5.30.2007

Just Let Her Cry, Man



Pour one out. Jeff Buckley died ten years ago today. Damn. Seems like only yesterday that "Last Goodbye" was on a commercial for MTV's Buzz Bin and I first fell in love with that song (it was the same Buzz Bin commercial as "Good" by Better Than Ezra). People can fucking say what they want, such as bullshit that Buckley's talent was mediocre at best and only gained prestige posthumously. One fucking listen to Live at Sin-E , where his haunting voice rocks your soul so painfully...just, wow. I can't say enough things.

Which brings me to hollerin at the oft-forgotten 90's alt rock. I know many of my friends were listening to punk and hardcore, but I was awash in whatever was in Sassy or on in the early morning or late at nite on MTV, because MTV played videos still and that was where you learned about music in Des Moines, Iowa, until about 1995, when 107.5 "The Dot" started playing a four-hour loop of alt-rock, no DJs, just to see if us hayseeds would actually listen to that there rock and roll. I remember Weezer's "The Sweater Song" was in heavy rotation, along with "Everything Zen" by Bush and "Lightening Crashes" by Live. This nostalgia makes me want to make a list of songs from the 90's that remind me of late middle school/early high school. It's my blog; I do what I want.

* "Possum Kingdom" The Toadies
* "Plush" STP
* "Hey Jealousy" Gin Blossoms
* "Stay" Shakespeare's Sister
* the totally classic "Stay" by Lisa Loeb and 9 Stories (shout out to Dirty Curty and Burns)
* "Cannonball" The Breeders
* "Tomorrow" Silverchair
* "Cornflake Girl" Tori Amos
* anything Smashing Pumpkins
* "Stand By You" The Pretenders
* "Linger" The Cranberries
* "Creep" Radiohead...fucking Radiohead just came with it in the 90's.
* REM's Monster
* "Under the Bridge" RHCP
* "Blister In The Sun" Violent Femmes (totally popularized by the epic My So-Called Life, along with anything by Buffalo Tom
* My very first concert experience, sans parents, was Toad the Wet Sprocket and Hootie and the Blowfish, spring break my freshman year of high school, and I have no fucking shame at all about it, because Toad rocks and had a little-person drummer at the time and it was the first time I ever smelled weed. And I thought I was a badass because I wore a tye-dyed t-shirt AND a Stussy hat. Because I was totally a skater. Or not.

Don't hate, I had many of these songs/artists on tape singles. Because I might not want the entire Lisa Loeb CD. But I do, pun completely intended for those Lisa Loeb fans out there. I bring all this nonsense up because there was a time, not so long ago, when commercial radio was good and quality and played music you wanted to listen to, that you loved to listen to. And that was 1993-1997.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

"I had many of these songs/artists on tape singles"

man. i had so many singles, not so much because i didn't want the whole album, but so i could listen to the same song easier and also so my tape collection looked larger. i was so not cool (still not cool to this day)

Olly Olly Oxen Free said...

Beautiful. The nineties, despite our inherent teenage apathy, were an important decade for me. Many good memories. And most of those involve music. Thanks for reminding me.