I was researching an album released in 2001 when I came across a list of hits from the same year. This made me curious: what provided the soundtrack to my senior year of high school. As a graduate of the class of '99, of course Prince reigned omnipresent over every house party and school dance, along with Nena's "99 Luft Balloons," a ditty about the nuclear holocaust which we sang at graduation. I'm not joking. That's just a sample of the numerically themed songs that colored my life. What about the hits that were actually released that year? Click here to see the sad state of affairs of 1999's pop charts. Was your senior year any better or worse?
(Jamie Gadette)
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These weren't hits my grad year ('03), but I swear--I won't be able to listen to Eve6's "Here's to the Night" or Filter's "Take a Picture" again without wanting to stab someone with the corner of my mortar board.
ReplyDeleteI'm old enough to tell you much worse (and most readers won't remember anyway), but we had to hear Seals and Crofts singing "We May Never Pass This Way Again" at every graduation-related event in--gulp--1975.
ReplyDeleteIve read this topic for some blogs. But I think this is more informative.
ReplyDeleteCan you figure it out based on a random sampling of my top 100? (Note that Cher was in my teeny-bopper soundtrack, too.)
ReplyDelete1. The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face, Roberta Flack
3. American Pie, Don McLean
7. Lean On Me, Bill Withers
15. My Ding-A-Ling, Chuck Berry
17. Heart Of Gold, Neil Young
28. A Horse With No Name, America
32. Nights In White Satin, Moody Blues
40. Rocket Man, Elton John
41. Rockin' Robin, Michael Jackson
44. Morning Has Broken, Cat Stevens
47. I Can See Clearly Now, Johnny Nash
48. Burning Love, Elvis Presley
60. Layla, Derek and The Dominos
62. The Way Of Love, Cher
68. Puppy Love, Donny Osmond
70. Hot Rod Lincoln, Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen
73. Anticipation, Carly Simon
76. School's Out, Alice Cooper (Jerre Wroble)
Yo. Jer.. That was too easy. Looks like we have the same year...1987, right?
ReplyDelete2. Alone Again (Naturally), Gilbert O'Sullivan
4. Without You, Nilsson
11. Let's Stay Together, Al Green
13. Oh Girl, Chi-Lites
16. If Loving You Is Wrong I Don't Want To Be Right, Luther Ingram
18. Betcha By Golly, Wow, Stylistics
21. The Lion Sleeps Tonight, Robert John
24. Long Cool Woman (In A Black Dress), Hollies
29. Everybody Plays The Fool, Main Ingredient
30. Precious And Few, Climax
39. Day Atter Day, Badfinger
50. Hold Your Head Up, Argent
55. The Happiest Girl In The Whole U.S.A., Donna Fargo
64. Sylvia's Mother, Dr. Hook and The Medicine Show
66. Coconut, Nilsson
74. Never Been To Spain, Three Dog Night
75. Kiss An Angel Good Morning, Charlie Pride
80. Family Affair, Sly and The Family Stone
81. Troglodyte, Jimmy Castor Bunch
86. Taxi, Harry Chapin
91. Roundabout, Yes
100. Pop That Thang, Isley Bros.
Well, OK:
ReplyDeleteIt was the year the B-52s released Bouncing off the Satellites, which I feel has always been underrated, except for "Summer of Love," which has always been overrated. (But: "Wig, wig, wig, wig!!!!" What's not to love?!?!)
Boys Don't Cry wanted to be a cowboy--which was funny for, like, two days--Dick Dale made a comeback, and the Pixies formed.
David Lee Roth released his solo album after some kind of star fit sundered him from Van Halen; "Eat 'Em and Smile" was widely agreed to be both a sexual innuendo and a crappy album.
Some favorites:
"Bitchin' Camaro," The Dead Milkmen
"Not My Slave," Oingo Boingo
"Hairstyles and Attitudes," Timbuk 3
"Caught Somewhere in Time," Iron Maiden
"Don't Get Me Wrong," The Pretenders
"The Queen Is Dead," The Smiths
"Battery," Metallica
"Dear God," XTC
"Once in a Lifetime," Talking Heads
Gacktabulous not-so-favorites:
"That's What Friends Are For," Dionne Warwick (Where did Burt Bacharach go wrong?)
"The Greatest Love of All," Whitney Houston (dedicated to: Whitney Houston.)
"There'll Be Sad Songs (To Make You Cry)," Billy Ocean (yes, and Billy Ocean will be sobbing into the microphone for a few more years.)
"Who's Johnny," El DeBarge (turns out Johnny was an irritating robot in love with Ally Sheedy or something; I wasn't enough of a 12-year-old to get it.)
--
Finally, I have to say, I hated Cyndi Lauper's "True Colors" at the time, but these days I'm liking it--it's kind of taken on a new meaning.