One Friday afternoon toward the end of September 1995 found me on the road to Ft. Wayne, meeting up with friend Mark L for a weekend bridge tournament. A quick search at the American Contract Bridge League website tells me that we scored up a little less than 1.5 Masterpoints (the currency the ACBL metes out for doing well enough) for our efforts--not all that great, tbh--but as always it was great to hang out with Mark for a couple of days. Back then we got together roughly annually; we're well overdue for another confab over the table, even if we now live a couple thousand miles apart.
While my then-new Geo Prizm had a cassette player, I spent my time on the road running up and down the FM dial on the radio, searching for alternative stations and finding reasonable success. I do associate a few of the songs discussed below with that road trip, but what I remember most is catching somewhere in Ohio a late Sunday night syndicated in-studio interview with a trio previously unknown to me. I was captivated by the songs they played, and it wasn't long at all afterward that I purchased Ben Folds Five. It's still a tossup whether it or the Jayhawks' Tomorrow the Green Grass is my favorite album from '95.
As I was prepping this post, I discovered that the 10/7/95 issue of Billboard included a review of BFF:
Folds and company wouldn't make MRT with anything from their debut disk, alas. There are a number of goodies to revisit, though...
39. P.M. Dawn, "Downtown Venus"
There had already been a few hip-hop acts to crack the Modern Rock Track charts, but my recollection is they were usually in the process of breaking out across multiple formats, as opposed to being already established. They certainly weren't acts with a #1 pop hit on a resumé. Nevertheless, here's a fine piece from Prince Be and DJ Minutemix that was definitely being pitched to the alternative scene.
35. Joan Osborne, "One of Us"
Relish had been in my collection for six months by this point. Radio stations were finally catching up; "One of Us" would reach #4 on the Hot 100 in early February.
27. Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories, "Do You Sleep?"
I'm strongly tempted to call "Do You Sleep?" my favorite song from '95. Come to think of it, Tails might belong in the conversation for fave album, too. I may well be putting this on repeat over the next day or three.
24. Letters to Cleo, "Awake"
One of the great things about these trips back in time is getting re-acquainted with songs I haven't thought about (or heard, of course) for quite a long time. While "Here and Now" has never really left my brain, I can't say the same for the followup. Good to meet you again, "Awake."
20. David Bowie, "The Hearts Filthy Lesson"
From Outside, the reunion between Bowie and Brian Eno. One of many of DB's songs I need to give a more considered listen.
17. Heather Nova, "Walk This World"
Like #35 above and #6 below, it took "Walk This World" a good while to build the momentum necessary to make waves in alterna-land. Nova, that rare artist from Bermuda, is still recording.
15. Red Hot Chili Peppers, "My Friends"
It really hadn't occurred to me that it took RHCP four years to follow up Blood Sugar Sex Magik--sure seemed like they were constantly on the radio throughout the first half of the 90s.
9. Gin Blossoms, "Til I Hear It from You"
Very happy for the Blossoms to score a big hit, but even happier for Marshall Crenshaw to have earned what I hope has been decent coin for the co-write credit.
7. Edwyn Collins, "A Girl Like You"
Absolutely killer track, more than enough to make me seek out the Empire Records soundtrack. Never saw the flick, though--is it worth checking out?
6. Toadies, "Possum Kingdom"
Claustrophobic and dark, I like it more than I generally do songs of this ilk. Maybe it's the frequent use of 7/4 time?
4. Alanis Morrisette, "Hand in My Pocket"
Yes, it was fun enough in the moment to play-act all the things that other hand was doing.
2. The Presidents of the United States of America, "Lump"
Distinctive enough to catch the attention of Weird Al Yankovic; the following spring he would include "Gump" on his album Bad Hair Day. Which reminds me that I may have first seen Forrest Gump somewhere around the time this chart appeared--Martha and I rented and watched it in her apartment one weekend.
1. Goo Goo Dolls, "Name"
I feel like I knew of this band's existence back toward the end of my grad school days, in '91 or '92. But, like most folks, I couldn't, uh, name any of their songs until they kicked the doors in with John Rzeznik's composition from A Boy Named Goo. Much greater success awaited later in the decade.
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