My first blog in this series was from March 2023. 1994 was a pretty mediocre year for music. For some reason I started over with Part 1 in this blog series.
https://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/2017/09/the_15_greatest_years_in_music.html- that website rates 1994 as the 11th best year in music. I just might have to disagree. All the writing in the bigger text comes from cleveland.com.
Green Day and The Offspring kickstart pop punk. The Beastie Boys become alt-rock stars. Nine Inch Nails push industrial rock forward. Oasis and Blur become the biggest thing in England since the Beatles. Nirvana goes unplugged.
Notable albums: Nine Inch Nails – 'The Downward Spiral;" Nas – "Illmatic;" Green Day – "Dookie;" Jeff Buckley – "Grace;" Notorious B.I.G. – "Ready to Die;" Oasis – "Definitely Maybe;" Nirvana – "MTV Unplugged in New York;" Beastie Boys – "Ill Communication;" Pearl Jam – "Vitalogy;" Weezer – Weezer;" Pavement – "Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain;" Hole – "Live Through This;" Soundgarden – "Superunknown;" Johnny Cash – "American Recordings;" Portishead – "Dummy;" The Offspring – "Smash".
I have taken the list below from Billboard's Top 100 Songs From 1994.18) 10,000 Maniacs "Because The Night":
19) Melissa Etheridge "Come To My Window":
20) The Cranberries "Linger":
21) Tag Team "Whoomp There It Is":
22) Beck "Loser":
23) Crystal Waters "100% Pure Love":
24) Gin Blossoms "Found Out About You":
25) Real McCoy "Another Night":
26) Aerosmith "Crazy":
27) Meat Loaf "Rock and Roll Dreams Come Through":
28) Seal "Prayer For The Dying":
29) Madonna "Secret":
30) Ini Kamoze "Here Comes The Hotstepper":
31) The Four Seasons "December 1963 (Oh What A Night)":
What do Colbie Caillat, Ben Folds, Bachman-Turner Overdrive and Lorrie Morgan all have in common? Not much, but they all will be appearing in Layton, Utah at the Ed Kenley Amphitheater this summer. The four musicians I mentioned are the four that interest me most. I'm going to include results from YouTube and my personal favorites in calculating the songs played for each artist.
Colbie Caillat 1) featuring Jason Mraz "Lucky":
2) "Bubbly":
3) "Try":
4) "Realize"
5) "I Do":
6) "Worth It":
Her cover of The Goo Goo Dolls classic. 7) "Iris":
8) "Oxygen":
featuring Sheryl Crow 9) "I'll Be Here":
10) "Brighter Than The Sun":
This includes his solo work and his work with the Ben Folds Five. Ben Folds 11) "Brick":
Love, sex and desire. Here are some songs from all eras for those songs. There are some obvious songs I'm not including because they are just too skanky.
Almost two years later I'm continuing this series with the added way too early death of Sinead O'Connor.
These are musicians that died way too young and some of their best songs, whether hits or not. I tried to go with lesser known bands for the most part.
A Laura Branigan YouTube video about singers who died too long inspired this blog. Laura Branigan was my favorite of the musicians listed. These are musicians that died way too young and some of their best songs, whether hits or not. I tried to go with lesser known singers for the most part, but I was also in the mood for some of The Doors, which is the second blog in this series.
What do Ritchie Valens, Buddy Holly, John Bonham, Selena, Prince, Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Jim Morrison all have in common? They all died way too young. What have we missed out by not having these legends living a normal life span? How many more slinky and funky songs could have Michael Hutchence come up with if he had lived longer? How many more classic songs could've Patsy Cline added her unique touch to? How many more amazing songs did Led Zeppelin have in them if John Bonham hadn't died at the too young age of 32? His death is the main reason that the mighty Zep broke up. It's a tragedy all of these amazing musicians died so young, but it's also a tragedy all the great music they left behind.
18) Michael Jackson died at the age of 51. "She's Out Of My Life":
"Bad":
"Liberian Girl":
"Speed Demon":
"Another Part Of Me":
"Black Or White":
"Rock With You":
featuring Siedah Garrett "I Just Can't Stop Loving You":
"Don't Stop Til You Get Enough":
"They Don't Care About Us":
"Off The Wall":
"Human Nature":
"Smooth Criminal":
"Dirty Diana":
I was listening to MJ's 1991 "Dangerous" CD the other day. While it definitely isn't another "Thriller" it also isn't filler. This is one of the best songs from "Dangerous". "Who Is It":
Now jumping from one genre to another, but both are great singers. 19) Layne Staley died at the age of 34. "No Excuses":
"Heaven Beside You":
"Man In The Box":
"Angry Chair":
"Down In A Hole":
"Rooster":
"No Excuses":
"What The Hell Hath I":
"Again":
"Would?":
Upcoming musicians on this sad list. Sinead O'Connor died at the age of 56.
I started this blog series a couple of years ago. What are some of the best songs from 1991? I've done my best to make sure the song was released on a CD or as a single in 1991.
In February 2023 I went back and revamped these blogs. Now in January 2024 I'm again revamping these blogs, making them better and adding more songs. 1991 was truly one of the greatest years for music.
Great albums released in 1991 include two Guns N' Roses "Use Your Illusion" CDs, Metallica's so called "Black" album, Pearl Jam's "Ten", U2's "Achtung Baby", Roxette's "Joyride", Bonnie Raitt's "Luck of The Draw", Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers "Into The Great Wide Open", Red Hot Chili Peppers "Blood Sugar Sex Magick", Skid Row's "Slave To The Grind", R.E.M.'s "Out of Time" and many others.
These nine songs are from the Guns and Roses two CD masterpiece "Use Your Illusion 1 and 2" 120) "Don't Damn Me":
Hey this one is in my hometown of Salt Lake City. 121) "Double Talkin' Jive":
122) Guns N' Roses "Estranged":
123) Guns N' Roses "Knockin' On Heaven's Door":
124) Guns N' Roses "Live and Let Die":
125) Guns N' Roses "November Rain":
126) Guns N' Roses "Pretty Tied Up":
127) Guns N' Roses "Shotgun Blues":
128) Guns N' Roses "You Could Be Mine":
129) Heavy D and the Boyz "Now That We Found Love":
The next seven songs were featured on INXS' "Live Baby Live" at Wembley Stadium 130) "Need You Tonight":
This has been a fun blog series to create, trying to come up several songs that I should post more. There are honestly some songs that I post on my own blog- songs I love- that I think to myself I can't believe I'm posting again. I decided to go the other way and post songs that I haven't posted nearly enough.
18) Avril Lavigne "Head Above Water":
19) Pink Floyd "Run Like Hell (Is There Anybody Out There)":
20) Big & Rich "Six Foot Town":
Not sure why this song hasn't received more love? 21) The Clash "Train In Vain (Stand By Me)":
22) Snow "Informer":
23) Robert Palmer "I Didn't Mean To Turn You On":
24) Sheppard "Hey Geronimo":
I couldn't post this song enough, just one of the greatest songs of all-time. 25) The Platters "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes":
26) Frank Sinatra "Fly Me To The Moon":
27) Camila Cabello "Havana":
28) The Weeknd "Blinding Lights":
This is the first time I've ever posted this song. 29a) Billie Eilish "Bury A Friend":
Legendary Rolling Stones drummer, Charlie Watts, died a couple of years ago at the age of 80. Originally he was going to go tour with the Stones on a recent tour, until he couldn't due to a medical condition. He had been with the Rolling Stones since 1963. I wouldn't consider myself a huge Stones fan, although I love a lot of their songs. 131 of 147 Rolling Stones songs on my iTunes I've given 4 or 5 stars. My favorite Stones song by far is "Gimme Shelter". The following four articles highlight the most Charlie Watts centric Stones classics.
These songs come from this website: https://cmatrends.com/blog/charlie-watts-ten-best-songs-with-the-rolling-stones/ Repeated songs include "Honky Tonk Woman", "Gimme Shelter" and "Tumbling Dice".
18) "Little Red Rooster":
19) "Under My Thumb":
20) "Let's Spend The Night Together":
21) "Street Fighting Man":
22) "Rip This Joint":
23) "Miss You":
https://theriver107.com/top-10-charlie-watts-rolling-stones-songs/ Repeat songs include "19th Nervous Breakdown", "Gimme Shelter", "Beast of Burden", "Satisfaction", "Tumbling Dice, "Paint It, Black", "Honky Tonk Woman" and "Get Off My Cloud".
24) "Moon Is Up":
25) "Undercover Of The Night":
Other Rolling Stone Greatest Hits: 26) "Can't You Hear Me Knocking":
Are you going to Heaven or Hell? Here's a road trip playlist for either. It looks like as of now that Heaven has the lead in quality songs. First up songs about, or that mention, Heaven.
18) Fiction Factory "(Feels Like) Heaven":
19) INXS "Heaven Sent":
20) Jake Owens "Heaven":
21) Lacuna Coil "Heaven's A Lie":
22) Loverboy "Heaven In Your Eyes":
23) Meat Loaf "Heaven Can Wait":
24) Live "Heaven":
25) Phil Collins "Something Happened On The Way To Heaven":
26) The Psychedelic Furs "Heaven":
27) Q-Feel "Dancing In Heaven":
28) T.G. Sheppard "Do You Wanna Go To Heaven":
29) Romeo's Daughter "Heaven In The Backseat":
30) Robert Plant "Heaven Knows":
31) R.E.M. "Near Wild Heaven":
32) Donna Summer with Brooklyn Dreams "Heaven Knows":
This has been a fun blog series to create, trying to come up several songs that I should post more. There are honestly some songs that I post on my own blog- songs I love- that I think to myself I can't believe I'm posting again. I decided to go the other way and post songs that I haven't posted nearly enough.
There's "Kiss Off", "Blister In The Sun", "Add It Up" and "Gone Daddy Gone" but one of my favorite Femmes songs is "American Music". 1) The Violent Femmes "American Music":
2) Def Leppard "Don't Shoot Shotgun":
3) Natalie Merchant "Wonder":
This is a song I've posted dozens of time, but I can never post a song this good too much. 4) Depeche Mode "Enjoy The Silence":
5) N'Sync "Bye Bye Bye":
6) Scritti Politti "The Perfect Way":
7) Britney Spears "Toxic":
This just might be Audioslave's best song. 8) Audioslave "Dandelion":
9) Abba "Dancing Queen":
10) The Spice Girls "2 Become 1":
11) Steve Forbert "Romeo's Tune":
12) Nelly "Hot In Herre":
13) Chantal Kreviazuk "Miss April":
14) Nelly Furtado "...On The Radio (Remember The Days)":
This blog series started several months ago, it's time to do another one. I still need to read that book mentioned below.
This blog is mostly inspired by a book I saw a couple of years ago at Target. I loved the title of the book, which is "I Heard It In A Love Song". That of course reminded me of the classic Marshall Tucker Band song. I needed to hear that song again, then I took it further and decided to build a series of blogs around it. I'm focusing on 1977, it was an amazing year for music.
I spent more time than I should have to made sure all of these songs were released in 1977. If I am wrong on any it is my fault. I was trying to keep these songs in alphabetical order and I was pretty close.
120) Elvis Presley "Way Down":
121) Charley Pride "I'll Be Leaving Alone":
122) Charley Pride "More To Me":
123) Jerry Reed "Eastbound and Down":
Originally released in 1973, but it was released as a live track in 1977. That's why It's here. 124) REO Speedwagon "Ridin' The Storm Out":
125) Kenny Rogers "Daytime Friends":
126) Kenny Rogers "Lucille":
127) Linda Ronstadt "Blue Bayou":
128) Rose Royce "Car Wash":
129) Diana Ross "Getting Ready For Love":
130) Leo Sayer "When I Need You":
131) Boz Scaggs "Hard Times":
132) Don Williams "I'm Just A Country Boy":
133) Boz Scaggs "Lido Shuffle":
134) Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band "Main Street":
Ahh the 60s, a decade where not a lot happened. Of course I'm kidding. Starting with some of the most obvious, the Vietnam War, Woodstock, Kennedy-Nixon, themusicaddict was born, "Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out", Marilyn Monroe dies, the Cuban missile crisis, "The Feminine Mystique", "I Have A Dream" JFK's assassination, Muhammad Ali, Civil Rights Act of 1964, Malcolm X assassinated, Martin Luther King Jr. assassinated, China's Cultural Revolution, the first Super Bowl, Tet Offensive, My Lai massacre, Robert F Kennedy's assassination, the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, First Man on the Moon and the Manson murders.
Also Haight-Ashbury, Altamont, "James and the Giant Peach" published, "To Kill A Mockingbird" (the book), "A Wrinkle In Time", "Slaughterhouse Five", "100 Years of Solitude" (although I can't quite get through it), "The Phantom Tollbooth" (which is very funny and subtly subversive), "I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings" and "The Man In The High Castle" (although it's a terrible book) and "The Graduate".
Don't forget "Breakfast at Tiffany's" (what a strange little movie that is), Led Zeppelin begins, "Psycho", "To Kill A Mockingbird" (the movie), "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly", "Dr. Strangelove", Elvis' 1968 Comeback Special and many other notable occurrences.
These are the best of Billboard's Top 40 songs, which won't include most songs outside of the mainstream. Thanks to Billboard and Wikipedia.org for the excellent information.
In the previous blog were the first two songs of 1966, Jimmy Ruffin's "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted" and Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots Are Made For Walkin'".
The five best songs of the years of 1966 (cont):
35) The Lovin' Spoonful "Summer In The City":
36) The Mamas and the Papas "California Dreamin'":
37) The Association "Cherish":
The five best songs of the years of 1967:
38) Lulu "To Sir With Love":
39) The Monkees "I'm A Believer":
40) Aretha Franklin "Respect":
41) The Turtles "Happy Together":
42) Buffalo Springfield "For What It's Worth":
The five best songs of the years of 1968:
43) Otis Redding "Sittin' On The Dock of the Bay":
42) Ennio Morricone "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly":
43) Simon and Garfunkel "Mrs Robinson":
44) Steppenwolf "Born To Be Wild":
45) Aretha Franklin "Think":
The five best songs of the years of 1969:
46) The Fifth Dimension "Aquarius/ "Let The Sunshine In":
47) Zager and Evans "In The Year 2525":
48) The Archies "Sugar Sugar":
49) Blood Sweat and Tears "Spinning Wheel":
50) The Cowsills "Hair":
A tie between two songs to make the Top 5 for 1969. Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Fortunate Son":
The 70s and 80s were such a great time for love songs. Some of the happiest, uplifting and fun love songs were released in these two decades. These are "love" songs, dealing with all aspects of love. From the lovey dovey all the way to the crushing heartbreak love can bring.
52) Tony Orlando and Dawn "Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round The Ole Oak Tree":
53) The Three Degrees "When Will I See You Again":
54) The Hollies "The Air That I Breathe":
55) Dan Fogelberg "Make Love Stay":
56) Tracey Ullman "They Don't Know"
57) Atlanta Rhythm Section "Spooky":
58) U2 "The Sweetest Thing":
59) The Psychedelic Furs "Pretty In Pink":
60) Peter Cetera and Cher"After All":
61) Spandau Ballet "True":
62) Survivor "High On You":
63) Journey "Send Her My Love":
64) Bertie Higgins "Key Largo":
65) Dan Fogelberg "Hard To Say":
66) Dave Loggins "Please Come To Boston":
67) Juice Newton "The Sweetest Thing (I've Ever Known)":
What is obscure? I guess that would be any thing that you might not be familiar with. For instance I've heard The Knack's "My Sharona" many times, and it has been in movies etc, but it might be obscure to you. I don't know how that's possible, but everyone hears different music in their lives. Some songs on here by big named artists are obscure to me. To paraphrase I guess obscurity is in the ear of the beholder.
69) Crabby Appleton "Go Back":
70) Blondie "Dreaming":
71) Gordon Lightfoot "Carefree Highway":
72) Creedence Clearwater Revival "Who'll Stop The Rain":
73) Eddie Holman "Hey There Lonely Girl":
74) Elvis Presley "Way Down":
75) The Grass Roots "Temptation Eyes":
This was released Fall, 1969. Close enough for this blog. 76) Guess Who "No Time":
These countdowns are from Billboard Hot 100 countdowns. By best songs, obviously that's subjective. I'll include the band, name of song and where that song ranked that week. Those places I skipped a song that indicates that I didn't think that wasn't a good enough song for that countdown. On this blog I've decided to go with all the great songs on that week's countdown. These are the best songs for one week, not the entire year.
50) Billy Squier "She's A Runner" (75):
51) Phil Collins "I Don't Care Anymore" (76):
52) Thomas Dolby "She Blinded Me With Science" (77):
53) The Clash "Should I Stay Or Should I Go" (79):
54) Toni Basil "Mickey" (80):
55) Felony "The Fanatic" (81):
56) Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney "The Girl Is Mine (82):
57) Laura Branigan "Gloria" (84):
58) Peter Gabriel "Shock The Monkey" (85):
59) Survivor "The One That Really Matters" (86):
60) Dionne Warwick "Heartbreaker" (87):
61) Fleetwood Mac "Love In Store" (89):
62) ABC "The Look of Love" (92):
63) Joe Jackson "Steppin' Out" (94):
Michael Martin Murphey 64) "Still Taking Chances" (99):
