Modern Rock #1 Hits of 1994

Looking forward to another thrilling last-place finish for Teh Cranberries.

I could vote for nearly any of these songs with a couple of exceptions! Lemonheads, PJ, either Nirvana, Gin Blossoms (maybe my favorite song of theirs), Tori, Green Day, Morrissey . . .

Nirvana, "About a Girl" - easily my favourite song of these, but this the lame Unplugged version right?

there are a bunch of great songs here next to a terrible Cranberries song

"Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" is my secret shame.

As much as most of those songs are permanently hardwired into my brain from having listened to them hundreds of times, I'm surprised that it comes down to "Into Your Arms" and "Found Out About You" for me. '93 me is maintaining a veneer of disgust over the latter, but even he would be forced to admit that it's a good song.

Morrissey's is the one I'd listen to now, so I voted for it. Runners-up:

"Kenneth"
Nirvana
Green Day
Gin Blossoms

ahh Toad the Wet Sprocket, with one of the last of the jangle-pop #1's.

Oh, this is the first time I've posted here. Sorry about the screwy formatting. Any way to edit something once you've posted it?

Nirvana, "About a Girl" - easily my favourite song of these, but this the lame Unplugged version right?

― Heaven knows I'm thirsty and miserable now (NickB), Monday, May 21, 2012 9:33 AM (18 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

nope -- topped the chart in January '94 as the second single from In Utero. i remember radio stations playing the Unplugged versions of it and other songs here and there before the official album was released that November, but not much.

Wait...what? "About A Girl" was on Bleach. I'm confused.

I think he's confused 'About A Girl' with 'All Apologies' :D

Voted for 'What's The Frequency, Kenneth?'.

my heart says "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm," even though my mind is telling me no.

Basket Case.

All Apologies

sorry dudes i misread NickB's post, i thought he said "All Apologies" -- but yeah the "About A Girl" that was a hit was the Unplugged version

Basket Case > Kenneth > Fall Down > God > Einsten On The Beach > Found Out About You > Daughter > Come Out And Play > Loser > Into Your Arms > The More You Ignore Me > Longview > All Apologies > Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm > Selling The Drama > About A Girl (Unplugged) > Zombie > Bang And Blame

the lead Toad always performed barefoot, so he deserves a vote

unplugged "About a Girl" kicks the electric version's ass.

Signature Moz and Beck tunes too. Probably Moz for me.

A few songs I like, but almost 20 years along, "Loser" towers over everything else for me.

one of my long unrealized poll ideas is 'biggest post-Nevermind US rock radio hit by various '80s college rock staples' with stuff like "The More You Ignore Me" and the Violent Femmes' "Breakin' Up" on it

oh god I missed Beck but it's not even my favorite song from that album.

This was the peak of Moz's American popularity: most everything from '91 onwards was huge on college radio. He also scored his first top twenty album in '94.

"Monster" really was everywhere in 1994, even as everyone said they didn't like it...

(xpost) "Backwater," "Pepper"...I used to find that phenomenon interesting too; very disorienting at the time to think of the Meat Puppets and Butthole Surfers as having hits.

"Backwater" is so good.

one of my long unrealized poll ideas is 'biggest post-Nevermind US rock radio hit by various '80s college rock staples' with stuff like "The More You Ignore Me" and the Violent Femmes' "Breakin' Up" on it

Don't forget to include stuff like Cracker and Sugar.

"Friday I'm in Love"

http://open.spotify.com/user/sp10000/playlist/26QaeVL1NN2F8n8V36Y3Bx

11-year-old me votes Basket Case.

The only thing with the Cure is, they'd already had American hits in the '80s; with the other bands, it felt different. (Not that some dude's poll idea says you couldn't have had a hit in the '80s to qualify.)

"Friday I'm in Love"

b-b-but "Lovesong" hit #2 well before this "phenomenon"!

xpost

yeah for some of them it was a belated breakthrough, for others it was the last gasp of a longer period of commercial success (xpost)

ftr i did mean "biggest of their hits after Nevermind," not necessarily "their biggest hit came after Nevermind"

also let's not forget the landscape of pre-grunge explosion "Modern Rock Radio": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number_one_modern_rock_hits_of_1988

Backwater" is so good.

― Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, May 21, 2012 2:16 PM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I disliked Backwater when it came out. I was in my early teens and Meat Puppets were one of those bands I had found "on my own" by randomly ordering records from Black Flag cassette inserts and I thought the newer stuff was too commercial or whatever. But I became a huge fan of the song when I saw them play it live at RFK Stadium at the HFStival. OMG, they came on in the late morning/early afternoon, but there wasn't a stronger riff played for the rest of the day.

I loved it years after the fact – pretty much when I bought Up in the Sun in the late nineties.

Crash Test Dummies have been a punchline for far too long. time to reclaim the throne

I mean when even the Counting Crows have a reasonably listenable and decent song here, this was a pretty good year! Even the Live song is not completely atrocious!

longview, loser, or all apologies

gonna go with longview i think

btw biggest recurrent hits from 1994 that didn't hit #1:
The Offspring "Self Esteem"
Stone Temple Pilots "Interstate Love Song"
Soundgarden "Black Hole Sun"
Green Day "When I Come Around"
Nine Inch Nails "Closer"
Weezer "Undone (The Sweater Song)"
Weezer "Buddy Holly"
Stone Temple Pilots "Big Empty"
Green Day "Welcome To Paradise"
Soundgarden "Fell On Black Days"
Live "I Alone"
Stone Temple Pilots "Vasoline"
Soundgarden "Spoonman"
Bush "Everything Zen"
Beastie Boys "Sabotage"
Alice In Chains "I Stay Away"

nice list, some dude... if anything, that is more 1994 to me than the #1's.

^^ I am now convinced this was the greatest year in the history of music.

"I Alone" and "Lightning Crashes" certainly seemed like bigger hits in LA than "Selling the Drama".

xxxpost

That list is just about equally good. If not better.

I was a sophomore in college so it def wasn't.

xxpost

"Lightning Crashes" hit in '95

Every single one of these 1994 songs is in my '90s alt' iTunes playlist. Which gets some healthy rotation, lemmetellya.

1994 was a horrible year personally and yet thanks to music my nostalgia for it knows no bounds

what song should I hate on so it can win the poll

"Ironic" hit #1 in '96 so start yer engines

what song should I hate on so it can win the poll

skeptical that you aero can bring yourself to vote mmm mmm mmm mmm even ironically

mookie otm :(

found out about you is so good and it is what i am voting for

― call all destroyer, Thursday, May 24, 2012 1:30 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

lol you LOVE the Gin Blossoms so much.

that is a great song tho

It's OK, I guess. CAD is really the GB #1 fan though.

i voted gin blossoms as well ftr

Carly Rae Jepson - "My Prepared Piano"

I was in grade.. 5 I think, and I used to bring a portable boombox to school(!) for us to listen to The Top 12 At 12 at lunchtime in the school yard. I remember one day all of a sudden Basket Case jumped onto the chart, possibly at #1, and we were all just FLOORED by what we were hearing. I still feel that magic even though I'm all grown up and I have dug deeper into punk and rock. Voted Basket Case.

Interesting that you say that because I had a similar OMG THIS BAND moment with Green Day but it was late one night watching 120 mins in my parents' basement with a friend who was staying over. Longview came on and we were both sort blown away. I remember saying that they were gonna be huge and this was several months before Dookie blew up. I think I voted BC in this poll though cause it's the song I like better now.

Funny enough, though I adored the song I never bothered to buy Dookie nor did I ever really get into another GD single the way I did with Basket Case. My brother (ten years younger, so, about 2-3 when BC came out) became a huuuge Green Day fan in his teens/the American Idiot years. It was pretty cute. :*)

Oh I also really liked ummm the double single. Jaded/Geek Stink Breath? I've forgotten the name. Green Day! Who knew one day I'd vote you over Oasis twice!

lol I voted them over Morrissey for Christ's sake but TMYIM has never been a favorite of mine.

it's such a fun karaoke number though!

xp yeah, I'm not much a fan of that either. Tbh I can barely remember how it goes except the chorus - but I could sing *every line* of Basket Case if I felt like it (in fact.. I think I sang a good third of it the other night to annoy Andrew)

I can't forgive rhyming bar with . . . bar.

lol you LOVE the Gin Blossoms so much.

― wolf kabob (ENBB), Friday, May 25, 2012 10:57 AM (28 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

it's funny because i couldn't stand them during the actual 90s but a couple years ago it hit me that at their best they were a REALLY good pop band.

it's funny because i couldn't stand them during the actual 90s but a couple years ago it hit me that at their best they were a REALLY good pop band.

OTM

Oh I also really liked ummm the double single. Jaded/Geek Stink Breath? I've forgotten the name. Green Day! Who knew one day I'd vote you over Oasis twice!

― she started dancing to that (Finefinemusic), Friday, May 25, 2012 11:10 AM (42 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Brain Stew/Jaded -- you can guess how i feel about the torturously slow song vs. the fast one

Ahhh yes! Thanks SD.

Lemonheads, "Into Your Arms" - great. Not much to discover as time goes by but well-done.
Pearl Jam, "Daughter" - good, i like the lyrics on this. "Breakfast table in an otherwise empty room." The gnashing vocal still feels affected in places though.
Gin Blossoms, "Found Out About You" - great. #3 after "Allison Road" and "Hey Jealousy."
Nirvana, "All Apologies" - good, i like it but never really related to it or loved it or anything.
Beck, "Loser" - this has always been just this side of boring me to tears. Coming in from Odelay this felt like an unfinished demo of this later, more varied and exciting music.
Crash Test Dummies, "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" - ponderous and dull but kind of nice cause they hardly ever play it anymore. I have a weird affection for "God Shuffled His Feet."
Tori Amos, "God" - baffled by the idea of this as a #1. "OOH HOO"s aside it's a little bit shapeless, it's no "Cornflake Girl" that's for sure.
Morrissey, "The More You Ignore Me, the Closer I Get" - never heard this in my life
Live, "Selling the Drama" - actually one of their better singles, not too pompous. Also great for how many syllables the word "before" can get.
Green Day, "Longview" - okay, kind of over this at this point.
Toad the Wet Sprocket, "Fall Down" - don't know this.
Offspring, "Come Out and Play" - a little too gimmicky for its own good. Weird how by a couple years later playlists seemed to have totally ditched this in favor of "Self Esteem," which was a muuuuuuch more annoying song.
Counting Crows, "Einstein on the Beach" - never heard.
Green Day, "Basket Case" - hard to really knock it, great pop-punk, boy have i heard it WAYYYYYYYY too many fucking times though.
REM, "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" - good! I'm a big R.E.M. fan, never been a die-hard for this but it's a legit grower.
Cranberries, "Zombie" - world-wide karaoke staple and a real hoot (with real hooting). Ehhh, I give it a pass.
Nirvana, "About a Girl" - can't remember how this goes
REM, "Bang and Blame" - moodier than "Kenneth," and better, too, although I think the solo sucks and the chorus feels underwritten by their standards.

Voting Gin Blossoms on the basis of what feels like it'd be most refreshing to hear right this second.

oh man you gotta check out "Fall Down"

and Morrissey.

he's getting closer and closer! stop ignoring him!

We'll be at the bar.

you're wasting your time

You're asking for it.

I couldn't believe that "Fall Down" was a hit until I realized that I was remembering "Hold Her Down" instead.

Crash Test Dummies first few albums are actually really solid. They do a nifty cover of The Replacements "Androgynous"! And a song about Superman!

And that song about Superman was actually a bigger hit in Canada than Mmmmm Mmmmm Mmmmm was.

I'm still a bit baffled as to how "Mmmmm Mmmmm Mmmmm" managed to be a number one hit.

You don't remember how "About a Girl" goes? That is their most Beatleseque song (and rendition).

"About a Girl" is great but the Unplugged version less so. "Loser" and "Kenneth" obv also classics but I get nostalgic for the Lemonheads on hot days like today so here's a vote for "Into Your Arms".

Although Gin Blossoms were terrible, "Found out about you" was a pretty fine song. But it's gotta be "All Apologies." Great song, great recording by Albeenee

This poll was so long ago (my first one... screwed up the date) that I can't remember who I voted for. But I think it was also "All Apologies."

Like I'm not going to vote for the grudge-bearing stalker.

you have a restraining order out on Ed Kowalczyk too?

Well done

Although Gin Blossoms were terrible

does not compute

Boringly voting All Apologies.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

voted for Toad.

The only things here I'm really sick of are the Offspring and maybe Bang & Blame.

I kind of don't mind any of these songs but I'm not excited by any of them.

can't remember if I voted for "Kenneth" or Counting Crows' "Einstein on the Beach' which I seem to remember liking when I was 12 but maybe I don't anymore. Recall it being quite jaunty.

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

guess i voted for Kenneth

wait NOBODY likes philip glass?

well in theory everybody does, i think

y'know "All Apologies" is maybe the one Nirvana song i wouldn't mind never hearing again

it's kind of awesome imo; I'm like the dude that things the chorus of "Bullet with Butterfly Wings" is a turd in a punchbowl, so the "in the sun" part of AA should really piss me off, it has no real right to work, and it works magnificently

like I see how lots of it (the q&a verses, that overinvoluted endchant) can come across as horrifically trite upon overexposure, but I think it sounds even more original than it did back then

i just don't really fuck with slow/midtempo Nirvana i think, am almost as weary of "Come As You Are" and "Dumb" and "Pennyroyal Tea"