90s Compilation CDs

Once upon a time, in a primitively technological world lightyears from today, we couldn't just pick and choose the songs on our albums as we pleased. There was no logging onto iTunes for .99 cents a song with the goal assembling the ultimate playlist. We did have the positively prehistoric predecessor of the mixtape, but it was a far more complex affair. To create your dream compilation required a great deal of finger dexterity to press the record and stop buttons at just the right time as they came on the radio. If you were lucky enough to own a dual cassette player, you could sometimes record from one to another, but the whole process was a bit of an ordeal.

In the time set squarely between the age of the Mix tape and the era of burnable CDs, the music industry offered us an attractive option. For the allegedly low low price of just $19.99 plus shipping and handling, we could be the proud owner of a compilation CD guaranteed to satisfy our urge for a varied playlist within a set theme. Especially before we held the power to create our our own CDs, we relied heavily on these As Seen on TV products for mix tape-style musical entertainment.



NOW! That's What I Call Music


They'd been churning these babies out for years in the UK, but we in the US weren't treated to their compilation glory until 1998. How can you say no to a product whose name is a full sentence? Well, a one-word exclamation followed by a sentence fragment. Either way, it's pretty specific.

English Virgin Records executives conceived these compilation albums as a means of squeezing further revenue out of songs already released on full albums. By reissuing a track, they could continue to make money off of already-released songs. Sounds easy enough, and the formula clearly stuck--in the UK they've reached something like NOW! 438293, though we are lagging a bit behind in the US at a mere 32 albums.

The first US album is chock-full of solid 90s pop hits, which is good or bad depending on your tolerance for cheesy, repetitive music. In my case, this was a mix tape-style gold mine. The first US NOW! featured tracks like Aqua's "Barbie Girl", KC & Jojo's "All my Life", and Hanson's "MMMBop". All in all, a pretty decent pop spread. The franchise has been pumping out album after album, year after year, each time reissuing the season's most-played pop music tracks. The commercials are irritating, sure, but seeing one now gets me a little nostalgic for the NOW!s of years gone by. Buying one featuring songs like Ke$ha's "Tik Tok" just isn't the same experience.



Pure Moods



Watching this commercial is like taking a brief stroll into the depths of my childhood subconscious. I knew it was hiding there somewhere, but it takes that "Ahhhh ay wa oh wa ay waaaah" at the beginning of that commercial to bring it to the surface. This commercial played incessantly during the 90s, though you'd be hard pressed to find someone who actually admitted to owning it. The commercial aired frequently during children and tween-directed programming, though I doubt any of our parents shelled out the $15.99 via check or money order to bring these pure, unfiltered moods to our doorstep via the United States Postal Service.

The best part is how seriously this commercial takes its product. That deep, thoughtful voice-over implies that we simply do not know how to feel if we don't kick back at the stereo with Tubular Bells Part 1 and the X-Files Theme. The only pure mood the X-Files theme ever elicited from me was fear over those freaky aliens, but this montage implies that I'll feel a nirvana-esque New Age level of contentment. I still can't go within 50 feet of an Enya song without immediately being transported back to watching the commercial in my childhood living room, waiting impatiently for Stick Stickly to return for Nick in the Afternoon. It's just that kind of powerful.



Jock Jams



In the 90s we were all about megamixing songs, and the above video is a classic example. Apparently mixing was so 80s by this time; it was all about the mega-mixing. Jock Jams captured the essence of the peppy, active nature of the 90s by giving us a bunch of beat-addled club hits conveniently packaged in a single cheerleader-splattered album. The first volume featured 90s favorite fare like C&C Music Factory's "Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)", 69 Boyz "Tootsee Roll", and Tag Team's "Whoomp! There it is". It also had some more retro but equally toe-tapping hits like the Village People's "YMCA" and Gary Glitter's "Rock and Roll Part 2." All in all, not a bad spread.

Some of the songs were sports-themed or focused on competition, but others were simply popular dance songs. In case we forgot the athletic nature of the album halfway through, our ever-helpful Jock Jams cheerleaders would chime in with some sort of a rabble-rousing chant. The series was, as the album covers proclaimed, brought to us by ESPN, so perhaps they just had to keep reminding us that we were engaging in vague act of athleticism. That was the best part about these CDs--they pumped you up and made you feel a bit Sporty Spice. Who cared that you couldn't do a single pull-up in gym class? You could do a great impression of the introductory "Let's get ready to ruuuumble!"

At the time, I don't think I knew anyone who didn't own this CD. It was just like second 90s child nature to collect piles of Jock Jams compilation CDs. It's just what we did. I'm not embarrassed to admit that some of these tracks are still in common shuffling circulation on my workout playlists. Well, I'm not that embarrassed.


I still see commercials on TV for compilation CDs from time to time, but their captivation power over me just isn't the same. There was something uniquely alluring at the time about a mix tape that came on CD. I didn't have to record it off the radio, yet it still seemed to know all of my favorite songs.

Listening to the tracks now just reminds me of how easily entertained my friends and I once were. These days we're not satisfied unless we're watching TV, playing on my computer, and talking on the phone at the same time, but in the 90s we were still susceptible to be moved by the cheesiness of Pure Moods. It's enough to make you want to go buy a copy. If you can still find one, that is.

Spice Girls

If I were to ask you to tell me what you want, what you really really want, I have a feeling most of you would instinctively issue the same reply. What more could we possibly really really want than the elusive and suspiciously made-up sounding zig-a-zig-ah? The best part is, we had no idea of the zig-a-zig-ah shaped void in our respective lives until the Spice Girls handily brought it to our attention. When you think about it, it was really a pretty thoughtful gesture.


Spice Girls - Wannabe
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The Spice Girls didn't need meaningfully discernible lyrics or a roster of musically significant songs: they built their empire largely on image and public persona. What they needed, it seemed, was a healthy dose of Girl Power, some sparkly Union Jack dresses, and a line of delicious ice-cream flavored licensed Chupa Chup lollipops. The group was a marketing phenomenon. Each member was so well branded and commidified. Young boys found them appealing, young girls wanted to be them, and everybody loved those lollipops. No, really. They were completely delicious. I could really go for one right about now.

Aside from their marketing prowess, the girls had a fair amount of talent. As with most burgeoning pop groups of the time, they were chosen not only for their looks but for their vocal ability. The Spice Girls were far from an organically formed musical group. Their path to fame was tightly managed and preconceived by a team of industry professionals. If you're questioning my sources on that one, look no further than the handy timeline on the Spice Girls' still-active homepage. That thing is a gold mine. Just look at all I learned:

1) Heart Management LTD (which is apparently a music management team and not a cardiac coaching facility as I'd originally theorized) held an open audition in London in 1993 for their newly-conceived girl group. The magazine ad they ran began with, "R U 18-23 with the ability to sing and dance? Are you streetwise, outgoing, ambitious, and dedicated?" For some reason, I just love that they threw "streetwise" in there. It really conjures an effective visual of a line of girls at the audition each armed with a switchblade.


2) For their audition numbers, Mel C sang I'm So Excited, Mel B sang The Greatest Love of All, and Victoria sang Mein Herr. Now that they mention it, I'd love to see Posh in her current severe unsmiling state break out into a showstopping rendition of the Cabaret classic. She'd have to let her hair down, if she still had any remaining length on it.

3) The site does a great manager-approved job of glossing over the booting of an earlier group member, slickly stating, "It soon became clear that Michelle doesn't fit in, so she leaves to care for her sick mum and then to go on to university. She is replaced by Emma Bunton." Don't you just love that? Because she didn't fit in, she had to run off and care for her ailing mother. Somehow, I don't think the exchange went quite like that.

4) In 1994 the girls eventually take charge of the project, citing Chris Herbert's terrible, god-awful ideas as reasoning. This guy thought they should wear matching outfits and sing cover songs. What is this, Labelle does karaoke? Well done, girls.

The gripping fact list goes on and on, I seriously recommend you check it out. Until you've completed you solo assignment, though, let's get back to basics. The girls each assumed an alter-ego performance persona, giving girls everywhere a questionable "type" to aspire to depending on their penchant for sneakers or 7-inch platform heels:



Ginger


Thusly named because of her flaming red hair, Geri Haliwell was Ginger Spice. It's rumored that she was originally christened "Sexy Spice" but the music managers were afraid it wasn't kid-friendly. You know, like micro-mini dresses and exposed knickers. Thank goodness for the swap.


Posh


You've got to wonder how many Americans were familiar with the word "posh" before Victoria Beckham (then Adams) assumed the title in her Spice Girl role. It's a pretty distinctly British concept of upper class, usually having something to do with accents and manners, though I'm sure her designer clothes helped pave the way for her title.


Baby


Emma Bunton was the youngest of the group, so she assumed the role of "Baby Spice". She was the baby-faced girly-girl of the group and because of her, I wore my hair in sky-high pigtails for years. She was the one I most aspired to be, even though the press gave her some flack for not being model thin.

Sporty



Apparently wearing a sportsbra or a track suit with an athletic-style ponytail is grounds for dubbing yourself "the sporty one". To be fair, Mel C was actually fairly athletic. She always threw in some fun gymnast moves at the shows.

Scary


Mel B was Scary Spice on account of her leopard print wardrobe, pierced tongue, and unruly hair. She was supposed to be the crazy one of the group, speaking her mind and getting in people's faces. Mel certainly proved herself as outspoken and headline-grabbing with the Maury-style paternity suit she launched on Eddie Murphy. Looks like she's still got it.


Spice Girls - Two Become One
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Catchy, isn't it? You know you want to sing along...

The Spice Girls emitted an aura of Girl Power, launching the concept into one of the most major catch phrase-inspired ideological mindsets of the decade. The concept stressed female solidarity and embracing empowerment. There arguable wasn't much substance behind the phrase, though it did give us a great sparkly slogan to pin to our backpacks.

Whatever the strength of their alleged message, the Spice Girls were irrefutably a cultural phenomenon. They quickly became the best-selling girl group of all time, moving over 40 million albums over the years. They held major influence over fashion choices for young girls, leaving many of us to classify ourselves by our wardrobes as a Sporty or a Posh. The Spice Girls also had oodles of lucrative marketing deals, including a Pepsi spokes-group gig and a host of officially licensed merchandise. If memory serves correctly, Target once had an all-Spice Girls aisle. Not too shabby.



Spice Girls - Spice Up Your Life
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Their success wasn't limited to music, though it's disputable whether they should have ventured into the feature film arena. Regardless of your feelings on Spice World, you must admit it was a spectacular financial success. For years Spice World boasted the highest-grossing debut on Super Bowl weekend. In the movie, the girls play themselves in a light comedy modeled off of the Beatles' successful films. It had all sorts of cutesy cameos and zany madcap scenarios. It's delightfully fluffy and cheesy and precisely what you'd expect from a Spice Girls movie.




Love them or hate them, there's no denying their enduring influence over a generation of young girls. Once upon a time, they were the reigning queens of Brit pop. Their recent reunion tour showcased their staying power, selling out shows all over the world. The verdict is in: we just can't get enough. So don't be embarrassed. Slip in the earbuds and blast Wannabe. You know you want to.Oh, and if you happen to know what a zig-a-zig-ah is, please enlighten me. I've been agonizing over that one for years.

90s Group Dance Crazes

The 90s were a good time to be a bad dancer. The dance music industry seemed aware of the plight of the uncoordinated and responded aptly with some incredibly detailed instructional dance songs. All you needed was a basic command of the English language and the ability to distinguish Right from Left and you were golden. It was just that easy.

From country line dancing to hip hop moves, the 90s offered us a wide range of group dancing options. Whatever your fancy, it was pretty likely you'd be hearing it at every wedding you attended in the span of the decade. There was no better surefire way to get all the wallflowers out on the dance floor than to bust out a dance they'd learned in gym class. It had a certain way of easing the tension. For the most part they just involved a step forward, back, or to the side, a turn or two, some directional changing, and voila! You were dancing.

For the most part, you couldn't pinpoint exactly where or when you learned the routine, but when the song came on your body instinctively fell into step. It's like some sort of reflex. To this day, whenever I hear the opening bars of Cotton Eye Joe, I immediately break into a complicated series of hops and turns. While this list is by no means comprehensive, here are a smattering of dance crazes that took the world by storm circa 1990-2000:



Cha Cha Slide



I heard a rumor (via infamous gossip maven and disseminator of potentially misguided information Wikipedia) that the Cha Cha Slide was actually developed for a Bally's fitness class. Since I don't have the drive or energy to verify or refute this claim, we're just going to go with that. So, it started with a fitness class. What do you know.

This one requires a bit more on the coordination side, particularly during the "Cha Cha real smooth now" interlude. We're supposed to interject our own saucy salsa moves there, but that's asking a bit much from your average line dancer. Not to mention the "Reverse! Reverse!" part. The franticness of it all is enough to send you into stress-induced palpitations.




Cotton Eye Joe


You've got to wonder what exactly was the tipping point that drove someone to consider recording this traditional Southern folk song as a knee-slappin', toe-tappin' techno single. Because when I think Southern country music, my mind immediately makes the leap to Swedish Eurodance. To be fair, the Swedish Eurodancers in question did brand themselves as Rednex, but it just doesn't add up. Luckily they provide us with enough synthesized harmonica and banjo riffs to distract us from the discrepancy.



Electric Slide


This one's been around a bit longer, but it enjoyed a fair amount of popularity in the late 80s and 90s. It's a pretty straightforward procedure, really. You do a couple of grapevines, throw in a little toe brandishing, and top it all off with some good old fashioned boogie woogie woogieing. Repeat.



Vogueing


If I can be totally honest with you, I learned how to vogue from Stephanie Tanner of Full House. That girl had some moves. Madonna's 1990 song "Vogue" helped popularize the growing dance movement, leaving club-goers everywhere to awkwardly strike pose after pose in well-timed succession. The trick was in keeping a straight, underfed model-esque face throughout the whole thing.




Achy Breaky Heart


Remember, if you will, a time before Billy Ray Cyrus was just Miley Cyrus's dad. Back in the early 90s, he was a mullet-headed one-hit wonder of a country music star. With his pop crossover success, he had even the Yankee-est among us queuing up for country line-dancing.

If you ever have a chance to check out the lyrics, you'll be treated to a comprehensive list of people Billy Ray suggests you consult regarding his achy breaky situation before alerting his heart of its impending breakage. My personal favorite is Aunt Louise. I always secretly thought she'd have been sympathetic to the dire state of his romantic life.



Tootsee Roll


The only problem with this one was figuring out what to do during the verses. The chorus was relatively instructive, but everything in between was pretty up in the air. The 69 Boyz also seem especially intent on reminding us that the dance is not the butterfly but indeed the Tootsee Roll. Thank goodness they keep bringing it up. Between mentions I start slipping into thinking it might be the butterfly I'm doing, but they set me straight in the next verse. Close one, though.



Apache (Jump On It)


I'll admit this one isn't quite as widespread as the others, but after seeing that Fresh Prince episode I was completely hooked. Carlton and Will enter an 80s dance competition to salvage their busted Vegas trip, and the results are hilarious. Really, anything that includes Carlton dancing is okay by me.



Macarena



What list of dance crazes would be complete without mention of the infamous Macarena? For no apparent reason, this catchy tune spiraled into one of the biggest dance hits of the later part of the 20th century. If you don't speak Spanish, I don't recommend the English translation of the original. It probably makes more sense in Spanish, assuming you speak no Spanish. The song has some choice moments, but I think my favorite are when Macarena gets together with her boyfriend's pals in the midst of his military swearing-in ceremony. Yes, it really is that specific. Thankfully they came up with looser translation for the English version.

The dance itself is pretty simple, which is probably why it caught on in such a big way. It doesn't matter how terrible a dancer you are, everybody can put out one hand and then the other. The butt shaking part might give you some trouble, but at that point you're just seconds away from a jump turn that'll leave you home free.



No matter how self-conscious and awkwardly adolescent you were, you could usually fake it on the dance floor thanks to these handily prechoreographed songs. When one of these came on at the school dance, it didn't matter that you couldn't do the worm or that your Running Man was decidedly subpar. You just needed to step into the well-organized lines, listen to the lyrics, and churn out a few basic steps. You may not have been able to cha cha real smooth during the free dance breaks, but you could grapevine and Charlie Brown with the best of 'em.

Infectious 90s TV Theme Songs

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I'm not saying our generation watched too much TV, but it's pretty telling that I've yet to witness someone break into, "Innnnn West Philadelphia, born and raised..." without an entire room of 20-somethings clambering to joining in. If I even overhear someone humming what sounds to be the opening bars of Rockapella's iconic Where in the World of Carmen San Diego theme, I'm wont to fill in the mid-range harmony bits from distances of up to 100 feet. True story. It may or may not have happened at the gym.*

It's almost a physiological reaction; we just can't help ourselves. Somewhere along the way, we've collected an arsenal of television theme song lyrics that are laying dormant in the darkest nether regions of our brains. We have an excellent command of the instrumental themes as well, but they fail to command the same involuntary knee-jerk reaction. Singing along to your old favorite TV intros has a way of transporting you right back onto your childhood couch, covered in Pringle crumbs, sipping on a Kool-Aid Burst. It's the magic of memory. Or maybe just a testament to the innumerable hours we all logged in front of the tube during our formative years.

Whether or not you liked the shows was almost irrelevant. Some of them were worth watching on the merit of introductory song alone. For the most part, though, they lived up to the immense promise of their catchy theme tunes. For whatever reason, they were irrepressibly memorable:



Where in the World is Carmen San Diego?



Love it or hate it, you've got to admit Rockapella did their homework. PBS commissioned the Carmen San Diego children's game show in direct response to the abysmal perfomance of American students on geography standards. Rockapella managed to squeeze almost every location on earth into their three-minute theme song, not to mention the wealth of groan-inducing puns they sprinkled throughout.

Some of these puns I'm willing to accept as legitimate jokes. You know, "We never Arkansas her steal" and that kind of thing. But at a certain point, they're really pushing it; I don't care how alluring their multi-part harmonious arrangement is, it's never okay to say, "She stole the beans from Lima." I get it, I get it, but it's not even the correct pronounciation. Rockapella did make up for their grevious pun infractions, though, by breaking it down in a major way at the end of the song. Well done, Rockapella.



The Fresh Prince of Bel Air



Expository theme songs are great the first time you tune in to a show. If you have no clue of the premise or back story, it'll fill you in pretty much right up until the events of the current episode with aits incredibly informative and detailed lyrics. In some cases, it all gets pretty tiresome after the first few viewings. In a time before DVR, there was no fast-forwarding through the credits.

Luckily, this was not the case with The Fresh Prince's theme song. We just couldn't get enough. Sometimes I'd watch the show just to see the opening credits. This one was a keeper, destined to go down forever in 90s TV theme history. So many of us worked tirelessly on memorizing this one. The furthest I ever got was to, "You're moving with your auntie and uncle in Bel Air", so I'm achingly jealous of all of you who know all of the verses by heart.



Saved By the Bell



The sheer exposure to this one was more than enough to commit it to memory. Saved By The Bell played in seemingly continuous loop in syndication throughout our youth. For awhile it seemed that we couldn't turn on the TV without flipping by an episode of SbtB. The theme song lyrics rivaled the show's subject matter in cheesiness, but both had a certain alluring quality.

This song takes a lot of liberties in fitting in syllables, working in well-pruned lines like "And the 'larm gives out a warning". Yes, you heard right. The 'larm. Alarm just wouldn't fit. It didn't really matter to us, though. So long as they kept parading attractive teen stars across our screen, we'd listen to whatever they wanted.



Salute Your Shorts



Salute Your Shorts' theme played out like a camp anthem parceled out amongst the main characters. As in any good teen sitcom, we all just assume that there are indeed other campers somewhere on the premises, though none quite as interesting and plotline-worthy as our major players. Sure, there might have been some other kids stationed at Camp Anawanna over the summer, but none quite as enthralling as Budnik or Donkey Lips.

Toilet humor is like comedic gold to children, so it's no wonder we delighted in the line, "Camp Anawanna, we hold you in our hearts/and when we think about you/it makes me wanna fart!" We all knew Ug was just a huge spoilsport for reprimanding the gang. I guess we've got to cut him a break, though. He was the almost only adult we ever saw, save for the mysterious disembodied voice of camp director Dr. Kahn. You'd probably be pretty tightly wound, too, if you were the only grown-up in a sea of teenagers for an entire summer.


Full House



Even a few bars of the jazzy "ba-ba-ba-de-ba-bop-bop" at the end is enough to jar us all back into full Full House mode, yearning once again to be raised by a zany, madcap team of ill-equipped and uncompatible male role models. The opening sequence became incredibly well known throughout the show's multi-season run. You'd be hard pressed to find someone who can't complete the line, "What ever happened to predictability? The milkman, the paper boy..." See, you're just itching to fill in the blank, aren't you?



Hey Dude



Who would have thought that a western song about working summers on a dude ranch could be so compelling? Hey Dude represented the classic era of Nickelodeon, and its signature theme song did not disappoint. Well, at least not in melody; lyrically it could have used some rethinking. It doesn't really make sense, per se (It's a little wild and a little strange? Really?) but it all adds up to a part of the show's charm. Yippee ki yi ay, lil dogie.


We may not have known it at the time, but even after all these years these themes are as recognizable and catchy as they ever were. The downside, of course, is that they'll be tumbling around in your head on spin cycle for the rest of the day, but it's a fair trade off to get to relive all of those gloriously cheesy 90s TV anthems. Or at least that's how you can justify it when the guy at the next cubicle tells you for the twelfth time to please keep it down.

*Okay, okay, it did happen at the gym. Someone's iPod was blaring it from the bank of treadmills. I couldn't resist.

90s Songs We Did Not Understand (or That Were Pretty Darn Inappropriate for Us to Like) as Children: Volume Two

Don't forget to entire the Children of the 90s Ultimate Nostalgia-Fest 2010 Giveaway! It's open until Wednesday, February 17. Click here to see rules and enter for your chance to win some fun Goosebumps, BSC, Magic Eye, Lisa Frank, Pete and Pete, and more!

Innocence is wasted on the young. As we grow older, we learn the world isn't the squeaky clean playground we grew up believing it to be. The glossy veneer cracks, and we start to see the equivalent of a caravan of ceepy windowless vans filled with lollipop-luring sickos lurking in the shadows. Things start to get real adult, real fast, and there's just no going back to the blissful ignorance of our younger days.

It's a phenomenon that occurs in every generation. Kids hear a song on the radio, they like the rhythm or the music, and suddenly they're shocking adults everywhere by parroting the X-rated lyrics in crowded, conspicuous places. Just a few weeks back I saw a little girl at the mall merrily humming to herself, eventually segueing into, "Let's have some fun/this beat is sick/I want to take a ride on your disco stick." Needless to say, her mother was less than pleased. Mama Gaga looked generally mortified as she tried to convince her sweet little kindergartener to keep that one to herself, but she should at least be comforted by the notion that her daughter didn't mean a word of it. The little girl likes Lady Gaga because she styles her hair like Minnie Mouse and she assumes Gaga's mom doesn't force her to wear pants. It's not a philosophical alignment, it's a matter of naive juvenile taste and general wardrobe envy.

Like that little girl, so many of us likely humiliated our parents by singing what we thought were our favorite songs in busy public spaces filled with their tongue-clucking judgmental peers. We didn't mean anything by it; we didn't even marginally comprehend what we were saying. In fact, in many cases we got the illicit lyrics wrong, which made the songs all the more confusing to us as we got older and tried to unwrap their elusive meanings. For the longest time, I thought the lyrics to Ludacris's "What's Your Fantasy" were "Backseat, windows up/that's the way I like my truck." I was always sort of wondering how he could drive it if he was stuck sitting in the back. Honestly, I wasn't even that young when it came out, I just couldn't understand the words. When the song comes up on my iTunes on shuffle, I realize the entire song is a full-out graphic description. How I missed that one as a kid is a testament to the ramifications of abstinence-only sex education.

We all have those "Aha!" moments when it all comes together and we wash away the sweet innocence of youth. After reading up on some of these song lyrics, I feel like I need to wash away more than that; many of them may necessitate a cold shower. Maybe you were all far more streetwise than I at a young age, but I'm willing to guess there was some level of misunderstanding somewhere along the way. At the least, they were sure to have made our parents cringe hearing us singing along to these songs on the radio.






Crash Into Me (Dave Matthews Band)



What's more romantic than a song about a peeping tom? In his appearance on VH1's Storytellers, Matthews explained the song was about a guy watching a woman through her window. Sweet, right? The lyrics weren't exactly enigmatic; it all should have been pretty clear had I not been in elementary school at the time. I mean, "Hike up your skirt a little more/and show the world to me" isn't exactly great metaphor.

On an aside, Clear Channel Communications included this song on its memorandum to radio stations regarding lyrically questionable songs in light of the September 11th attacks. Abit of a stretch, right? It would be one thing if a song titled "Crash Into Me" was written from the point of view of a building, but this seems like an unnecessarily sensitive precaution.



Touch Myself (DiVinyls)



I know, this one isn't exactly subtle, but not all of us were savvy enough to realize two and two made four. I have no idea how this one got past the censors, but I distinctly remember doing a talent show dance to this song at summer camp. To be fair, it was the year Austin Powers came out and this was one of the few CDs our bunk had on hand, but really. We saw absolutely nothing wrong with it, but someone probably should have.



Closer (Nine Inch Nails)



To be fair, the radio edits on "Closer" were pretty extensive. Most of us had no idea that we didn't understand it until we heard an uncut version of the song. Looking at it from an adult perspective, it sounds to be about a man who attempts to escape his life through sex. "I want to feel you from the inside" should probably have been a clue, but I always thought "You bring me closer to God" meant it was a religious song.



Gin and Juice (Snoop Dogg)



I'm surprised there were any words left in the song once it was cleaned up for radio play. As a kid, I was almost positive I knew all the words to this song. It was only when I started hearing it at college parties that I realized all those muted-out spots from the radio contain actual lyrics. Who knew?



I'll Make Love to You (Boyz II Men)



Perhaps it's not so much that we didn't understand this one, but the fact that it was so inappropriately played as a slow dance song at bar mitzvahs and middle school dances. Who thinks this is a good snowball song for 11-13 year olds? I can just imagine the parents or teachers on the outskirts of the dance floor, looking on in horror as we swayed arythmically to this song. At least we were still at that age where a slow dance meant maximum distance between couples with awkward ramrod straight arms. We weren't considering the meaning, we were too busy trying not to notice the unfortunate height difference between the middle school girls and boys.


She Talks to Angels (Black Crowes)



This song definitely has a melancholy feel to it, even to a less-than-perceptive kid. Still, I never gave second thought to the meaning behind it. I just thought this chick talked to angels. Very spiritual, you know? Obviously it ran a little deeper than that, examining a woman who lost a child and turned to drugs for escape. After all these years, I never put that together. It's something of a revelation. I knew the song was sad, sure, but it runs much deeper than we ever could have realized as children.


Feels So Good (Mase)

No joke, here he is performing "Feels So Good" live on All That. For kids. Yes, it's an edited version, but those are 12-year olds rocking out in the front row

I distinctly remember buying this CD single in 6th grade and singing along to it at sleepovers with my friends. Someone would belt out, "Bad, bad, bad, boy, you make me feel so gooood" and the others would chime in on backup on "You know you make me feel so good, oh, you know you make me feel so good." We were pretty naive to the actual connotations of the lyrics, so I'm glad we could never quite understand the verses. Mumbling along is a whole lot better than hearing a 12-year old rap, "I'd hit everything from Cancun to Grant's Tomb." I still do rather like that that part that goes, "Do Mase get the ladies? Yeah, Yeah." It really is pretty catchy.


What's Your Fantasy (Ludacris)



Okay, okay, this one is pushing it. It came out in 2000, so there's almost no way any of us could have missed the subject matter on this one though we might not have been totally clear on all of the graphic references. This song got all kinds of specific. I'm still not sure I understand all of it.



Pony (Ginuwine)



I think they used to play this one at our local roller rink during birthday parties. I guess I should just be relieved that they didn't use it for a couples' skate. It's pretty explicit, so it must be a testament to the innocence of my 10-year old self. I'm not sure if they bleeped any of it or what, but my research (read: Googling) indicates that the chorus goes, "If you're horny, let's do it/ride it, my pony/my saddle's waiting/come and jump on it." Is it too embarrassing to admit I really thought it was about a guy and his pony? I was still at an age where owning a pony was the ultimate goal, so it's not that off base.


There She Goes (The La's, later covered by Sixpence None the Richer)



Upon first listen, this song sounds fairly innocent. According to the La's, it's strictly PG rated, but the rumors seem pretty convincing. "There She Goes" sounds like it's about a woman, but closer inspection of the lyrics gives us reason to believe it may be about heroin use instead. You know, "...racing through my brain/pulsing through my vein/no one else can heal my pain" and all that. The La's denied the rumor, and the public might be guilty of overspeculation, but it's definitely not something we would have picked up on as kids.


Anytime, Any Place (Janet Jackson)



Looking back, I think that the PSA-style caveat at the end of the music video should have tipped us off. It said, "Any time, any place...be responsible." To a child, that means pick up your toys and don't spend all of your allowance on ice cream. How were we to know it was a cleverly incorporated safe sex campaign?



They say you can't go back, and looking as these songs now proves that all too well. It's nice to think there was once a time when all of these references had yet to corrupt our impressionable young minds. We were free to sing out as loud as we wanted without having a clue what we were saying. Adults everywhere may have been horrified to hear us spewing this filth, but most of us were none the wiser.

On This MLK Day, We Revisit Some 90s Songs that Speak to Issues of Racial Inequality...

I deliberated for a sizable chunk of time about what constituted an appropriate topic for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Sure, these heart-palpitating deliberations were conducted while watching the Golden Globes, but it was a grueling process nonetheless. Thanks to plenty of breaks for rest, Powerade, and protein bars, I was able to make it through. I appreciate your concern, though.

As you know, we love to have a good time here at Children of the 90s, but there are certain topics that probably transcend sarcasm in good taste. That brings us back to the original question: what's the proper etiquette here? As a pop culture blog that covers such groundbreaking issues as Mall Madness and Where's Waldo? books, it can be tough to make that leap to any sort of politically-minded commentary. The Children of the 90s sense of satire tends to lean more toward retired snack food than underlying divisive societal issues. Then again, based on some of the debates we've had going here in the comment section about the merits or shortcomings of Ring Pops, some topics may be more divisive than I'd initially imagined.

So while I could have pulled a moderately-proportioned cop-out move on you and just posted Michael Jackson's "Black or White" video (which I like, for the record), I decided to pull an even bigger one and post a whole bunch of 90s popular songs that reside in a similar genre. Like I said, we've had a lot of laughs here, but that doesn't mean we can't try our hand at tackling some of the big issues occasionally. Some might argue that listening to a couple of popular songs about racial inequality may not add up to "tackling" but to those critics I say, hey. Cut me a little slack here. We're still allowed to have a little fun. There's no rule that dabbling in the issues has to come at the expense of lighthearted fun. Well, actually, there might be, but we're just going to disregard that for the time being.

Black or White (Michael Jackson)

Watch Michael Jackson - Black Or White in Music | View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

Let me say right off the bat that I'm a huge Michael Jackson fan. Say what you will about the late performer's personal life, but he made more than his share of contributions to the world of pop music. Before its release, "Black or White" was described by Jackson's label as a "rock n' roll song about racial harmony," and the song delivered on that promise. Admittedly, this video isn't for everyone; it's undeniably a bit hokey, but it's over-the-top in a way consistent with Michael Jackson's style. Macaulay Culkin plays a kid who wants to blast his music, much to the chagrin of his grumpy dad played by George Wendt. George is transported to Africa, where we witness a cross-cultural celebration of dance.

The video is best known for the morphing sequence that takes place toward the end of the video, with faces gradually transitioning from one person to another. As a kid, I was pretty sure this was the coolest thing I'd ever seen, though I did have a brief fear that one day I'd look in the mirror to see my face transition through a rainbow of races.

The song isn't revolutionary in its lyrics; it's pretty general and straightforward, but it certainly makes its point. The rap part in the middle is the meatiest, lamenting "turf war on a global scale" and proclaiming "I'm not going to spend my life being a color." "Black or White" must have spoken to the general public, as the song quickly shot to number 1 on the Billboard charts.


Changes (2Pac)


Released posthumously, "Changes" was a compilation of a number of Tupac's raps. "Changes" samples Bruce Hornsby and the Range's 1986 song "The Way It Is" and expounds on many of its themes, albeit with more profanity. The song is starkly honest about many of the issues facing blacks in America, touching on many of the inherent racial inequalities in American society. The lyrics sugarcoat nothing, and give a pretty bleak outlook on the prospects of racial equality. There are some upbeat elements, though, namely the eponymous "changes" Tupac suggests we make to our lives.

On a more upbeat note of progress, it seems time has defied some of the charges in the song. "Changes" declares "We're not ready to see a black president," which suggests that maybe we've made some headway since "Changes" hit the airwaves in 1998. In late 2009, the song was in the spotlight again for its curious placement on the Vatican's official MySpace playlist. Apparently they deem "Changes" to be on par with Mozart, which is a promising sign for acceptance.


F tha Police (NWA)


Don't be fooled by the tongue-in-cheekiness of the song's title; this one really gets to the heart of the issue. The song had its share of big names in the rising rap scene, produced by Dr. Dre and featuring Ice Cube. "F*** tha Police" sets the scene in a courtroom with rappers offering inflammatory testimonials to the unequal and sometimes brutal treatment of blacks by police officers. It's incredibly volatile, even suggesting violent retaliation against the police, but it also brings to light some issues of racial profiling in law enforcement. While the song predates the Rodney King beating and subsequent LA race riots by a few years, it certainly exemplifies the high levels of tension between police and minorities.


Free Your Mind (En Vogue)


"Free Your Mind" debuted amid the race riots stemming from the Rodney King brutality incident. As the issue of racial inequities in America were coming to a head, the female R&B group released this song to highlight some of the prejudice and systemic issues. The song's lyrics aren't quite as gritty of some of the other songs on this list, but they still touched on


While this post might be a bit too flimsy to pay deserved tribute to Dr. King and the civil rights movement, the songs all highlight issues that continue to plague us. While we've arguably made some progress, there is--as the cliche so aptly tells--a lot of work to be done, not only regarding racial inequality but also all of the other inequities in our society. Until we can reach that point, though, we might just have to settle for uniting in our common love of nostalgia. If we can all enjoy reminiscing about the 90s, can't we all just get along? It seems like a logical leap.

Speaking of socially relevant issues, now seems as good a time as ever to mention the recent Haitian earthquake. Like Cher says in Clueless:

"So like, right now for example. The Haitians need to come to America. But some people are all, "What about the strain on our resources?" Well it's like when I had this garden party for my father's birthday, right? I put R.S.V.P. 'cause it was a sit-down dinner. But some people came that like did not R.S.V.P. I was like totally buggin'. I had to haul ass to the kitchen, redistribute the food, and squish in extra place settings. But by the end of the day it was, like, the more the merrier. And so if the government could just get to the kitchen, rearrange some things, we could certainly party with the Haitians. And in conclusion may I please remind you it does not say R.S.V.P. on the Statue of Liberty."

We can't always just leave it to the government, so if we could all take a little time to get to our figurative financial kitchens and rearrange some things we could certainly help out the Haitians. I know I possibly just stretched that connection a bit too far, but please consider donating to any legitimate charitable organization. If you need it, this site offers a lot in the way of helpful advice on where to direct your monetary donations.

As long as we're going to take some time to examine some problems here at home, we can definitely spare some to address those facing the international community. If you don't believe me that there's an international community, just watch that above Michael Jackson video one more time. If we can't collaborate on some sort of full-scale international dance number, the least we can do is try our best to reach out to others.

Children of the 90s One-Hit Wonder Mash-Up: 1997 Edition

1997 seems to have been an especially ripe year for love-'em-and-leave-'em treatment of popular music. A new singer or group would burst onto the scene and we'd all be captivated by their debut single, only to be let down in the coming months by a decided lack of chart-toppers from our new favorites. Don't get me wrong--some of these bands went on to make (and in some cases, even sell) more records, but for the most part, their love affair with the general public turned out to be nothing but a tawdry fling.

Whatever the reason, these songs all shot to astronomical heights before relegating their sources to obscurity. For a brief moment in time each of these groups seemed poised to be The Next Big Thing, though somehow they never ascended to that next level. While this group of one-hit wonder makers may not have grown into legendary artists, they at least have a consolatory space reserved in our respective memories. For those of you who have been reading along for awhile, you can safely anticipate that at the very least, some of these are bound to turn up on one of my humiliating suggested playlists. These artists may not have had industry staying power, but their songs will likely forever live on muzakified in grocery store aisles everywhere.

Lovefool (The Cardigans)


This song had the luck of being featured in Baz Luhrmann's updated film version of Romeo and Juliet, thus guaranteeing the song some love from teenagers everywhere. You'd be hard-pressed to find a teenage girl from the 90s who doesn't hear this song and automatically summon an image of Claire Danes and Leonardo DiCaprio locking eyes across a fish tank. It's more romantic than it sounds, take my word for it. On its own merits, "Lovefool" is almost painfully catchy in a bubblegum-pop sort of way. I suppose that could qualify as merit or demerit, depending on your take on 90s Europop.

Ooh Aah Just a Little Bit (Gina G)


Speaking of Europop, Gina G's "Ooh Aah Just a Little Bit" definitely fit the bill. It also deserves some sort of award for the longest nonsensical song title. It has a beat and you can dance to it, though, so I'm willing to overlook it.


How Bizarre (OMC)



New Zealand band OMC's "How Bizarre" quickly became a hit worldwide, though I still don't get it. If anyone understands the meaning behind this song, please feel free to drop some wisdom in the comment box. I get that the gist of it is the guys cruising in their Chevy '69, but this part kind of throws me:

Elephants and acrobats,
Lions snakes monkey
Pele speaks righteous
Sister Zina says funky

Anyone?


This is Your Night (Amber)


"This is Your Night" is not a great song, but it is a great dance song. It's hard to listen to it without at least tapping your foot a bit. And I dare you to restrain yourself from singing along with those "Da ba ba da ba da dip doppin days". It's impossible.


All for You (Sister Hazel)


I spent about 10 years of my life thinking this song was recorded by Hootie and the Blowfish, so imagine my surprise to find that it was recorded by...these other guys. Sister Hazel. It's not a bad song, though I probably wouldn't call it a good song. It capitalizes on the mind-entrapping powers of repetition and pounds that chorus into your head. I miraculously still know all the lyrics, and I never even liked the song that much in the first place. Now that's staying power.

Da' Dip (Freak Nasty)


The lyrics on this one are a bit fuzzy at best. I always heard something along the lines of, "I put my hand upon your hip and I dip, you dip, we dip........yours......mine..............." I know a quick internet search could easily fill in those ellipses with lyrics, but I'm a bit afraid to find out just what we were dancing to at Bar Mitzvah parties and middle school dances. The fact that the singer goes by "Freak Nasty" doesn't bode especially well.


Let Me Clear My Throat (DJ Kool)


That intro just gets you. It's hard not to like this song, it has an upbeat feel to it and the lyrics seem pretty innocent; it's mainly just a rap about rapping. It also taught me the expression "stop on a dime", which was pretty helpful. Plus, they cheered to it in Bring It On. How can you not like a song with those credentials?

Sunny Came Home (Shawn Colvin)


"Sunny Came Home" definitely takes our list to the melancholy and depressing. The song details the life of a repressed housewife who ends up burning down her house. Sounds fun, right? As a kid, I loved to sing along, though it did make me question whether I believed in transcendence. At the time (middle school) I was torn on the issue.


Return of the Mack (Mark Morrison)


Mark Morrison deserves some props for recording a song with almost no content whatsoever. Most of the lyrics are just filler, like "here it is" or "come on". It is catchy, though, and appropriately found its way onto my college drinking playlists. What I can I say? We're suckers for nostalgia. Jury's still out on what a "Mack" is, though.


Butterfly Kisses (Bob Carlisle)


A country music song about the love between fathers and daughters. Don't worry, it's not that country, it's all innocent. It's also incredibly, intensely cheesy.


The Freshman (Verve Pipe)


Even as a kid, you just knew this was a sad song regardless of whether you really understood the lyrics. Like Ben Folds Five's "Brick", the song was about abortion, though I certainly didn't know it at the time. I also frequently got most of the lyrics wrong. The lead singer is kind of a mumbler.

Bitch (Meredith Brooks)


It's definitely a gamble to make the title of your song mild profanity. But, like she says in the song, she's a bitch. What does she care? Screw the censoring public. Swear words for everyone!


Tubthumping (Chumbawumba)


Thought we'd end on a high note here. Tempo speaking, of course. In the history of music, words like "Chumbawumba" and "Tubthumping" generally denote a dark time.


That's all I've got for you this week, Children of the 90s. Join us next week when we discuss...some as of yet undetermined subjects. But really, they'll be good. Have a good weekend, 90s children, and feel free to throw some of these songs on your iPod playlist--they're the hearty dose of music nostalgia your ears so desperately crave.

In the Meantime, Please Enjoy this Classic Post: Jock Jams

Repost Disclaimer: Children of the Nineties is, weather permitting, in transit to much-awaited New Year's Eve celebrations. In the meantime, please enjoy a pre-scheduled classic CotN repost from earlier this year. As I only had three or four readers at the time, it's probably (okay, almost definitely) new to you.


Jock Jams



It only occurs to me now that the Jock Jams music series was in some way related to athletics in a "pump-you-up" sort of way. We all just accepted that the series was called "Jock Jams;" for years I thought it was a legitimate category of music. There was punk, top 40, rock, grunge, adult alternative, and Jock Jams.

Jock Jams was certainly unrelenting in its commitment to providing a singular type of music. Tack listings featured such non-sensically titled classics as "Whoomp! There it is!" "Boom, Boom, Boom" "Da' Dip" and "Tubthumping." Obviously, using words found in the dictionary was not a requirement for admission to Jock Jams stardom. If you could verbalize some sort of grunting sound and write a song about it, you were in. Pump-up themes were also prevalent and pervasive. The first volume featured a staggering 3 songs with the phrase "pump it up!" in their titles. There was no question this franchise was churning out upbeat tunes, as evidenced by a whopping 11 uses of the word "up" in song titles alone in the five Jock Jams albums.


These compliation CDs featured more than just music, though it was their main jock-inspiring focus. Jock Jams also included some spoken and/or chanted tracks full of strangely taunting remarks, often with vengeful undertones. These short tracks were cleverly faded into the next song, with little or no delay between tracks. Assumedly, this was to keep the jocks jamming uninterruptedly. There's nothing a jamming jock despises more than a two second pause between tracks. What sort of a bench press soundtrack would this be if lifters were forced to endure a one-second silence? How would they possibly build up the motivation to increase their muscular capacity if involuntarily subjected to quietude? How, I ask you?


Although the album covers declared the compilations to be presented by the distinctly athletic ESPN, in reality, these supposed "jock" jams were directed more at a teenybopper slash dance club crowd than their eponymous sportsmen demographic. In this sense, the spoken tracks were possibly misdirected with their vindictive themes. A bunch of 12-year olds chanting, "Hey, hey, you! Get out of our way because today is the day we will put you away!" is a tad more disconcerting and less appropriate than say, a football team delivering the same unsportmanlike message. Regardless of their out-of-placedness among the actual consumers, the spoken tracks had a certain charm to them that uniquely characterized the albums.


The most recognizable was of course the classic intro to the original Jock Jams (volume one) was the infamous boxing announcer Michael Buffer's trademarked phrase, "Let's get ready to ruuuuuumble!" Listeners were indeed, ready to rumble, possibly not in a punch-you-out fashion but at the very least in a 90s dance-club rump-shaking manner.

Jock Jams actually had listed tracks attributed to their very own Jock Jams cheerleaders, presumably those pictured on their various album covers. Though it was never made clear exactly what the prerequisites for Jock Jam cheerleaderdom were, we can only assume that the audition process required a yelling/spelling combo exam.

"Alright girls, all 28 of you have passed the shouting test, great work. Unfortunately, only 3 of you passed the spelling portion of the tryout. For those of you who spelled 'action' a-c-k-s-h-u-n, better luck next year trying out for volume 3 when we'll be asking you to incorrectly spell the word 'rowdy' with an 'i-e'." (Note: there is indeed a track on Jock Jams Volume 3 entitled "R.O.W.D.I.E". Check out the track listing for yourself if you have any remaining incredulity about the ridiculousness of these anthologies.)


These CDs included many of our favorite standard 90s upbeat tracks like the Macarena and the Space Jam theme, but also had some odd remixes thrown in for good measure. I'd been meaning to remix the Mexican Hat Dance for awhile now, but the good people at Jock Jams beat me to it. I also played around with the idea of turning "If You're Happy and You Know It" into a rockin' club jam, but again Jock Jams had clearer foresight than I. Did I mention I've always loved when they play the Chicken Dance at classy church-basement weddings...aw, come on, Jock Jams! You've got to be kidding me. That too? What won't you remix? It's obviously back to the drawing board for me.

The 1990s were famous for megamixing everything. We could never be satisfied with just mixing. Even supermixing seemed too tame for our extreme 90s music tastes. No, it was was megamix or nothing. Megamixing was the fine-tuned art of taking approximately one line from every song, in this case from a single compilation album, and mixing them into a something that even the most attention-deficit nineties child could attend to.

"We've tried mixing it...but could we megamix it? Our demographic prefers to listen to their favorite songs in snippets, people!"



I'll admit it is catchy. While the Jock Jams franchise was not creative by any means, you have to admire them for holding out all these years with their initial premise. The CDs were wildly popular and sold hundreds of thousands of copies. No 6th grade basketball tournament would be complete without a pre-game layup show set to some variation of the megamix. Jocks or not, children of the 90s reveled in the eardrum-shattering flavor of these CDs.

So go ahead, children of the 90s. Pop a Jock Jams the boombox, crack open a bottle of Surge, zip up that Starter Jacket, and get ready to rumble.

Children of the 90s Travel Mix Tape Part Two: Flight Edition

I just can't seem to stay in one place for more than a few days at a time over this holiday season. I'm flying off again, this time for a work trip. Don't worry, though: I've got you covered. I know the pain of 90s withdrawal, so I've lined up some good classic posts for the coming week. No nostalgia detox necessary. You're welcome.

As I've mentioned, my iPod is full of 90s goodies. A flight playlist is tricky, though; it requires songs that you enjoy listening that you can both a) potentially sleep through and b) resist the urge to sing along. It can be a painstaking endeavor, but I think I've got my 90s flight playlist down to a near-science. Again, I must ask you to try your best to suspend judgment. Some of these songs are notoriously uncool to admit to, but I'm willing to put my already not-so-cool reputation on the line in the name of quality nostalgia. I thank you in advance for repressing your laughter.


You Get What You Give (New Radicals)



So much for keeping promises. This song has already failed my 90s flight playlist litmus test on one count: it is pretty fun to sing along to. The only part I really know goes something like, "Fashion shoot with Beck and Hanson, Courtney Love and Marilyn Manson...(*mumbling along, pretending to know words*)...we'll kick your ass in!" Okay, okay, I guess I don't know it quite as well as I'd thought.



Bittersweet Symphony (Verve)



If you're a true 90s aficionado, you'll recognize this as the song played toward the end of Cruel Intentions. For some unknown reason, I've always had a soft spot for that movie. It's like the original Gossip Girl. I think I'm just digging myself deeper into your merciless judgment now, so I'll just cut it off there. This is a great song, though, regardless of your feelings on Cruel Intentions.


Stay (Lisa Loeb)



Very artists can boast a number one hit without even signing onto a record label. Lisa Loeb was definitely among the lucky unsigned, with her 1994 debut single "Stay (I Missed You) skyrocketing to the top Billboard spot upon its release. The song was featured in Reality Bites, which just makes it all the more 90s. And really, how can you resist Loeb's quirky charm and schoolmarmish glasses?


Linger (Cranberries)


I've loved the Cranberries ever since I heard Clueless's Elton lament hisdistress at losing his copy of the CD. True Story.


Till I Hear it From You (Gin Blossoms)



If there's one thing the 90s music scene could really dish, it was soft alt-rock. Like many of my old favorites, its nostalgic claim is tied to its placement in one of my then-favorite movies. The single was featured in Empire Records, the soundtrack to which I listened to endlessly on repeat for many of my later elementary school years. For a flight, though, I'd definitely have to pick this over "Sugar High".



Undone: The Sweater Song (Weezer)



Some of you might lament my blatant omission of Weezer's "Buddy Holly" in favor of the arguably inferior "Undone: The Sweater Song", but you're just going to have to deal. You've got to like a song that can construct a solid mental visual like this one does.


Loser (Beck)



Looking back, this song was a little dark for us kids to be singing along to in the 90s. At least the chorus is. I didn't really know any of the words then and I don't really know any of the words now, but it's always enjoyable nonetheless.


Only Wanna Be With You (Hootie and the Blowfish)



Here's where the embarrassing part comes in. It's truly painfully unhip to admit you like Hootie and the Blowfish. This song is so catchy, though, I'm willing to brave the judgment of my far cooler peers.


Wonderwall (Oasis)



Growing up, this would always be one of those songs that kid who was barely mediocre at guitar would take on at a bonfire or group gathering. It's rumored that Liam Gallagher actually hates this song, but I'm going to respectfully disagree. It has a certain charm.


Killing Me Softly (The Fugees)



This song has been covered by dozens of artists, but Lauryn Hill's vocals managed to make this version stick. If you're going to do a cover, do it right.


Peaches (The Presidents of the United States of America)



There are all sorts of theories floating around on what exactly these peaches might symbolize, but the band's lead singer claims its content is totally innocent. It's definitely on the quirky side, but it has that unique alternative 90s appeal.


Virtual Insanity (Jamiroquai)



How can you not have loved this music video? You must have at least briefly coveted that hat. It's just so fuzzy and geometric. A winning chapeau combination.


Criminal (Fiona Apple)



As Fiona Apple's first major hit, "Criminal" introduced most of us to her unique vocal stylings. We may not have always agreed with her 1997 MTV VMA outburst against conformity, but she has a sort of idiosyncratic charm that grows on you with repeated listening.


Breakfast at Tiffany's (Deep Blue Something)



As far as one-hit wonders go, this tune had some staying power. I still hear it on the radio from time to time. It constantly reminds me that I have yet to see Breakfast at Tiffany's, which must be worth a watch based on the fact that it brought the couple in this song together. Actually, I heard they really wanted to write it about Roman Holiday but it didn't fit well, lyrically, so maybe I'm actually covered on this one.


Like I said, it can be a tough balance to find a song to which you can simultaneously enjoy listening and fall asleep, but most of these do it for me. A few of them might make me want to turn my iPod screen-down on my folding tray table to ward off wandering and undoubtedly judgmental eyes, but they're worthy of 90s love nonetheless.