Back in June I told a little about the workshop I attended in early summer of '94. I was preparing to teach abstract algebra, an upper-level class for majors, in an innovative way, one that required students to work in groups to write short computer programs intended to help them internalize definitions, logic, etc. The means of implementation sprung out of the educational theory of constructivism, derived from work by the psychologist Jean Piaget.
When fall arrived, it was time to give all of it a go. There were seventeen students enrolled. I divided them in three groups of three and two groups of four that worked together all semester. It had been scheduled as an 8:00am MWF class, and, troopers/good sports all of them were, we gathered at 7:00 on Fridays for an hour in the computer lab before our regular meeting. All in all, it may have been the single most rewarding class of my career; it certainly seemed to be a bonding experience for most everyone involved.
Over the next few even falls, I tried to refine the course, asking deeper questions on group exams, using a more stable programming language, etc. Alas, by the end of the 2000s, the group approach didn't seem to work quite as well. I'm teaching it again this fall, very likely for my last time, in a very traditional, lecture-oriented manner. Our number of majors has declined over the last decade or so--there are just three students this go-round.
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Beginning with the 9/10/94 issue, Billboard expanded the Modern Rock Tracks chart to include forty songs. Perhaps this allowed chart hounds and programming directors to encounter a wider variety of tunes, as songs had been enjoying longer and longer rides in the MRT top 30 as the 90s progressed. Regardless, we get four of those first ten this time.
38. Indigo Girls, "Least Complicated"
One of the best from Emily and Amy. Appeared on a mixtape I'd recorded in May or June of '94 and wrote up here a few years ago. As much as I liked them, I'm pretty sure that Swamp Ophelia was the last CD of theirs I bought, at least at the time of release.
37. Lucas, "Lucas with the Lid Off"
If I ever interjected "I fe-el!" randomly into conversation over the years, it's highly likely that was because "Lucas with the Lid Off" had just entered my brain. I'm a bit surprised to see it only reached #29 on the Hot 100. Cool video, but you have to go somewhere else other than YouTube to see it these days.
35. Freedy Johnston, "Bad Reputation"
I really dig this one; it secured a place on one of the very last mixtapes I put together, sometime in '95. I'll admit I had trouble getting into most other songs on This Perfect World, though--should I give it another go?
33. Oasis, "Supersonic"
I want to say something clever here about Squeeze and Oasis getting buried by comparisons to the Beatles, but then I realize the Fab Four had their own issues with infighting and consumption of various and sundry substances. Congrats are in order, I guess, to the Gallagher brothers for deciding to reunite for a tour next year.
There are only a very few Oasis songs I would actively go out of my way these days to hear. "Supersonic" is at the top of that list.
28. Sonic Youth, "Superstar"
I ignored the tribute disk If I Were a Carpenter back in the day. This affecting cover of my favorite from Karen and Richard is making me think I need to seek it out now. It's kind of charming to see Kim Gordon make a game attempt at getting behind the drum kit in a couple of scenes in the vid.
26. Magnapop, "Slowly, Slowly"
19. Veruca Salt, "Seether"
Methinks there's a through line from the Breeders' "Cannonball" to these two rockers from women-fronted acts. "Seether" is by far the better known song from the better known group, but don't sleep on Atlanta's Magnapop.
16. Grant Lee Buffalo, "Mockingbirds"
In most of these MRT posts I come across one or two songs I'm really sorry I missed out on at the time. This time around we've got #8 below and this effort from an L.A. trio. It's a tremendous piece of writing; towing the right lines are indeed no guarantee that you'll shine.
10. Counting Crows, "Einstein on the Beach"
The success of August and Everything After led the Crows' label to dig out "Einstein on the Beach" from their vaults for inclusion on DGC Rarities Volume 1. A fine tune, equal to any number of songs on their debut disk.
8. Jesus and Mary Chain, "Sometimes Always"
4. Mazzy Star, "Fade Into You"
For a while there at the end of 1994, we modern rock fans were sorta living in Hope Sandoval's world whether we wanted or not. We'll see next time out that the success of Mazzy Star's second album So Tonight That I Might See led to renewed interest in their first record. In the meantime, I've just learned that Sandoval had hung out with the Reid brothers long enough to turn "Sometimes Always" into two-and-a-half minutes of undiluted awesomeness.
7. Live, "I Alone"
Another track from a mixtape that's previously been written up in this space. Three-plus years ago I said this was their breakthrough song, though that may really be more the case for me rather than the public at large. The biggest from Throwing Copper was yet to come, though.
2. Stone Temple Pilots, "Interstate Love Song"
Without question the best thing STP ever did. A fine, fine song.
1. R.E.M., "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?"
This ode of sorts to the mugging of newscaster Dan Rather eight years before had debuted at the top of this chart the previous week. Monster was the beginning of the end of R.E.M. as a must-buy band for me. It has a few pretty good tunes, but I had been hoping for stuff more in the vein of Automatic for the People.
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