funky's journey through the 90s (again, again)

“Tom’s Diner” is another track that I think was helped by MTV playing the video constantly. I don’t really remember hearing it all that much on the radio but I saw that video hundreds of times :D
 
KC 🦋 said:
Bon Jovi is just awful and has aged even worse.
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I always found them to be a weird phenomenon because they were “rock” but not really. They dressed like rich boys playing rock dress up but it was a little too polished.

Another example of a “hot” lead singer really pulling in the female masses. The songs are not terrible but pretty generic.
 
I wonder if the "Rhythm Nation 1814" singles didn't do as well in the UK due to a lack of promotion. I've got a reasonably good memory of 1990 considering I was only 7 but can't recall seeing Janet MUCH & I think on old TOTP reruns they only ever show the videos.

Occasionally I sing "Black Cat" to Mr S's perplexed cat :D

I know it's already been said but that Maxi Priest song really is a career best. Great to see it get a week at the top, I can't imagine he got near replicating that success again in USA.

The James Ingram song is drawing a blank, agree with @Joseph that "Baby Come To Me" is a banger though :disco:
 
Also I remember "Wiggle It" by 2 In A Room hitting the top 3 here & while it's obviously a LOAD OF MY ARSE I'm willing to forgive it for the pure nostalgia :disco:
 
funky said:
Charts moving much faster again now... ANOTHER girl group that passed me by is Sweet Sensation and honestly I had no idea that America had embraced girl groups with such mainstream success at the turn of the decade, and more interestingly they were all replaced by R&B girl groups by about 1992. These were all pop groups that dabbled in R&B, freestyle, swing and soft rock, and as was common at the time, saw most success from gloopy ballads like this
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Sorry to go back and forth in this thread, I want to comment everything but I have a complicated time now. This is all true; the rise of the girl groups in 1990 was actually noticed back in the day and they were all constantly asked about it. En Vogue HATED it when they were compared with Seduction, you can tell why :D You missed Exposé, that had in early 1990 their 7th top 10 in a row with Tell me why, and another top 40 hit that year. I like this remix:



And as you said, all of them were losing steam with the arrival in 1992 of all of those r&b vocal groups. Only En Vogue survived (and went much bigger :disco:).
 
funky said:
It's weird I know nothing of this Michel'le singer when she not only had a Top 10 hit with an R&B tune in the 90s but also had some drama with it too.
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Some drama... Michel'le's life was a telenovela, poor girl.


Dr. Dre and Michel'le began dating a few months after meeting one another.After their son was born, their relationship became more strained due to Dre's drinking, infidelity and volatile behavior. Michel'le has stated that Dre was physically abusive throughout their relationship. Her injuries included a broken nose (which she had to have surgically corrected), a cracked rib and five black eyes. She recalled on The Breakfast Club that during an argument, Dre shot at Michel'le, missing her by inches. She left the bullet in the door for him to see and said, "he never tried to shoot me anymore. Thank God. But the beatings were—it was a lot… His last wife, I just couldn't do it anymore. It's too much." She then began to self medicate with prescription pills and alcohol. Michel'le left Dre after she discovered that he was engaged to another woman.

At her lowest point with Dre, Death Row Records CEO/co-founder Suge Knight stepped in to help get Michel'le clean by sending her to rehab. In 1999, Michel'le married Suge while he was in prison. She filed for divorce six years later. Michel'le discovered that her marriage to Suge was invalid through the divorce process because he was still married. Michel'le stated Suge hit her once, dislocating her jaw.
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I know she didn't have any success in Europe but it's one of the first albums I ever bought :shy::disco:
 
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funky said:
The Cathy Dennis track is apparently a reissue after it failed to chart in 1989, and no doubt on the back of the successful D-Mob collaboration which reached #10 earlier in the year. The project ended up being a huge success with FOUR Top 10 singles (not bad for a UK debut!) including this which ended up peaking at #9



I've only just realised how much it owes to Madonna's "Vogue"...
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As some Moopsters might guess because they saw my living room walls during those lockdown zooms, I have a word to say about this miss Dennis semi-trash :shock: How can this song owes anything to Vogue when it was originally released months earlier? As you probably know, she wrote Britney's Toxic, Kylie's Can't get you out of my head and some other classics, so please give her some credit :disco: Just another dream is easily one of my favourite songs from the 90s, it's amazing.
 
funky said:
The AUDACITY of The Black Crowes covering Otis Redding with "Hard To Handle" and actually doing a very good job of it!



This 2nd single went to #45 but hit #1 on the US Rock charts. The debut album Shake Your Money Maker ended up going 5x Platinum.
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Post saved for 1991.
 
Joseph said:
I always found them to be a weird phenomenon because they were “rock” but not really. They dressed like rich boys playing rock dress up but it was a little too polished.

Another example of a “hot” lead singer really pulling in the female masses. The songs are not terrible but pretty generic.
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I don't know if this is just here, but you always find (well, found, as if records shops still exist) their albums in the HARD ROCK/METAL section, with the likes of Metallica or Tool. That always confused me, when did they ever release anything close to hard rock? :square: It was like that in most (if not all) of the shops.
 
Alla said:
As some Moopsters might guess because they saw my living room walls during those lockdown zooms, I have a word to say about this miss Dennis semi-trash :shock: How can this song owes anything to Vogue when it was originally released months earlier? As you probably know, she wrote Britney's Toxic, Kylie's Can't get you out of my head and some other classics, so please give her some credit :disco: Just another dream is easily one of my favourite songs from the 90s, it's amazing.
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Is funky referring specifically to the US mix which came nearly a year later?

I don't recall the exact timeline (or the mixes, tbh) to be entirely sure.
 
lolly said:
Is funky referring specifically to the US mix which came nearly a year later?

I don't recall the exact timeline (or the mixes, tbh) to be entirely sure.
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The mix of the UK version released in 1989 is quite different, that's true. It has a totally different video that I only saw once on tv. Checking the tracklist of the singles on discogs, you can find in some of the 1989 ones mixes that are similar to the album version, which is basically what was released as the US 7" mix. I guess to differentiate it from the earlier version. And the album, Move to this, was released in August 1990, recorded during 1989 and 1990. As you know, unless that you're in a rush they take some months to mix it, specially for a debut album. I doubt she stopped the pressing of the vinyls because she just heard Vogue and inspired her to remix Just another dream. Therefore I declare miss Dennis innocent and it was Madonna who was inspired by her. :disco:



 
Shep Pettibone remixed it for the US album (and later single) in 1990, so perhaps that's what funky is thinking of. And Shep Pettibone I'd hold responsible for plagiarising himself rather than Cathy Dennis or Madonna, anyway.
 
And with the girl groups having a great year in USA, with Exposé, Seduction, The Cover Girls, Wilson Phillips, En Vogue and Sweet Sensation all making the top 10, what about boybands? NKOTB were still massive in what will be their last big year, but other than American r&b male groups, only 2 other (foreing) boybands made the top 40 in 1990, but not even close to have a top 10 hit.

From UK, Brother Beyond had a top 30 hit with The girl I used to know, which I find so average, they had better singles that charted in UK, god know how this climbed the US chart, their only hit there.




A bit more interesting, all the way from Australia, Indecent Obsession was another one hit wonder in the US with Tell me something, that peaked at #31.

 
The only New Kids song I can stand is "The Right Stuff" - everything else was various shades of CACK. Even childhood nostalgia doesn't make any of the rest more appealing.

Shocked that Brother Beyond had a top 30 hit in America in 1990! :D How on EARTH did that happen??!!
 
I’ll never forget Joey McIntyre on the NKOTB Step By Step VHS intro, talking about the album’s higher production values, saying they were inspired by Classical music, because violins were being used on the title track (which I unironically love) :D
 
NKOTB had quite a few hits, but do they have any proper classic? Step by step is apparently their signature song; when one of them did The Amazing Race a few years ago with his boyfriend, he said "you might know us for Step by step". Well, ok.
 
Alla said:
And with the girl groups having a great year in USA, with Exposé, Seduction, The Cover Girls, Wilson Phillips, En Vogue and Sweet Sensation all making the top 10, what about boybands? NKOTB were still massive in what will be their last big year, but other than American r&b male groups, only 2 other (foreing) boybands made the top 40 in 1990, but not even close to have a top 10 hit.

From UK, Brother Beyond had a top 30 hit with The girl I used to know, which I find so average, they had better singles that charted in UK, god know how this climbed the US chart, their only hit there.




A bit more interesting, all the way from Australia, Indecent Obsession was another one hit wonder in the US with Tell me something, that peaked at #31.

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I remember Tell Me Something vaguely but I have absolutely no recollection of that Brother Beyond song
 
Alla said:
NKOTB had quite a few hits, but do they have any proper classic? Step by step is apparently their signature song; when one of them did The Amazing Race a few years ago with his boyfriend, he said "you might know us for Step by step". Well, ok.
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It is amazing that even though they were MASSIVE back then and had a lot of chart hits, they really are not thought of by their songs individually. It’s always that they were an early example of a “boy band” and their mass appeal at the time.
 
Joseph said:
It is amazing that even though they were MASSIVE back then and had a lot of chart hits, they really are not thought of by their songs individually. It’s always that they were an early example of a “boy band” and their mass appeal at the time.
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I view One Direction in a similar light, mega juggernaut boy band without (m)any obvious signature hits.
 
Surely The Right Stuff is far and away NKOTB's 'classic', and as far as I can tell their only worthwhile moment?

It's the only one I actually remember from the time, albiet having been very young when they were at their peak.
 
I didn't realise they had a gay in the pack. I'm quite charmed to discover that his inevitable beard in the late 80s was Tiffany. A true ally. :D

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VoR said:
Surely The Right Stuff is far and away NKOTB's 'classic', and as far as I can tell their only worthwhile moment?

It's the only one I actually remember from the time, albiet having been very young when they were at their peak.
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Surely Hangin' Tough is better remembered...

And Tonight was their "loved by everyone" moment (though possibly forgotten now). Step By Step ain't bad either.
 
Spotify

85m Step by Step
65m I'll Be Loving You (Forever)
54m You Got It (The Right Stuff)
26m Tonight
17m Hangin' Tough
 
I completely forgot Tonight. Yes, it's their best moment.
 
Refreshing myself now.

Step by Step is quite memorable actually. Good lord at that middle eight though! :D

I assume I'll Be Loving You (Forever) is one of those boyband ballads that's randomly huge in Asia, as I can't otherwise imagine why it'd be their biggest streaming holdover. Absolute dreck with a seriously unpleasant lead vocal.
 
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