It's all about me, me, me!

This is most unlike me - two posts in as many days? Insanity. Clearly the gale-force winds that seem to constantly inhabit my seaside town have done swept away my brains.

I'm here again because I stumbled across a great meme that I had to jump on right away. Melissa at Musings and Mutterings did this meme where you go to the Billboard charts for each year you were in high school, then list the songs that correspond to the categories of favorite at the time, actual best, worst, zeitgeist, and WTF. As a long-time music obsessive, I can so do this. Bear in mind of course that I was a small-town hipster as a high schooler, so my musical tastes generally went beyond that of the Billboard chart, but I was an equal opportunity listener as well.

1993:

Favourite at the time: Ordinary World, Duran Duran. This is the first song of Duran Duran that I was familiar with. The Dude, toothless and bent with age, still can't grasp the concept that I have no idea what he's talking about when he rants about the brilliance of "Wild Boys".

Actual best: In a year littered with brilliant songsmiths like Kriss Kross, Taylor Dayne, JOEY MOTHERFUCKING LAWRENCE, Wreckx-N-Effect, and Snow, there are just so many to choose from here in 1993. Err...Janet Jackson, "That's the Way Love Goes"? She's legitimate enough, right? Like a moth to the flame burned by the fire, my love is blind can't you see my desire? I didn't even need to google that. Sad. Also, I know that Jennifer Lopez is in that video as a dancer. Dork.

Worst: Again, so many to choose from. I'm going to have to go with Knockin' Da Boots by H-Town. Don't worry yourselves knockin' the boots, knock da boots. It will make all the difference.

Zeitgeist: Nothing says early 1990s chart music than cheesy, lamer-than-lame R & B (see Knockin' Da Boots, above). To wit: Jodeci, Boyz II Men, Peabo Bryson. You get the point. My vote for this goes to Tony! Toni! Tone!, "If I Had No Loot".

WTF: I have to bring this up again - Joey Lawrence, "Nothin' My Love Can't Fix". Amazing that repeatedly saying "Whoa" on Blossom can lead to a pop video full of breakdancing and neon colours.


1994:

Favourite at the time: This is a hard one. I'm choosing between "Shoop", Salt-N-Pepa, "Because the Night", 10000 Maniacs, "Here Comes the Hotstepper", Ine Kimoze, and {{cough}} "U.N.I.T.Y.", Queen Latifah. Right, I'm just going to do it. U.N.I.T.Y. it is. I have fond memories of being 15 and thinking I was badass for singing along the line, "who you callin' a bitch?" The answer - no one.

Actual best: The 90s were hard, maaaaannn...Beck's "Loser" is probably the song on the list from the most hip artist, as it were, but I hate that song with a passion. Beck is a Scientologist, so for that alone I'll pick something else - "Streets of Philadelphia", Bruce Springsteen. "Philadelphia" made me cry like no movie before it, so I would even get teary watching the video. One would have a strong argument if they were to say it might have been more of a result of being forced to watch a whole video full of images of Philadelphia.

Worst: It appears 1994 was the year of Ace of Base, so this is easy. Of the three or four that came out that year, I'll choose "The Sign". I can't even listen to this song while I'm matching it up with the link on here. Ew.

Zeitgeist: "Stay (I Missed You)", Lisa Loeb. This song makes me think of lusting after cute boys and reading Sassy magazine. Oh, those were the days...

WTF: "Whoomp, There it Is", Tag Team. There what is? Regardless, I'm sure I got down a bit to this song back in the day.

1995:

Favourite: "Carnival", Natalie Merchant. I loved, loved, loved the Tigerlily album. I listened to it obsessively, that is, until my crazy mother ripped it out of my stereo and stomped on it because I hadn't cleaned the bathroom. She liked Natalie/10,000 Maniacs too, but I guess her insanity trumped her feelings for the music of Ms Merchant.

Actual Best: I don't want to make this boring, so rather than picking "Carnival" again, I'll pick "Strong Enough" by Sheryl Crow. I feel I should say I hate every other song of hers that I've heard, and "All I Wanna Do" makes me want to stick knives in my eardrums, but I still like this one.

Worst: "I Believe", Blessid Union of Souls. No, that's not a typo - they are indeed called "Blessid" Union of Souls. There was a lot of shite music in 1995, yet this song still manages to be the worst in my opinion. It's so whiny I just want to kill them.

Zeitgeist: "Run-Around", Blues Traveller. This song has always made me happy. Good times.

WTF: It wasn't going to go to anyone else than "Short Dick Man", 20 Fingers feat. Gillette. WTF, indeed.


1996:

Favourite: "Wonder", Natalie Merchant. Yeah, ok, I really liked her! Sorry. Where is Natalie these days anyway?

Actual best: We'll go with "Wonderwall", Oasis. One of our early dates saw The Dude and I going to an Oasis/Manic Street Preachers/Screaming Trees concert, so this song is rather important to me. I remember I was wearing size 3/4 jeans, a gorgeous pair of wooden shoes with a carved heel, and a lovely vintage shirt that wouldn't contain even one of my boobs these days. Attending concert with man who was eventually to become my husband + wearing clothing for tiny people = fine memories in the very, very distant past.

Worst: I am teetering between Blackstreet's "No Diggity" and LL Cool J's "Doin' It". Verdict - "No Diggity". It's fun to occasionally sing "No Diggity" to yourself though, for that retro, radio-friendly shit hip hop vibe.

Zeitgeist: "Ironic", Alanis Morrissette. Ok, lack of irony within the situations stated as being ironic in the song aside, you know you liked Alanis when she first came onto the scene (You Oughta Know). You too were shocked when she talked of going down on someone in a theatre. Hopefully, you weren't like this naive child who actually thought, "Go down whe----oooooohhhh..."

WTF: "Macarena", Los Del Rio. I never did, nor shall I ever, dance the Macarena. I would rather plaster our car with a million "Baby on Board" signs, so that shows you I'm serious. Also, I'm not line dancing to "Achy Breaky Heart".

So there you have it. Don't make me look all stupid by not participating. I know my music-related posts have about as much fanfare as the sinking of the Titanic, but play along just the once, will you?