1996 Radio On Commentary
Note: HH = Haven’t Heard
“Ahead by a Century,” The Tragically Hip - HH
“Always Be My Baby,” Mariah Carey - 3 - I guess it’s cute, a retro move like Madonna’s “True Blue” and “Cherish.” But Mariah works much better mining early-80s Tom Tom Club singles than rehashing second-hand nostalgia.
“Bulls On Parade,” Rage Against the Machine - 10 - This is where I finally gave in. I like their politics, they’re loud, they’re funky without thinking they’re funkier than they really are (no Red Hot Chilli Peppers half-assed poseur chicken-scratch - “Aeroplane” gets a big 0, by the way) - I can forgive a little stride ncy. Actually, what I’m mostly using them for now is my Zeppelin fix - where else are you going to get big, thudding boogie? Not out of any metal bands these days.
“California Love,” 2 Pac featuring Dr. Dre & Roger Troutman - 2 - The G Funk era may be drawing to a close. I can’t remember a thing about this song, other than the vocoder stuff. Mad Max nostalgia is always appreciated, however.
“Chains,” Tina Arena - HH (but cute name)
“Children,” Robert Miles - HH
“Closer to Free,” Bodeans - 2 - I was wondering if Hootie would kick free the rock these guys were hiding under! This makes the Rembrandts sound good. Also features the lamest wordplay of the year, maybe decade: “Everybody one/Everybody two/Everybody FREE”
“C’mon ‘n’ Ride It (The Train),” Quad City DJ’s - 9 - Kate, who’s from Florida, can’t figure out what Quad Cities they’re referring to. And actually, it’s practically impossible to ride the train to Florida; there’s a deal where you can unload your car in DC and pick it up around Jacksonville, but it’s a major hassle. On the other hand, I should probably stop using ValuJet… .
“Counting Blue Cars,” Dishwalla - 0 - God, how I loathe this song. It makes me miss “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” (by the way, did you noticed how there’s a line in that song, “we both kinda liked it,” which sounds designed to be rhymed with “Holly Golightly,” but never is? What do you think happened? Did Capote’s trademark people complain?) It doesn’t make me miss the early 80s (although I do get a kick out of the new Burger King commercial that uses “Melt With You,” complete with mouth-watering burger-shots synched to the “Mmm mmm mmm” bridge). I can’t decide what I hate the most - the way the singer pronounces the “t” in “often,” the butt-ugly band name, or just the idea that anyone would be interested in all this guy’s thoughts on God. What a conversation-stopper.
“Tha Crossroads,” Bone Thugs-n-Harmony - 5 - These kids today, what with their loud music and their four-part harmonies. I have to admit, I just don’t get this latest gangsta trend. But I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt and assume that it’s my fault for now.
“Don’t Look Back in Anger,” Oasis - 7 - Mott the Hoople nostalgia goes down easier than Beatles nostalgia.
“Everything Falls Apart,” Dog’s Eye View - 2 - What a crappy set of sound-alike one-hit-wonders 1996 has offered. Will anyone look back and wonder, “what ever happened to Dog’s Eye View, Dishwalla, and Jars of Clay?” Actually, I’m already wondering. Actually, this is competent sub-Gin Blossoms retro-mid-80s American rock, a slightly preferable variation from all the competent sub-Live retro-early-80s Second British Invasion pop, but I’m docking points for the company it keeps.
“Fastlove,” George Michael - 5 - Competent, no more. I assume he can pull an Elton John and coast on songcraft for 20 years or so. It’s not the career path I would have chosen for him, but it’s an honorable one.
“Flood,” Jars of Clay - 0 - Is it just me, or does this sound just like America? I keep waiting for Noah to hop on a Horse with No Name. I guess here’s as good a time as ever to pontificate on all the God crap in singles these days (“Flood,” “Counting Blue Cars,” “Everything Falls Apart,” “One of Us”) I’m sure it signals an urge to fill the spiritual void in Gen Xers’ lives, yadda yadda yadda, and that the millenium’s to blame. I’m just glad there’s been an equal sci-fi buzz to counterbalance the religious hype, in part because I read SF as coded Jewish (cf Jeff Goldblum, who’s now required to appear in all science fiction movies), while all the God stuff’s been unabashedly Christian. “One of Us” is the worst on that count: no, Joan, you don’t have to believe “in Jesus and the Prophets and in all the rest;” you can stop at the end of the Old Testament, if you prefer.
“Free to Decide,” Cranberries - 2 - I’ve hated every single from this album, after surprising myself by enjoying everything on the first 2. Their U2 stridency has finally outpaced their Europop songcraft.
“Give Me One Reason,” Tracy Chapman - 7 - Unlikely comeback of the year. How exactly do radio stations pick the one blues track they’ll humor every five years?
“Hay,” Crucial Conflict - HH
“Heartspark Dollarsign,” Everclear - HH
“Here in Your Bedroom,” Goldfinger - 8 - You know, after 15 years, I’m finally starting to warm to ska. Or maybe they’re finally getting it right. This is actually catchy enough that I can forgive all the plaids and jumping around.
“If I Ruled the World,” Nas - 3 - The epitome of the keeping-it-real boor. (Although for some reason bringing in R&B backup singers doesn’t count as selling out any more. So what does it take to sell out at this point? Strings?) This is why hip-hop is dying.
“Inside,” Patti Rothberg - 4 - In a slow year, this might’ve caught my ear. But Patti’ll have to take a seat behind Tracy Bonham, Jewel, Alannis, et al.
“It’s All the Way Live (Now),” Coolio - 4 - Coolio needs to take a long vacation and write 15 real songs. You shouldn’t have to release filler for your singles when you’re this talented.
“Jealousy,” Natalie Merchant - 2 - For 2 singles, the Steely Dan-style production managed to make me forget how much I hated 10,000 Maniacs. Now I remember.
“Just a Girl,” No Doubt - 4 - The sarcasm gets a little pushy, then self-congratulatory. But it’s nice to see someone take up the Blonde Ambition killer-cheerleader look.
“Killing Me Softly,” Fugees - 4 - Nothing wrong with this, although it doesn’t show much imagination. Why these people are supposed to be the salvation of hip-hop is beyond me. The original still sounds better.
“Lady,” D’Angelo - 4 - I really loved this album last year, but the ‘70s soul dude shtick is already wearing a little thin. I hope he’s got some more tricks up his sleeve; it’s a pretty barren era otherwise for R&B.
“Leviticus: Faggot,” Me’Shell Ndegeocelle - HH (And with that title, I’m not surprised it didn’t make it to North Carolina)
“Macarena (Bayside Boys Mix),” Los Del Rio - 9 - These dance crazes are always fun, although I doubt this’ll lead to a long-term new audience for Sabado Gigante.
“Mother Mother,” Tracy Bonham - 10 - Gets that just-out-of-school-and-about-to-snap vibe perfectly. “EVERYTHING’S FINE!!!!”
“Nobody Knows,” the Tony Rich Project - 5 - Are you sure this isn’t Babyface? He gets around enough already without going and cloning himself. Not bad, though.
“Pepper,” Butthole Surfers - 4 - I feel guilty, because I hated this song when I heard it on the radio and thought it was just an anonymous Beck clone, then warmed to it when I found out it was the Buttholes. It is nice to see some old pros get some airplay. The talk-rap sorta reminds me of “People Are Still Having Sex.”
“Pretty Noose,” Soundgarden - 3 - Remind me why I’m supposed to care about these guys? …
“Reach,” Gloria Estefan - 4 - Did it bother anybody else that the inspiring moment in the Olympics was supposed to be when a young girl risked severe leg damage for the sake of not wobbling an extra inch? The “take one for the team” ethic is ugly enough in macho sports (see Bill James on Butch Hobson for more detail); it’s depressing to see it imported into gymnastics. And for those who found Bela Kayroli’s proud-papa act heartwarming, read Joan Ryan’s Pretty Girls in Little Boxes for the real story. Oh, the song’s OK, better than that Celine Dion thing and the opera, not as much fun as the closing ceremonies when the atheletes crashed the field, swarmed the inexplicably-costumed dancers, and partied to a confused Little Richard, Gloria Estefan, Faith Hill (?), and BB King.
“Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth With Money in My Hand,” Primitive Radio Gods - 10 - This may be sacreligious, but I think that BB King sample has a poignancy to it that King himself almost never manages to capture. His tunes are almost always too in-your-face for me - that sorta staticy, fading-out sound lends a real affecting tone of despair.
“Stupid Girl,” Garbage - 5 - I know there’s nothing to be outraged about, and I usually enjoy bands this crass. But for some reason this by-the-numbers marriage of grunge and early-80s synthpop still leaves me a little cold.
“Sweet Dreams,” La Bouche - HH
“Tahitian Moon,” Porno for Pyros - HH
“Theme from Mission: Impossible,” Adam Clayton & Larry Mullen - 1 - A desecration of a classic. The idea that any song can be made “funkier” by slowing it down and adding the bassline-of-the-moment is one of the lasting fallacies of the age of the remix. The original is brash, intense, and in its own way, damn funky. This is a tepid debacle.
“Tonight, Tonight,” The Smashing Pumpkins - 4 - Sadly, not a West Side Story cover. Actually, they do that string thing OK, but I’m just sick of Billy Corgan’s whine.
“Too Much,” Dave Matthews Band - 2 - Not quite as hopeless as “Aeroplane,” but close.
“Touch Me, Tease Me,” Case featuring Foxxy Brown - HH
“Tres Delinquentes,” Delinquent Habits - HH
“Trippin’ on a Hole in a Paper Heart,” Stone Temple Pilots - HH
“Twisted,” Keith Sweat - HH
“Until It Sleeps,” Metallica - 1 - Face it, beyond “One,” were these guys ever really that great? The only thing I liked about them was their hair, so now …
“Walking Contradiction,” Green Day - HH
“Where It’s At,” Beck - 10 - Almost as perfect as “Loser.”
“Who Will Save Your Soul,” Jewel - 10 - She’s got that sorta conversational-sounding Joni Mitchell/Suzanne Vega/Michelle Shocked vibe I just die for, plus that throaty blues-mama thing on the chorus. Great folk-rock.
“Whoo-Hah!!! Got You All in Check,” Busta Rhymes - 7 - He gets a little exhausting after awhile, but this is the only rap single in recent memory to capture the anarchic spirit of early hiphop.
“Work It Out,” Def Leppard - HH, sadly
“Wrong,” Everything But the Girl - HH
“You Keep Me Hangin’ On,” Reba McEntire - HH (Is this a cover? I guess my country station isn’t playing it.)
“You Learn,” Alanis Morissette - 7 - It’s got that classic play-over-the-closing-credits sound to it, doesn’t it? I can just picture Alanis wrapping up her shows with it: “You live … Good night Cleveland, you’ve been a wonderful audience … You learn …”
“You’re Makin’ Me High,” Toni Braxton - 4 - Did you catch the R. Crumb guy they give thumbs down to in the video? Had somebody just rented the documentary? Actually, Toni and her friends may be a little svelte for his tastes, anyway …
“You’re the One,” SWV - HH
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