Top 100 of 1994 and a Personal Note

 Good evening, except for you Megyn Kelly, you sick f**k. Haven't been very active on this here blog lately. That isn't because I've had nothing to talk about, but I haven't felt like doing much writing lately. Like I've said in previous entries, I've been a bit too depressed to write anything. This time it's a combination of what's been going on in the news, which is depressing enough to begin with, and not being able to see my love interest for almost a month. I hate it. Plus, the holidays are coming, which aren't what they used to be now that there's just the two sisters and I left...for now. I did have a somewhat good evening, minus one detail. Five of the teams that I root for won, and while the autumn chill has descended upon the Tampa Bay area, the weather hasn't been bad (except for last week, when it was colder than a well digger's a$$), so I thought I would submit this entry.

Tonight, I'm going to give you my Top 100 songs of 1994 based on data compiled by both Radio & Records Magazine and Billboard Magazine. So, without further ado, away we go.

100. Anything by SWV
  99. Loser by Beck
  98. At Your Best (You Are Love) by Aaliyah
  97. Mr. Vain by Culture Beat
  96. Dreams by Gabrielle
  95. I Wanna Be Down by Brandy
  94. The Way She Loves Me by Richard Marx
  93. Stroke You Up by Changing Faces
  92. I Miss You by Aaron Hall
  91. Something's Always Wrong by Toad the Wet Sprocket

A few things of note here, both 100 and 95 appeared on Billboard, but not R&R during 1994 (although Brandy did appear briefly on there the next year), the only two songs in this list that accomplished that feat. Also, Stroke You Up was backed by R. Kelly, who controversially was seeing Aaliyah at the time, who was only 14. But according to Megyn Kelly, it shouldn't be a big deal. Megyn...

  90. Never Lie by Immature
  89. Never Keeping Secrets by Babyface
  88. Misled by Celine Dion
  87. Circle Of Life by Elton John
  86. Beautiful In My Eyes by Joshua Kadison
  85. Basket Case by Green Day
  84. Interstate Love Song by Stone Temple Pilots
  83. Far Behind by Candlebox
  82. Rock & Roll Dreams Come Through by Meat Loaf
  81. You Better Wait by Steve Perry

In this group of ten, we have the breakout hit by Green Day, a song that my former roommate had a fixation for (Far Behind), and Steve Perry with a comeback hit of sorts that kinda ties into recent headlines, and someone I mentioned before on this entry.

  80. Sukiyaki by 4PM
  79. Understanding by Xscape
  78. Allison Road by Gin Blossoms
  77. Black Hole Sun by Soundgarden
  76. Lucky One by Amy Grant
  75. Groove Thang by Zhane
  74. Mary Jane's Last Dance by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
  73. Love Sneakin' Up On You by Bonnie Raitt
  72. Regulate by Warren G. & Nate Dogg
  71. You Gotta Be by Des'ree

Among this group is a fantastic hip-hop track that could've been the song of that summer, Last Dance, which featured Kim Basinger in the video (and I didn't know Mary Jane was code at the time, I was 20), and You Gotta Be, which lasted on the charts about as long as the Energizer Bunny did.

  70. Round Here by Counting Crows
  69. Turn The Beat Around by Gloria Estefan
  68. You Want This by Janet Jackson
  67. Stay by Eternal
  66. Everyday by Phil Collins
  65. I Can See Clearly Now by Jimmy Cliff
  64. Living In Danger by Ace of Base
  63. What's The Frequency, Kenneth? by R.E.M. 
  62. Fantastic Voyage by Coolio
  61. Linger by The Cranberries

Every time I see the song "What's the frequency, Kenneth?" I'm reminded of a former shipmate onboard the Eisenhower that had the first name of Ken, although I never got to use that line when asking what the frequency of the generators on our ship were (it was always set at a certain frequency).

  60. Can We Talk by Tevin Campbell
  59. Amazing by Aerosmith
  58. Choose by Color Me Badd
  57. Again by Janet Jackson
  56. I'll Take You There by General Public
  55. Here Comes The Hotstepper by Ini Kamoze
  54. Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia) by Us3
  53. Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm by Crash Test Dummies
  52. All That She Wants by Ace of Base
  51. Said I Loved You...But I Lied by Michael Bolton

Numbers 55-53 were noteworthy because they were from artists that were genuinely one-hit wonders. Neither of those three were really heard from again after their respective songs.

  50. Streets Of Philadelphia by Bruce Springsteen
  49. Until I Fall Away by Gin Blossoms
  48. Prayer For The Dying by Seal
  47. I'll Stand By You by Pretenders
  46. Always by Erasure
  45. Endless Love by Luther Vandross & Mariah Carey
  44. Bump N' Grind by R. Kelly
  43. I'm Ready by Tevin Campbell
  42. Back & Forth by Aaliyah
  41. Because The Night by 10,000 Maniacs

I had mentioned earlier about the controversy between R. Kelly and Aaliyah. Well if it weren't for Tevin Campbell, they would actually be together on this list. Eww.

  40. I'm The Only One by Melissa Etheridge
  39. December 1963 (Oh What A Night) by The Four Seasons
  38. Crazy by Aerosmith
  37. Found Out About You by Gin Blossoms
  36. On Bended Knee by Boyz II Men
  35. Shoop by Salt-N-Pepa
  34. Always by Bon Jovi
  33. Please Forgive Me by Bryan Adams
  32. 100% Pure Love by Crystal Waters
  31. Return To Innocence by Enigma

December 1963 wasn't actually the track that first appeared in the mid-70's; it was a remix by Ben Liebrand that got significant airplay thanks in part to John Garabedian's "Open House Party" back in the day. I don't know if that program exists anymore, last I checked it was being run by the former evening DJ at WFLZ radio in Tampa. Yuck.

  30. All For Love by Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart, & Sting
  29. Anytime You Need A Friend by Mariah Carey
  28. So Much In Love by All-4-One
  27. Anytime, Anyplace by Janet Jackson
  26. Now And Forever by Richard Marx
  25. Because Of Love by Janet Jackson
  24. Secret by Madonna
  23. Come To My Window by Melissa Etheridge
  22. Hero by Mariah Carey
  21. Whatta Man by Salt-N-Pepa w/En Vogue

"Secret" by Madonna was off her CD Bedtime Stories, which is noteworthy because a female shipmate (who I had one of my first...uh, relations with while driving around Norfolk) played the cassette in the car I had at the time, a 1985 grey Mercury Grand Marquis. Oh, by the way, she was a redhead.

  20. Shine by Collective Soul
  19. Breathe Again by Toni Braxton
  18. Another Night by Real McCoy
  17. The Most Beautiful Girl In The World by Prince
  16. Can You Feel The Love Tonight by Elton John
  15. When Can I See You by Babyface
  14. You Mean The World To Me by Toni Braxton
  13. If You Go by Jon Secada
  12. Without You by Mariah Carey
  11. The Power Of Love by Celine Dion

songs 17-11 seem like a list of songs that would be played during one of those Long-Distance Dedications that the late Casey Kasem used to do on his countdown shows way back when. Speaking of which, here is the most beautiful girl (woman) in the world to me:

  10. Baby I Love Your Way by Big Mountain

    9. Wild Night by John Mellencamp w/ Me'chelle Ndegeocello

    8. All I Wanna Do by Sheryl Crow

    7. Mr. Jones by Counting Crows

    6. I'll Remember by Madonna

    5. I Swear by All-4-One

    4. I'll Make Love To You by Boyz II Men

    3. Stay (I Missed You) by Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories

    2. Don't Turn Around by Ace of Base

    1. The Sign by Ace of Base

Finally, we come to the top of the list. It was a consensus number one for the year, as The Sign (by a hefty margin) nabbed the top spot on both Billboard and R/R. In fact, eight of the Top Ten I tabulated from Billboard made the Top Ten, while nine came from Radio and Records. Interestingly, "Baby I Love Your Way" failed to make the Top Ten in either Billboard or R/R (14th and 11th respectively) but reached #10 when combining the data. 

Anyway, before I go, I wanted to express my dismay on what's going on back in North Carolina. President Trump this week has sent his ICE goons to both Raleigh and Charlotte in an "immigration crackdown" of those areas. I sure as heck don't like it and neither do the majority of folks that live up there. I guess he wants another distraction from The Epstein Files, which will be released this week. Heck, if what has been going around TikTok the last 24 hours is true, he'll start a war with Venezuela. Stay tuned. And F*** ICE.

Bonyscribe

 

 

 

Flashback: June 23, 1995...Plus Other Stuff

 Greetings once again. We've made to the end of the week, and I'm on my pen and paper (well, keyboard) again. It has been an interesting week to say the least, with wild weather, two tropical systems in the Atlantic, a tragedy further north in the Atlantic, and two kerfuffles tailor-made for Celebrity Death Match, which used to air on MTV; when that channel was relevant. 

Today, we're taking a look back at the Top 40 songs in the US based off data from Radio & Records Magazine for June 23, 1995. Along with the songs I'm flashing back to, I'll give my thoughts on the topics I mentioned above, as well as other things. So, without further ado, here we go.

A brief note before we begin, this isn't the actual top 40 per R&R Magazine for this date (They actually used a Top 50 chart). Some songs on the actual top 40 were removed because they fell under recurrent rules; a song that had been in the top 40 for greater than 20 weeks but were below #20 on the chart. In the 1980's this rule was never utilized because a song would RARELY reach 20 weeks in the top 40, but as the methodology for tabulating these songs changed as the years went by, songs would stay on the radio longer and longer, thus necessitating a recurrent rule. Songs removed due to this were:

When I Come Around by Green Day
Hold On by Jamie Walters
In The House Of Stone And Light by Martin Page
Strong Enough by Sheryl Crow
Hold My Hand by Hootie & The Blowfish and
Another Night by Real McCoy, which was below the Top 40 but had yet to be moved to recurrent.

40. Could I Be Your Girl by Jann Arden. This was actually (according to my data) her first Top 40 hit before "Insensitive." Speaking of insensitive, a lot of jokes have been made concerning that submersible vessel that apparently had a catastrophic implosion en route to see the wreckage from the Titanic. Heck I'm a bit guilty of it too, until yesterday when news broke that the crew was indeed lost.

39. Human Nature by Madonna. Interestingly enough, the chorus to this song starts, "and I'm not sorry..." I mean, you're spending $250,000 to see historical wreckage of a ship that you could've seen up close (on a TV screen) for FREE. Plus, the five crew on board were uber-rich, including the CEO of the company that ran the sub, OceanGate. Still, five lives were lost, just as the ones who sank in the Mediterranean last week.

38. Dream About You by Stevie B. This was his supposed comeback to his 1990 mega smash, "Because I Love You (The Postman Song)." It didn't go very far because the music scene had changed drastically in the span of five years.

37. Somebody's Crying by Chris Isaak. Speaking of crying, there was plenty of crying going around Twitter this week over the term "cis," meaning cisgender.

36. Colors Of The Wind by Vanessa Williams. According to Merriam-Webster, cisgender is an adjective denoting or relating to a person whose gender identity corresponds with the person's sex at birth. Well, I was born a male, so I guess that makes me cisgender. But let's see what the internet's self-proclaimed "Mr. Know It All" has to say about it.

35. Remember Me This Way by Jordan Hill. Per Elon Musk (cue a million eye rolls), "cisgender" or "cis" is now considered a slur because some therapist didn't like the term. BOO F***ING HOO!! I suppose this cat also believes that the 2020 Presidential election was somehow stolen. You know, since Squealon Muskrat bought Twitter, that platform has become more and more toxic, and not in a Britney Spears way. Dude seriously needs to shut the bleep up...

By the way, here's a late update:

34. Strange Currencies by R.E.M. Or, even better, he can have his ass handed to him...by Mark Zuckerberg. Ace Ventura? Your thoughts:

33. Baby Baby by Corona. Earlier this week, it was announced that Musk and Zuckerberg would have a cage fight. Apparently, Zuckerberg has launched a competitor application to Twitter called Project 92, and Squealon is big mad. Quite frankly, I hope both annihilate each other into oblivion, but then what would we have to air our opinions, Reddit? Oh, I understand the undercard for this CDM-worthy brawl is quite entertaining in its own right.

32. Shy Guy by Diana King. To quote Joey Styles when he was announcing for ECW, "CATFIIIIGHT!!! CATFIIIIGHT!!!" The GOP's two most infamous divas, Majorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert, had a petty argument that spilled out onto the floor of the House this week, complete with name-calling and sophomoric behavior. 

Saw this conversation… not sure if it was a friendly one pic.twitter.com/tpz3z2Phtv

— Acyn (@Acyn) June 21, 2023

At least it was a little bit more civilized than this classic commercial from about 15 years ago.

31. Freak Like Me by Adina Howard. Well those two definitely are not freaks like Adina Howard. Whatever happened to her anyway? She had two singles in faded into Bolivia as Mike Tyson once said.

30. Red Light Special by TLC. You remember the HORRIBLE record deal that TLC signed that caused them to be broke even though they had massive success? When I first heard about the story right around this time, I thought the person who I heard it from (who was a shipmate on the Eisenhower) was full of crap. Then a few years later, I saw the VH-1 "Behind The Music" episode about TLC. Lo and behold, the shipmate was right after all.

29. Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me by U2. This song came from the "Batman Forver" soundtrack. Could have done without Bono going orgasmic towards the end of the song (at least tgat part was removed for radio).

28. Run Away by Real McCoy. Janet Jackson would also have a hit called "Runaway" in 195, though it entered the charts about two months after this one dropped off. 

27. (You Got Me) All Shook Up by Nelson. I figure this would be a good opportunity to hyperlink you to the Nelson story I wrote about almost two years ago.

26. Wonderful by Adam Ant. This song definitely does not describe the weather over Tampa Bay this morning.

25. Leave Virginia Alone by Rod Stewart. Well Rod, I have; I haven't visited there in over a decade, before my daughter and her family moved to Illinois (then Kentucky).

24. Kiss From A Rose by Seal. Also from the "Batman Forever" soundtrack. There actually was a woman from Puerto Rico who I was interested in at the time named Rose. She's married with kids now, one of whom is set to graduate from college. 

23. Good by Better Than Ezra. You know what isn't so good? The weather in the Caribbean. For the first time since hurricanes/tropical cyclones have been recorded in the Atlantic, there are two named systems currently spinning during the first month of hurricane season. 

22. Scream by Michael and Janet Jackson. The only time this brother/sister combo collaborated, with a very expensive (a record at the time IIRC) video to boot.

21. December by Collective Soul. The calendar may read late in June, but it feels like December along portions of the Pacific Northwest, where some higher elevations along th Cascades got a surprise snowstorm the other day.

20. I Saw You Dancing by Yaki-Da. I think I heard this sing once when it came out, and I thought it was from Ace of Base. But it wasn't. Probably the same reason Regina's "Baby Love" and Gotye f/Kimbra's "Somebody That I Used To Know" were also so popular; they sounded like other popular artists of that time (Madonna for Regina, Katy Perry for Kimbra). 

19. Can't Stop Loving You by Van Halen. The last notable hit from the group before Sammy went on to Cabo and David Lee Roth reentered the group, but not before Extreme's Gary Cherone replaced Hagar. 

18. Waterfalls by TLC. Please stick to the river and the lakes that you're used to. Something the crew of the OceanGate submersible could have heeded. Speaking of which, Joe Exotic (yes, that guy) has an opinion regarding the tragedy, and he's...right? Didn't think I had Joe Exotic being somewhat relevant in 2023, but if he's going to drag Dan Crenshaw, I'm here for it.

17. Someone To Love by Jon B. and Babyface. I believe this is one of the few songs dedicated to me, and it came from Rose, who I mentioned earlier. 

16. This Is How We Do It by Montell Jordan. Kind of disappointed that this was one of only two hits he had. The other came in 2000 with "Get It On Tonight." Of course nowadays, Jordan lends his vocals of this melody to Uber One (as does Donna Lewis, Kelis, and others).

15. Misery by Soul Asylum. Also known as what it felt like to be a Tampa sports fan from 1983 to 1996. No, Arena Football doesn't count. Frustrated incorporated indeed.

14. My Love Is For Real by Paula Abdul. She had a birthday this week, so Happy Birthday, Paula. She also had probably one of the more memorable first pitches in Tampa Bay Rays history.

13. Come And Get Your Love by Real McCoy. I will, as soon as my sister allows me to come visit you (you know who you are).

12. Lightning Crashes by Live. Did you know that some radio stations (like WDCG in Raleigh) edited the opening verse because it contained the word "placenta?" And I thought Clear Channel editing the word "ship" was overkill. Jeez. By the way, Lightning did crash..out of the first round this year.

11. This Ain't A Love Song by Bon Jovi. Narrator: in fact, it was a love song.

10. I Know by Dionne Farris. We've finally reached the top ten, and this song was 1995's highest ranked hit. It was also her only solo hit, as she also charted as a member of Arrested Development. 

  9. I Believe by Blessid Union Of Souls. Not on my Spotify playlists because it contains the N-word and I can't seem to find the edited version.

  8. I Can Love You Like That by All-4-One. One thing I despised about this era is that you had one version of a song played on pop radio and another version of the same song played on country radio. All-4-One did it TWICE with John Michael Montgomery. Of course, later on, the two acts did a collaboration of this and "I Swear" which I saw on TikTok.

  7. What Would You Say by Dave Matthews Band. Since I talked about TikTok, what would I say to them? Stop with your somewhat ridiculous advertising. I know there is an algorithm that determines which ads are shown on a person's feed, and nie out of every ten advertisements I see are LGBTQI(AEIOU and sometimes why)-centered. Look, I get that it's Pride Month and you're doing your best to be inclusive, but as someone on that platform mentioned on their page in regard to the new "Sex & The City" series, we don't need it in our faces 24/7/365. It's like you're being woke for woke's sake, which is why I think certain politicians in DC and elsewhere want to ban the platform, not for the reason they're telling everyone (Chinese security threats). Also, may explain why our douchebag governor is the way he is, but that's another story in and of itself that I have touched on occasion.

  6. Run-Around by Blues Traveler. Speaking of which, the NHL is giving all thirty-two of their franchises the run-around, by no longer allowing themed warmup jerseys to be worn before games this year. According to NHL Commissioner Gary Bettmann, the jerseys have become somewhat of a distraction. So let me get this straight, a couple of Russian players are offended about having to wear a rainbow-themed jersey during warmups, and now an effective marketing tool for certain franchises are now being taken away? I guess them damned Soviets got their way after all, after 43 years. I'm going to miss the Gasparilla-themed sweaters the Tampa Bay Lightning wore.

  5. Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman by Bryan Adams. Question for Mr. Adams, have you? Seriously though, I have, I'm just not afforded the opportunity that I want right now with my current living situation. Hopefully that will change real, real soon.

  4. Total Eclipse Of The Heart by Nikki French. I don't know how popular she was in Canada England, but this was her only hit stateside.

  3. Let Her Cry by Hootie & The Blowfish. I think I mentioned Darius Rucker getting his start in country music by accident as a result of a Burger King commercial one time on this blog, but I don't have time to look for it.

  2. Water Runs Dry by Boyz II Men

and the number one song on this date 28 years ago was...

  1. I'll Be There For You by The Rembrandts. I remember also talking about this song in an earlier blog post of mine. No, I haven't watched "Friends" lately; I'm on a break. 

Well, after about eight hours (with about a couple of hours away to go to the doctor and eat mxed in) this entry is in the can. Hopefully, I'll have more this weekend. Later everyone!

CT