My Top Ten 90s Songs (Vol.1) To The #SoundtrackofMyLife

Aaaahhhh "The 90s" ... a truly turbulent decade of music devourment of multiple genres and languages! And while the 80s had been an awakening to the synth and pop life, the 90s saw a mixture of sounds and influences, brought primarily of the ability to spend $$$ on albums and visiting clubs! I had started working after my National Service, and physical venues like HMV and Tower Records were our weekly haunts! Admittedly, it took me some time to embrace while other aspect of 80s music as I transitioned from schoolboy to army boy to working adult, so quite a few songs featured here ere indeed from the (late) 80s, but I'd only discovered & devoured them in the 90s :)



Above: Amy Grant's "Baby, Baby" (1991) was pop-fun and embodied the cheerful spirit of the 90s (in my book). The sound quality would echo for quite a long time, actually, thru folks like Climie Fisher, Boy Meets Girl and Danny Wilson etc, from the late-80s forward.



I realised there is a larger number of female singer/songs in this list, which isn't really a surprise, as the "bands" of the 80s gave way to (seemingly) strong independent woman singers/performers. Julia Fordham's "Happy Ever After" (Above) will always been an "anthem" for me during that time.



"Been around the world-aiyahi-aiyahi-aiyahi" .... "All Around the World" by Lisa Stansfield (1997 / Album: Lisa Stansfield) is without a doubt one of the key songs which triggers my "90-ness" lol



Above: "Save The Best For Last" (1991) by then beauty-queen Vanessa Williams shall hold a special place in my heart as well, as fade as it is, the memory lingers still some days, a personal story I will not share, cheers.



Lisa Loeb's 1995 "Stay (I Missed You)" from the album: "Tails" would also be a common theme of seemingly "less faux groomed" performers enter my soundscape, which was ironic, as in the "end", we still "judged" them based somewhat on appearance ... it was not until recently when I discovered this MV was shot by actor Ethan Hawke.



Above: Fairground Attraction with "Perfect" was a actually released circa "1988" (Album: The First of a Million Kisses), and I am glad I discovered them! I remember listening to the album in HMV too :)



I had initially found it bizarre that Frente! had covered New Order's "Bizarre Love Triangle" (1992 / Album: Marvin the Album) - No Pun intended! - but it actually opened me up to the sheer notion of "covers", while not needing it to be karaoke-fuelled concepts or for live-pub performances :p



I'll also admit that I'd discovered Siouxsie and the Banshees with their song "Face To Face" on the 1992 soundtrack for "Batman Returns", and subsequently sent me "back in time" to devour their 80s' material - of which one of my faves was "Kiss Them For Me" (1991 / Album: Superstition).



And while Prefab Sprout's "The King of Rock 'N' Roll" was circa late-80s (1988), I'd coped unto them on the early-onset of 90s, and helped provide that indie-pop-rock bridge between the synth and perhaps even inevitable-grunge of the 90s.



"You Get What You Give" from New Radicals is without a doubt THE 90s trigger-track for me (*which boggled my mind why I did not include in my 80sFlashback-feature / Originator of THIS post), which saw/heard a "wider" soundscape, encompassing an environment beyond between the ears somehow, a notion which LOONA's "Butterfly" reminded me of, which I missed and adored.

And while I attempt not to pair influences and categories or even genre of misc and sounds, but perhaps for me I react to how the music "speaks" to me and my mood or impressions of the time, moreso than "lyrics", especially these days when I listen to more Kpop and not necessarily understand a single lick of Korean!

Than said, perhaps the lyrics for songs from the last marked a specific time in my life, and not necessarily every word or phrase carries forth to my current life too, innit? Regardless "intent", I am just grateful I have music memories to go with these tracks :)