Summer 1994 had action a-plenty. A little before the middle of June, I packed my bags for a lengthy (more than a week long, as I recall) workshop held at Purdue University. I was there to learn how I might implement a now long-dead programming language called ISETL (Interactive Set Language) in the upper-level abstract algebra course I'd be teaching come August. It was a fascinating experience, and I embraced the approach with gusto over the next few years (the class is offered only every other fall at my institution). I do remember hearing about the murder of the spouse of a former football great/actor and a subsequent freeway chase while hanging out in a dorm in West Lafayette...
By the end of the month I was off on an adventure that wasn't my wisest choice financially. My colleague Ann Heard had been talking up Paris and all its delights for most of the two years I'd been at Georgetown. I was 30 and had never been to Europe--I decided that needed to change. I bought tickets in and out of Paris, ten days apart, timing it so that I would be completely on my own for only the final three days. My Illinois roommate John and his wife Ann were wrapping up their own Paris excursion as mine began; among other things, we checked out the Musée D'Orsay, the Arc de Triomphe, Notre-Dame, and took an evening boat excursion on the Seine. One of them took this picture from atop Notre-Dame.
As John and Ann headed back to Chicago, I took an overnight train to Zurich, where I would spend the weekend with Toby and his fiancée Kasia (they were to marry, in Poland, in August). They drove me all around Switzerland, veering briefly into Liechtenstein and Austria along the way; Kasia and I took a train to Lugano my last day there while Toby earned his pay.
Then it was back to France, returning to the cute hotel in the 5th Arrondissement south of the Seine, where I'd stayed earlier--I even had the same room. A trip to the top of the Eiffel Tower and visits to Sacré Coeur and Versailles were highlights of Paris Part II. While it had been great to be with friends to that point, it was nice to know I could navigate foreign travel by myself as well, even if I had to be the ugly American who spoke minimal--if that--French. (I was there July 4, and I recall reflecting on how good, how important, it was to gain a very different perspective on my homeland for a while.) The flight home had a twist--thunderstorms in Newark just as I touched down led to cancellation of my flight to Cincinnati, the last one of the day. I wheedled a re-routing through DC out of the agent, where I could spend an evening with Greg and Katie instead of the airport. I made it back to my parents maybe 18 hours later than planned; I'd missed celebrating Dad's last day of work at the bank as a result.
Enough reminiscing, though. What was hot and happening in modern rock land as the summer was about to dawn?
28. Spin Doctors, "Cleopatra's Cat"
Okay, I'll cop to only knowing the songs of theirs that made the radio, but I sure thought this was a comedown from the highs of "Two Princes" and "Little Miss Can't Be Wrong." Those efforts from Pocket Full of Kryptonite completely lacked self-consciousness; "Cleopatra's Cat," on the other hand, had way too much of it. I would feel similarly about tunes from Third Eye Blind's first and second albums several years later.
24. Milla, "Gentleman Who Fell"
I have very little experience with Milla Jovovich the actress--I believe I saw Dazed and Confused somewhere along the way, but have no interest in the Resident Evil series. I did really dig on Milla the singer (at least this one song) in real time, though; maybe I should investigate the rest of The Divine Comedy.
23. Stakka Bo, "Here We Go"
The mid-90s alternative station in Cincinnati had a format that included more music from the club scene than others I encountered during the period. While many of the titles now escape me, two that I do remember are Captain Hollywood Project's "More and More" and this tasty morsel out of Sweden.
21. Blur, "Girls & Boys"
I do recall seeing the video for this in my small but cozy hotel room in Paris toward the end of my stay. Looks like it reached #11 on the French charts. It might be my fave on this list--it's certainly the one I most like to sing.
18. Frente!, "Bizarre Love Triangle"
Australian quartet who scored a few Top 10 hits in their native land. This re-invention of one of New Order's most memorable tunes got them more notice outside their country than anything else they did.
13. Hole, "Miss World"
Live Through This was released within days of Kurt Cobain's suicide. The tragedies in Courtney Love's close circle didn't stop there, as Hole's bassist Kristen Pfaff would die from a drug overdose twelve days after this chart date.
12. Tori Amos, "Cornflake Girl"
The best song on Under the Pink IMHO. Appeared on the same '94 mixtape I mentioned last time out that Sarah McLachlan's "Possession" kicked off. I really need to write that one up...
11. Nine Inch Nails, "Closer"
Way up there on the list of "most disturbing songs I've ever heard." The vid only reinforces that feeling. Go ahead and look it up if you so choose.
Was plenty surprised to hear it on a local radio station just a couple of months ago.
9. Stone Temple Pilots, "Big Empty"
With Nirvana last time out, STP here, and Soundgarden coming up in August, we're taking quite the tour of grunge-era bands whose lead singers passed away too soon. I still think Scott Weiland is singing "daisy head" instead of "dizzy head."
8. Erasure, "Always"
I'd forgotten about this one. I may be the only one to think that Vince Clarke's keyboard arrangements are too...precious? ornate?, but this is a nice performance from vocalist Andy Bell.
7. Counting Crows, "Round Here"
What's your favorite tune from August and Everything After? For me, it's a close call between "Mr. Jones" and "Rain King," but I fully acknowledge that "Round Here" was the right song to lead off the album.
5. Collective Soul, "Shine"
I tend to think of these guys more as an AOR band. While it's true they had more, and bigger, hits on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, this is far from our last opportunity to check on them here.
3. Pretenders, "Night in My Veins"
Last of the Independents turned out to be the last of the LPs from Chrissie to produce hit singles. The opening riff sure reminds me of some other song that's just escaping my recall at the moment.
2. Green Day, "Longview"
The "debut" of the year, even if was their third album. It's impressive that they've maintained relevance for these three decades, releasing a new album this past January.
1. Live, "Selling the Drama"
The Jerry Harrison-produced Throwing Copper was Live's big breakthrough and likely their artistic peak as well. I'd let this first single get overshadowed by a few of the album's other tracks, but it's a solid piece.
No comments:
Post a Comment