The Ex bf and I. Yes, he always looked that sour.
Sorry that this took so long to finish, I had a really hard time with some of the years, but I hope you enjoy my list.
We have now moved on to the 90's. I listened to a wide variety of music. I discovered new things, and I was always on the lookout for fun things to sing. I had moved on from the ex, and fell in love over and over again. I worked at Disneyland, I commuted, I moved out on my own for the first time. I also became a slave to Rolling Stone magazine. Everything I read in there was gospel. I learned to flip through every one of my 18 channels on my car stereo and I could name the lead singer of the band in 2-3 notes. It was crazy. If only I could remember all that knowledge, and Rolling Stone was still a good magazine.
1991 (18-19): Again, my music horizons widened, thanks in part to aforementioned magazine and the excellent playlists of Southern California radio stations. This year, I met my current best friend and fell in love... Yeah, that didn't work out, but our song was Everything I Do (I do it for you) – Bryan Adams. This is also the year I became old enough to start clubbing. C+C Music Factory (Gonna Make you Sweat, Things That Make You go Hmmm) figured largely into that (and our workouts). More Than Words (Extreme) was romantic and really fun to sing to, if you knew someone with a guitar. Wicked Game (Chris Isaak) and Silent Lucidity (Queensryche) made us cry. OPP (Naughty by Nature) made us laugh. There was a lot of fun music that year. Again, I was the girl with all the singles and mixed tapes that everyone loved to drive around with, and drive we did. That year, we hit every tourist attraction we could think of in So Cal. It was great. The only album I probably bought was Out of Time by REM. I bought it because I liked Shiny Happy People. For the next few years I really got into this band. My favorite off this album was Texarkana. I got really tired of Losing my Religion, just because it was played what seemed like every 5 minutes on the radio. And of course, I loved Kate Pierson on Shiny Happy People. That was a good song to smile to.
1992 (19-20): This was my year to start the partying. The obvious choice of album here, would be Nevermind, by Nirvana. And as much I loved the grunge sound, and the clothes, I would be remiss if I didn't actually put down the album that I listened to the most (Nevermind gets more play now, but not then, it was all about the party). I flitted from group to group and each group had their own sound. The dancing group listened to Prince and the NPG (Diamonds and Pearls, Cream). The hard party boys listened to Steve Miller (my first concert, in the summer of '92) and mega alternative (ie. Grunge). The regular party crowd from work listened to... well, everything else. Every night, there were no less than 30 people at my friend's house while his parents were out of town for an entire summer. We listened to Boyz II Men (End of the Road, It's so Hard to Say Goodbye), Red Hot Chili Peppers (everything on BloodSugarSexMagic), Right Said Fred (I'm Too Sexy), Elton John (The One)... the list just goes on and on. But, of all these, the most fun album of all for me was Ugly Kid Joe, America's Least Wanted. Everything About You is hysterical. Madman, I can just imagine that happening (a madman is loose in Disneyland). Cat's in the Cradle was really really well done. It didn't hurt that Whitfield Crane was hot, we loved to watch the video and drool over him.
1993 (20-21): I started a music journal this year. It was lyrics to every song that meant something to me. There were so many, I filled a few notebooks. I started working at Disneyland, and moved out with one of my friends in the hard party boy group. I burned my bridges with the other groups, so there was no turning back. This guy that I moved in with introduced me to so much music – before I would even hear it on the radio. I will always thank him for that. I started being able to pick the next single off of some of these albums long before they came on the radio or were released. Dr. Dre – The Chronic really stands out to me. And so does Nine Inch Nails Petty Hate Machine (even though it's much older). Soul Asylum, Grave Dancers Union... I loved that CD. Duran Duran with (The Wedding Album), and who could forget Snow (Informer)? For this year, even though it didn't come out in '93, I'd have to go with The Infectious Grooves – The Plague that Makes Your Booty Move. We quoted from the skits on this (and still do), I love to try and sing along to most of it. It's just a fantastic album. My favorite was I'm Gonna be my King. And then, Therapy with Ozzy. It was a fun CD to party to, And the music was incredible. Great bass.
1994 (21-22): Back at home. My time away was very short lived. I ran up tons of debt and ended up getting my job back at Target and staying away from the party crowd. I was working from 8 am to 1:30 am. Had to pay my bills somehow. It was this year that I started dating my second boyfriend and dealt with all the crap he wanted to give me. I was mildly interested in the harder rock/alternative music at the time, preferring to drive around with my music blaring loud out of my car and singing at the top of my lungs. And so much made sense to me. The issues with my money, the apartment and how it all went down plagued me. Songs like Dirt from Alice in Chains and Self Esteem by The Offspring really spoke to me and I drowned myself in them. The other music I listened to became so obsolete that I don't even remember who they were (one hit wonders). A Virgin Megastore opened close by me, so a couple of my friends and I went there to check it out. I bought the CD God Shuffled His Feet by Crash Test Dummies. The next morning, I was making coffee and my dad came down the stairs. Usually he really wasn't much into the music I listened to, but this morning, he asked me if I had ever heard of a band called Crash Test Dummies. I started laughing and told him I bought the CD the night before. He asked to borrow it. I really still love that CD, not just because of the cool memory of my dad, but because I love that guy's voice (that BASS!!!), and the lyrics are incredible. My very favorite was I Think I'll Disappear Now. It told a story that sounded like a bad breakup, and directly seemed to mirror what I had just gone through with the apartment and the people involved. It's a different album from what I normally listened to that year. More optimistic, folksy and feel good-ish. And it was really fun to try and hit those low notes (I never did succeed).
1995 (22-23): I moved out again. I listened to a lot of Heavy Metal, and alternative, stuff that my boyfriend called “death die rot.” He liked classic rock mostly, so I was only able to listen to the stuff that I really wanted to listen to on my own time. But while I did like the classics, I wasn't in the mindset at the time. We were still learning each other, and I learned that he loved to sing Frank Sinatra, Bobby Darin and Elvis. Not my favorites by far. He had a nice singing voice and he loved to sing just randomly: around the house, walking through stores – he would just break out into song. Somehow or another he learned that I loved to sing, so he decided he wanted to test out my chops and see how well I sing. We put on a tape of Annie Lennox, mostly mixed. But most of it was from her album Medusa. The song I ended up singing for him was No More “I Love You's.” He told me that he fell even more in love with me when I sang to him. I still love that tape. It had Love Song for a Vampire, and Ladies of the Canyon on it. It was one of my favorite tapes to sing along to. I have always loved Annie, when she was in the Eurythmics and now that she also has a solo career. She has such an incredible vocal range and a smooth voice. It was such fun to try and sing all of her songs.
1996 (23-24): I had moved out of the Orange County area to be closer to my BF. I had a 44 mile drive into work every day, and I worked in the afternoon, so that meant it took me about 3 hours to get to work. I relied on the one radio station that I could get, or on the people I worked with to give me musical influence. I had influenced the BF with my constant playing of Oingo Boingo, even though they had broken up 3 years before. We also listened to a lot of Sarah McLaughlin. And, unfortunately, I had to hear Macarena every day on the way to and from work. I had moved on to a new group to hang out with at work (turnover was pretty high at Disneyland), and we listened and talked music a lot. There was a girl that I wanted to be, because she was so cool and beautiful. She loved No Doubt. That was the year that Tragic Kingdom came out and I got very into it. I had several friends that used “Spiderwebs” as their answering machine message. “Don't Speak” was so sweet and so sad and so beautiful. And the songs that made us dance: “Excuse Me Mr.,” “Just a Girl.” I identified with “Just a Girl” I felt like that a lot with my current boyfriend. It was a great album and totally caught the mood of Orange County at that time.
1997 (24-25): This year I had gone back to school, continue working and try to get along. The bf and I were still chugging along. I listened to a lot of Green Day and The Offspring and Oingo Boingo. The bf “borrowed” all of my Boingo CD's (I never did get them back). Because I still only got the one radio station in, I was stuck listening to the pop station. But there was a lot of bubble gum pop, some of which I liked, some of which, I despised. The station also payed some hip-hop, which I was never very into. I liked “I Love You Always Forever” by Donna Lewis, “How Do I Live” by LeAnn Rimes, “Bitch” by Meredith Brooks, “Semi-Charmed Life” by Third Eye Blind. I did NOT like (even though they were catchy) “MmmBop” by Hansen, “Wannabe” by The Spice Girls, “Fly Like an Eagle” as done by Seal (I loved the original by Steve Miller). But, as ashamed as I am to admit it (really, it's a guilty pleasure) I really enjoyed the Evita soundtrack with Madonna. I didn't see the movie until a few years later, but I loved the music. I remember the commercials for the musical from when I was little – the only reason I knew “Don't Cry for Me Argentina.” I thought, even though there was so much controversy surrounding the movie, that Madonna did a really good job with the vocals. I have always been a closeted Madonna fan, until recently. I bought the CD's. Of course, most of the time listening to it was dominated by “Don't Cry For Me”, but I soon fell in love with “Rainbow High” in all it's various incantations, and “Buenos Aires”. I was not allowed to listen to in around the bf, who hated Madonna. So I just listened to it while alone, which was rare. I did see the movie a couple years later and was not that impressed with it. I liked it, but...
1998 (25-26): The bf and I broke up the day after I got fired from Disneyland. This started out to be a sucky year! I had to re-find myself, and it was a long long journey. Every love song made me sad, just driving through town made me sad. Even going by Disneyland made me sad. I started a new job and met new friends. I watched a lot of TV and didn't listen to much music. I did, however fall in love with The Barenaked Ladies - Stunt. “One Week” and “It's All Been Done” were both payed on the radio until I was almost sick of it. I finally borrowed the CD from a friend and loved it. I still listen to it like crazy. I love to sing along to “Call and Answer” and sometimes think that it would even sound better if they added a female harmony to it. “When You Dream” is one of the sweetest songs I have ever heard. It made one of my closest friend cry when he heard it, because it made him miss his kids. “Alcohol” was the anthem. I had started drinking a lot and I just totally understood that song. It is just overall a fantastic album. There aren't any songs on it that I don't like. It's a fun, sweet, thoughtful album. And how much fun it is to sing along with! The vocal aren't hard to match, but the lyrics are fantastic.
1999 (26-27): I got a great new job, I moved into a fun apartment complex, and made some fabulous new friends. I got back to my “happy” alternative roots. I stopped listening to the pop music – well, for the most part. This was also the year that I got cancer for the first time. At first, I was not going to pick an album because there was much that inspired me this year, especially later. But they were all singles. When I had cancer, there was very little that would make me want to dance. Those singles (being played on MTV) made me feel like dancing, as corny as they were, and dance I did. But just in the kitchen. They were the boy bands and Christina/Britney music. I know, I should never admit it, but there it is. I also thought about putting the soundtrack for City of Angels. I loved it. Almost every song. Hated the movie, but loved the music. But I thought a soundtrack is just not enough. So, I picked the ONE album that I loved and still have a particular feeling when I hear it, and enjoy it. Korn – Follow The Leader. I don't know what it was about the album, but I loved to listen to it loud. When I needed help sleeping, or just to get out of the house for a while, or whatever, I would put on this CD and drive. A friend of mine was in love with Jonathan Davis. I had so much fun listening to this album, I picked out songs I wanted people to listen to, and make them listen, whether they wanted to or not. It also worked very well as an angry album, later in the year, when I was sick. “Got the Life” was the first song I liked on the album. I just loved the sound – it was so different from what I listened to normally. I loved the hidden track with “Earache in My Eye” from Cheech and Chong. And, it's silly, but I really had fun with “All in the Family.” At the time, I liked Limp Bizkit/Fred Durst, so that song was hysterical for me. The album was, again, very well done, and I still enjoy it when I am in an angry mood.
2000 (27-28): The end of cancer. Went back to work, partying and living with mom and dad. Yet again, I was listening to the Boy Bands. N'Sync was my favorite to dance to. And to sing along to. Justin Timberlake has since won a place in my heart with Dick in a Box. But anyway.... I was listening to The Offspring with reckless abandon. Many great albums came out this year. And I bought them all. Ha. Just kidding, I did buy a few, though. One of these was The Marshall Mathers LP by Eminem. It was a white boy! And he actually rapped – well! The rapping was genius. He was funny, disgusting, terrifying, sad, and dirty. It was such a range. The first time I heard “Stan,” I cried. I still do occasionally. Who didn't laugh at “The Real Slim Shady?” And who wasn't horrified by “Kim” and wondered if it wasn't real? As gross as “Amityville” is, I love the line, “Mentally Ill from Amityville.” Don't ask me why. Fantastic beats, incredible lyrics. This white boy from Detroit has amazing talent. And no matter what the lyrics, it's all about the entertainment. And Eminem is very entertaining.
So that wraps up that decade. As soon as I can figure out what's up for the 00's, I'll let ya know.
