1995-1999: The Cool Kids

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The 1990s was the beginning of the democratization of American music. From Grunge to Indie labels to Alternative rock to Hip-hop, music was no longer the sole property of giant record companies and Top40 radio. Thanks to the infinite talent of the artists, it worked out pretty well.

(DISCLAIMER: Okay, so I know what you're thinking: "the late 1990s was all about the Spice Girls, Backstreet Boys, and 'N-Sync - what's all this 'talent' nonsense?" Relax. Notice how little of that you hear anymore? The cream is already rising.)

Once Nirvana made it okay to put a garage band on the radio, all hell broke loose. Alternative stations sprang up - or regained popularity - in every major city, and the charts were infiltrated with new sound.

By the late nineties, the Internet had taken hold. Napster was everywhere, and record companies were panicking over lost sales. For a full decade, they stuck their heads in the sand and hired lawyers. They missed the point: the information age got people excited about music again; they were just no longer interested in being told what to listen to. After that, the music industry was turned on its head - now people would drive what was hot, and who was cool.

This new generation were fearless, creative, bold, sexy, confident. And, as it turns out, there's a market for stuff people haven't heard before.

Think about it: Tupac, Gwen Stefani, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Alannis Morrisette, Cheryl Crow, LL Cool J: today, all legends or super-stars. Back then: we chose them.

Doin' It - LL Cool J (1996)
Just A Girl - No Doubt (1996)
Building a Mystery - Sarah McLachlan (1997)
California Love - 2Pac (1997)
Crush - Jennifer Paige (1998)
What It's Like - Everlast (1998)
Mambo No. 5 - Lou Bega (1999)
Smooth - Santana Feat. Rob Thomas (1999)
Scar Tissue - Red Hot Chili Peppers (1999)

Doin' It - LL Cool J (1996)

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[1995-1999 Best Songs]


Billboard Top 100, 1996, #61

You'll notice there's no video here, no iTunes Link, and no lyrics, as well.

That's because this is a rated PG-13 site, and Doin' It is an NC-17 song. It's got a sweet groove; it sounds great at a club; it's smooth as silk; but, especially, it's dirrrrrrty. It's an excellent song the way Richard Pryor was an excellent comedian. You may love it, but you don't watch it sitting next to Mom and Dad.

So, go get it if you aren't easily offended by explicit sexual reference, but you'll have to find it yourself.

Mambo No. 5 - Lou Bega (1999)

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[1995-1999 Best Songs]

Billboard Top 100 - 1999, #42                                                          



I've always wondered: if you're a woman, are you happier if your name was in this song, or if it wasn't?

In 1999, Lou Bega caught lightning in a bottle remaking the classic Perez Prado Mambo No. 5, adding a little bit of, well, you know.

Bega, an Italian-Ugandan from Germany (really!) infused some girl-crazy hip-hop and made big-band horns cool again. Also, dude could rock a hat.

Smooth - Santana Feat. Rob Thomas (1999)

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[1995-1999 Best Songs]

Billboard Top 100 - 1999, #19 (also: 2000, #2)                                                     

It's like the Reese's cup.

Rob Thomas has a heck of a voice, but Three Doors Down - oh, sorry. Matchbox Twenty - gets stale pretty quickly.

Carlos Santana plays a mean guitar, but Latin-influenced classic rock only gets you so far up the Pop charts.

Together? Unstoppable.

On the album Supernatural, Santana brought in a string of guest singers to make various songs in different styles. The album is an all-time great; it's biggest hit is pure gold (actually, triple-platinum). 

Smooth almost defies genre - it's a rock song you can dance to. It's a ballad with power, but nothing like a power ballad. It's a handsome young crooner doing the singing, but the old Mexican dude with an electric guitar is the real star (well him and that girl in the video...)

It's also got that "big" sound, when "big" wasn't big anymore - lots of instruments - horns all over the place - crescendo on crescendo. All that sound would have fit better in the 80s. It just proves once again that great songs are timeless.

Building a Mystery - Sarah McLachlan (1997)

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[1995-1999 Best Songs]

Billboard Top 100 - 1997, #63                                                              



What can you say about Sarah McLachlan? That beautiful voice, the haunting melody...

Building A Mystery might be one of the most melodic, pleasant-sounding slams you'll ever hear. She's clearly underwhelmed by her lover's phony persona, calling him out for trying to make himself look all dark and mysterious, when it's all pretty ridiculous. Still, she's drawn to this "beautiful, f**ked up man," despite the overblown facade. And she hates that she can't really know him ("so careful, when you hold me in your arms...")

The music feels like a river winding it's way through a canyon: not too slow, not too fast. And now, I'll stop trying to convince you - just enjoy.

Scar Tissue - Red Hot Chili Peppers (1999)

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[1995-1999 Best Songs]

Billboard Top 100 - 1999, #34                                                                



The album Californication marked the turn of the Red Hot Chili Peppers from "a band" to genuine artists and musicians. Scar Tissue was their first true work of art.

The lyrics are vivid scenes, both beautiful and grotesque. Anthony Kiedis sings a sweet southern-influenced croon, and the guitar work of John Frusciante is reminiscent of George Harrison and Eric Clapton: almost another vocalist on the track.

Oh, by the way, the line is "with the birds, I'll share this lonely view," in case you never figured it out.

Crush - Jennifer Paige (1998)

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[1995-1999 Best Songs]

Billboard Top 100 - 1998, #21                                                     




Some one-hit wonders I understand, some I don't. How does someone this beautiful, with a voice this good, and a song this sexy, not have at least one more hit?

Crush is a heavyweight Pop song. It's got a sultry beat, a creative lyric, and a monster hook. Seriously, nobody wanted her back for an encore??

Just A Girl - No Doubt (1996)

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[1995-1999 Best Songs]

Billboard Top 100 - 1996, #68                                                       



Take a trip through time with me.

In 1967, Aretha sang Respect. The song's message was "I belong in this house too, and you should treat me right." In '79, Gloria Gaynor (I Will Survive) declared her strength to make it without that man. In '84, Madonna's Material Girl used men to get ahead. But by 1996, all a girl really had left to say was "who the hell are you, and why are you in my way??"

And this is why Just A Girl makes me think of Title IX. Title IX created slews of new opportunities for women (and not just in athletics), eventually fostering generations of confident, successful women who no longer subscribed to the idea of the "man's world." It likely had more impact on society than Women's Liberation and the Equal Rights Amendment.

Gwen Stefani grew up in an age mostly free of the heavy-handed chauvinism her predecessors experienced. That must have made her more aware when she did see it, and it looked that much more absurd. That's the real sentiment in this song: it's sarcastic and annoyed as much as angry. It calls out those last remaining dinosaurs who still think they might put a woman in her place. Ms Stefani might say: "Here, silly chauvinist, have some guitar and drums loud enough to blow out your speakers, and a nice fat KISS MY ASS!"

California Love - 2Pac (1997)

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[1995-1999 Best Songs]
Billboard Top 100 - 1997, #17                                                         



You know you're a talented rapper when have no problem letting Dr. Dre open for you.

If you are: outside, in the Summer, around a pool, without this song in your mix, then you, my friend, don't know how to party.

What It's Like - Everlast (1998)

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[1995-1999 Best Songs]

Billboard Top 100 - 1999, #28                                                       



We've all seen the man at the liquor store beggin' for your change
The hair on his face is dirty, dread-locked and full of mange
He asks the man for what he could spare with shame in his eyes
"Get a job you f**kin' slob" is all he replies

But God forbid you ever had to walk a mile in his shoes
'Cause then you really might know what it's like to sing the blues
Then you really might know what it's like
Yeah, then you really might know what it's like
Then you really might know what it's like
Then you really might know what it's like

Mary got pregnant from a kid named Tom who said he was in love
He said don't worry about a thing baby doll I'm the man you've been dreamin' of
But three months later he said he won't date her or return her call
And she sweared god damn if I find that man I'm cuttin' off his balls
And then she heads for the clinic and she gets some static walkin' through the doors
They call her a killer, and they call her a sinner, and they call her a whore

But God forbid you ever had to walk a mile in her shoes
'Cause then you really might know what it's like to have to choose
Then you really might know what it's like
Yeah, then you really might know what it's like
Then you really might know what it's like
Then you really might know what it's like 

I've seen a rich man beg
I've seen a good man sin
I've seen a tough man cry
I've seen a loser win
And a sad man grin
I heard an honest man lie
I've seen the good side of bad
And the down side of up
And everything between
I licked the silver spoon
Drank from the golden cup
Smoked the finest green
I stroked the fattest dimes at least a couple of times
Before I broke their heart
You know where it ends
Yo, it usually depends on where you start

I knew this kid named Max
He used to get fat stacks out on the corner with drugs
He liked to hang out late at night
Liked to get sh*t-faced
And keep pace with thugs
Until late one night there was a big gun fight
Max lost his head
He pulled out his chrome .45
Talked some sh*t
And wound up dead
Now his wife and his kids are caught in the midst of all of his pain
You know it crumbles that way
At least that's what they say when you play the game

God forbid you ever had to wake up to hear the news
'Cause then you really might know what it's like to have to lose
Then you really might know what it's like
Yeah, then you really might know what it's like
Then you really might know what it's like

To have to lose...