Nostalgic Music - 1991

Welcome to the next installment of Nostalgic Music of the 90s. After last week's post, I was so excited that I couldn't wait a full week to post the next spot. Even my step-dad, a true flower child of the 60s, was excited and wanted a CD of all the songs written about last week. And so, I trudge on.

This week, I am going to take aim at the next year in line, 1991. '91 was an interesting year, and here are some fun facts to spark your memory before getting down to the gritty, musical core:

*I turned 6
*Operation Desert Storm begins with air strikes in Iraq
*Female serial killer Aileen Wuornos confesses to the murders of six men (and if you haven't seen the movie Monster yet with Charlize Theron, I suggest you go rent it immediately)
*Jack Kevorkian is barred from assisting in suicides
*Jeffrey Dahmer is arrested with the remains of 11 men and boys are found in his apartment, and he is later guilty of six additional murders
*Super Nintendo is released in the US!
*Magic Johnson announces he has HIV

It was certainly a tense and controversial year, and that's just a taste of it. The 90s were shaping up to be a time of growth and expansion and musical delightfulness. Let's begin, shall we? Here is the first list of my Top 10 songs of 1991:

1) "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You" ~ Bryan Adams: As his most successful song of all time, "I Do It For You" spent many weeks on the top of many charts in many countries, including the US, UK, and Canada. The song holds the record for the longest run at #1 in the UK (16 weeks). Featured on the soundtrack for Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and Adams' album Waking Up The Neighbors, Adams and the song's two other co writers (Michael Kamen and Shania Twain's two-timing husband Mutt Lange) all won Grammys in 1991 for Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture and were also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Song. But didn't win. Poor Mutt. :/

No matter how corny this song may sound today, I still consider it one of the ultimate tear-jerkers. I have been madly in love with Bryan Adams' songs since I was old enough to truly appreciate the written word, and my love only grows. I recently re-purchased his MTV Unplugged (on iTunes since my CD seems to have dissolved) and find myself singing, dancing, and crying along with all those lucky bastards in the live audience. This is the kind of song that (and I am sure I'm right here) every girl wishes some guy had written for and sung to her. Come on, admit it. You, too, have been in the car pretending Bryan was singing this song to you...right? Not just me?

2) "Motownphilly" ~ Boyz II Men: The debut single off their debut album, "Motownphilly" was the original launching pad of Boyz II Men's stellar career, reaching Number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The song features a guest rap spot by Michael Bivins, member of New Edition and Bel Biv DeVoe, who also co-wrote the song with the group and founded the Boyz as well (the busy beaver).

Much like Bryan Adams, I have long had a love affair with Boyz II Men, their super-catchy 90s songs, and their incredibly sexy voices. I still get shivers when I hear their other 1991 single, "It's So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday." "Motownphilly" was the best choice for a debut single, since it was fun, catchy, and dancy. I get giddy when it comes on the radio and I can (try to) harmonize like the best of them while singing " Boyz II Men goin' off. Not too hard, not too soft..." and I especially love their first-verse shout outs to "ABC" (Another Bad Creation) and "BBD" (Bel Biv DeVoe), their "east coast family." It almost makes me proud to live only 2 hours from Philly. Almost.

3) "Losing My Religion" ~ R.E.M.: Off the band's 1991 album Out Of Time, "Losing My Religion" became R.E.M.'s highest-charting hit in the US and reached number 4 on the Billboard charts. It also won two Grammy awards for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or a Group with Vocal and Best Short Form Music Video. This song expanded R.E.M.'s then-limited fan base and exposed them to a whole new arena of audiences. It was based off a mandolin riff mistakenly written by the band's guitarist Peter Buck, who was trying to learn how to play the instrument and haphazardly recorded the riff that would later become "Losing My Religion."

For me, this song never gets old, no matter how many times I hear it. I love R.E.M., but I especially love Michael Stipes' lyrics, particulary in this song. When I was younger, I was pretty sure this song was about someone not wanting to be in their religion anymore. Simple, yes? Oops. Turns out, it's a tale of unrequited love. The title line is taken from an old southern saying, which really means losing one's temper or being at the end of one's rope, so to speak. Who knew? Not being southern, I think my childhood assessment was fair. Also, I was six. This is the kind of song that I'm pretty sure most people know most of the lyrics to, since it has such staying power and since it's so easy to listen to. Plus, who doesn't love a good mandolin every now and again?

4) "Good Vibrations" ~ Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch featuring Loleatta Holloway: A number one hit (their only number one hit) in the US, Sweden, and Switzerland, "Good Vibrations" was released in 1991 on the group's album Music For The People. The song was written by rapper MC SPICE, who was a good friend of the Wahlberg family and wrote other songs for Marky Mark later on. Fun video fact on this song: In the video, Marky Mark is shown out and about doing several things, including boxing. To train for this scene in the video, Marky Mark was helped by Irish Mickey Ward, the boxer he would late play in the film "The Fighter." IRONY!

First of all, can we, all together, say "swooooon!" I don't care. In my mind, Mark Wahlberg is still one of the sexiest men on the planet. Whether it's singing white-guy rap songs, posing in Calvin Klein underwear ads, or playing a Rock Star, Marky Mark makes my knees weak. "Good Vibrations" is that kind of song that you hear once in awhile (at a bat mitzvah, wedding, or 90s radio station) and you sing along with the chorus but then switch the song halfway through because you realize the rest of the song is kind of...well, crappy. BUT, I will give props to the cast of Glee for reviving the song for a moment in their episode "Funk" (despite the fact that the song is, in no way, funky).

5) "Emotions" ~ Mariah Carey: The ultimate diva herself, Ms. Mariah, shows us just what she's made of with her first single off her second album, Emotions. The song features some of her highest and lowest notes possible and was her fifth consecutive number one hit in the US, making her (still) the ONLY act to have their first five singles reach number one. Girl had it goin' ON. The song was nominated for a Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal performance, but lost to Bonnie Raitt's "Something To Talk About." Ironically, the song that finally knocked "Emotions" out of it's number one spot on the charts was "Good Vibrations" by Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch. Hmmm...

Mariah Carey is a serious 90s princess. She knocked the world off its feet with her gorgeous voice, amazing range, and serious good looks. She really can sing anything, which is evident in "Emotions," a disco-style song brought right into the 90s without a hitch. This song makes me, at minimum, wiggle my butt while driving, but usually I break it down (90s style, of course) with the top down, singing "yoooou got me feelin' emotions!" to the passing cars. It's best at a red light, for sure. I don't think there are any Mariah songs I don't like, but this is certainly one of her most fun, butt wiggles and all.

6) "Baby, Baby" ~ Amy Grant: Technically Amy's second number one hit on the pop charts (her first was her duet with Peter Cetera with "Next Time I Fall"), this is her first chart-topper as a single act. The lyrics were written by Grant herself and were inspired by her then-six-week-old baby girl, Millie. Amy claims to have had an impossible time writing the lyrics when given the music until she finally was inspired by her daughter and then wrote the song in ten minutes. (Believe what you will, folks.)

While the words to this song aren't exactly profound or thought-provoking, they're sweet and catchy as hell. When I was little, I had a tape that came with the karaoke machine my parents bought for me one year. (Birthday? Chanukkah? I can't remember, but it was AWESOME! Thanks, guys!) "Baby, Baby" was on the tape (both the regular version and the karaoke instrumental version) and I certainly made it a point to sing this song at all opportunities. And even though Amy Grant became kind of a Jesus-freak later on, I still praise her for writing a vital song of my childhood. Well done, Amy. Kudos.

7) "More Than Words" ~ Extreme: Although this song was technically released in 1990, it's popularity grew in 1991, so that's where we're putting it. Done and done. While the song started on the Billboard charts at number 81, it quickly soared to number 1 in the US and number 2 in the UK. Written by Gary Cherone (the band's singer) and Nuno Bettencourt (the band's guitarist), this ballad was described by Bettencourt as a warning that the phrase "I love you" was becoming meaningless. He believed that people threw the phrase around too often and used it too lightly, that there were ways to show you loved someone that were better than just saying it.

This song melts my heart. An ex-boyfriend and I used to call this "our song" for three years (sigh...) and it still gets to me every time I hear it. The lyrics and melody are both so beautiful and the fact that Extreme was a "hair metal" band singing an incredible ballad made it that much better. Bettencourt's reasoning is just the icing on my hair-metal-music cake. I dare any of you to listen to this song in its entirety and not at least get a bit choked up. Go for it, let me know how that works out for you.

8) "I Wanna Sex You Up" ~ Color Me Badd: Their debut single off their first album, C.M.B., Color Me Badd achieved incredible success off this song in the US, UK, and New Zealand. It spent four weeks on the Billboard Top 100 in the US and reached number 1 on the Billboard Dance and R&B charts. The song featured handfuls of soundbites from other songs, including Doug E. Fresh's "La Di Da Di" and Betty Wright's "Tonight Is The Night."

While it must have been frightening for our parents to hear their young kids belting out "I wanna sex you up!" along with the song on the radio, I'm sure they also knew that none of us had any idea what we were singing about. All I knew was that this fun song had a cool beat and I could make out some of the words in the the chorus. That's all it really takes to have a kid love a song anyway. "I Wanna Sex You Up" is one of those quintessentially 90s nostalgia songs because it was just so....90s, for lack of a better description. All you Gen X and Gen Y-ers know what I'm talking about.

9) "I Touch Myself" ~ The Divinyls: Off their fifth (yes, fifth...that's what happens when you're from outside the US. We have no clue who you are until years later, trapped in our American music bubble) studio album, Divinyls, this song ended up knocking off Vanilla Ice's "Ice Ice Baby" for the number one spot in the US. The song created a minor controversy on this side of the globe until it became so popular that it was being played everywhere, regardless of the subject matter.

This song is a serious guilty pleasure. I can't help but crack a smile and sing along any time this song plays. (Also, those scenes from Austin Powers are usually running through my head simultaneously.) This is another song I'm sure our parents weren't thrilled we were singing aloud in public, but ignorance is bliss. And, sometimes, very funny. How can one resist to sing along to the "oooh....ohhh ohhh...." I mean, it's impossible.

10) "It Ain't Over 'til It's Over" ~ Lenny Kravitz: Off his second studio album, Mama Said, came Lenny's Kravitz's second single. The song is based on the famous line spoken by Yogi Bera, although Yogi meant baseball. Lenny meant love. Sigh... The song is Kravitz's most successful single to date and came in just behind Bryan Adam's number one hit, "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You" in 1991. Lenny Kravitz wrote, recorded, and produced this song on his own, as well as played all instruments (except the strings) on the recording.

Let's just say that Lenny Kravitz is my idea of the perfect man. If I could, I'd hunt him down and marry him. 'Nuff said. This, too, is another swooner and makes me feel like Jell-O (it's aliiive!). His voice alone makes me melt, not to mention everything else about him. This song is the best kind of throwback tribute to a simpler time in music, particularly in R&B, and makes that retro sound more modern. (Plus, did I mention how sexy he is? It didn't hurt his career, that's for sure.) Anyway, this song, along with so many of his others, will stay embedded in my brain matter for a lifetime. He's far too wonderful to ever forget.

So, there you have it. The second installment of Nostalgic 90s Music, circa 1991. Feel free to comment on what I missed, what I messed up, or what I rocked. (Preferably NOT in that order.) Stay tuned for the next episode in the ever-expanding drama of 90s music: 1992. Cause, baby, it ain't over 'til it's over. Swoon.