1990-1994: New World Order

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Do you remember those years when it was like anything was possible?

The Berlin Wall fell in late 1989, and Apartheid officially collapsed in early 1990. As the early nineties unfolded, the Soviet Union fell, and millions around the world had a new taste of individual freedom.

In the first Iraq war drove, and later in the Balkans, coalitions of nations joined together, and it seemed like the days of brutal dictatorships might be ending.

Of course, in these years, Music experienced its own revolutions. The big stars gave way to Independent artists with new sounds. Grunge spelled the end of the glam-rock heavy metal era, and Hip-hop turned mainstream.

Has it really been twenty years? Does the music bring you back there?

We Didn't Start The Fire - Billy Joel (1990)

Black Velvet - Allanah Myles (1990)

I'm Your Baby Tonight - Whitney Houston (1991)

Groove Is In The Heart - Deee-Lite (1991)

Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana (1992)

One - U2 (1992)

Break It Down Again - Tears For Fears (1993)

Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia) - US3 (1994)

Whatta Man - Salt N Pepa feat. En Vogue (1994)

Listen to these songs on SPOTIFY! 

I'm Your Baby Tonight - Whitney Houston (1991)

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Billboard Top 100 - 1991, #42



In the early 1990s, Whitney Houston was the reigning queen of Pop music. She had hits all over the charts. Sadly, most of them were not good.

Luckily, I'm Your Baby Tonight is very good. Whitney shows off her full vocal range without going overboard. The lyric starts with almost a whisper - low and throaty. Next comes an excellent bridge with little couplets of phrases (you-gotta-you-gotta way that you makin' me feel-I-can-feel-I-can do anything...) that accelerates into a powerful hook (Lay all my cards out tonight!). 


It's sad: she really could have been our generation's Aretha Franklin.

We Didn't Start The Fire - Billy Joel (1990)

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Billboard Top 100 1990, #35

Were a generation of 11th graders really forced to listen to Billy Joel by their American History teachers? Yeah, pretty much. Sorry about that, kids.

I'd been plotting to write the modern follow up to this song, but it's been done bunch of times. The fact that none of them are very good - even with twenty years of incredible history to cull from - is a testament to how strong the original really is.

Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia) - US3 (1994)

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Billboard Top 100 1994, #41




Having a party? Not a big blowout, but a cool wine and hors d'eurves, close friends hanging out. Here's something for your music list. It can play in the background, or you can turn it up for a little dancing - it works either way.

US3 (with a little nod to Herbie Hancock) laid down this nice jazz track with that "funky, funky!" groove. Nice enough, but the crisp rhyme over the top really is the life of the party. The lyrics explain it better than I can:

Feel the beat drop,
Jazz and hip hop
Drippin in the dome makes you zone and bop
Funk and fusion, a fly illusion
Keeps ya coastin on the rhythm we cruisin
Up, down, round and round, rhymes profound
But nevertheless, ya gots to get down
Fantasy freak through the beat so unique
You move your feet, and sweat from the heat

You get the idea.

Black Velvet - Allanah Myles (1990)

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Billboard Top 100 1990, #18



In all the time I spent writing songs, I only ever hoped to write one song as good as this one. Don't get me wrong, it's not the best song of all time, but it's just a really good song in every aspect. The lyrics are short, but still paints a picture; it has that bluesy sound that fits the subject of the song, and it has a catchy chorus with a powerful hook that anyone could sing along to. 

What pushes this song from really good to one of the greats is Allannah Myles' throaty, powerful vocals. She has such great range and reminds me of one of those sexy lounge singers and a Joan Jett-like rocker chick all at the same time.

Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana (1992)

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Billboard Top 100 1992, #32



I struggled with this song more than any other since making this list. I remember flat-out disliking it when it was new. It seemed to have no melody. I couldn't understand the lyrics. It was angry, and yet it was unclear why this rock and roll guy was so pissed off.


Years later, I can hear the melody just fine (though today a whole bunch of new music seems devoid of melody to me, so who knows). It's a good head-banging, let-out-some-rage kind of tune.

The lyrics are still confounding, but the images of anger, frustration, confusion and chaos fits the mood of the counter-culture of that era.

Most importantly, you can't deny the cultural impact of this song. It single-handedly ended the era of Glam-Rock, and then went on to spawn a thousand garage bands.

Whatta Man - Salt N Pepa feat. En Vogue (1994)

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Billboard Top 100 1994, #14 



By formula, this song should suck. 

Take a female hip-hop trio, vocals from a female R&B quartet. Add a guitar track to the background, and rap about sexy men with good manners. Hmmm...


So why is it so good?

Well, for starters, If you are going to make a hip-hop R&B song, you could do worse than En Vogue as your back-up singers. Next that guitar track works wonders. It would have been easy to add some drum machine and pop-synth sounds, but somebody remembered that R&B actually does stand for Rhythm and Blues. 

But there's an even more important facet to this song: the message. At that time, it was very popular to glamorize the demeaning of women, and to even imply that women were property (see NWA's Eazy E singing "you may have a lot of bitches, but I got much more). But here were seven beautiful, strong, talented women basically saying to men "if you really want any of this, you better step up, with decency, respect, thoughtfulness, and attention (also, we would like you to have a body like Arnold with a Denzel face)."

One - U2 (1992)

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Billboard Top 100 1992, #60



Is it getting better?
Or do you feel the same?
Will it make it easier on you now?
You got someone to blame
You say

One love
One life
When it's one need
In the night
One love
We get to share it
Leaves you baby if you
Don't care for it

Did I disappoint you?
Or leave a bad taste in your mouth?
You act like you never had love
And you want me to go without
Well it's

Too late
Tonight
To drag the past out into the light
We're one, but we're not the same
We get to
Carry each other
Carry each other
One

Have you come here for forgiveness?
Have you come to raise the dead?
Have you come here to play Jesus?
To the lepers in your head

Did I ask too much?
More than a lot.
You gave me nothing,
Now it's all I got
We're one
But we're not the same
Well we
Hurt each other
Then we do it again
You say
Love is a temple
Love a higher law
Love is a temple
Love the higher law
You ask me to enter
But then you make me crawl
And I can't be holding on
To what you got
When all you got is hurt

One love
One blood
One life
You got to do what you should
One life
With each other
Sisters
Brothers
One life
But we're not the same
We get to
Carry each other
Carry each other

One

Break It Down Again - Tears For Fears (1993)

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Billboard Top 100 1993, #91   



Written like a symphony, more than a song, Break It Down Again feeds you layer upon layer of sound. Take your time and listen to the detail - dissect each part: the brass, the guitar, the percussion. Follow the change in rhythm from long flowing sound to short but powerful staccato. It's such a rich, sophisticated piece that you can get something different out of it every time you listen.

I also really like the concept in the lyrics. They call out that nothing is permanent, everything disintegrates as time passes, and suggest that we embrace the idea instead of fighting it. What a fitting idea for the era.

Groove Is In The Heart - Deee-Lite (1991)

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Billboard Top 100, 1991, #91



Groove Is In The Heart features a lot of odd-ball instruments, samples, scratching, and one of the first really solid hip-hop bridge segments in a pop song. This all combines to produce a lot of dissonance in the sound - that stop-and-start rhythm and warble-y melody that makes you uncomfortable. Normally, you won't see much of this because the goal of most songs is to make people connect. But in this case it works brilliantly, blending against the vocal which floats up and down the scale. It deliberately throws you off-balance, then brings you back a bit. You could say it plays hard-to-get, making it that much more attractive.

At some point, this song became a classic. Go out dancing - not to some club where everybody is under 24 years old, but a place they place a variety of R&B - and you'll see. The same way the crowd may get excited for a Michael Jackson song or a Disco hit like Brick House, Groove Is In the Heart will get the place moving. And if you happen to be a lady all done up in Funk-a-delic, with false eyelashes and giant lady-boots, well then you my dear, get center stage.

Extra Credit: find the Dr. Seuss reference!