The Top 20 - 90's

The other day I spent about three hours watching VH1's "100 Greatest Songs of the 90's". I got to see the Top 60, which actually was like a big nostalgia sandwich. I listened to songs I haven't heard in years and I got to hear some of the ones that I hadn't been aware of before. It was a nice way to spend a sick day at home. Some old music, some of which was good, some of which was bad. Luckily I wasn't paying too much attention to some of the bad stuff but now I've been listening to music from the countdown for the last few days and it's been putting me in a good mood. Now I've got 90's songs stuck in my head and I've been realizing just how much music has changed since then. When I was younger, I wasn't all that interested in most of these bands and singers and music groups and rappers and for the most part I'm still not, but I think I'd prefer their music over most of the stuff coming out these days. Here, I'll put up the Top 20 from that countdown.

1. Nirvana - "Smells Like Teen Spirit"
2. U2 - "One"
3. Backstreet Boys - "I Want It That Way"
4. Whitney Houston - "I Will Always Love You"
5. Madonna - "Vogue"
6. Sir Mix-A-Lot - "Baby Got Back"
7. Britney Spears - "...Baby One More Time"
8. TLC - "Waterfalls"
9. R.E.M. - "Losing My Religion"
10. Sinéad O'Connor - "Nothing Compares 2 U"
11. Pearl Jam - "Jeremy"
12. Alanis Morissette - "You Oughta Know"
13. Dr. Dre (featuring Snoop Doggy Dogg) - "Nuthin' But A "G" Thang"
14. Mariah Carey - "Vision Of Love"
15. Red Hot Chili Peppers - "Under The Bridge"
16. MC Hammer - "U Can't Touch This"
17. Destiny's Child - "Say My Name"
18. Metallica - "Enter Sandman"
19. Beastie Boys - "Sabotage"
20. Hanson - "MMMBop"

Just look at that list. What's happened to most of these music acts? Nirvana and TLC both lost members to sudden deaths,  a shotgun blast and a car crash respectively. That ended those groups. U2 is still attempting to save the world but I don't think many people pay attention anymore. Backstreet Boys lost a guy, I think, and are somehow surviving as the last boy band of the 90s. Whitney Houston....she's doing...something, I think. I know she got divorced but that's about it. Madonna hasn't done anything noteworthy for a few years besides adopting a kid. Sir Mix-A-Lot is producing music and doing those VH1 countdowns. Britney Spears..well...we all know what happened there. R.E.M. is still touring. Sinéad O'Connor tore up a picture of the pope and became a priest. Pearl Jam is still out there but...I mean...I don't know, it's Pearl Jam. Not a fan. Alanis Morissette is still making music as far as I know. Dr. Dre popped out people like Eminem, Snoop Dogg, and 50 Cent. Mariah Carey had a breakdown at one point and disappeared for a little while but she's still making music. The Red Hot Chili Peppers just lost John Frusciante and I know that him and Anthony Kiedis were struggling with heroin addictions for a while. They're also still making music with their new guitarist, Josh Klinghoffer. Hammer went bankrupt and now he's got a tv show or a company or something to get his money back. Destiny's Child broke up a while after "Say My Name" and now Beyonce is the one people know the best. Metallica is still the same group of douchebags they were before, they're just older now. Beastie Boys are old white guys that are still rapping. I never liked them that much but they're still going, and being one of the longest running hip-hop groups for starting in 1981, that's pretty damn good. And then there's Hanson. They're all older now and have wives and kids but they still tour and make music. Thankfully it's not as high pitched as it used to.

Now here's a way to look at music these days. Hanson has been replaced by the Jonas Brothers. Britney Spears has been replaced by Miley Cyrus. I would come up with replacements for the others but frankly, these two are the most obvious. I don't know if it would be a coincidence that these two are "popular" and they're also pretty much Disney-backed groups. It makes me sick to see something like that, and at the same time, I try to ignore it. I've got my own music to listen to and enjoy but I have heard some of the songs put out by those two. It just kind of happened, mostly because of The Soup and various commercials. The thing is, it makes me sad to know that the songs in this Top 20 were pretty much some of the last partially decent songs in mainstream music when you think of what actually controls the airwaves now. 


This is just a big block of my opinions, of course, and there are 80 other songs and I'm tempted to make posts about each set of 20 just to see what all has changed and what's going on with those groups now. I'm not going to go into a lot of research, I'll just use what I've heard and read. It's what I did up there on that big block of the lazy "Where Are They Now?" type of section. 


This has been Bassty Time.