The 14th P&J Singles Poll!

Utah Saints' "Something Good." Followed by "Damn, I Wish I Was Your Lover."

"Scenario", followed by "How I Could Just Kill a Man".

This list has a lot of "serious" songs on it, like "Right Now", "One", and "Under the Bridge". The list has two faces that way.

Hmm.. kind of weak year for singles - it's certainly no 1990. The KLF, Cypress Hill, and Nirvana (either one) are pretty good, but I think I will go with Sir Mix-A-Lot.

REM: Drive

One of their very best.

in bloom!

Drive was very good. That album was one of the best of the early 90s too.

Interesting statistic:

Arrested Development: "Tennessee" (Chrysalis) 100
House of Pain: "Jump Around" (Tommy Boy) 40

(I went with "Jump," but would have probably gone with "Warm It Up" had it been available--Kris Kross rcok!)

This year is so letter-y. I am choosing between The KLF, U2, REM, TLC, KD Lang, Das EFX, and L7!
ha!

(if I need it in the mornin or the middle of the night)
I AINT 2 PROUD 2 BEG, NO!!!

Kris Kross rcok!

haha, that should really be Kris Kross rock!

Great typo, John!

Enough excellent stuff in here that I could easily compile a Top 10. KLF is a pretty obvious winner for me, but I love a bunch of others as well (and of course, hate a whole bunch of them, too--there's actually not a lot of middle ground songs for me here).

Same broken-record comment as always: the disparity (in my brain and in my ears) between how Pazz & Joppers vote for albums vs. how they vote for singles just becomes more pronounced with each list. (Which is not to say they couldn't still vote for better singles or that I even know what I'm talking about when it comes to the albums lists. Still--the above proves that 1992 was not completely dismal.)

I'm mystified by how well "My Lovin'" did.

there's actually not a lot of middle ground songs for me here

Um, scratch that. It's not really true the more I think about it.

I'm mystified by how well "My Lovin'" did.

Because P&Jers occasionally get things right, yeah?

Actually, it's the best song here.

And now it's time for a breakdown.

It's not even the best En Vogue single released that year!

Eh, I'd rank it slightly over "Free Your Mind" (assuming that's the one you were referring to, "Giving Him Something He Can Feel" is great, too, but not exactly the type of song that does well in these things, "Give It Up or Turn It Loose" is a bit meh)

But I certainly wouldn't begrudge you for liking the former two of those more than "My Lovin'". All three are grade A+, really.

Now if you would explain "Jump" to me.

I voted for "My Lovin'" before reading the thread; if I had a do over I woulda gone for Mix-A-Lot though.

"Justified and Ancient." But just in case it needed stressing, it's the Tammy Wynette version I'm loving here. Precious few songs can pull off funny and beautiful simultaneously but this one does. In fact, it may be the apotheosis of funny + beautiful.

M.I.A.:

Shanté: "Big Mama" (Livin' Large 1992)
Naughty By Nature: "Ghetto Bastard" (Tommy Boy 1992)
2 Unlimited: "Twilight Zone" (Radikal 1992)
Midi, Maxi & Efti: "Bad Bad Boys" (Columbia 1992)
Apotheosis: "O Fortuna" (Radikal 1992)
Uncle Bob: "Uncle Bob's Burly House" (Stress 1992)

I was clubbing (and eventually spinning lots) in the 1990s. So my fave singles will skew dancey/gay(er) for the rest of the decade.

"Ain't 2 Proud 2 Beg," but I'm sort of voting for the "Smoothed Down Extended Remix."

OK, "People Everyday" at #5 goes a long way towards explaining me the AD hate.

so many godly tracks here, but I must go with Baby Got Back.

I went with Sophie B. Hawkins, but there are a lot of great records up there.

just in case it needed stressing, it's the Tammy Wynette version I'm loving here...

I'm pretty sure this is the version Pazz & Jop voters voted for--don't know that I've even heard the other one more than a couple times. But yeah, "the apotheosis of funny + beautiful"--totally agree.

I think "My Lovin'" is the only En Vogue song I can even listen to. "Free Your Mind" is godawful beyond repair.

I guess I hate fun, but "Baby Got Back"... I can't even make it through that whole song anymore.

Sir Mix-a-Lot is the Fleshtones of hip-hop.

"Posse on Broadway" >>>>>>>>>>>>> "Baby Got Back"

BRUHHHHHHHHHHNNHN ba-chika-chika boom boom chik
MYPOSSESONBROADWAY boom boom chik

Well, "Posse on Broadway" >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> any song ever, too, but just sayin'.

yeah well duh. but hating on "baby got back" is kinda tired too, it's so well-constructed!

"Baby Got Back" gets love cuz "Rip It" didn't.

"Damn, I Wish I Was Your Love" and "In Bloom" both classics. But I'll take the horn loop and drums in "T.R.O.Y." over just about anything else on that list.

Voted for Sir Mix cuz duh. Cure, Tribe and Cypress Hill are the only things that come close / still hold up for me.

Ooops, lied. Sophie B. still great too.

We need Kogan in here to transcribe his iambic pentameter love for Sophie B.

We need Kogan in here to transcribe his iambic pentameter love for Sophie B.

-- Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Wednesday, August 29, 2007 5:23 PM

The truth

yeah well duh. but hating on "baby got back" is kinda tired too, it's so well-constructed!

I don't hate it, I just get fucking sick of it, y'know.

ah the old "blame the song for its own success" gambit, AN ILM CLASSIQUE (not that I don't understand you though)

I had no idea that "hating on" "Baby Got Back" was such a tired sport. It seems to have a fair bit of critical clout, from what I can tell (I've also been asked to play it at every second wedding these last few years--aside from brand new stuff, it's probably the most requested hip-hop song I can think of). It just doesn't do much for me--then or now. I find it amusing at first, then quickly tiring. My mild dis isn't some game of one-upmanship.

Yeah, that's the one.xp

Okay, Mr. Woods, withdrawn. I would get sick of it too if I was a wedding DJ. (By the way, thanks for making me glad I'm not a wedding DJ!)

What strikes me STILL about "BGB" is Mix's vocal attack -- that term is not an overstatement, he really tears into the subject in that kind of overamped rock-star Run-DMC sort of way. Also, the pizzicato synths create a lot of tension in the track that I don't think people ever talk about. He sounds really genuinely angry that Whitey has disrespected his sisters' huge asses. Admirable.

I think the continuing popularity of this song rests on its female fans, which makes it fascinating to me. But I will stop committing the other ILM fallacy, that of attributing people's likes/dislikes to anything other than just being likes/dislikes. Apologies.

Nah, Matt (you are Matt, right??)--no apologies required, and anyway, with this explanation--

He sounds really genuinely angry that Whitey has disrespected his sisters' huge asses...

you may see me come around on this one yet!

But yeah, you should be glad you're not a wedding dj--it's opened me up to a lot of music, absolutely, and opened me up to different ways of hearing a lot of music, but it's shut down a lot of things for me also, which has really hit me in the last year or so especially. and which is why i'm quitting (oct 2007--can't wait) while i'm still (kind of) ahead.

"My Hooptie" > "Posse On Broadway" > "Baby Got Back" (which I've listened more to in recent months since my 18-year-old daughter rediscovered it) > most other songs on the list (which strikes me as a pretty good list, btw, WAAAAAY better than '90, which sucked, and probably better than '91 too.)

Most of my favorites are near the top!! -- Sir Mix, Cypress Hill, House of Pain, Kriss Kross (which I voted for). And most of them, oddly, are hip-hop. I'd put Sophie B. and Utah Saints slightly below those, and I guess I like Wrecks In Effect okay too, and some of the alphabet bands (REM, Das EFX, U2, TLC, L7) have songs I could tolerate if I had to.

Okay, the rest isn't so great I guess. And yeah, there's a whole lot of over-serious/un-single-like horse dung: especially when you get down to the video winners, oddly enough. I mean, people actually enjoyed watching those Gabriel and Nine Inch Nails and Van Halen and Peal Jam travesties? Jeesh.

Song I am embarrassed not to remember how it goes (assuming I ever knew in the first place): Pete Rock.

Dumb question about "Scenario": Is that the same "Scenario" that the Beastie Boys said they were going to do once (possibly when I interviewed them for Creem magazine in 1987)? Assuming they never actually wound up doing it? Is there any connection at all? Or am I just imagining things again? (A Tribe Called Qwest and them were friends, right?)

And oh yeah: "Supermodel" is still really shitty.

Oh yeah, the KLF song is another good alphabet one.

But I'll hate (or at least dislike) kd's "Constant Carving With A Butcher Knife" til the day I day.

day I DIE I meant.

Worst song on list (worst song ever?) = "Sexy M.F."

hahaha "no not yr body yr mind u fool" = some of the most awkward songwriting evah, though I still enjoy the groove

I went with Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth, one of the great early '90s hip-hop songs, and like a good amount of this list.

The one thing I love about "Sexy M.F." is how much Tony M. sounds like Rodney Dangerfield when he doubles up on the "Sexy motherfucker shakin that ass ... shakin that ass, shakin that ass" bit.

And oh yeah: "Supermodel" is still really shitty.

Armond White to thread.

Now if you would explain "Jump" to me.

1. Note title of song
2. Listen to song
3. Follow instructions
4. Jump!

Also works well with Van Halen (although not so well with Aztec Camera's cover version).

We need Kogan in hereto transcribe his iambic pentameter love for Sophie B.

Fixed.

Wait: Those are all VIDEOS, right? I don't think I saw any of 'em except the Van Halen a few times. That was awful.

Awful nothing--It won best video at the MTV video awards too. Pretty fucking horrendous.

Used as the background music during "Saturday Night Love"'s Krystal Gravy skit.

Honestly, the more I look at the list, the more I'm impressed by its cream-rising-to-the-top aspects (for the most part -- I don't really have an opinion about Arrested Development more one way or the other.) The four funnest songs all made the top seven, and when you get down to the bottom of the singles list, it almost universally looks like bland grasping-for-straws by fun-hating alternative rock fans who don't like singles very much in the first place so they voted for mediocre album tracks instead. Impressive! I can't think of another year where this happened. (Actually, I just realized though that I don't really know where the singles list ends and the videos start. I'm assuming now Van Halen is actually the top vid? If so, people voting for "Digging in the Dirt" as a song is even sadder than people voting for its visuals. Though no sadder than voting for "Human Touch" or "Dyslexic Heart.")

Oops, I was wrong, but still:

Videos
1. Nirvana: "In Bloom" (Kevin Kerslake) 23
2. Arrested Development: "Tennessee" (Milcho) 21
3. Sir Mix-a-Lot: "Baby Got Back" (Adam Bernstein) 17
4. Peter Gabriel: "Digging in the Dirt" (John Downer) 13
R.E.M.: "Drive" (Peter Care) 13
6. A Tribe Called Quest: "Scenario" (Jim Swafield) 12
Van Halen: "Right Now" (Mark Fenske) 12
8. Los Lobos: "Kiko and the Lavender Moon" (Ondrej Rudavsky) 11
RuPaul: "Supermodel" (Randy Barbato) 11
10. Nine Inch Nails: "Happiness in Slavery" (Jonathan Reiss) 9
Pearl Jam: "Jeremy" (Mark Pellington) 9

Iguess it always confuses me when the songs that score as both singles and vids aren't listed twice.

Also, Da Dean's List, fwiw. There are many songs on here, sadly, that I never had any desire to know:

Kris Kross: "Jump" (Ruffhouse/Columbia)
Naughty by Nature: "Everything's Gonna Be All Right" (Tommy Boy)
Rare Essence: "Work the Walls" (Sounds of the Capital)
Kris Kross: "Warm It Up" (Ruffhouse/Columbia)
P.M. Dawn: "I'd Die Without You" (LaFace)
Technotronic: "Move This" (SBK)
A Tribe Called Quest: "Scenario" (Jive)
Lisa Stansfield: "All Woman" (Arista)
Freestyle Fellowship: "Ummm . . . " (4th & B'way)
The Almighty RSO: "One in the Chamba" (Tommy Boy)
The KLF: "Justified and Ancient" (Arista)
Estrellas Ubou: "Jalagua Guero"/"Moudibey Cielo" (EUR)
Arrested Development: "Tennessee" (Chrysalis)
Bratmobile: "No You Don't"/"Queenie"/"Kiss and Ride" (Homestead)
Skatenigs: "Chemical Imbalance" (Wax Trax '91)

"Move This" is great, though! As is the Boney M sample (right?) in Naughty By Nature's song (which I will always think of as "Ghetto Bastard.") And now I'm wondering about Rare Essence's go-go thing.

ps: Songs on this list I own as 7-inch vinyl 45s ordered through a jukebox distributor:

Kris Kross: "Jump" (Ruffhouse/Columbia)
Sir Mix-a-Lot: "Baby Got Back" (Def American)

Actually, I could have sworn I owned "Jump Around," too, but I can't find it on my shelf right now; only House of Pain's "Kick Some." (I also have 45s of "Andre" by L7 and "Not For You" by Pearl Jam, I think, but not the precise songs listed up above.)

('80s singles by old people like Madonna and Springsteen and Prince and R.E.M. don't count, obviously; everybody has those.)

(Actually, as soon as I typed that, I went back to my shelf and I did find my "Jump Around" 45; whew! I'd filed it between Don Henley and Home Blitz, wtf?)

As is the Boney M sample (right?) in Naughty By Nature's song

Right. Which adds a sparkly, inauthentic sheen to this gutwrenching, keepin' it real portrait of the ghetto. But it fits because NBN don't give a fuck if you think the portrait's authentic or not.

And now I'm wondering about Rare Essence's go-go thing.

Not that big of a deal. It samples the Oprah Winfrey Show theme song, IIRC.

Estrellas Ubou: "Jalagua Guero"/"Moudibey Cielo" (EUR)

Gawd, I STILL haven't really heard this. Xgau was nice enough to play it for me over the phone (!) when I interviewed him. He even gave me the phone number/address listed on the single for EUR (which I assume stood for Estrellas Ubou Records). It was disconnected by the time I tried it. And apart from a streaming sound clip that seems to have disappeared, that's all I've heard. They are (were?) a Garifuna band. They were usually mentioned in conjuction with punta rock. Both songs (I believe) were featured on a full-length.

If anyone ever comes across it, pleeeeeeeease...

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Dumb question about "Scenario": Is that the same "Scenario" that the Beastie Boys said they were going to do once (possibly when I interviewed them for Creem magazine in 1987)? Assuming they never actually wound up doing it? Is there any connection at all? Or am I just imagining things again? (A Tribe Called Qwest and them were friends, right?)

They knew Chuck D, at least, who introduced them to Leaders of the New School when Busta Rhymes was 16, so maybe they knew the Beasties through Chuck by then, I don't know. I know Tribe toured with the Beastie Boys later (98?).

If the Beasties were going to have something to do with "Scenario," Q-Tip and Phife don't mention it in Brian Coleman's new book, Check the Technique:

Q-Tip: "The one that made the album was the first version we did. Then we made a second one, later, with [our manager] Chris Lighty, Pos, and one of the guys from Black Sheep. Jarobi was even on a third version we did..."

Phife: "The original version of that actually had Pos from De La, Dres and Long from Black Sheep on it as well, and even Chris Lighty, our manager... It was way too long... I guarantee you that Pos has it somewhere."

Would love to hear that...

Q-Tip was on Ill Communication ('94) so they knew each other long before '98. And the Beasties were on the Midnight Marauders cover (one of them anyway) in '93.

Ha, I guess I should buy Ill Communication! I spaced the '93 cover, too.

The Beasties' "Scenario" was not a figment of my imagination, apparently:

I love "Licensed to Ill" and I always will. This is the Beastie Boys at their earliest and their finest. Every song on the album is fantastic. The only downfall is the lack of the song "Scenario" which was not released on the album as it was originally intended. I hope that one day soon, they will re-release this album with "Scenario" on it.

http://music.barnesandnoble.com/search/product.asp?z=y&btob=I&wrk=80272

Beastie Boys - Drum Machine / The Scenario / I'm Down...Scenario was a blatent ripoff of Schooly D's PSK

http://www.discogs.com/release/329664

If I remember correctly, the Beasties "Scenario" was played in the background in Pump Up The Volume. It is a decent track, but not mind-blowing, no better nor worse than most of Licensed To Ill.

There is also a bad cover version of the Beatles "I'm Down" left off that album because they couldn't get approval.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Woah! I didn't see any clear front-runner, but I didn't see that coming. Only complaint is that "Tennessee" deserved to have votes.

Now that's a top five I can defend.

well there's 8 songs at joint no 5. TLC and *Sophie B Hawkins aren't ahead of the other 6.

*one of the most overrated songs ever. Hate it.

Yeah, I hear ya. Never got the appeal of that song. It's pretty bland up against the likes of "You Dropped A Bomb On Me" or "Salt Shaker" (the standards against which I measure everything and y'all should use the same ones).

But then again, so are "Drive," "Aint 2 Proud 2 Yawn," and "Jeremy." If they were people, I wouldn't beat them up. But at a party, I'd drive my ass away from "Drive" and excuse myself to "find the bathroom" while Jeremy's speaking.

I have no serious problems with "Troy." Prefer Sinead's, though.

But fuck yeeeeah, bastard bitches! The KLF at (sorta) number one!!!! Even the "hey"'s in that song are beautiful.

Wow! And here I lay meself to sleep, certain in my belief that, after all that righteous big booty talk, Sir Mix-a-Lot was gonna run away with the poll. Guess not. Sigh. (I blame Matt.)

never heard of klf. this better be good

ok this is some hardcore had to be there shit but not without charm. reminds me of that slow yaz song if it had been commissioned by l. ron hubbard.

the world needs more songs about redwood trees, i'll give them that

Good lord! The video is...uh...something elze.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6YlBAs0Lfo

Still, Kevin is right--this is indeed a beautiful (and funny as shit) song.

haha this i could get with

Oh god this song is genius! I wonder what George Jones thought of it. I'm sure they were divorced by then. But still, has history recorded his thoughts on this? I turn to No Show Jones on most matters.

KLF rule. All that needs to be said.

I forgot to mention two terrific 1992 singles:

Good Girls: "Just Call Me" - A poor man's En Vogue (although I read now that they had at least 2 top ten R&B hits). This one has a great doomy bassline that undercuts the title command. Calling them doesn't promise that they're good girls. Or not even "not bad meaning bad, bad meaning good" girls.

Geoffrey Williams: "It's Not A Love Thing" - A poor man's Terence Trent D'Arby (who had a bigger dick according to a fantastic Voice piece on Williams by Rob Tannenbaum...I think). The album this came off of was a snooze. But the middle eight on this single was an energy rush worthy of disco.

Oh the first was on Motown, WIlliams on Giant.