River” had some crunchy guitars and a catchy chorus, and that’s about it. That may not sound like a whole lot, but it gained the band some modest success in the 90’s, and they’re still around today.
81. Cowboy Mouth – "Jenny Says" (1996)
from Are You With Me?
“Jenny Says” is one of my favorite one-hit wonders of the 90’s. It had a catchy beat and lyrics about being controlled by a woman, both supplied by drummer/vocalist Fred LeBlanc. Even though “Jenny Says” was their only radio hit, Cowboy Mouth apparently has a cult following and their live shows are supposed to rock. I’ve never seen them (they’re actually at Summerfest a lot), but if the video below is any indication the show, at the very least, looks like a hell of a lot of fun.
If this grouping is any indication of how much writing will be done for this, I’m on pace for 10,000 words. That, my friends, is ridiculous. Stay tuned for #80-61 which should be up by Monday night.
No comments:
Post a Comment