Nineties Blogfest: 1990

Day 1 of the Nineties Blogfest--Go!

Top Billboard song this week in 1990: George Michael: Praying for Time

(LOVED this song--and George Michael)



image: Amazon.com

 Given I was a kid in 1990, I wasn't exactly listening to cool music. I'm talking Paula Abdul, Wilson Phillips, MC Hammer (Please Hammer, Don't Hurt Em!) and Roxette--all the radio flavors of the day (which I still have the cassette tapes boxed up in a closet). I do still have a place in my heart for Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation, which I just learned was the best-selling album of all of 1990, although it came out the year before. This was truly Janet's prime with her military-inspired look and meticulously choreographed video for the title track. "Miss You Much" is still the only song I've sang by myself at karaoke.

I was also a bit obsessed with Madonna at the time. The Immaculate Collection came out in 1990 and I think I listened to that on cassette far into the days when everything else I had was on CD. It's a great retrospective.

And how can I forget Nelson: the blond pop-metal brothers. My mother always reminded me they were the sons of Ricky Nelson from the 50s-60s sitcom Ozzie & Harriett. Nelson was my first rock concert. I saw them at the county fair (you know, see your friend show her horse, go to the 4-H barn, then head to Nelson in your dirty jeans and boots). I recently heard these guys on a talk radio show where they reminisced about coming home from their world tour around 1991 or so, and their record label told them they were already dead; labelmates Nirvana was the next thing and nobody cared about glossy hair rock. It was true, Nelson was a few years too late to enjoy their own success. That had to suck for them.

Here are some noteworthy albums released in 1990 which I was not yet cool enough to have found. In a few more years, once I started reading SPIN and Rolling Stone, I would catch up on some back catalog:

Ride: Nowhere

I still love this album. They're a UK band part of the shoegaze movement--an effect-heavy alternative rock offshoot. Ride blended pretty, atmospheric sound to their rock, most notable in "Dreams Burn Down," although "Vapour Trail" is pretty great, too. I will warn you now: I was pretty obsessed with UK rock throughout the 90s.





Cocteau Twins: Heaven or Las Vegas

Another UK band, probably bigger in the '80s than the '90s, and this is by far (IMO) their most pop-accessible. I'm a fan of atmospheric distortion as noted earlier, and Liz Fraser's warbled lyrics delighted me even more so. On this album, she seems to sing actual words more often, but the dreamy effect is still there.

This is reminding me: I should import all this to my ipod for a custom 90s mix!




Other albums of note: Sonic Youth: Goo, Morrissey: Bona Drag, Depeche Mode: Violator--all music I'd eventually get to in a few years.

1990 TV Factoids: MTV debuted the Unplugged acoustic series; Twin Peaks aired its first season of a two-season run; the original Parenthood TV series came out--not nearly as successful as the current edition; and ... Cop Rock. If only Joel McHale and The Soup were around in the (short) days of Cop Rock.

This blogfest is hosted by Dave Wrote This. Please share any related '90s nostalgia in the comments!

Tomorrow: 1991 and the band that changed the game: Nirvana.