an otherwise exasperating day at work today was brightened by a rousing late afternoon round of Name that 90s Song (thank you rhino records Whatever! box set), during which i was reminded of what a great song this is. despite the absurd vocal looping at the end of each chorus. seriously listen to it. they hold that note for like 16 measures. ridiculous. great song tho. -d

this was a tough one. 1 more day left in 90s week, and 196 songs left to choose from. ultimately (and obviously), i chose this one, #72. for a few reasons: one, because nothing says 90s to me like REM. two, because i love few things in this world as much as a good nightswim. and three, i don’t remember there being that much pretty music during the 90s. there was a lot of energy, a lot of anger and, towards the end, a lot of crap, but not much simple, pretty music. and sometimes, after a week of beats and bass lines, it’s nice to wind down with some simple, pretty music. -d

*plus, John Paul Jones did the string arrangement. what the…!?

funny story about #166 here. so it’s middle school, and pat broderick and i decide we’re gonna share a tent at scout camp (which neither of us have any interest in attending). in an effort to make the week bearable, we decide that one of us will be responsible for bringing a stereo w/ lots of D batteries, and the other will bring the music. wires get crossed, and we both show up to camp w/ boomboxes and batteries, and no music. other than the ‘funky divas’ tape we found in the tape slot of pat’s stereo. so that’s what we listened to. all week long. to this day, anytime i hear the word ‘prejudice’, i feel compelled to quickly tell the person that i’ve composed a tune on the subject, ask them if they would like to hear it, and then let them know that i will be singing it regardless of their response.

i don’t post much R&B here, and i hesitated for a sec on this one. but nostalgia aside, this was some pretty great music, and kinda groundbreaking too. they were the first to introduce the Motown girl group aesthetic/sound into the pop/R&B world, and their penchant for barbershoppy harmonies paved the way for a whole decade of girl and boy bands. all things considered, it’s pretty amazing how incredibly huge they got. although the fact that it was a group of 3 crazy hot supermodels (plus the other one) in outfits as tight as their harmonies probably didn’t hurt anything either. -d