Greatest fucking classic rock radio single of all time

[rass]

1. fuck that (for passage of time reasons, nothing to do with the quality of the song)
2. if I'm understanding you, wouldn't Like a Rolling Stone be #1?

[rass]

Fuck! I guess I should quote more.

[A_B]

1. fuck that (for passage of time reasons, nothing to do with the quality of the song)
2. if I'm understanding you, wouldn't Like a Rolling Stone be #1?

1. Totally agree
2. That's not a rock song. IMO.

[rass]

Classic Rock radio programmers/algorithms would disagree.

[mister d]

Just thinking of the terms "classic alternative" or "classic indie" almost killed me. "Classic hip hop".

[rass]

I thought everyone just agreed to use "old school" even if depending on the source it sounds like someone is trying too hard to sound cool.

[mister d]

Could be semantics, but I think of old school as a defined era up until like Rakim and Slick Rick and those guys came around.

[rass]

Could be semantics???

[mister d]

Or ...

Old-school hip hop (also spelled old skool) is the earliest commercially recorded hip hop music and original style of the genre. It typically refers to the music created around 1979 to 1983,[1] as well as any hip hop that does not adhere to contemporary styles.[2]

(I did not edit this.)

[rass]

What I had in mind was SiriusXMU's usage of "old school" to describe older tracks, figured hip-hop was a given.


But "any hip hop that does not adhere to contemporary styles" doesn't really help, does it?

[HaulCitgo]

Ducking in to confirm that old school hip hop ended in 1989. Includes slick Rick does not include de La soul.

[mister d]

I've never heard this term before, but the time period lines up as where I'd put the second wave and would include both Slick Rick and early De La. I feel like Slick Rick can't be Old School because Old School has to be first wave and not artists influenced by the first wave.

Golden age hip hop is a name given to mainstream hip hop music created from the mid-1980s[1][2][3][4] to early[1][3]-mid 1990s,[2][4] particularly by artists and musicians originating from the New York metropolitan area.

Third wave is where you get the distinct east/west/south split and runs ~1992 through whenever you want to start the club rap shit. Then rap ended.

[The Sybian]

BTW it only took until #20 (counting from #1) to hit a song I don’t recognize.

There were some curious selections but I get what they were trying to do.

Meant that more as a comment on me than the list, I think. I'm barely aware of Robyn the artist, but I was pretty shocked that I didn't at least recognize the chorus or something.

I think it's a comment on the song. I did the same thing, clicked the song expecting to recognize it. I've heard of her, figured if it's #20 alltime I'd know the song. Nope. I don't get the inclusion, the song is a completely generic throw-away piece of pop trash. I can't imagine anything about that song being considered great or worthy of making this list, let alone #20. Was there some sort of cultural context, like did this song inspire the coup that toppled Robert Mugabe or reveal the location of bin Laden's Abbottabad compound?

[brian]

Also, according to that list and according to us being old..."Smells like teen spirit" must be the true answer.

When Smells Like Teen Spirit was released the hit songs of the year from the same amount of time from now to 1991 was "Tossin' and Turnin'" by Bobby Lewis and "I Fall to Pieces" by Patsy Cline.

(Though the #1 song in October 1961 was "Runaround Sue" by Dion, which is still a banger.)

[MaxWebster]

here or Confessions better to say that I hated/still hate Nirvana and that song is like nails on a blackboard to me.


I really do like (or at least am open to) a *lot* more music than I used to but Nirvana is still on the hard pass list.

[Giff]

here or Confessions better to say that I hated/still hate Nirvana and that song is like nails on a blackboard to me.


I really do like (or at least am open to) a *lot* more music than I used to but Nirvana is still on the hard pass list.

I like them OK and think they're completely overrated. However, I'm not one of those guys who can really appreciate music for the sole fact that it's influential.

[MaxWebster]

yeah I'm not gonna say "they suck" because that's silly and completely subjective - hell so many ppl i respect love the band, esp the guy who was my audio mentor :)

legit question about "influential" though - I know they were/are hugely popular but are they truly influential? Or were they the ones influenced *by* other bands like Sonic Youth / Pixies / etc (now that's a subgenre that i very much do not care for) and just took that loud/soft/loud style to the masses?

[brian]

yeah I'm not gonna say "they suck" because that's silly and completely subjective - hell so many ppl i respect love the band, esp the guy who was my audio mentor :)

legit question about "influential" though - I know they were/are hugely popular but are they truly influential? Or were they the ones influenced *by* other bands like Sonic Youth / Pixies / etc (now that's a subgenre that i very much do not care for) and just took that loud/soft/loud style to the masses?

We've litigated and re-litigated this over and over again, so I'll just say that the irony is that if Cobain were still alive, he'd probably agree with you.

There was really no artifice in their music and their aesthetic, which was unusual even for "alternative" and especially appealing to a Gen X audience raised on a diet of Michael Jackson, Milli Vanilli, glam rock, et al. They weren't trying to make it big and yet somehow became the biggest rock band on the planet for about a two-year period and that as much as anything led to Cobain's death. If you go back and re-listen to In Utero, it's an entire album of songs and lyrics taking the piss out of the band's hype and the music industry, essentially a middle finger to middle America.

I'll defend to my dying breath In Utero as one of the great rock albums of all-time. It's a masterpiece of alienation, self-loathing and chutzpah.

[Giff]

I will say having Territorial Pissings on our warmup tape senior year was awesome. Especially after the mom of an opposing player had the gall to go turn it off halfway through one pregame. That shit got turned up way fucking loud right after that.

[mister d]

Or were they the ones influenced *by* other bands like Sonic Youth / Pixies / etc (now that's a subgenre that i very much do not care for) and just took that loud/soft/loud style to the masses?

Related to this and feeling older and all that ... just heard a song this AM ("Lowlife" by a band named DVR) that cleeeeeeearly rips off "Where Is My Mind".

[bapo!]

legit question about "influential" though - I know they were/are hugely popular but are they truly influential? Or were they the ones influenced *by* other bands like Sonic Youth / Pixies / etc (now that's a subgenre that i very much do not care for) and just took that loud/soft/loud style to the masses?

Don't have time to get involved in this convo too deeply, but I want to jump in and say that The Pixies shouldn't be lumped in with the other loud/quiet/loud bands from that era. Or with anybody else, really. They were something special.

Anyway, hello, Max. Sorry I forgot about your birthday. We'll catch up soon, I hope.

[Shirley]

I just played that pop song from #20, because I also didn't recognize it. If I've heard it before, it didn't stick. No idea why that particular dance pop song is lifted above the 10K other ones that sound more or less like it. I don't get it.

(I also don't get Max not getting Nirvana or The Pixies, but that's what makes life interesting, I suppose.)

[A_B]

Max is an ace guitar player right?

[Pruitt]

[mister d]

My Time with Kurt Cobain

[govmentchedda]

Great article.

It got me down a Nirvana at Reading 1992 YouTube rabbit hole.

So many thoughts.

[MaxWebster]

yup - that was a fantastic read.



(i still don't like their music at all. but I suppose I would still take them over the Pixies - ha i missed these responses last week. Singing can be a right turnoff for me and Black Francis omg stopstopstop)

[bapo!]

(i still don't like their music at all. but I suppose I would still take them over the Pixies - ha i missed these responses last week. Singing can be a right turnoff for me and Black Francis omg stopstopstop)

Music is subjective, but...you're wrong.

I was listening to The Pixies a few mornings ago, and I heard the most amazing thing. In the song 'La La Love You,' the individual members of the band sing I [beat] Love [beat] You. As this played, a neighbor was out walking with his basset hound. So I heard I [rooooooo] Love [rooooooo] You [rooooooo]. That dog's got talent.

[mister d]

Max does his voice give you a headaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaache?

[The Sybian]

yeah I'm not gonna say "they suck" because that's silly and completely subjective - hell so many ppl i respect love the band, esp the guy who was my audio mentor :)

legit question about "influential" though - I know they were/are hugely popular but are they truly influential? Or were they the ones influenced *by* other bands like Sonic Youth / Pixies / etc (now that's a subgenre that i very much do not care for) and just took that loud/soft/loud style to the masses?

When Nevermind came out, it was instantly the biggest album release for me. Smells like Teen Spirit blew my mind, it had the right mix of angst and pop catchiness for me as a 16 year old. Looking back at their music objectively, I feel like I was just the right age at the time. I'd say it's one of those things that just seems great because it was from "my time," but my son loves the album, and some of his friends wear Nirvana shirts. The lyrics are mostly terrible, and a lot of their stuff I'd label as just noise if I heard it for the first time today, so I can totally respect your opinion that their music sucks, but I still listen to Nevermind and love it for nostalgic reasons. While it opened the door for Grunge in the mainstream, I don't know if that is ultimately a good thing. I think Grunge, like punk, is better when it's a niche market and not wildly popular in the mainstream. I think Kurt Cobain certainly agreed.

[MaxWebster]

HAHAHA

maybe i am

...you're also the one equating a dog with the Pixies, just pointing that out....

Music is subjective, but...you're wrong.

I was listening to The Pixies a few mornings ago, and I heard the most amazing thing. In the song 'La La Love You,' the individual members of the band sing I [beat] Love [beat] You. As this played, a neighbor was out walking with his basset hound. So I heard I [rooooooo] Love [rooooooo] You [rooooooo]. That dog's got talent.

[MaxWebster]

oh man, no - i agree with you i think that so *much* of enjoyment of music is rooted in nostalgia; it's the great time machine that brings you back.

At the time I was having trouble getting into any new music - I should have been ripe for it but not Nirvana. I do like a lot of stuff but pretty much don't like anything in the GPU (...greater punk universe... let's try to make that stick?) which explains why I never liked it. But one late night in 1991 when I saw Pearl Jam's Alive video....next day I was at Tower Records getting that one.

When Nevermind came out, it was instantly the biggest album release for me. Smells like Teen Spirit blew my mind, it had the right mix of angst and pop catchiness for me as a 16 year old. Looking back at their music objectively, I feel like I was just the right age at the time. I'd say it's one of those things that just seems great because it was from "my time," but my son loves the album, and some of his friends wear Nirvana shirts. The lyrics are mostly terrible, and a lot of their stuff I'd label as just noise if I heard it for the first time today, so I can totally respect your opinion that their music sucks, but I still listen to Nevermind and love it for nostalgic reasons. While it opened the door for Grunge in the mainstream, I don't know if that is ultimately a good thing. I think Grunge, like punk, is better when it's a niche market and not wildly popular in the mainstream. I think Kurt Cobain certainly agreed.

[A_B]

oh man, no - i agree with you i think that so *much* of enjoyment of music is rooted in nostalgia; it's the great time machine that brings you back.

At the time I was having trouble getting into any new music - I should have been ripe for it but not Nirvana. I do like a lot of stuff but pretty much don't like anything in the GPU (...greater punk universe... let's try to make that stick?) which explains why I never liked it. But one late night in 1991 when I saw Pearl Jam's Alive video....next day I was at Tower Records getting that one.

When Nevermind came out, it was instantly the biggest album release for me. Smells like Teen Spirit blew my mind, it had the right mix of angst and pop catchiness for me as a 16 year old. Looking back at their music objectively, I feel like I was just the right age at the time. I'd say it's one of those things that just seems great because it was from "my time," but my son loves the album, and some of his friends wear Nirvana shirts. The lyrics are mostly terrible, and a lot of their stuff I'd label as just noise if I heard it for the first time today, so I can totally respect your opinion that their music sucks, but I still listen to Nevermind and love it for nostalgic reasons. While it opened the door for Grunge in the mainstream, I don't know if that is ultimately a good thing. I think Grunge, like punk, is better when it's a niche market and not wildly popular in the mainstream. I think Kurt Cobain certainly agreed.

This was my experience. I had heard Nirvana because I was hanging out with some of the skaters (I'm edgy!) at the time, but Pearl Jam was the one that was something I just had to have. I don't hate Nirvana, but Pearl Jam is what I think of first when I think of grunge.

[Rush2112]

(i still don't like their music at all. but I suppose I would still take them over the Pixies - ha i missed these responses last week. Singing can be a right turnoff for me and Black Francis omg stopstopstop)

I also hate the Pixies. Perhaps it's a New England thing, as I was told they were great, I listened and I had to heartily disagree. Then when I worked college radio Doolittle was in HEAVY rotation so I learned to fucking hate them.

I was ok with Nirvana (also heard via playing on college radio, but much preferred Pearl Jam..saw them in a gym in Burlington VT with the Chili Peppers (this was Mother's Milk era) and SMashing Pumpkins. I don't care for the Pumpkins (had a guy on my dorm floor that thought they were the only band in the universe) but that was an excellent show.

[mister d]

Just to keep this chain going, I absolutely hate the RHCP.

[The Sybian]

Chili Peppers Blood, Sugar, Sex, Magik was another one that blew me away. A girl on my bus told me I had to listen to it. Made my mom drive me to the mall that day to buy it. I saw the Parental Advisory label, but it was so good I made my mom pop in the cassette for the drive home. She gave me some looks at some of the lyrics, and it was uncomfortable as hell for me, but she kept it playing.

This is so funny thinking back, but when I went to Russia as an exchange student, I brought a walkman with only 3 cassettes! Just the trip to get to the town I lived was a 4 hour drive to the airport, 8 hour flight with long layover, then a 10 hour drive from Moscow to the town. And I had 3 albums on a constant loop. Amazing I didn't get sick of them. I brought RHCP, Pearl Jam Ten, and Pink Floyd The Final Cut. What a weird choice Final Cut was for something I'd have to repeat dozens of times. Needless to say, I didn't acquire any new cassettes on the trip.

Another fun random memory, we went to some discotheques in Russia (that's what they called them). They would play the same song multiple times in a row. Play the song. Stop the tape, rewind, clumsily find the beginning of the song, and everyone would cheer when they replayed the song. Experienced this at several different places.

[MaxWebster]

internet high-five

Just to keep this chain going, I absolutely hate the RHCP.

[MaxWebster]

to be fair, it's all on Anthony Kiedis.

a kid i went to engineering school with in Vancouver loved RHCP beyond anything I could imagine and was personally hurt that I didn't like them. He tried, that poor kid, and honestly I liked a fair amount of obscure stuff he'd play me until Anthony started singing then NOPE.

[Giff]

Just to keep this chain going, I absolutely hate the RHCP.

[INSERT DID WE JUST BECOME BEST FRIENDS GIF]

[mister d]

I don't know if its because I was all-in on rap back then, but his delivery on all the faster songs (I knew) sounded just as shit to me as Debbie Harry on "Rapture".



(And like all good hate stories, they were played non-stop on my 8th grade class trip with breaks only for Cypress Hill.)