Monday, September 22, 2008

Right Here, Right Now

The year was 1991. The place was the football field behind the High School. The temperature was a balmy 76 degrees and there was not a cloud in the sky. The size of my smile was only rivaled by the poodle perm and wall of hair I somehow managed to keep up there even though it was so humid I felt as if I could pass out at any given moment. Of course it was graduation day so the feeling of faintness could have had a lot more to do with nerves that I would open the maroon, cardboard sheath meant to hold my diploma only to discover there was nothing inside. I was wearing my cutest dress with little blue, green and teal flowers with white nylons and white flats. Most of this was hidden under the maroon polyester drapery they made us wear. Good thing it was not much warmer, that thing had to be flammable; luckily however I did not spontaneously combust. See for yourself how hot I was. I of course mean that sarcastically because clearly the literal sense is right out.




This trip through time is all a back story to explain the rules of the meme that I am excitedly stealing from Jim. Music has been a huge part of my life since I can remember. I work, cook, play, drive and anything else that can be done, to music. There are still record albums, tapes and CD’s in my collection. I listen to new and old; on my iPod is anything from Gershwin to Static-X and everything in between and generally I am pretty open to most all genres but there are some artists that I simply can not support. This meme was far too tempting to pass up so without further ado…

Here is how to play.

A) Go to Music Outfitters

B) In the search function, enter the year you graduated from high school. A bunch of links will appear, click on the link to the top 100 songs from the year you graduated.

C) Bold the songs you like, strike through the ones you hate, and underline or italicize your favorite. Do nothing to those you don’t remember or don’t care about.

Now Jim created his own rules (not surprising of course) and I feel that I have to do the same (also not surprising) so the categories that better represent the year in music are listed below.

Songs I loved at the time and would still listen to today
Please note that even though I am fully aware of the fact that some of these songs absolutely suck there is a strong memory attached to time, place and people so no matter how bad it might be I am always going to love it. In fact this list is so great that anything I do own is likely going to become the ‘1991 Mix’ playlist.

2. I Wanna Sex You Up, Color Me Badd
3. Gonna Make You Sweat, C+C Music Factory
4. Rush Rush, Paula Abdul
6. Unbelievable, EMF
7. More Than Words, Extreme
11. Motownphilly, Boyz II Men
18. I Adore Mi Amor, Color Me Badd
19. Love Will Never Do (Without You), Janet Jackson
20. Good Vibrations, Marky Mark and The Funky Bunch
(You all know I was a huge NKOTB fan so this should surprise no one)
31. I've Been Thinking About You, Londonbeat
33. Losing My Religion, R.E.M.
36. It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over, Lenny Kravitz
37. Where Does My Heart Beat Now, Celine Dion
(Not really a fan but this is one of two songs of hers I enjoy)
38. Summertime, D.J. Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince
40. P.A.S.S.I.O.N., Rhythm Syndicate
41. The Promise Of A New Day, Paula Abdul
43. Love Of A Lifetime, Firehouse
46. Hole Hearted, Extreme
47. Power Of Love-Love Power, Luther Vandross
51. Things That Make You Go Hmm..., C+C Music Factory
53. Tom's Diner, Suzanne Vega
55. Something To Talk About, Bonnie Raitt
57. Play That Funky Music, Vanilla Ice
58. Temptation, Corina
59. Can't Stop This Thing We Started, Bryan Adams
67. Now That We Found Love, Heavy D. and The Boyz
(My entire high school relationship came rushing back just seeing the title of this song. After all, Pimpin’ Ain’t Easy.)
73. Signs, Tesla
75. Crazy, Seal
79. Wicked Game, Chris Isaak
80. Get Here, Oleta Adams
83. I'm Not In Love, Will To Power
88. Everybody Plays The Fool, Aaron Neville
(I do the most kick ass impression of Aaron Neville ever.)
88. Strike It Up, Black Box
89. Rico Suave, Gerardo
91. Groove Is In The Heart, Deee-Lite
(Not only can I see every inch of the blue gym in my mind but I can still smell chalk if I think about it. Just about every day when I was working out on the beam this song would play and I would do my crazy little dance to this fun groove. Good times.)
95. Freedom 90, George Michael
94. O.P.P., Naughty By Nature


Songs that made me realize Armageddon was near; how else could they have ended up on the radio


1. (Everything I Do) I Do It For You, Bryan Adams
(Ugh. Shoot me. I can not believe this was number one. How sad.)
10. Baby, Baby, Amy Grant
13. Someday, Mariah Carey
(Every song ever done by this woman should be outlawed immediately.)
15. From A Distance, Bette Midler
21. Justify My Love, Madonna
22. Emotions, Mariah Carey
23. Joyride, Roxette
25. I Don't Wanna Cry, Mariah Carey
27. You're In Love, Wilson Phillips
(See Mariah Carey.)
28. Every Heartbeat, Amy Grant
39. Wind Of Change, Scorpions
42. I'm Your Baby Tonight, Whitney Houston
48. Impulsive, Wilson Phillips
49. Love Is A Wonderful Thing, Michael Bolton
(I do not celebrate his entire catalogue, unless we are talking about the other Michael Bolton)
50. Rhythm Of My Heart, Rod Stewart
52. I Touch Myself, Divinyls
56. After The Rain, Nelson
62. Time, Love and Tenderness, Michael Bolton
63. Sadeness Part I, Enigma
69. Love Takes Time, Mariah Carey
70. Cry For Help, Rick Astley
71. The Way You Do The Things You Do, UB40
77. Place In This World, Michael W. Smith
78. Something To Believe In, Poison
82. Silent Lucidity, Queensryche
99. The Motown Song, Rod Stewart
100. Shiny Happy People, R.E.M.
(I feel the same way Dennis Leary feels about this song. It enrages me instantly.)

Songs that I had to listen to on iTunes to remind me what they were
Those which should have gone in the ‘End of the World’ category are noted with an *, everything beneath that was alright.

*5. One More Try, Timmy T
*8. I Like The Way (The Kissing Game), Hi-Five
*14. High Enough, Damn Yankees
*24. Romantic, Karyn White
*26. Hold You Tight, Tara Kemp
*29. Sensitivity, Ralph Tresvant
*30. Touch Me (All Night Long), Cathy Dennis
*44. Fading Like A Flower (Every Time You Leave), Roxette
*45. This House, Tracie Spencer
*54. Iesha, Another Bad Creation
(Those kids were like eight. And really just bad. They should have taken a note from their name and never released anything.)
*60. I Can't Wait Another Minute, Hi-Five
*61. 3 A.M. Eternal, KLF
*65. I'll Be There, Escape Club
*68. Show Me The Way, Styx
(The perfect example of a good band gone bad.)
*72. Here I Am (Come and Take Me), UB40
*74. Too Many Walls, Cathy Dennis
*76. I'll Give All My Love To You, Keith Sweat
*81. Round and Round, Tevin Campbell
(No, that was by Ratt and released in 1984)
*84. Piece Of My Heart, Tara Kemp
*90. Disappear, INXS
*96. I Saw Red, Warrant
*97. Miles Away, Winger
*98. Do You Want Me, Salt-N-Pepa

9. The First Time, Surface
12. Because I Love You (The Postman Song), Stevie B
16. All The Man That I Need, Whitney Houston
32. Do Anything, Natural Selection
(Couldn’t even find this song. Not a clue.)
34. Coming Out Of The Dark. Gloria Estefan
35. Here We Go. C+C Music Factory
66. Cream, Prince and The N.P.G.
(It is Prince so the music is awesome. Lyrics, well I still blush.)
85. Real Real Real, Jesus Jones
87. Just Another Dream, Cathy Dennis
(Another song I can’t find)
92. All This Time, Sting
93. The One and Only, Chesney Hawkes
(???)

The favorites

17. Right Here, Right Now, Jesus Jones
64. Around The Way Girl, LL Cool J

13 comments:

ginger said...

hah! i love the hair! i graduated in 1990, i'll have to see if i can find a picture and scan it in...maybe my yearbook photo. that would be fun to show.

would you like to know exactly how picky i am about music? i like 9 songs on your entire list - that's it, 9. i'm so picky i don't even listen to the radio anymore...it just enrages me. i love music, but my standards are too high.

i know, i'm a freak. what can i say?

ginger said...

hi, me again. i just went and looked at the top 100 of 1991 and there were 13 on there i liked. (i shake my head at myself)

by the way, "49. Love Is A Wonderful Thing, Michael Bolton
(I do not celebrate his entire catalogue, unless we are talking about the other Michael Bolton)".....freaking GENIUS!

ginger said...

oh, sorry. i looked at the top 100 of 1990...i'll go now and not fill up your blog with comments. :)

pastrywitch said...

Most of those songs rated a 'huh?' - I graduated in 1981. But Losing My Religion - I still love that song. I first heard it at a time of spiritual disintegration - it really fit what I was feeling at the time. Currently, I'm listening to Kate Rusby (English Folkie stuff)and Natalie McMasters (Breton Fiddle), probably no hipster points for me.....
How many cans of AquaNet did it take to get your hair up there?

pastrywitch said...

Aside from Jesse's Girl, Whip It, Hit Me with Your Best Shot and Slow Hand, my response to the top 100 of 1981 is eeeeeeew! Oh the horror!

Rosebud Collection said...

Oh dear..some on the list you hate, I liked. From a Distance..I just thought it was a nice song.
When I graduated, Alan Freed was still doing Rock'Roll..does that tell you something? Even went to a few of his shows in NYC..now they were shows..with every person you could think of..Fats Domino, Little Richard, Frankie Lymen and the Teenagers..and the list goes on...

Chris Stone said...

Doing that link and looking up the year i graduated was a good laugh! thanks! couldn't believe what was number one... I'm like... am i really that old?

thanks for answering my question in the forums jenn!

Suldog said...

First, I love the photo. You were a dish! Of course, I'm literally old enough to be your father, and I don't want to be thought of as a dirty old man - even though I am - so I'll say no more.

Second, thanks for the linkback. Folks who see my list will know for sure just how old I am. That's sad.

Third, I know about half of the songs on your list, and like about 1/4 of those I know. That's OK, though, as I only liked about 1/8 of those on my own list.

High Desert Diva said...

Hmmm....seems to me I had that exact same hair style.

I don't remember even half of these song!

Jenn Flynn-Shon said...

Ginger ~ It occured to me the hair was bigger than my head lol. Would LOVE to see your yearbook pic, it is always fun to see those bad fashion choices we made right? :) But we sadly have to own them. Of course I guess there is no law about sharing them. Michael Bolton...heehee

Kate ~ I love fiddle, my Irishness makes it ingrained so I will check out Natalie McMasters for sure! I am no hipster, these days I spend a lot more time listening to stuff I discover on Myspace that is unsigned and raw than pop radio. Of course I do like that as well. Aqua Net...oh man a decade of gals (and some guys with mohawks I'm sure) using that single handedly killed our ozone layer I am convinced!

Rose ~ No harm, I am just strongly opinionated (shocker right lol). That Bette song just grated on me because it was played so often. I am not (sadly) familiar with Alan Freed but will look him up now! Fats is awesome, such fun tunes. I mean seriously who doesn't like Blueberry Hill??

Chris ~ Now I have to know...what was #1? Glad you enjoyed it, Matt looked up his & we also looked up the years we were both born too :)

Jim ~ You are not a dirty old man, you are a flatterer my friend :) Thanks! Yeah I know a lot of the songs on my love list are bad but that's why I went with the disclaimer at the beginning, I couldn't handle the ridicule otherwise lol.

Charmaine ~ I remember seeing some pics on your blog of similar hair :) If we had all the money we spent on hairspray back then imagine where we would be now lol!

Sahara said...

Oh... I feel so old. Barracuda by Heart was one of the top songs in the year I graduated. And I loved all the top 100 songs back then as I do all the ones in your list. I know all the songs in your list! That tells you that's all I do is listen to music, no matter what I'm doing I have a radio one. :)

And you were a cutie with the hair that I wore for soooooo long! lol

ginger said...

will you do me a favor and see if my email is still in your feedburner subscriber's list? i think it's funkified.

thanks :)

Bridgete said...

That's fun, I'll be sure to do that soon. =)

I recognize very few songs from your list. I was still in my Disney soundtrack phase in that year.