August 25, 2005
The music from the year you graduated high school
Posted by Jess in
Day to Day
I read this at Libby's site, and everyone started following suit. I was reluctant at first for reasons, but it looks like too much fun, so here goes.
Here's the assignment.
Go to musicoutfitters.com, and do a search on the most popular 100 songs from the year you graduated high school. (You can do this by searching on the year you graduated).
Bold the ones you actually like. (Understand that the word "like" in this case means, at the very least, "wouldn't immediately change the radio station from.")
Pick a favorite. Underline that favorite.
Strikethru the ones you loathe.
Italicize the ones you consider to be guilty pleasures.
Both Matt and I graduated high school in 1994 (we met in the dorms in college freshman year). As we have the same year, as not to confuse our tastes, I'll state for the record that this is my list. :-)
1994 was a bad year for music, as far as I'm concerned. I really don't like R&B, and it was pretty much mainstream from then on. 1994 also was the year that Aerosmith wussied out and had string after string of sappy love songs. Even Meatloaf had a random song in there somewhere... Nah. When me and the girls put on fun songs we used to listen to in high school, we rarely go back to the stuff from senior year.
Or maybe that was just when I started really getting into Dream Theater. This was kind of fun, really. I can see my descent into alternative, and my penchant of enjoying wedding reception music. :-)
Anyway, without further ado, here's the Top 100 Hits of 1994.
1. The Sign, Ace Of Base
2. I Swear, All-4-One
3. I'll Make Love To You, Boyz II Men
4. The Power Of Love, Celine Dion
5. Hero, Mariah Carey
6. Stay (I Missed You), Lisa Loeb and Nine Stories
7. Breathe Again, Toni Braxton
8. All For Love, Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart and Sting
9. All That She Wants, Ace Of Base
10. Don't Turn Around, Ace Of Base
11. Bump N' Grind, R. Kelly
12. Again, Janet Jackson
13. I'll Remember, Madonna
14. Whatta Man, Salt-N-Pepa
15. Wild Night, John Mellencamp and Me'shell Ndegeocello
16. Without You / Never Forget You, Mariah Carey
17. You Mean The World To Me, Toni Braxton
18. Can You Feel The Love Tonight, Elton John
19. The Most Beautiful Girl In The World, Prince Symbol
20. Fantastic Voyage, Coolio
21. Baby I Love Your Way, Big Mountain
22. Regulate, Warren G and Nate Dogg
23. If You Go, Jon Secada
24. Back and Forth, Aaliyah
25. Now And Forever, Richard Marx
26. When Can I See You, Babyface
27. Please Forgive Me, Bryan Adams
28. So Much In Love, All-4-One
29. Shoop, Salt-N-Pepa
30. Any Time, Any Place / And On And On, Janet Jackson
31. Shine, Collective Soul
32. Said I Loved You...But I Lied, Michael Bolton
33. Return To Innocence, Enigma
34. All I Wanna Do, Sheryl Crow
35. Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm, Crash Test Dummies
36. Can We Talk, Tevin Campbell
37. Funkdafied, Da Brat
38. I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That), Meat Loaf
39. Gangsta Lean, Drs
40. Because The Night, 10,000 Maniacs
41. Cantaloop, US3
42. Whoomp! (There It Is), Tag Team
43. Come To My Window, Melissa Etheridge
44. Stroke You Up, Changing Faces
45. I'm Ready, Tevin Campbell
46. 100% Pure Love, Crystal Waters
47. Anytime You Need A Friend, Mariah Carey
48. Because Of Love, Janet Jackson
49. Linger, Cranberries
50. Loser, Beck
51. Found Out About You, Gin Blossoms
52. Gin And Juice, Snoop Doggy Dogg
53. Never Lie, Immature
54. Streets Of Philadelphia, Bruce Springsteen
55. Getto Jam, Domino
56. Endless Love, Luther Vandross and Mariah Carey
57. I Miss You w/ Aaron Hall 58, Understanding, Xscape
59. This D.J., Warren G
60. Cry For You, Jodeci
61. Keep Ya Head Up, 2Pac
62. Who Am I (What's My Name?), Snoop Doggy Dogg
63. Another Night, Real McCoy
64. Your Body's Callin', R. Kelly
65. Tootsee Roll, 69 Boyz
66. I Can See Clearly Now, Jimmy Cliff
67. Never Keeping Secrets, Babyface
68. Crazy, Aerosmith
70. At Your Best (You Are Love), Aaliyah
71. Rock And Roll Dreams Come Through, Meat Loaf
72 Amazing, Aerosmith
73. Always, Erasure
74. Groove Thang, Zhane
75. Dreams, Gabrielle
76. Mr. Vain, Culture Beat
77. Mary Jane's Last Dance, Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers
78. Anything, SWV
79. Beautiful In My Eyes, Joshua Kadison
80. Stay, Eternal
81. Flava In Ya Ear, Craig Mack
82. U.N.I.T.Y., Queen Latifah
83. Prayer For The Dying, Seal
84. Secret, Madonna
85. Here Comes The Hotstepper, Ini Kamoze
86. Everyday, Phil Collins
87. Don't Take The Girl, Tim McGraw
88. Got Me Waiting, Heavy D and The Boyz
89. December 1963 (Oh, What A Night), Four Seasons
90. Indian Outlaw, Tim McGraw
91. Always, Bon Jovi
92. I'm The Only One, Melissa Etheridge
93. Back In The Day, Ahmad
94. Love Sneakin' Up On You, Bonnie Raitt
95. I'll Take You There, General Public
96. Always In My Heart, Tevin Campbell
97. What Is Love, Haddaway
98. And Our Feelings, Babyface
99. Bop Gun (One Nation), Ice Cube
100. I Wanna Be Down, Brandy
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Comments
Wow, 1994 wasn't exactly a great year for music. I can only imagine what you chose as your prom theme music.
Sean---
How did December '63 (Oh what A Night) get in there? That was a hit when I was a kid (around your zeroeth birthday). And a Frampton cover (Baby I Love Your Way)? (Original also suspiciously close to your date of birth. Pattern emerging here?)
I can't imagine an Enigma "song" in isolation -- their albums should be an immersive experience (particularly with MCMXC AD, not so much with Enigma 4, which seems to recap the themes of their "greatest hits"). Not that I dislike Return To Innocence; it just works better in context.
I do like the fact that you hit a couple of my favourites from that year with Lisa Loeb and the Cranberries. But you really didn't like the Celine Dion cover of an Air Supply tune? You're not exactly who the focus group wants you to be, are you?
Sean - I just checked out your site's list of songs. You had SO much fun stuff in there I couldn't believe it! I don't remember what we chose as our prom THEME, but I do remember lots of music like Informer by Snow. Oh wait -
- Back. Yup. That was the 1993 prom, the year before. Man, that year had WAY better music than I got!! LOL!!
Both "Oh What a Night" and "Baby I Love Your Way" were redone... while I love the originals, the new versions were more sugary sweet. And I liked them... I can't make myself sound like a sullen moody teenager, because I wasn't. :-)
But when it comes to Celine Dion, I'm definately a little bit of a hypocrite. I love singing those songs, but I absolutely cannot *stand* to hear them. It's the same with Mariah Carey. In fact, the only reason I italicized that song Hero as a guilty pleasure was because aside from the sqeaking, the melody is just so pretty. :-)
I am fortunate that Sadeness (Enigma) was a radio hit, otherwise I may never have heard of them until more recently. Out of all of them, The Cross of Changes was by far my favorite album of theirs... it has the Eyes of Truth on it. That's really all I need!
Matt, I just had an afterthought - actually it's kind of ironic. 1994 was that year that I was told I had absolutely NO taste in music. The bastage. :-)
Jess,
Really scary music now that I look back on it. But glad to see someone else shares my thoughts on musical 'taste'. Or is it that I have none?
Kelly!! What better person to comment on music from high school, than someone from high school... I'm so glad you posted.
And, you were one of the few people I could actually rock out to "18 and Life" and "Remember You" with. :-D
The 'no taste in music' comment was made by a certain blonde you probably remember, though he didn't go to school with us. But I'm not bitter. LOL!
Jess, I never get upset when someone tells me I have no taste in music, clothes, men, etc. I have been told by my fashion guru that I am 'stuck in the '80's'. She looked like she was sucking on a lemon when she said it. Well, wouldn't you know, her fashion mag. says the '80's painted on jeans look is back this fall. I thought she was going to pass out. Eventually everything comes around, even music. God, Skid Row was my LIFE in high school- still have a tape around here somewhere. Now where is my tape player...
Boy....1994....mustīve been bad....a bunch of Ace of Base tunes passed!
this list makes me feel SOOOOOO old..
Susan's comment is precisely the reason why I was reluctant to do this at first... I knew SOMEONE was going to comment age-wise.
All I have to say is this: I just found out I'm older than the people on "Friends" supposedly is, so there. :-P
I really appreciate what you're doing here. Very interesting site. Port aBuayar: http://www.compendianet.com , Revelations of John
It's the first time i ran through your site and I found it very informative and interesting. Nicely done! Naked truth: http://www.cosmicbuddha.com/blog/archives/001169.html , Extensive methods for this
