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101 Best Songs of 1986 vs 1996: #1 There Is A Light That Never Goes Out - The Smiths / A Long December - Counting Crows (1 Viewer)

Robert Palmer was a fantastic music historian. This guy knew more about blues and jazz than pretty much anyone who has ever walked the earth. A musical genius too imo. He is greatly missed.
Not the same guy.


Learn something new every day. I thought Palmer was a multi-talented genius like Robert Smith who is the lead singer of "The Cure" and was a star RB for the Minnesota Vikings.
 
#31

Wild Wild Life - Talking Heads

My Talking Heads’ fandom didn’t really take off until well-after the band broke up in the late 80s - to be fair, I don’t think it was music intended for 13-year olds who worshiped the Beastie Boys. I always liked the goofiness of the videos though. Wild Wild Life is no exception.


Dramamine - Modest Mouse

Seems like an apt time to drop a Modest Mouse track. Totally unsurprised that Mr. @krista4 thinks the guys in the band are ###holes, I heard the same thing from a good friend’s BF who also knew them a bit from the scene (not to get all DJax in here or anything). He introduced me to MM’s debut album in early 1997 when he heard I was into Built to Spill, Pavement, and GBV. I’ve been in since hearing the first track on the record, Dramamine.
 
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Sometimes I forget exactly how long Modest Mouse has been around. They got their due so late that it’s strange to see them as early as when I was still in college. Great track here.
 
#30

Word Up - Cameo

Bring out the red codpiece! Word Up is a masterpiece of funk that was sure to get all the folks at Skateland doing their best roller boogie. Cameo had been big on the R&B charts for a decade before Word Up crossed over and reached #6 on the Hot 100. One of the few songs I’ve ever done for karaoke b/c it’s fun (and relatively easy) to imitate Larry Blackmon’s unique vocal style. Watch for Lavar Burton playing the cop in the video.


Super Bon Bon - Soul Coughing

Soul Coughing’s first two releases (1994’s Ruby Vroom and 1996’s Irresistible Bliss) are two of my favorite albums of the 90s. Perfect for putting on the head phones and zoning out into the netherworld. On one such occasion, I kept visualizing “Move aside, and let the man go through” as “mango,” and subsequently imagined a whole scene where there were oranges and lemons and limes waiting impatiently to gain entry in the nightclub and a mean-looking banana bouncer telling them that they needed to get out of the way because the mango was a VIP. If I had planned things out better, I would have bought more fruit and staged a photo-op when Super Bon Bon came up in the countdown.
 
Robert Palmer was a fantastic music historian. This guy knew more about blues and jazz than pretty much anyone who has ever walked the earth. A musical genius too imo. He is greatly missed.
Not the same guy.


Learn something new every day. I thought Palmer was a multi-talented genius like Robert Smith who is the lead singer of "The Cure" and was a star RB for the Minnesota Vikings.
True story, I met Robert Smith the RB at an outdoor bar in NYC (a long time ago when he was still playing) because he overheard my friend talking about Robert Smith, the singer, while discussing a South Park episode.
 
Robert Palmer was a fantastic music historian. This guy knew more about blues and jazz than pretty much anyone who has ever walked the earth. A musical genius too imo. He is greatly missed.
Not the same guy.


Learn something new every day. I thought Palmer was a multi-talented genius like Robert Smith who is the lead singer of "The Cure" and was a star RB for the Minnesota Vikings.
True story, I met Robert Smith the RB at an outdoor bar in NYC (a long time ago when he was still playing) because he overheard my friend talking about Robert Smith, the singer, while discussing a South Park episode.
Did he know what Ro Sham Bo means?
 
#29

Stripped - Depeche Mode

Stripped was Depeche Mode’s sixth consecutive top 20 single in the UK but didn’t crack the Hot 100 here. It’s since become a fan favorite and a staple of their live shows.


Born Slippy (Nuxx) - Underworld

I avoided most techno in ‘96 so would have likely never heard Born Slippy Nuxx if it wasn’t so prominently featured in Trainspotting. Would have been my loss. I’ll let the experts sing its praises:

an anthem for a generation [Music Week]

simply one of the best slices of electronica one will find.... Dance music is rarely so artistic and enjoyable in the same instance [allmusic]

most experimental and sonically extreme hit of the 90s [the guardian]

one of the 90s' most iconic songs [vice]
 
#31

Wild Wild Life - Talking Heads

My Talking Heads’ fandom didn’t really take off until well-after the band broke up in the late 80s - to be fair, I don’t think it was music intended for 13-year olds who worshiped the Beastie Boys. I always liked the goofiness of the videos though. Wild Wild Life is no exception.


Dramamine - Modest Mouse

Seems like an apt time to drop a Modest Mouse track. Totally unsurprised that Mr. @krista4 thinks the guys in the band are ###holes, I heard the same thing from a good friend’s BF who also knew them a bit from the scene (not to get all DJax in here or anything). He introduced me to MM’s debut album in early 1997 when he heard I was into Built to Spill, Pavement, and GBV. I’ve been in since hearing the first track on the record, Dramamine.
Love both of these songs.

Dramamine was on my short list for Modest Mouse on that other music thread we're doing here right now. And, yeah, Isaac Brock does seem like he can be a richard, but he also has created some great music (just not recently.......).
 
#29

Born Slippy (Nuxx) - Underworld

I avoided most techno in ‘96 so would have likely never heard Born Slippy Nuxx if it wasn’t so prominently featured in Trainspotting. Would have been my loss. I’ll let the experts sing its praises:

an anthem for a generation [Music Week]

simply one of the best slices of electronica one will find.... Dance music is rarely so artistic and enjoyable in the same instance [allmusic]

most experimental and sonically extreme hit of the 90s [the guardian]

one of the 90s' most iconic songs [vice]
Not an expert, but I really love this song. Like you, I think Trainspotting was my intro.
 
#29

Stripped - Depeche Mode

Stripped was Depeche Mode’s sixth consecutive top 20 single in the UK but didn’t crack the Hot 100 here. It’s since become a fan favorite and a staple of their live shows.


Born Slippy (Nuxx) - Underworld

I avoided most techno in ‘96 so would have likely never heard Born Slippy Nuxx if it wasn’t so prominently featured in Trainspotting. Would have been my loss. I’ll let the experts sing its praises:

an anthem for a generation [Music Week]

simply one of the best slices of electronica one will find.... Dance music is rarely so artistic and enjoyable in the same instance [allmusic]

most experimental and sonically extreme hit of the 90s [the guardian]

one of the 90s' most iconic songs [vice]
Both are great songs by great bands imo
 
Robert Palmer was a fantastic music historian. This guy knew more about blues and jazz than pretty much anyone who has ever walked the earth. A musical genius too imo. He is greatly missed.
Not the same guy.


Learn something new every day. I thought Palmer was a multi-talented genius like Robert Smith who is the lead singer of "The Cure" and was a star RB for the Minnesota Vikings.
True story, I met Robert Smith the RB at an outdoor bar in NYC (a long time ago when he was still playing) because he overheard my friend talking about Robert Smith, the singer, while discussing a South Park episode.
Did he know what Ro Sham Bo means?
It’s a much longer story than this but he just heard the name and thought we recognized him. My friend Jeb, did after the fact.
 
#28

The Future's So Bright I Gotta Wear Shades - Timbuk 3

If your band is only gonna have one hit, might as well make it a great one. The Future’s So Bright… reached #19 on the Hot 100 but felt like it was everywhere. Whenever I hear it, I picture Howard Hessemen and Khrystyne Haje from Head of the Class. I assumed it was the theme song but turns out it was used as the centerpiece for an episode involving a weird lip-synch video by the kids in the class. Weird what our brains remember. The whole album is actually pretty good.


Novocaine for the Soul - Eels

Novocaine for the Soul was a completely out-of-left-field Modern Rock #1, Eels debut album Beautiful Freak is great, but not exactly fun. As for the song, E explains

Part of my problem is with intimacy. 'Novocaine for the Soul' sounds detached because it's about detachment… It's detachment personified. I'm singing about numbness and I'm numb. It's about having too much feeling.
 
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#29

Stripped - Depeche Mode

Stripped was Depeche Mode’s sixth consecutive top 20 single in the UK but didn’t crack the Hot 100 here. It’s since become a fan favorite and a staple of their live shows.

My first "grown-up" concerts was DM's Songs of Faith and Devotion tour in 1994 (amazing how they got two separate tours out of that album). Until then, I had only gone to Christian concerts and concerts after Rangers games. I was 19 and my first serious GF was 24 and she brought me up to speed quickly on DM. A lot of Violator, 101, Construction Time and Catching Up with DM. We somehow skipped Black Celebration, so when they played "Stripped" about an hour into the show, it was one of those moments that turned young Bogart from a boy to a man. The heavy cloud of weed smoke and the 6 foot blonde wearing nothing but a thong, bra and dog collar with leash probably helped as well.
 
#29

Stripped - Depeche Mode

Stripped was Depeche Mode’s sixth consecutive top 20 single in the UK but didn’t crack the Hot 100 here. It’s since become a fan favorite and a staple of their live shows.

My first "grown-up" concerts was DM's Songs of Faith and Devotion tour in 1994 (amazing how they got two separate tours out of that album). Until then, I had only gone to Christian concerts and concerts after Rangers games. I was 19 and my first serious GF was 24 and she brought me up to speed quickly on DM. A lot of Violator, 101, Construction Time and Catching Up with DM. We somehow skipped Black Celebration, so when they played "Stripped" about an hour into the show, it was one of those moments that turned young Bogart from a boy to a man. The heavy cloud of weed smoke and the 6 foot blonde wearing nothing but a thong, bra and dog collar with leash probably helped as well.
That's a great memory. DM's live shows are still amazing.

Also, be ready b/c there's a bunch of soundtrack music still to come.
 
#27

Two radically different takes on the same subject. To revisit a theme, I wasn’t much into The Way It Is in 1986. Bruce Hornsby was music for parents/boomers and if I wanted to hear songs about injustice, I was gonna pull out Boogie Down Productions or Dead Kennedys.

In contrast, I was fully on-board with RaTM from the minute I heard Bombtrack on a free sampler CD months before their debut album hit. Still felt the same in 1996 - Zach’s angry tirades and Tom’s scratching guitar work on Down Rodeo was right in line with my over-educated/under-employed anger,, made worse by living back in my hometown among the rednecks.

Now that I’m old, I still like RaTM but find it all a bit over-the-top and silly. At the same time, the beautiful piano juxtaposed against the hopelessness of The Way It Is really resonates.

The Way It Is - Bruce Hornsby & the Range

Down Rodeo - Rage Against the Machine
 
#27

Two radically different takes on the same subject. To revisit a theme, I wasn’t much into The Way It Is in 1986. Bruce Hornsby was music for parents/boomers and if I wanted to hear songs about injustice, I was gonna pull out Boogie Down Productions or Dead Kennedys.

The Way It Is - Bruce Hornsby & the Range

Guilty pleasures: Both "Changes" by Tupac and "Wishing For A Hero" by Polo G, that both use samples from The Way It Is.
 
Great job, Scorchy. I don't comment a lot, but I'm enjoying reading this and clicking the links ... bringing back a ton of memories. Looking forward to rest, especially 1996, as there are some heavy-hitters out there that are getting ready to fall.
 
#27

Two radically different takes on the same subject. To revisit a theme, I wasn’t much into The Way It Is in 1986. Bruce Hornsby was music for parents/boomers and if I wanted to hear songs about injustice, I was gonna pull out Boogie Down Productions or Dead Kennedys.

The Way It Is - Bruce Hornsby & the Range

Guilty pleasures: Both "Changes" by Tupac and "Wishing For A Hero" by Polo G, that both use samples from The Way It Is.
Yeah, my son was like "Wait, I know this" when the piano riff hit, then was really disappointed when he realized it wasn't either of those.
 
Great job, Scorchy. I don't comment a lot, but I'm enjoying reading this and clicking the links ... bringing back a ton of memories. Looking forward to rest, especially 1996, as there are some heavy-hitters out there that are getting ready to fall.
Hmmm. I feel like the heavy hitters are more in '86 (even if I like a lot of '96 better) so that either means we are totally simpatico when it comes to the mid-90s or you're gonna have to fill in some blanks on what I missed after all is said and done.
 
Born Slippy (Nuxx) - Underworld

I avoided most techno in ‘96 so would have likely never heard Born Slippy Nuxx if it wasn’t so prominently featured in Trainspotting. Would have been my loss. I’ll let the experts sing its praises:

an anthem for a generation [Music Week]

simply one of the best slices of electronica one will find.... Dance music is rarely so artistic and enjoyable in the same instance [allmusic]

most experimental and sonically extreme hit of the 90s [the guardian]

one of the 90s' most iconic songs [vice]
There are multiple good remixes of this song too. I think there were 2 or 3 on the 2 trainspotting soundtracks alone.
 
Can't waste a day when the night brings a hearse
Make a move to plead the fifth cause you can't plead the first
So now I'm rolling down with Rodeo with a shotgun
These people ain't seen a brown skinned man since their grandparents bought one
 
#26

Control - Janet Jackson

When I was seventeen I did what people told me
Did what my father said
And let my mother mold me
But that was long ago


Soon after releasing her third album in February 1996, Janet Jackson became one of the biggest pop stars on the planet. Janet was only 19 when she cut ties with her controlling father, divorced James DeBarge, and hooked up with producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. The resulting album produced five top-10 hits. When I Think of You appeared here at #67 and Control might be a bit underrated at #26.


#1 Crush - Garbage

I will burn for you
Feel pain for you
I will twist a knife and bleed my aching heart
And tear it apart


Every Shirley Manson interview I read/see just deepens my 25-year infatuation. It started with Vow and was sealed a year later by #1 Crush, from the Romeo + Juliet soundtrack. It's easily my favorite Garbage song, even if I recognize it’s not the best (the Rocket Queen-esque moans haven’t aged well). Kind of shocked that their gothiest song was their only release to make it to #1 on the Modern Rock charts.
 
#26

#1 Crush - Garbage

I will burn for you
Feel pain for you
I will twist a knife and bleed my aching heart
And tear it apart


Every Shirley Manson interview I read/see just deepens my 25-year infatuation. It started with Vow and was sealed a year later by #1 Crush, from the Romeo + Juliet soundtrack. It's easily my favorite Garbage song, even if I recognize it’s not the best (the Rocket Queen-esque moans haven’t aged well). Kind of shocked that their gothiest song was their only release to make it to #1 on the Modern Rock charts.
This is my favorite Garbage song too, and one of my favorite songs from the 90s.
 
Great job, Scorchy. I don't comment a lot, but I'm enjoying reading this and clicking the links ... bringing back a ton of memories. Looking forward to rest, especially 1996, as there are some heavy-hitters out there that are getting ready to fall.
Hmmm. I feel like the heavy hitters are more in '86 (even if I like a lot of '96 better) so that either means we are totally simpatico when it comes to the mid-90s or you're gonna have to fill in some blanks on what I missed after all is said and done.

In '86, I was ten years old (eleven in October), so a little before the time that I really got into music. But add ten years to that, I'm at my height of rocking out. My personal wheelhouse is '92 to '98' or so.

Edit: I'd be shocked if you missed anything on my mind. At the time, my music tastes usually started with local rock radio and didn't branch out too far beyond.
 
#25

Blood and Roses - Smithereens

I know there are a bunch of fellow Smithereens fans in the FFA. Their first album Especially for You is a gem - Kurt Cobain even named it one of his personal favorites. Blood and Roses is the obvious standout, though I also have a personal affinity for Cigarette, Cigarette after one particularly memorable live performance.

Ruby Soho - Rancid

At a time when all the other punk bands were "selling out," Rancid stuck to their guns and stayed with Epitaph, and were rewarded with the biggest selling album of their career, 1995's ...And Out Came the Wolves [the Wolves being major labels, of course]. Ruby Soho was released as the third single in January of '96. Seven years later, TIm Armstrong produced a really good P!nk album - the concept of selling out was likely dead by then.
 
#24

Cities in Dust - Siouxsie & the Banshees

Siouxsie and the Banshees seventh album, 1986’s Tinderbox, moved them further away from post-punk towards a somewhat poppier/melodic version of goth. Two-and-a-half decades later, Cities in Dust can still fill the dance floor.


Zero - Smashing Pumpkins

God is empty, just like me.

Listening to Mellon Collie…, you can tell how much Billy Corgan was influenced by NIN’s The Downward Spiral. Nowhere is this more evident than Zero, the third single off of the album. It kicks.
 
Two-and-a-half decades later, Cities in Dust can still fill the dance floor.

That would be three-and-a-half decades, not that anyone needs yet another reminder that we are a bunch of old bastards.

Zero is probably my favorite Smashing Pumpkins song. Still like it a lot today.
 
My God, what a riff. May be the best song on Mellon Collie that doesn't have to do with vast oceans.
My only issue with  Zero:

Emptiness is loneliness
and loneliness is cleanliness
And cleanliness is godliness
And God is empty


I'm not buying the whole transitive property thing Billy throws out here. Since when does loneliness=cleanliness?
It rhymes?

I learned well before 1996 not to pay too much attention to Billy's lyrics.
 
My God, what a riff. May be the best song on Mellon Collie that doesn't have to do with vast oceans.
My only issue with  Zero:

Emptiness is loneliness
and loneliness is cleanliness
And cleanliness is godliness
And God is empty


I'm not buying the whole transitive property thing Billy throws out here. Since when does loneliness=cleanliness?

The whole 'cleanliness is godliness' idiom was always confusing to me as well. That said, I'm quite sure I could have explained the lyrics in detail in 1996, and how it all made sense. But I haven't smoked that much weed in years.
 
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The whole 'cleanliness is godliness' idiom was always confusing to me as well. That said, I'm quite sure I could have explained the lyrics in detail in 1996, and how it all made sense. But I haven't smoked that much weed in years.
I had always heard the cleanliness=godliness thing growing up and assumed it was from the bible. Turns out I was wrong as usual - it was Sir Francis Bacon.

Same happened with Eric Draven's "Mother is the name for God on the lips and hearts of all children." Thought it was biblical. Actually just another old British dude.
 
#23

Sledgehammer - Peter Gabrel

I already admitted to not knowing Peter Gabriel had been in Genesis. Before So became a global smash, he was just the Shock the Monkey guy to me. After having a bunch of friends over the years try to get me into his other stuff, I gotta say that So is stil the only record of his that I really like. It was released in May 1996 and stayed on the Billboard album chart for almost 2 years, selling 5 million copies in the U.S. alone. Sledgehammer was easily the biggest hit and Peter Gabriel’s only #1 song. The amazing video certainly didn’t hurt.


Swallowed - Bush

It took me a long time to appreciate Bush on their own merits rather than as a British band riding the grunge wave. Their first two albums are legit.

Swallowed was Bush’s third Modern Rock #1 and also made it to #2 on the Mainstream Rock charts. I was watching one of the Woodstock ‘99 docs a few months back and the song was one of the few feel-good highlights. From the doc’s perspective, Gavin Rossdale was really the only current artists that successfully tried to calm **** down and bring a little peace and love back to the place.
 
#22

Walk This Way - Run-DMC

Not sure whether Raising Hell or Licensed to Ill were my most listened-to album in 1986, but it was definitely one of those two. Run-DMC’s collaboration with Aerosmith happened by accident when Rick Rubin played the original Walk This Way for them and MC Run and Daryl Mac started freestyling over it. Rubin thought it would be fun to record both groups together and the rest is history.

Walk This Way reached #4 on the Hot 100, becoming the biggest rap single to-date. It also helped resurrect Aerosmith’s career. Great song. Iconic. But it’s not the best track on Raising Hell. One more from 1986 still to come.


Champagne Supernova - Oasis

Yesterday I was listening to Buddy Holly’s Everyday thanks to the Top 31 thread and was struck by how much better:

Every day, it's a-getting closer / Going faster than a rollercoaster

Is compared to

Slowly walking down the hall / faster than a cannonball

I love Oasis, but man that’s dumb. Noel must agree:

All my favorite songs of all-time, I couldn't give a s**t what the lyrics are. I couldn't give a flying f**k what any of them are singing about at all. It means nothing to me. They're just words that you sing to serve the melody that makes you feel good. That's it. I couldn't care less.

Released as a single in May ‘96 (the sixth from What’s The Story Morning Glory), it became Oasis’s second and final Modern Rock #1.
 
Walk This Way - Run-DMC

Not sure whether Raising Hell or Licensed to Ill were my most listened-to album in 1986, but it was definitely one of those two. Run-DMC’s collaboration with Aerosmith happened by accident when Rick Rubin played the original Walk This Way for them and MC Run and Daryl Mac started freestyling over it. Rubin thought it would be fun to record both groups together and the rest is history.

Walk This Way reached #4 on the Hot 100, becoming the biggest rap single to-date. It also helped resurrect Aerosmith’s career. Great song. Iconic. But it’s not the best track on Raising Hell. One more from 1986 still to come.
I wonder if it's possible to overstate how important this song was, in terms of hip hop acceptance.
 
Released as a single in May ‘96 (the sixth from What’s The Story Morning Glory), it became Oasis’s second and final Modern Rock #1.
The greatest album in rock history, bar none.

It's too bad that they have turned so many people off due to their big mouths.
 
Released as a single in May ‘96 (the sixth from What’s The Story Morning Glory), it became Oasis’s second and final Modern Rock #1.
The greatest album in rock history, bar none.

It's too bad that they have turned so many people off due to their big mouths.
Noel, is that you? Seriously, I do love ...Morning Glory. And Noel at least has chilled a lot. One of the rare rock stars that always talks about how lucky he is. Great podcast guest too.
 

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