Grunge Music, Vol. 1

Here's a miniseries of posts that I can certainly relate to – and I'm sure I'm not the only one! This is the first set in what will be a four-part retrospective of some of the best, most influential, and most memorable songs from the "grunge rock" era of music. Which was both not that long ago and ancient history, depending on your perspective. Before we get started, I will concede that we're not all going to agree 100% on whether or not certain songs herein are legitimately "grunge," "post-grunge," punk, pop, or something else entirely – and that's okay. Let's just jam to some good music and don't waste time fighting about the genre ascribed to the songs (by myself or others). Ready...set...enjoy!  ~  JH

1)  Nirvana  ~  “Smells Like Teen Spirit”

2)  Pearl Jam  ~  “Animal”

3)  Soundgarden  ~  “Black Hole Sun”

4)  Alice In Chains  ~  “No Excuses”

5)  Stone Temple Pilots  ~  “Vasoline”

6)  Mudhoney  ~  “Touch Me I’m Sick”

7)  Screaming Trees  ~  “Nearly Lost You”

8)  L7  ~  “Pretend We’re Dead”

9)  Paw  ~  “Couldn’t Know”

10)  Veruca Salt  ~  “Seether”

11)  Silverchair  ~  “Tomorrow”

12)  The Smashing Pumpkins  ~  “Today”

13)  Hole  ~  “Miss World”

14)  Bush  ~  “Everything Zen”

15)  Candlebox  ~  “Far Behind”

16)  Sponge  ~  “Molly (16 Candles)”

17)  Our Lady Peace  ~  “Superman’s Dead”

18)  The Presidents Of The United States Of America  ~  “Lump”

19)  Blind Melon  ~  “No Rain”

20)  Days Of The New  ~  “Touch, Peel, And Stand”

21)  Babes In Toyland  ~  “Bruise Violet”  (It's almost scary how much the lead singer of this group looks like a crazed Reese Witherspoon.)

22)  Melvins  ~  “Honey Bucket”

23)  The Gits  ~  “Second Skin”  (There's a very sad-but-true story about the untimely demise of this band's lead singer. I won't rehash it here, but you can Google it.)

24)  Hum  ~  “Stars”

25)  Local H  ~  “Bound For The Floor”

Songs About Puppies & Kittens

And now we have this post. Because...puppies and kittens. HELLO!  ~  JH

1)  Avril Lavigne  ~  “Hello Kitty”  (Umm...hi?)

2)  Primus  ~  “Too Many Puppies”  (Is that even possible?)

3)  The Presidents Of The United States Of America  ~  “Kitty”

4)  Mother Merey & The Black Dirt  ~  “6 Little Puppies & 12 Little Shaggy Hounds”

5)  Biffy Clyro  ~  “Kittens, Cakes, And Cuddles”  (What more could anyone ask for?)

6)  Lana Del Rey  ~  “Puppy Love (Marilyn Monroe)”

7)  Bee Gees  ~  “Kitty Can”

8)  Falling Joys  ~  “Puppy Drink”  (No puppies were drunk in the making of this video.)

9)  Metric  ~  “Lost Kitten”

10)  Paul Anka  ~  “Puppy Love”  (No puppies were loved in the making of this video.)

11)  Elvis Costello  ~  “Leave My Kitten Alone”

12)  Lucy Spraggan  ~  “Puppy Dog Eyes”

13)  Beyoncé  ~  “Kitty Kat”

14)  Dream Theater  ~  “Puppies On Acid / Take The Time”  (No puppies were drugged in the making of this video.)

15)  Placebo  ~  “Kitty Litter”’

16)  Alex Sloane  ~  “Puppy Love”

17)  Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band  ~  “Kitty’s Back”

18)  Julian Marley  ~  “Craven Choke Puppy”  (No puppies were choked in the making of this video.)

19)  The Smashing Pumpkins  ~  “Hello Kitty Kat”

20)  Harry Nilsson  ~  “The Puppy Song”

21)  Rufus Wainwright & Pink Martini  ~  “Kitty Come Home”

22)  The Shivers  ~  “Puppy Dog”

23)  Joan Osborne  ~  “Kitten’s Got Claws”

24)  Advance Base  ~  “My Love For You Is Like A Puppy Underfoot”  (Well, that's a weird song title...)

25)  The Presets  ~  “Kitty In The Middle”

BONUS TRACK:  The Big Bang Theory Cast  ~  “Soft Kitty”  (I couldn't leave this "song" off, now could I?)

Popular Songs Of 1998, Vol. 3

I can't tell you how many of these songs I know most or all of the lyrics to without even Googling them. But it's nearly all of them. How many do you know and love? Popular Songs of 1998, Vol. 3 starts now... Enjoy!  ~  JH

1)  Shania Twain  ~  “From This Moment On”

2)  Backstreet Boys  ~  “Quit Playing Games (With My Heart)”

3)  Madonna  ~  “Ray Of Light”

4)  Foo Fighters  ~  “Walking After You”

5)  Britney Spears  ~  “…Baby One More Time”

6)  Dave Matthews Band  ~  “Stay (Wasting Time)”

7)  Alanis Morissette  ~  “Thank U”

8)  Goo Goo Dolls  ~  “Slide”

9)  Céline Dion  ~  “My Heart Will Go On”

10)  The Smashing Pumpkins  ~  “Ava Adore”

11)  Mariah Carey  ~  “My All”

12)  Fuel  ~  “Shimmer”

13)  Jaci Velasquez  ~  “God So Loved”

14)  Cake  ~  “Never There”

15)  Reba McEntire ft. Brooks & Dunn  ~  “If You See Him, If You See Her”

16)  Barenaked Ladies  ~  “It’s All Been Done”

17)  Dixie Chicks  ~  “There’s Your Trouble”

18)  Fastball  ~  “Fire Escape”

19)  Lee Ann Womack  ~  “A Little Past Little Rock”

20)  Everclear  ~  “I Will Buy You A New Life”

21)  Brandy  ~  “Have You Ever”

22)  Hanson  ~  “I Will Come To You”

23)  Garbage  ~  “Special”

24)  Cherry Poppin’ Daddies  ~  “Zoot Suit Riot”

25)  The Kinleys  ~  “Just Between You And Me”

Popular Songs Of 1998, Vol. 1

And it begins! The most Popular Songs Of 1998, a year which was apparently quite excellent for a variety of genres of music, many of which are represented here. I hope you'll enjoy listening to and watching these as much as I did when compiling them. And the best part is there's three more posts of these yet to come!  ~  JH

1)  Brandy & Monica  ~  “The Boy Is Mine”

2)  Barenaked Ladies  ~  “One Week”

3)  Shania Twain  ~  “You’re Still The One”

4)  Foo Fighters  ~  “My Hero”

5)  Madonna  ~  “Frozen”

6)  Dave Matthews Band  ~  “Don’t Drink The Water”

7)  Deborah Cox  ~  “Nobody’s Supposed To Be Here”

8)  DC Talk  ~  “Consume Me”

9)  Faith Hill  ~  “This Kiss”

10)  The Smashing Pumpkins  ~  “Perfect”

11)  Garbage  ~  “Push It”

12)  Backstreet Boys  ~  “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)”

13)  Loreena McKennitt  ~  “The Mummer’s Dance”

14)  The Offspring  ~  “Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)”

15)  Janet Jackson  ~  “I Get Lonely”

16)  Radiohead  ~  “Karma Police”

17)  Sara Evans ft. Vince Gill  ~  “No Place That Far”

18)  Edwin McCain  ~  “I’ll Be”

19)  Hole  ~  “Celebrity Skin”

20)  Garth Brooks  ~  “To Make You Feel My Love”

21)  Jennifer Knapp  ~  “Undo Me”

22)  Matchbox Twenty  ~  “Real World”

23)  Lauryn Hill  ~  “Doo-Wop (That Thing)”

24)  U2  ~  The Sweetest Thing”

25)  Cher  ~  “Believe”